The morning breaks over a grey, quiet sky in the valley. My arm aches, wrapped tight in linen and salve, the pain proving I am still alive.
I sit on the small bench outside our home, watching mist drift along the fields. The charred earth where the Ember-Warg fell is still visible. The village kids haven't gone near it, the birds avoiding the scorch-marked ground, yet flows of Aether remain near the creature.
The soft hum of the Codex I can feel at the base of my skull is the only thing that feels steady.
I can still remember the Codex's message from last night, my vision lingers on it if I focus:
[IGNIS COMPREHENSION: 29.2%]
[TIER ADVANCEMENT: IGNIS ADEPT]
[NEW SPELL REGISTERED: IGNIS IMPLOSION]
I can feel a unique calm pulse beneath my ribs, the afterglow of a previous resonance settling into a higher tier. With it comes weight, responsibility, and visibility.
The sound of footsteps crunches behind me. Elias lowers himself beside me, his joints cracking.
"You slept like a soldier on night patrol last night," he mutters.
"I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about what happened yesterday," I said softly.
"You can't do that to yourself, Kael," he nudges me with his elbow. "Overthinking is only going to make the feeling heavier. This is your first mistake as a mage."
I nod, then glance at him. "Is mum... is she angry that I fought the beast?"
Elias huffs. "She's angry the world keeps dragging danger to our doorstep." He pauses. "But not at you."
A distant bell rings from the village centre. Elias stiffens slightly, not fear, but tension.
"They're here," he says.
"Who?"
He stands. "You'll see."
I forced myself up and followed Elias down the dirt path by our house. I noticed that every villager was drifting toward the square, drawn by the sounds of ringing bells and murmurs of the townsfolk.
A big, brown carriage, one of luxury and prestige, floats above the ground. It was held aloft by a swirling blue. Two armoured knights flanked it, their pauldrons etched with luminous lines. Then I finally saw. In front of them stands a woman wearing fierce robes, the colour of dawn fire, her presence so sharp the air feels cleaner around her.
Her eyes scan the crowd.
Whispers emerging outwards.
"It's the Academy!"
"Look! Look! Aetherion recruiters..."
"They've come early this year..."
The fiery woman steps forward. The murmurs stopped instantly.
"Good people of Basin," she begins, voice clear and resonant. "I am Instructor Seris of Aetherion Academy."
The words hit me like a pulse.
Aetherion Academy.
Home to the rise of the heirs of the Ten Great Houses, the ascension of commoners, and where magic takes form.
Seris continues, "Last night, an Aether disturbance was detected near this area. In accordance with the Academy's investigative protocols, we have come to assess the region, locate the source... and identify any potential candidates for early testing."
Elias shifts beside me. He didn't look surprised. Lira, who joined us moments later, had pale knuckles and wet eyes.
"What does that mean?" someone in the crowd asks.
Seris's gaze sharpens.
"It means," she says, "that someone among you released a burst of Ignis energy far beyond what an Ignis Initiate should be capable of."
The crowd stirs, glancing at one another.
Elias's hand touches my shoulder, grounded but tense.
Seris raises her palm. A faint projection appears above it, a reconstruction made of light: the night field, a burst of fire collapsing inward, then exploding in a narrow shockwave.
A perfect replay of Ignis Implosion.
Whispers turn loud.
"That's impossible..."
"That's nothing like travellers' magic..."
"There's no one in Basin that can do that..."
Seris lowers her hand.
"As you can see, the youth who performed this spell has extraordinary potential, and as such, we are prepared to grant immediate preliminary evaluation."
Beside me, I can feel Lira breathing sharply, while Elias goes very still.
Then Seris says the words:
"So."
"The youth who did this... step forward."
Silence stretches.
My heart thuds once.
Twice.
I take a step.
Elias's hand tightened, not to stop me, but to steady me. Lira covered her mouth, tears threatening to come out.
Seris' gaze snaps to me.
"You there..." she says. Her eyes narrowed in recognition, not of me, but of the Aether resonance around me. "Approach."
I walk towards her, my heart throbbing as if it were going to crack through my rib cage.
Just as I approach her, she extends a single finger and touches the air near my chest, causing a tiny spark of blue light to jump from her fingertip to my sternum.
The Codex reacted instantly:
[EXTERNAL PROBE DETECTED]
[SOURCE: AETHERION DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUE]
[COUNTER-ANALYSIS: PASSIVE]
Seris' eyes widen almost imperceptibly.
"This is... Ignis Adept-level resonance!" She exclaimed. "At your age?"
The villagers gasp.
"How?"
My cheeks heaten. "I... uh... had help."
She tilted her head. "Help? From whom?"
I glanced at my wrapped arm. "Experience."
Something flickered behind her eyes, amusement or approval, I couldn't tell.
"What is your name?" she asks.
"Kael... Kael Arin."
Still feels weird saying that.
Seris crossed her arms in front of her. "So, Kael Arin, your Aether signature is... well, let's say unusual. It's not just strong. It's structured."
My heart continues to skip.
"The kind of precision you showed is rare, even among prodigies."
Her gaze deepened. "Have you ever studied advanced Ignis theory?"
"No."
"Has anyone taught you their personal magic?"
"No."
"Then…" She exhales, almost disbelievingly. "You're essentially saying you designed your own spell."
Well, not technically. I had help.
From the Codex.
From knowledge no one here possesses.
But it's probably best not to say that.
Seris straightens, her voice returning to public formality.
"Kael Arin, by authority of Aetherion Academy and the Aether Council, I grant you provisional candidate status."
A ripple swept through the villagers.
Lira cried openly now. Elias stands rigid, proud but worried.
Seris gestured to the glowing carriage.
"You will accompany us to Valoria in three days for the early entrance examinations. Prepare yourself."
I forced myself to nod slowly.
But then her gaze flicks past me, and her eyes narrow.
Following her stare, I see a boy standing halfway behind a fence post. His dark hair was messy, his clothes worn. Eyes sharp. Appraising.
He watched Seris. He watched the carriage. Then he watched me.
Not with awe.
With hunger.
Seris questioned me, "Who is that?"
"I'm not sure," I said.
"His name is Ryn!" Someone from the crowd answered. "Ryn Falen, another boy from Basin."
Seris studied him. Then, surprisingly, nodded. "Another potential talent here as well."
I blinked.
Ryn's expression tightened, a flash of something sharp and ambitious.
"We will test all interested youth," Seris announces. "Magic belongs to those who can reach for it."
Her eyes returned to me.
"And you, Kael… have clearly reached."
I swallowed hard.
The crowd's murmurs had swelled up like a wave.
Elias placed a calming hand on my back. "You did well, son, you should be proud."
Lira wiped her eyes and smiled through the tears.
"My boy," she whispered, pride, fear and love tangled into two simple words.
For the first time, everything felt real.
The Academy.
The 10 Great Houses.
An Aetherion path carved by fire.
A future I had never expected, in a world that I never chose.
Beneath all of it, a quiet hum:
[USER OBJECTIVE UPDATED]
[DIRECTIVE: ENTER AETHERION ACADEMY]
[DATA ACQUISITION: ACCELERATED]
[WARNING: ANOMALIES DETECTED IN USER RESONANCE]
I took a long breath.
Three days until departure.Three days until the Academy gates. Three days until the world widens again, and my place in it becomes something dangerous.
"Kael…" Lira whispered, her tears shining. "Are you ready?"
No.Not really. But I will be.
I have to be.
"I'm going," I said softly. "I have to."
Seris, with a faint smile, showed the slightest hint of approval.
Then she turned to the villagers.
"Alright, prepare your youth. Aetherion awaits."
The recruiters continue to call names, one by one, until the last parchment is lowered. The wind rattles the flags overhead at the recruitment centre; conversations resume in cautious murmurs. Families start to drift away. The sounds of parents whispering to their children. A few kids who weren't chosen sobbed into their shirtsleeves.
I stay where I am, my fingers curled at my sides, watching the sky-carriage's lions settle and relax into the grass.
A lean individual appeared beside me, his slightly shorter stature packed with tight muscles, from labour rather than training. His hair is dark brown, unevenly cut, and tied back with a strip of cloth. Dark amber eyes, almost gold when the light hits them right, and his skin sun-worn and lightly scarred
It's Ryn.
He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and kicked a pebble.
"Well," he muttered, "looks like they skipped you."
I don't respond.
Ryn squints at me. "You... you're not mad?"
"No."
He studied me like a puzzle. "If someone skipped me," he said, "I'd be furious. Furious, but probably also relieved because my stomach is still doing circles."
I gave him a sideways look. "You want to go that badly?"
He laughed, but not happily. "I want to leave. Leaving and going are the same thing."
I guess he has a point.
We walked together towards the road, letting the crowd spill ahead of us. Ryn kept talking, half-confused, half-rambling; he was honest in a way that sneaks up on you.
"You know, I always thought that if I got into the Academy, the Great Houses would notice me. Maybe not adopt or do whatever the crazy things people from Basin dream of, but at least... they would know I exist." He shrugs. "Being known is better than being unseen."
I stay silent.
I recognise the hunger in his voice, but I can't quite place the familiarity; it's as if I've met someone with a similar vibe, but I can't quite remember who.
Ryn sighed and nudged me with his elbow. "What about you? You don't look like the type who craves glory."
"I don't."
"So what do you want out of that floating palace of nobles?"
I think for a moment. What do I want? Knowledge? Patterns? The ability to see the architecture of Aether laid bare, the rules no one else sees.
But that explanation would make Ryn's eyes glaze over. So I answered:
"Answers to Aether, I guess."
He snorted. "You'll fit right in with the scholars. They're always miserable."
"Good to know."
We walk a bit more before he adds, quieter:
"…Thanks, by the way."
"For what?"
"For not laughing at me when I said I want to go."
"Why would I laugh?"
"Most people would." He kicks another stone. "They think kids like me should stay in the dirt we came from."
"You're not dirt."
He stopped walking.
"What?"
"You're not dirt," I repeat. "You're observant. Quick. You analyse. You adapt."
Ryn swallowed. You could tell that not many people had said things like that to him.
"...You're weird," he muttered finally.
"I get that a lot."
He laughs, a real one this time, short but genuine, and then he starts walking again. "Well, weird's better than the rest of this Basin."
We turn down the old cart path towards the trees.
That's when the Codex flickered suddenly at the edge of my vision. Not alarmed, just active:
[AETHER RESONANCE DETECTED]
[PATTERN ORIGIN: HUMAN - RYN FALEN]
[RESONANCE PROFILE: UNSTABLE | HIGH POTENTIAL VARIANCE]
[NOTE: COMPATIBLE VECTOR ALIGNMENT WITH USER - ANOMALOUS]
I blinked.
What?
Compatible?
With me?
What the hell does that even mean?
Ryn glances at me. "What's that look for?"
"Nothing."
I lied, not because I don't know what the Codex means, but because something about Ryn's energy... his drive, his instability... it reacts with me in a way I am unable to understand.
Great. Another thing about the Codex I don't understand.
My thoughts got disrupted as we reached a small stone bridge on the outskirts of the Basin. Both Ryn and I paused there, watching water glide beneath us.
Ryn leaned on the railing. "So. Tomorrow they're gonna do the aptitude trials. We'll finally get our turn."
"You're going?" I asked.
He shrugged one shoulder. "If I don't try now, I'll end up staying here forever. If I fail, at least I can fail loudly."
I smiled. "Loud is your speciality."
"Hey!" He says, smirking, "You're one to talk. You almost blew off your arm yesterday."
I blinked. "How did you—"
"The entire village knows," he said dryly. "You lit up the night like a festival lantern. Old man Harro fainted. The two chickens from his farm couldn't stop screaming."
"Chickens don't scream."
"They did last night."
We both laugh.
For some reason, it was easy with him. Well, at least easier than it should be for someone I had just met yesterday.
As the last of the sunset fades and the first stars prick the sky, Ryn looked at me with a strange mixture of defiance and hope.
"Kael… if we both get in, we're gonna stick together. Right?"
I hesitate. Not because I'm wary of him, but because of the Codex's ominous prediction about resonance mismatch and my future bloodline secret. It was something I still couldn't fully understand.
But I nod anyway.
"Yeah. We'll stick together."
Ryn grinned and bumped my shoulder. "Good. Because you're the only sane person here."
"I'm not sure that's true."
"It is," he insisted. "And if we end up in the Academy… I'm going to need someone who can explain why my fire magic doesn't always go in a straight line."
I raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't?"
He threw up his hands. "See? That! That right there! You're terrifying. And useful. Mostly useful... but kinda terrifying."
I shook my head, smiling.
The wind carries a faint hum, Aether stirring along the leylines deeper in the forest. The Codex pulses faintly:
[RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE FOR ASSESSMENT]
[IGNIS CAPACITY: 100%]
[COMPREHENSION: INCREASING - 29.2%]
[NEXT THRESHOLD: 32.0%]
Ryn pushed off the railing. "Come on. If we're going to get judged by a bunch of fancy stuck-up nobles tomorrow, we should at least get some sleep."
As we start walking home, Ryn stops one more time by the edge of the trees, as he looks back at me.
"Hey, Kael?"
"Yeah?"
"We're going to make it. You and me. I can feel it."
I nod.
"I do too."
Tomorrow.
Everything changes tomorrow.