The silver glow of the Hall of Echoes dimmed behind them as the heavy doors sealed shut. The air outside felt strangely warm after the illusions, yet the students still trembled, wrapped by leftover fear.
Whispers burst through the courtyard like escaping birds.
"That Hall was insane…"
"I saw my parents die again…"
"Why did it feel like the walls were watching me…?"
Kai collapsed onto the stone path with theatrical agony.
"I died," he gasped. "Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually."
Rei adjusted his glasses calmly. "You screamed about lightning chickens."
Kai froze. "You promised not to mention the chickens."
Lyra stretched, rolling her shoulders. "Better chickens than crying yourself into a puddle like that guy." She nodded toward a trembling student being helped away by teachers.
Sarene stood beside Avin. She didn't say anything, but the way she watched him made it obvious—she could tell something deeper had shaken him.
Avin avoided her gaze.
The Nightblade's silver eyes still lingered in his mind.
Accept me…
A voice cut through the crowd.
"Avin Renn."
Conversations died instantly.
Students turned. Kai stiffened.
"Oh no. This is bad. This always means bad."
Professor Nyra Valeheart stood several steps away, hands clasped behind her back. Her cloak fluttered lightly in the wind, amethyst eyes locked onto Avin.
"Come with me."
No room for discussion.
Sarene shifted closer instinctively. "Why?"
Nyra regarded her calmly. "Private evaluation."
Avin exhaled and nodded.
"I'll be back."
Kai looked ready to protest. "BRO IF SHE DISSECTS YOU I'M SUING THE CAPITAL—"
Rei dragged him back before Nyra could reply.
Nyra led Avin across the academy grounds toward the secluded Instructor Tower, its white spire rising beside the upper branch of the Grand Library. The campus hummed with student movement, but everything seemed muted beneath the steady rhythm of Avin's two heartbeats.
They climbed a spiraling staircase until arriving at a guarded door etched with glowing sigils.
Nyra paused there.
"You felt the Hall pulling at you," she said quietly.
"…Yes."
"Most students feel stress." She turned to face him. "Your response went far deeper."
She opened the door.
Her office held no decoration beyond necessity: tall shelves of bound arcane volumes, a hovering mana globe depicting branching ley-currents throughout the capital, and a spear mounted against the far wall—ancient runes glowing faintly along its blade.
Nyra remained standing while Avin sat.
She studied him with unnerving care.
"You aren't a typical mage."
Avin remained silent.
"You possess two power flows."
His breath caught.
She raised a hand. "This isn't a question."
She stepped closer and gestured toward the floating globe.
"Your natural mana behaves normally. The second flow underneath it… does not. It exists as a sealed vessel — dormant yet responsive."
Avin whispered, "So… I'm broken."
Nyra's gaze softened slightly.
"No. Modified."
He frowned.
"Sealed deliberately."
"By who?"
Nyra shook her head. "That knowledge remains inaccessible for now."
Frustration tightened his chest. "Then why bring me here?"
"Because ignorance breeds panic."
She folded her arms. "When that hidden core activates fully, fear could fracture your mind. Controlled awareness prevents that."
She fixed him with a piercing look.
"Your illusion sequence confirmed it — memory fragments, power suppression fear, then ancestral imprint."
Avin swallowed. "You saw it?"
"Only the reaction patterns."
"Ancestral… imprint?"
Nyra paused.
Another silence settled.
"Something from before you — very old — resonates within your power. That imprint isn't conscious yet… but it recognizes danger."
The shadow…
Avin felt the second heartbeat throb faintly.
"So what am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"Nothing."
He blinked. "Nothing?"
"Do not attempt to uncover what is sealed. Do not force your power. Let the natural timelines unfold."
She lowered her voice.
"Knowledge would weaken your restraints."
Avin shook his head. "That doesn't feel safe."
Nyra's gaze hardened. "Releases rarely are."
With the wave of her hand, a projection shimmered to life behind her.
Four familiar silhouettes appeared:
Ryuven.
Lena.
Zane.
Brant.
"The Four Houses are active now," Nyra explained. "Your anomalous results gained their interest."
He frowned. "Interest is dangerous."
"Yes."
She dismissed the projections.
"And yet they lack proof."
Her attention returned to Avin.
"Only the Capital monitors sealed legacies."
"So I'm being watched."
Nyra nodded. "Discreetly."
The words settled heavily.
Before Avin could speak again, she gestured to the door.
"This concludes today's evaluation."
"…That's it?"
"For now."
Sarene waited near the tower entrance.
Her relief was visible the moment she saw him unharmed.
"You're okay."
"Yes."
She searched his eyes. "What did she tell you?"
"She said… something inside me is sealed."
Sarene stiffened. "By who?"
"I don't know."
She stepped closer, lowering her voice.
"You always say you don't know things… but it never sounds like uncertainty."
Avin gave a small, tired smile.
"It is uncertainty. Just deeper than I'm used to."
Sarene's expression softened.
"You don't have to bear it alone."
The words lingered between them.
From the stairway above, Nyra watched their exchange quietly before turning and disappearing back into the tower.
Kai lunged toward Avin the moment he reappeared.
"I KNEW IT. YOU'RE STILL ALIVE."
Rei followed. "Did you get interrogated?"
Lyra leaned against the wall, smirking. "Or recruited by the Capital's secret sect?"
Avin sighed. "No secret sect."
"Disappointing," Kai said. "I wanted cloaks."
Avin glanced at Rei.
"Nyra said something inside me is sealed."
Rei blinked. "That would explain the mana irregularities."
Kai nearly fell over. "EXPLAIN?? YOU KNEW??"
Rei shrugged awkwardly. "Data patterns indicated inconsistencies. I assumed mutation."
Kai stared at both of them.
"I live with geniuses apparently."
Lyra studied Avin with open curiosity. "So you're not weak—you're… locked?"
"Something like that."
Lyra smiled faintly. "Interesting boys always are."
Kai wagged his eyebrows. "BRO YOU ATTRACT CHAOS AND CUTENESS AT THE SAME TIME."
Sarene quietly walked beside Avin.
Kai noticed and whispered loudly.
"BROOO YOU TWO STAND WAY TOO CLOSE."
Sarene calmly placed her hand on Avin's sleeve.
"I don't see the issue."
Kai collapsed emotionally. "WHY DOES EVERYONE IGNORE ME."
Avin lay awake, staring at the dark ceiling.
Nyra's words echoed.
Let the seal hold. Knowledge would weaken it.
The second heartbeat beat… slower.
"Who sealed me?" he whispered.
The answer arrived faintly.
"…Those who feared losing you…"
Avin's breath trembled.
"Why hide me?"
The whisper softened:
"…So you could live."
He closed his eyes.
Far beyond Aetherion's wards…
In a dim chamber illuminated by arcane glyphs, a silver point glowed on a floating map — marking the academy's location.
A hooded woman spoke quietly:
"The Heir remains sealed."
Another voice replied:
"For now."
The woman turned toward shadows.
"Begin recovery operations."
"…Alive?"
"Preferably."
The map pulsed.
"Failure is not an option."
"Because somewhere in the shadows beyond the academy walls…
the hunters had already begun to move."