Kael learned something important that morning, no matter how carefully he restrained himself, power always leave traces.
He felt it the moment he stepped into the academy's outer training courtyard. The air was thick with circulating mana, students practicing spell forms, instructors maintaining formation arrays, elemental residue clinging to stone and steel alike.
Normally, this would have meant nothing to him but today, it felt somewhat… loud.
Not to his ears, but to his body.
His skin prickled faintly, a dull pressure settling across his chest and spine as his mana heart reacted instinctively. At the same time, his Qi pathways stirred in response, tightening and bracing as though preparing to withstand impact.
Kael stopped walking.
"Careful," the relic warned quietly.
"Your instincts are improving faster than your control."
Kael forced himself to relax his shoulders and resumed walking.
"I'm not doing anything," he murmured internally.
"You are existing," the relic replied.
"And that alone is enough."
He took his usual place near the edge of the courtyard, blending in with the lower-ranked students. Today's session was a practical assessment, announced hastily the night before. No one was surprised, Arcanum Academy thrived on pressure.
"Listen up," Instructor Halvek barked, his voice carrying easily across the courtyard. "Today's assessment is simple. Mana circulation stability under external interference."
Groans rippled through the students.
Kael's stomach tightened.
External interference meant environmental pressure, fluctuating mana density, elemental disruptions, or controlled spell turbulence. For most students, it was a test of focus.
For Kael, it was a minefield.
"You will step into the array one at a time," Halvek continued, gesturing to a circular formation etched into the stone. "Maintain stable mana circulation for thirty breaths. Failures will be noted."
Kael's fingers curled slowly.
"This is dangerous," the relic said.
"The array will amplify ambient mana."
"So I shouldn't enter?" Kael thought desperately.
"You must."
His heart sank.
"If I refuse..."
"You draw attention," the relic finished.
"...Again."
Kael swallowed hard.
One by one, students stepped into the array. Some struggled, some faltered briefly, a few failed outright and were dismissed with sharp rebukes.
Then...
"Kael Ashborne."
The courtyard instantly went quiet.
A few students exchanged looks while others smirked openly.
"This again?"
"Why even bother?"
"Watch him faint."
Kael stepped forward.
His legs felt heavier than usual as he entered the array. The moment his foot crossed the boundary, mana pressure surged inward like a tide.
He nearly staggered.
"Steady," the relic said firmly.
"Do not circulate. Do not absorb. Do not repel."
Kael clenched his jaw.
The array activated as mana density spiked sharply, swirling around him in invisible currents. His mana heart reacted violently, instinctively trying to draw in energy and his Qi pathways tightened in response, bracing against overload.
Pain flared in his chest but Kael still forced himself to breathe.
Slow but measured, just like in the chamber.
Thirty breaths.
The first ten were agony.
By the fifteenth, sweat had started pouring down his temples, his hands trembling as his body screamed for release.
Around him, the array hummed steadily.
Instructor Halvek frowned slightly and muttered,"…Strange."
Kael's heart skipped.
"You are stabilizing the field," the relic said quietly.
"Your balance is suppressing fluctuation."
That was bad... Very bad.
At the twentieth breath, the mana pressure around Kael evened out unnaturally. The turbulence flattened, the chaotic currents smoothing into something eerily calm.
A few students blinked in confusion.
"…Did the array weaken?"
"No, look... the runes are still active."
Halvek stepped closer, his eyes narrowing.
"Continue," he ordered.
Kael's lungs burned, his Qi pathways strained as they absorbed excess strain, reinforcing his organs just enough to keep him upright. His mana heart remained tightly bound, restrained by layered suppression.
At the twenty-ninth breath, his vision darkened.
"One more," the relic urged.
"Do not collapse."
Kael inhaled... Exhaled as the array shut down.
Kael stumbled forward as the pressure vanished, catching himself on one knee. His hands shook violently, but he did not fall.
After which, Silence reigned.
Instructor Halvek stared at him.
"…You didn't circulate mana," he said slowly.
Kael kept his head bowed. "I… focused on breathing, sir."
Halvek studied him for a long moment.
"…Hmph. You maintained stability through passive endurance." He straightened. "Unorthodox. But acceptable."
Whispers erupted.
"He passed?"
"How?"
"That makes no sense."
Kael rose slowly and retreated to the edge of the courtyard, his heart pounding.
"That was close," the relic said.
"You should not have been able to do that."
"I know," Kael replied silently. "They noticed."
"Yes, the instructor," the relic corrected.
"And something else."
Kael's breath caught.
"What do you mean?"
"You were being observed."
A chill crept up his spine.
~~~
That night, Kael did not return to his dorm immediately. He lingered in a forgotten stairwell, breathing quietly, allowing the strain from the assessment to settle. His body ached deeply, his meridians burning faintly, his mana heart pulsing irregularly.
"I can't keep this up," he thought. "Sooner or later, they'll notice it."
"Yes," the relic replied.
"Which is why we must change approach."
Kael frowned. "How?"
"We stop hiding completely," the relic said.
"And begin controlling what they see."
Kael stiffened.
"That sounds dangerous."
"All progress is also dangerous"
Silence followed.
Then, faintly, from far beneath the academy, beyond wards, beyond stone... a presence stirred again.
Stronger this time.
More certain.
"…There," it whispered.
"A stabilizing anomaly."
The presence turned its attention upward.
...Toward Kael Ashborne.
~~~
Kael leaned back against the cool stone wall, exhaustion settling into his bones.
"So," he murmured, "what's next?"
The relic's voice was steady and certain.
"Next, Kael Ashborne," it said,
"I teach you how to confuse the world,"