Lady Uls approached the waiting trio, with Cur and Hariel following close behind. As they drew near, she spoke first.
"Is everything ready, Sarrah?"
"Of course. Same as usual."
"Good."
Cur noticed Sarrah's voice as she stood only two metres away. Her calm appearance contrasted with her lively, energetic tone.
"Damus, allow me to introduce your new student."
Lady Uls stepped aside so the older gentleman could see Cur clearly.
"This is Cur Ynha-El. Cur, this is Mr Damus Slaine. He will be your Fire Carer during your time at the Academy."
As Lady Uls finished the introduction, Cur gave the older man a slight bow.
"A pleasure."
Cur said.
"My, my. How formal."
The old man chuckled.
"Right, down to business. We all have things to do."
Lady Uls clapped her hands together.
"Indeed. However, Lady Uls, if I may?"
Lady Uls turned to Sarrah.
"I suggest Hariel and Calliarna take their tests first. That way, young Cur can see what will be expected of him."
"Hmm. Not a bad idea..."
Cur listened closely, but one detail lodged in his mind before anything else: the other child's name.
Calliarna... that's a nice name...
He thought to himself.
"Well then, Hariel, you may go first," Lady Uls said, encouraging him.
"Alrighty~"
Hariel replied, walking towards the table at the centre of the room.
As Hariel walked towards the table, the others watched him in silence. Cur used the moment to ask another question, though not of Lady Uls.
"And you, Miss? Are you here for me as well?"
Cur asked, looking directly at Sarrah.
"Oh my, where are my manners? To answer your question, no. I'm here for Hariel as his Fire Carer. And it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sarrah Grey."
"Ah, I see. The pleasure is mine."
Cur replied with another slight bow.
"And you?"
he asked, turning to the only other child beside him.
Now that he looked more closely, her features reminded him strongly of Lady Uls.
She turned to Cur and answered in a steady, confident voice.
"I am Calliarna Uls."
Uls?
Cur noticed the name immediately.
"I asked Calliarna to demonstrate what Hariel is about to do," Mr Slaine explained. "Since she may become your classmate, watching one of her tests should help you understand what we expect from yours."
The older gentleman gave Cur a reassuring look.
Soher abilities might be similar to mine... I understand.
"I see. That makes sense. Thank you, Mr Slaine. And thank you, Calliarna Uls."
Cur replied.
By then, Hariel had reached the table and waited for permission to begin. He looked back at his teachers, and Lady Uls gave a simple nod.
Hariel turned to the crystal ball, took a deep breath, and raised his right hand towards it with a smile.
A second later, the ball shone with a brilliant golden light, like sunlight from the heavens. Yet something far greater than the glowing sphere soon captured everyone's attention.
The wooden floor beneath them became fresh-cut grass, its clean scent replacing the heavy smell of the gymnasium. The walls vanished, revealing rolling green fields and hills stretching into the distance. Above them, the ceiling gave way to a clear blue sky, bright and endless as summer.
No one else seemed surprised, but Cur stared in amazement. His mind raced for an explanation, and one possibility slipped from his lips before he could stop it.
"An illusion?"
Before he could think further, one of his teachers answered.
"Of sorts. It is Imagery Magic. It turns one's magic into a visual model, helping us understand what their abilities can do and how powerful they are. It is also called Soul Rendering, and it was invented by the Elves."
Miss Grey's explanation made sense, but Cur still struggled to believe it. The scene felt so real that it was as if they had been transported to the countryside.
"Amazing..."
Then, in a flash, something else appeared above Hariel: a giant golden sphere. Black lines covered its surface, making it resemble a sealed container. It was as large as a small house, yet it floated as if weightless. Another flash followed, and four white, birdlike wings sprouted from the sphere—two large and two smaller, all elegant and wreathed in yellow flame.
After the spectacle, several moments passed with no further change. Miss Grey called out.
"Okay, Hariel. That's enough."
Hariel lifted his hand from the ball, and the imagery around them faded like sugar dissolving in water. He released a long breath, as if he had been holding it the whole time, then hurried back to the adults. Before acknowledging them, he turned to his new friend.
"So? What did you think? Pretty cool, huh?"
Cur stood there for a few seconds, still staring in awe. Then Hariel's words reached him, and a wide smile spread across his face.
"That was awesome! Hariel, you really are amazing!"
"Right? Right? Praise my power!"
Both children laughed cheekily before one of the adults finally spoke.
"Well done, Hariel. You have improved greatly since last year. Just as your grandfather said, your flame grows purer each year."
Miss Grey complimented him.
"Yes, well done, young one."
Mr Slaine agreed.
"Right then, Hariel, you may return to class. Sarrah, before you leave, I would like to speak with you in my office."
Lady Uls said.
"Of course."
Miss Grey replied.
Hariel turned to Cur and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll see you later. Good luck."
"Yeah. Thank you."
Hariel then left with his teacher.
Four remained. A short silence passed before anyone spoke.
"Well then, Calliarna, if you would."
Mr Slaine encouraged the young girl.
Without a word, Calliarna walked to the table. As she did, Mr Slaine turned to Cur.
"Now, Cur, pay attention. This will show you what to expect from a Fire Art, and it will also give you a sense of who you may be competing against."
"Competing?"
Cur asked, unsure what the teacher meant.
"Young Calliarna is the best Fire Starscourge in the school. She may become your classmate, but she is also the top student in that class."
Cur turned back to Calliarna, who was now ready to begin.
Lady Uls gave her a single nod, and Calliarna raised her hand to the ball.
Scarlet flames began to form inside the ball, swelling until it could no longer contain them. A violent rumble shook the room, forcing Cur to steady himself. Then, with a burst of power, the walls and ceiling exploded outward as if a bomb had gone off inside the building.
A hellish scene surrounded them. An endless sea of red flame stretched in every direction, as if the entire world had been swallowed by fire. Above it, the sky was pitch black, without a single star—except one.
From the darkness, a giant sphere of fire drifted towards Calliarna, growing at an impossible speed. No, it was more than fire—it was like the sun itself. As it expanded, a massive hand emerged from the void and seized it, stopping its growth. Then something even more unsettling appeared.
Two enormous pairs of eyes peered through the darkness. Sharp, lifeless, and almost indifferent, they burned as red as the flames and simply watched.
The horrifying vision lingered for nearly a minute before vanishing as suddenly as Hariel's had.
Before Cur could process what he had seen, one word slipped from his mouth in a whisper.
"Beautiful..."
Calliarna quickly returned to the group. Cur expected everyone to praise her as they had praised Hariel, but no one did. Instead, every gaze turned to him.
Cur felt a pressure unlike anything he had known. Then Lady Uls spoke, making it worse.
"Are you ready?"
---
Cur stood before the plain crystal ball, nerves tightening in his chest. Then a brief image flashed through his mind, steadying him. He placed his right hand on the ball, and, just as it had for the others, it began to change.
A small black flame rose from the crystal before suddenly engulfing it. At once, the scenery around him began to shift.
Five pillars of black fire erupted from the ground, massive as the support beams of a castle. Their flames were the colour of the deepest abyss, tipped with flickers of white. As quickly as they appeared, the pillars joined overhead, forming a pentagonal cage around him. Then Cur's body was swallowed by the same flame, and an Avatar manifested around him: only an upper torso, hundreds of times larger than his small frame, posed as if shielding him from something unseen.
For a moment, everything seemed to settle.
"Hmm, it seems that is—"
Before the Headmistress could finish, something changed again.
A bell tolled through the room, and the flames froze in place as if caught in time.
A second toll followed.
The third changed the scenery entirely.
"What is this?"
The teachers stared, unable to understand what was happening.
The crystal ball before Cur changed again. The black flame vanished, replaced by unfamiliar symbols flashing rapidly in a golden glow.
With it came another shift in scenery.
The flames and Avatar disappeared, replaced by thick fog. It sank to the ground, chilling Cur's feet. When he looked down, the hard floor beneath him had become a grassy plain.
A thin red liquid rose from beneath his feet, then stretched forward in a straight line.
Cur recognised it at once.
Blood.
The bloodline stopped just beyond the table. Then the bell tolled again.
A deep rumble followed, shaking Cur and the teachers alike.
In front of him, a large dark tree forced its way out of the ground.
Another bell tolled.
At its sound, blood began to bead along the tree's branches, blooming where leaves or flowers should have grown. In that instant, Cur's mind flooded with images.
Swords clashed.
Flesh tore.
Blood sprayed from wounds.
Armour buckled under heavy blows.
Screams rang out in pain and anguish.
Anger mixed with laughter.
Then came a pair of lifeless dark-purple eyes.
But one final image rose above all the others, sharper and more vivid than the rest.
It was a being unlike any other, humanoid in shape yet impossible to mistake for human. Its body was split cleanly down the middle, one side pure white and the other pitch black. It had no visible sex, and in the centre of its chest rested a dark orb that resembled a black hole more than metal. Its black right hand had six fingers, while its white left had only four. Its shins, ankles, and feet looked more animal than human. Long silver hair, precious as the metal itself, flowed from its head to its feet. Its face had neither mouth nor nose, only two mismatched eyes: one silver like its hair, the other gold, set into the black side of its face. From its shoulder blades and hips extended four wings, formed from golden bones and threadlike golden cloth.
Terror seized Cur. He shook uncontrollably and tried to lift his hand from the crystal ball, but a voice stopped him.
"Cur! Do not lift your hand! If you do, all the Energy you have released will rush back into you and cause a breakdown!"
The Fire Carer screamed.
"H-how do I stop it?"
Cur asked, his voice trembling.
"I'm afraid you cannot. Not until the Imagery ends."
Lady Uls's voice struck him like a hard truth he had been afraid to hear.
Another bell tolled.
Two figures appeared on the far side of the table.
They were headless bodies, blood spilling from their necks onto the grass. One was a woman cut to ribbons; the other, a man missing both arms.
Voices filled Cur's ears, speaking in a language he could not understand.
Fear overwhelmed him. He wished this were only a nightmare before his first day at school.
Tears ran down his face as he stared at the horrors across the table, pleading under his breath.
"Help... Mum... Dad... I'm scared..."
The teachers did nothing to help him. Cruel as it seemed, their hands were tied.
The two figures moved towards the crying child like marionettes. Cur could only close his eyes and sink to his knees, careful not to lift his hand from the crystal ball. He wanted desperately to cover his face with both hands, but the teacher's warning held him in place.
"Muuuum! Daaaaaaad!"
The bodies kept advancing. A bitter cold rolled from their decaying forms, and Cur shivered violently. Whether from the chill or from fear, he could no longer tell.
His breathing grew ragged, and his heart seemed to give out.
The storm of emotions overwhelmed him. As a final defence, his mind shut down, and he collapsed unconscious. The imagery vanished with him, but the danger remained. The crystal ball began to glow brighter and shake violently. Lady Uls rushed forward, knowing what was coming and knowing she would not reach him in time. Mr Slaine moved just as quickly, shielding Calliarna from the magical explosion about to erupt.
When Uls was only metres from Cur, the ball cracked. She was too late. The blast would kill the child and grievously wound her, and there was nothing she could do.
Then, to her shock, a figure appeared above Cur: a being of pure white fire. It pointed its left hand at the crystal ball and spoke in an unfamiliar language. A pyramid-shaped barrier formed around the ball a fraction of a second before it exploded, trapping the blast inside and saving everyone in the room.
Uls released a long breath of relief, then looked up at the burning figure. They exchanged a single glance before it vanished. Thanks to it, everyone had narrowly escaped catastrophe.
As the oppressive atmosphere faded, one phrase broke the silence.
"What the hell was that?"
--- 1 Hour Later ---
Hurried footsteps echoed down the narrow hallway towards a single door. Hard heels struck the polished tiles, each step sharp and urgent. As they drew closer, an aura of death seemed to follow.
The door slammed open, revealing Lady Uls behind her desk and Mr Slaine seated in a nearby cloth chair.
Both looked towards the woman who had barged in. Rage poured from her, so intense it seemed to trap them inside the room.
Lady Uls slowly stood, regret written across her face.
"Evelyn… I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"
"Quiet!" the woman screamed.
She wore an exquisite marble-blue dress, its white-blue sheen falling to her thighs in a sharp V-neck cut. Black high heels laced in blue wrapped around her ankles, and her cyan hair, braided beautifully, hung just above her waist.
Usually, her sky-blue eyes and smooth face gave her a gentle beauty. Now, anger sharpened her gaze, and deep lines cut into the corners of her mouth.
"I told you—no, I ordered you, Rhea. Under no circumstances were you to perform Soul Rendering on him. That was our agreement. What were you thinking?"
She spoke like someone whose last thread of patience had finally snapped, stepping farther into the room with every word.
"I-I know. I'm sorry! But I had to know—"
"You had to know nothing! You nearly killed a child—my child—and yourself with him! Are you insane? Is this what your precious Academy stands for?"
"We needed to know what the boy was capable of."
"You knew enough when Adurn and I told you he was a Fire Reactor. That should have been enough!"
"That is not what I saw! His fire aptitude is remarkable, yes, but there was something else. That child is not normal—"
Before Uls could realise her mistake, the air rang with the sound of a blade cutting through it. A long sword of solidified blue fire pressed against her neck, poised to pierce her skin.
"Be very fucking careful with your next words, Witch of Lavia. If my husband does not kill you today, I will gladly do it myself if you speak ill of my son again."
Rhea Uls knew this was no empty threat. Evelyn Ynha-El stood before her ready to kill, and she had the strength to do it. Few commoners ever rose to become Her Highness's right hand; that alone proved Evelyn's power. Yet it was not Evelyn who frightened Uls most, but the possibility of her husband becoming involved.
Before the situation could worsen, the old man who had sat quietly until now finally spoke.
"Come now, ladies. You are both women of power, so act as such. Lady El, your anger is justified. I know too well the pain of nearly losing a child. But calm and composure are lessons you have learned over the years. Perhaps now is the time to use them."
Slaine said this as he slowly lowered the sword from Uls's neck.
"I am not saying Lady Uls should be forgiven. Still, what I saw astonished me as well. That child clearly possesses a power we do not recognise, whether you recognise it or not."
As Evelyn lowered her sword, its blue flames dissolved into the air. She released a calming sigh.
Slaine smiled at Evelyn, then turned to Uls.
"Lady Uls, we both know your words were crude and uncalled for. As Headmistress, speaking that way about a child you are sworn to protect is not only unprofessional, but unforgivable."
Uls knew he was right. She wanted to call it a slip of the tongue, but it was more than that. She had spoken recklessly despite knowing she was already in the wrong.
"I believe an apology is in order."
Uls agreed. She clasped her hands before her stomach and bowed deeply to the child's mother.
Evelyn simply turned and walked towards the door. Before stepping out, she asked one question.
"Where is he?"
"In the infirmary."
With a nod, Evelyn left.