James was practicing earth manipulation in the deep tunnels when Frank interrupted him.
"Someone's coming. Mage signature. Strong one."
James immediately ceased the magic, letting the stone he was reshaping settle. He'd been careless, working too close to the surface, too confident in his isolation. A foolish mistake.
A woman descended into the chamber. Thirty-something, wearing Dominion robes with the academy insignia, silver pendant marking her as official. Her eyes swept the space with professional assessment before settling on James.
"Well," she said. "Didn't expect to find a child down here."
James calculated. Three exits. She was blocking the main one. Teleportation was an option but one he'd use as a last resort. Fighting was stupid, she was trained, adult, likely powerful.
Better to play innocent.
"Are you lost?" he asked, pitching his voice appropriately young.
"I'm Claudia. Recruiter for Dominus Academy." She studied him with uncomfortable intensity. "I've been tracking residual mana signatures in this area. Faint, but present. Someone's been practicing magic down here without supervision."
"Lots of people down here. Could be anyone."
"Could be. But you're the only child I've found, and children your age don't usually live in abandoned tunnels unless they're hiding from something." Claudia focused her mana sensory towards James's direction and despite his attempt to suppress it, she could sense mana. "You're a mage. Untested, I'd guess, given your age and location."
There was no point denying it now. "So what if I am?"
"So that's illegal. Children with magical potential are required to be tested and registered. The fact that you're not suggests either neglect or deliberate evasion." Her tone wasn't accusatory, just factual. "Which is it?"
James made a decision. Partial truth, carefully constructed. "My parents are dead. I'm avoiding ward placement. Testing means registration, registration means the Crown knows where I am. I prefer they don't."
Claudia's expression shifted, it wasn't quite sympathy, but understanding. "I see. And you've been surviving down here how long?"
"Five months."
"Five months. At what age?"
"Eleven... and a half."
She made notes in a small journal. "That's... impressive. Most children wouldn't last a week underground. You must be resourceful."
"I'm a survivor."
"Clearly." Claudia circled him slowly, like she was checking out merchandise. "Here's your situation: I can report an unregistered minor mage to the territorial guard. They'd have you in custody within hours. Ward placement would follow, along with testing and training under Crown supervision."
James's jaw tightened.
"Or," Claudia continued, "I can offer you an alternative. Dominus Academy accepts students based on magical aptitude, not background. If you test well, you'd receive legal protection as an enrolled student. Ward placement wouldn't apply, as the academy assumes guardianship for its students."
"In exchange for what?"
"Obedience to academy rules?" She smiled slightly. "And taking the Affinity Test obviously. Can't enroll without official classification."
The test. The very thing James had built the soul splitter for.
"When?" he asked.
"Immediately. Tomorrow, if you agree. I can arrange it." Claudia gestured around the tunnel. "And I'd say a talented eleven-year-old living underground qualifies."
James thought rapidly. If she reported him now, the outcome was certain. Custody, testing under Crown supervision, no control over the process. But if he agreed, he could take the test on his terms. Use the Soul Splitter as planned. Pass as a single-affinity mage. Enroll in the academy where he'd have resources, training, and most importantly, freedom to operate.
"What about him?" James gestured to Frank.
Claudia looked at the plant, noticing the way it stood on root-legs, the slight tilt to its leaves that suggested awareness.
"Is that plant... mobile?"
"He's my companion. Non-negotiable."
"Academy allows familiars and magical companions. Though I've never seen one quite like..." She approached Frank, who wisely remained still and plant-like. "Interesting. Nature affinity, I assume?"
"Something like that."
Claudia made more notes. "Alright. You and the plant. Testing tomorrow at dawn. Meet me at the central plaza. Don't make me regret not dragging you to the guard immediately. I feel you'll do nicely for our scholarship program."
Then she left and her footsteps echoed up the tunnel.
Frank waited until certain she was gone. "That was close."
"It was inevitable. Someone was going to notice eventually." James began gathering his possessions. "The question is whether I can use this."
James kept packing. "The test was always coming. Now it comes on my schedule." He scanned through his mental timeline. "I retrieve the Soul Splitter tonight. Prepare the split. Tomorrow I test as a single-affinity Nature mage. Academy enrollment follows. Once I'm in, I'm a registered student under institutional protection."
"You've thought this through."
"I think everything through." James started toward his hidden chambers. "Except apparently being careful about where I practice. That was careless. Won't happen again."
They spent the night preparing. James retrieved the Soul Splitter from its hiding place, checked calibrations, ran test sequences. The device was functional.
"Last chance to run," Frank said as James prepared for the split.
"Running is what Victor Morningstar would do. I'm not him anymore."
"Then who are you?"
James positioned himself in the copper circle. "Someone who doesn't run."
He activated the device.
The pain was familiar now, soul fragments separating, flowing into crystal storage. Ice magic first. Then Eldritch. Both signatures pulled away, leaving only Nature active.
It was forty-five seconds of pain and clean separation, perfectly stored.
James deactivated the device and checked himself. Only the Nature affinity remained, plants and weather magic.
"How do you feel?" Frank asked.
"Incomplete." James sealed the Soul Splitter back in its hiding place, marking it carefully. "It's working as designed."
Dawn came and Claudia waited in the central plaza as promised, looking unsurprised when James appeared with Frank.
"Punctual. Good sign." She gestured to a waiting carriage. "Testing center is across town. Standard procedure, shouldn't take more than an hour. Then we can discuss academy enrollment."
The testing center looked official. Stone walls, magical wards, the bureaucratic efficiency of government assessment. They led James to a chamber containing six crystals arranged in a circle.
Mkyr'aan Soul Gems. The real thing. The test he'd spent a year preparing to cheat.
"Standard procedure," the examiner said. "Stand in the center. Relax. Let the gems read your affinity. Don't try to influence the result, it's impossible anyway."
James stepped into the circle with complete confidence.
The gems activated. He felt them reaching toward his soul, probing for his essential magical nature. Looking for the signatures that would define him.
They found Nature. Strong, well-developed, undeniable. The green crystal blazed bright and the other five remained dim, fooling an artifact that had remained flawless for centuries.
The examiner made notes. "Single affinity. Nature branch. Strong manifestation for age eleven." He consulted his charts. "Unusual but not unprecedented. Self-taught?"
"Yes."
"Remarkable." He took more notes. "I'm clearing you for academy enrollment. Second-year placement, given your demonstrated potential."
Claudia looked pleased. "Excellent. Welcome to Dominus Academy, Mr...?"
James had prepared for this. Using "Aldric" was dangerous for obvious reasons. But he needed a name. An identity for this new life.
"Morningstar," he said. "James Morningstar."
Victor's family name. James's given name. A hybrid identity for a hybrid person.
Claudia wrote it down without question. "Welcome to Dominus Academy, James Morningstar. I will come back for you in three days. I suggest you use that time to prepare. Academy life is... demanding."
"I'm ready for demanding."
"We'll see." She handed the academy rules. "Read them. Follow them. Don't make me regret recruiting you."
They left the testing center and James carried his papers that served as his new identity.
"That was too easy," Frank said once they were alone.
"It was perfectly executed."
"I mean the woman. Claudia. She just... accepted everything. Didn't push. Didn't question. Didn't verify... I don't like this shit."
"Why would she? I'm a talented child in need of structure. Her job is literally looking for promising students. Our interests aligned." James studied his enrollment papers. "Sometimes the simplest explanation is correct."
James folded the papers carefully. "In three days I'll be out of this wretched place and learning in a way befitting of James. Simple."
"Ain't nothing simple about you."
James allowed himself what passed for a smile. "No. But they don't need to know that."