That night, Braken snuck through the dorm tunnels with Tali, three other slum kids, and one bored noble who hated rules.
They met under the old observatory, abandoned for 20 years.
"This where we do it," Braken said, slamming down blueprints made of stolen scrolls.
"A secret fighting tournament. No teachers. No refs. No mercy."
At first they laughed.
But then he showed the bracket system, the betting pot, and the reward: winner gets a custom mana weapon made by Braken himself.
"Y'all in?"
"Hell yeah," they said.
And so the Shadow Circuit was born.
By the next week…
15 students were in.
Even a noble girl joined.
The fights began.
Braken didn't enter at first. He watched, studied, bet coins, handed out ice packs.
Even Caelis showed up.
"Didn't think a rat could plan," he said.
"Didn't think a noble could sneak in," Braken replied.
But it wasn't just fights.
People started copying him.
Slum kids acted sharper.
Nobles moved quieter.
Even Tali dyed her cloak black, calling it "stealth gear."
By age 13…
"That Braken kid's dangerous," whispered a professor.
"He's too influential," muttered a noble.
But Braken?
He just leaned back under the stars, Draco on his lap.
"I used to sleep under trees like this… now they sleep under my ideas."
The fight was supposed to be fair.
Braken and Caelis.
Shadow Circuit Final.
No weapons after the first minute.
But ain't nothing ever fair in Braken's life.
The arena was packed.
Mana lamps lit the underground ring.
Nobles, slum kids, even a few professors' assistants watching from the shadows.
Caelis stepped in smooth, shirtless, tattoos glowing faintly from noble-grade enchantments.
"You ready to embarrass yourself?"
"Nah," Braken grinned. "You ready to eat dirt, shiny boy?"
The bell rang.
Braken moved first.
Fast. Slippery.
Weaving like he grew up dodging bullets.
"You a slow-ass boy," Braken laughed, dodging Caelis' wide arc swing.
"Tryna hit me with that? My grandma swing harder than that in her sleep!"
Caelis got mad.
Real mad.
He summoned a mana blade — illegal for this round — and swung wild.
Braken caught it mid-swing with his half-magic pistol and pistol-whipped Caelis clean in the jaw.
CRACK.
The crowd went silent.
Then Braken didn't stop.
He stomped.
Kicked.
Grabbed Caelis' collar and whispered:
"You talk slick but you ain't never bled for nothin."
Before he could go too far—
"Braken, stop!"
Tali rushed in and wrapped him from behind.
"You win! You win, dummy! It's done!"
Braken backed up, breathing hard.
Caelis was slumped, humiliated in front of nobles.
Braken turned to the crowd.
"Any of y'all got a problem with slum kids now?
Nobody spoke.
From that night forward…
Braken got respect.
Not just from the poor.
From nobles too.