The courtyard at sunrise is quiet except for the wind whistling through floating spires. I'm standing in the middle of a glowing circle, surrounded by what can only be described as magical torture devices spheres of light, levitating stones, and a bunch of metal rings spinning like angry hula hoops.
Rika's sitting on a bench with a mug of something steaming.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asks.
"Nope," I say, cracking my neck. "But apparently the world might explode if I don't learn how to see better, so, you know no pressure."
She smirks. "If you die, can I have your hoodie?"
"Absolutely not.
"Professor Silver-Hair whose name I've learned is Professor Caelia strides in like a storm cloud in human form. She's carrying a staff that hums with quiet menace.
"Leonard," she says, "you will learn to focus your perception. Right now, your power reacts to danger. We need you to control it before the Veil reacts again."
"Got it. So… no pressure again. Love that theme."
She ignores me, of course.
She waves her staff, and the spinning rings around me start to glow. Each one pulses with faint cracks thin lines of red light, like spiderwebs suspended in air.
"Find the weakest point," she orders.
I squint. "They all look weak."
"Then start with the one that will kill you last."
"Very comforting."
I focus breathing slow, eyes burning slightly. The cracks begin to shift in my vision, one glowing brighter than the others.
I point. "That one."
Caelia flicks her wrist. The ring explodes but not outward. It folds in on itself, collapsing like a crushed can before vanishing completely.
"Good," she says. "Again."
And that's how my morning goes point, collapse, headache, repeat.
By the time the sun's high, I'm drenched in sweat and feel like my eyeballs ran a marathon.
Rika tosses me a towel. "Not bad, Crackseer. You didn't blow up once."
"High praise," I wheeze. "My new record."
Caelia actually looks… almost impressed.
"Your control is improving. Soon, you may be able to trace fractures before they form."
"Your control is improving. Soon, you may be able to trace fractures before they form."
Then her gaze flicks upward — and her eyes narrow.
"Unless it's already too late."
A tremor shakes the ground. The air ripples.
Above us, clouds twist into a spiral and through them, faint red lines begin to spread like veins in the sky.
Rika's face drains of color. "Uh, Professor? That's not normal sky behavior."
Caelia grips her staff. "No… it's a Veil pulse."
I stare upward. The cracks are everywhere dozens of them, shifting and crawling like living things.
And then, just for a second, I see through them.
A shadow moves behind the Veil. Massive. Ancient. Watching.
I blink, and it's gone.
Caelia turns to me sharply.
"What did you see, Leonard?"
"I… don't know. Something big. Something that knows me."
The Headmaster's words echo in my mind.
"When the Veil shatters completely…"
I take a shaky breath. "Whatever's coming it's getting closer."