Magnus lifted Kara in his arms and carried her to the healing room of the building, while Lusian, sore and battered, headed to his room determined to rest and avoid contact with anyone for the rest of the day. However, just as he was about to walk away, he heard Emily's concerned voice calling him.
"Lusian, are you alright?" she asked, her eyes full of worry.
"Yes… I just need to rest for a couple of days," he replied, trying to maintain composure while hiding the pain from his broken ribs.
"Even though I'm still a novice, I think I can help with the healing magic I've learned these past few days," Emily said, stepping forward timidly but with genuine determination.
Carefully, she placed her hands over the affected area. She whispered the spell softly, and a faint blue glow enveloped her palms. The warm, healing energy spread across Lusian's side.
And that's when something broke.
Not the pain—that persisted—but the calm he wasn't supposed to feel.
The touch was gentle. Precise. Honest. That was what chilled him.
His body reacted before his mind: muscles tensing, not from the pain, but from an uncomfortable, almost superstitious certainty. As if that very warmth, so much like a blessing, belonged to a moment that hadn't yet come.
Because in the destiny awaiting him, in the future advancing inexorably toward him, Emily would not be by his side when the world began to burn.
He clenched his jaw.
It wasn't fear of the wound. It was fear of growing accustomed to this.
"Thank you, Emily," he finally said, forcing his voice to sound normal. "Your help has been very valuable."
And it was. That was precisely the worst part.
Emily smiled softly and let him lean on her arm, guiding him carefully down the hall, taking slow, cautious steps to avoid aggravating his pain. Lusian moved with effort, but her presence made the burden feel a little lighter.
From a distance, Alejandro watched from the shadow of a column. His expression was a mixture of contained fury and poorly disguised jealousy. His hands tightened until his knuckles turned white, and his eyes followed every movement of Emily, every gesture, every word of closeness she shared with Lusian.
For Alejandro, this was no mere awkward scene. It was an affront. And affronts… had to be paid for.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
By the end of the week, the combat rankings began in classroom 1A.
The murmurs of the students quieted as Teacher Clara raised her hand. On the platform, Jaslin Erkham and Sandra The Mondring faced each other from four meters apart. Neither spoke. Both knew that silence was part of the trial.
"Begin."
Sandra was the first to move.
Water surged violently, rising in a compact mass that blocked the ceiling lights before crashing down like a living wave onto Jaslin. The impact promised to obliterate everything.
Jaslin reacted just in time.
The air became razor-sharp. The water froze mid-advance, shattering into ice fragments that struck the platform with a dry, sharp sound. The rest dispersed in a cold drizzle that soaked the floor.
When it was over, Jaslin remained standing… but was breathing with difficulty.
Emily noticed immediately. The spell had worked, yes, but her hands trembled.
Sandra collapsed to her knees seconds later. Part of her arm was covered in frost, the skin red and stiff. She didn't scream, but her expression said enough.
Emily felt a slight shiver. Blocking didn't mean emerging unscathed.
The platform was restored with a gesture from Clara.
"Next."
Emily stepped forward when she heard her name. On the other side, Summer Kesller was already concentrating the wind around her.
The light sphere appeared above Emily's head, floating with forced stability. It was heavier than it looked. Always was.
The tornado rose with a growing roar.
The first lightning strike collided with the air current and deflected, eliciting a gasp. Emily gritted her teeth and corrected the angle. The second hit was better. The third, painful.
She felt energy draining from her arms, her chest, from the very foundation of her focus.
I can't hold this much longer…
Summer wasn't much better. The wind responded, yes, but her posture was breaking, her feet sliding across the platform.
When she fell, exhausted, silence lasted a full heartbeat.
Emily lowered the light sphere and had to kneel on one knee. She had won.
But if the battle had lasted a few seconds longer… she wasn't sure she could have stayed on her feet.
The next duel was different from the start.
Naomi Sneider and Abdel Brown didn't measure themselves. They attacked.
Fire devoured the platform. The heat forced several students to instinctively step back. Advanced flames collided, erupting in incandescent columns that warped the air.
Naomi held her ground. Minor burns, heavy breathing, but upright.
Abdel did not.
When he fell, the fire still enveloped his body.
Clara intervened immediately.
The silence was absolute.
No one applauded.
Emily felt a knot tighten in her stomach as she watched Abdel being carried away, unconscious. That had been dangerously close to a point of no return.
"Teacher!" exclaimed Naomi, still euphoric. "We're ready to face the knights and burn them to the bones!"
Clara looked at her, neither harshly… nor indulgently.
"A spell like that takes between ten and fifteen seconds to cast," she said. "A trained knight needs five to take you out of combat."
Naomi opened her mouth… and closed it.
"Is it really that different…?" she murmured.
"Yes," Clara replied. "That's why if you rely only on power, you'll die. Here, it's not about who casts the biggest spell—it's about who stays standing."
Emily swallowed hard.
For the first time, the idea of facing a knight didn't sound like a test.
It sounded like a threat.
At that moment, the announcement for the next duel echoed throughout the academy.
A knight versus a mage.
The murmurs returned, charged with anticipation. The students of class 1A moved toward the arena, knowing—even if no one said it aloud—that what they were about to witness would not be a lesson.
It would be a warning.
