The training room sealed shut behind them once more.
Elena crossed her arms, posture relaxed—but her eyes were sharp.
"Alright," she said. "Show me."
Alex stepped into the center of the room and raised one hand.
Mana gathered—cold, dense, frighteningly precise. The temperature in the room dropped almost instantly, frost creeping along the floor in delicate, crackling patterns.
Elena's expression shifted.
Above him, a massive magic circle began to form in the air. Layer after layer locked into place seamlessly, each line forming with flawless accuracy.
His voice was calm.
"
From the circle emerged a massive lance of ice—long, razor-sharp, and glowing with deep glacial blue. The air screamed as it solidified, pressure warping the space around it. Frost exploded outward in a violent surge; within a ten-meter radius, the temperature plummeted as thick sheets of ice coated everything they touched.
Elena's breath caught.
Alex hurled the lance forward.
It tore across the room like a comet, slamming into the reinforced target wall with a deafening crack. The impact froze everything it touched in an instant—glacial ice racing outward in a perfect radial pattern before detonating in a storm of crystalline shards.
The training room was built to withstand this level of force, yet even so, the formation arrays flared violently, straining to contain the aftermath.
Then… silence.
The temperature slowly stabilized. Ice fragments drifted to the floor with soft, chiming sounds.
Elena stood frozen.
Her mouth was open, her eyes wide. For once, the woman known for absolute control over herself looked genuinely stunned.
She swallowed—hard—and nearly choked.
"A Tier-5 spell." she whispered.
Her gaze snapped to Alex, sharp and disbelieving all at once.
"How?"
Alex scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I told you. I wouldn't need long."
Elena closed her mouth. Opened it again. No words came out.
Finally, she let out a slow, incredulous breath.
"I need to sit down."
Her mouth hung slightly open, her usual calm and collected composure nowhere to be found—as though her mind had refused to process what she'd witnessed.
"He… actually learned it." she muttered at last, her voice dazed. "In a few hours…"
Alex scratched his cheek, looking faintly embarrassed. "Ah—well. For the Tier-5 spell specifically… it took about an hour."
An hour. A spell most mages spent months memorizing—if they ever can at all.
That did it.
A tight, almost hysterical smile crept onto Elena's face—one that didn't reach her eyes. She exhaled slowly, as if afraid that breathing too fast might shatter what little control she had left.
Aurora floated near Alex's shoulder, watching Elena's reaction with keen interest.
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose, massaging it hard. She straightened, squared her shoulders—and then sighed. Long and weary. The sigh of someone realizing their carefully arranged plans had just been rendered completely obsolete.
"I suppose I'll need to reschedule everything again." she said.
Alex winced.
She looked at him again—properly this time. Not as a student. Not even as a prodigy. But as something that sat uncomfortably outside all her prior experience.
Then, after a brief pause, she asked anyway—despite already knowing the answer.
"You really didn't know this spell before today, did you?" she said.
Alex shook his head immediately. "No. The only Ice spell I knew before this was
Elena studied his expression closely.
There was no hesitation. No embellishment. No reason to lie.
"I thought so." she said quietly.
That realization didn't comfort her. If anything, it made things worse. It wasn't just that Alex had learned a Tier-5 spell in an hour.
It was how and how fast he had done it.
No prolonged study. No trial-and-error casting. No gradual buildup.
He had simply memorized the magic circle, understood it—and engraved it into himself as if it had always been there.
A method that bordered on heresy.
A talent that felt… unfair.
Elena turned away slightly, arms crossing as her thoughts raced. After a long moment, she allowed herself a faint, resigned smile.
"…Unfair." she muttered under her breath.
Not to her. Not to the academy. But to the world.
Elena straightened, the faint smile fading as her expression settled back into its usual composed authority.
"For now," she said, "you'll continue practicing the spells you've learned." Then, almost casually, she added, "While you do that, I'll bring in your new teacher."
Alex blinked. "New… teacher?"
"Yes."
He frowned, genuinely confused. "But—my ability to use magic is still supposed to be a secret, isn't it? And I thought… you were going to teach me yourself."
Elena glanced at him, already halfway to the door. "I am," she said simply. "That hasn't changed."
She paused, then turned back to face him fully.
"However," she continued, "since you've decided to present yourself publicly as an Ice mage, plans have changed. While I will still teach you, having a teacher who specializes in Ice magic will be helpful. He can give you pointers I cannot."
"So… a specialist."
"Think of it as optimization," Elena replied. "I'll continue overseeing your growth, your pacing, and anything… sensitive. But for Ice magic itself, learning under an expert will only benefit you."
Alex hesitated. "You trust him?"
Elena's eyes sharpened slightly. "I wouldn't bring him here if I didn't. Also, he is a teacher at the academy."
That was answer enough.
A short while later, the door to the training room opened again.
A man stepped inside, his presence immediately commanding attention.
He was tall and well-built, with slicked-back icy blue hair that caught the light like polished frost. His features were sharp and refined, almost sculpted, lending him a naturally handsome appearance—but there was no warmth in his expression. His pale, blue eyes were calm and distant, as though he perpetually observed the world from behind a sheet of ice.
"This is Professor Caelum Frost." Elena said. "One of our senior teachers."
Alex was meeting him for the first time. He had never even heard the name before.
Caelum Frost taught advanced Ice magic, usually reserved for upper-year elite and advanced-class students nearing graduation. Rumors painted him as strict and unforgiving, known for harsh discipline.
And yet—
Despite that reputation, he was extremely popular.
Not just among students, but among staff as well—particularly female students and teachers, drawn to his composed demeanor and striking appearance. Cold, distant, and disciplined—the kind of man people admired from afar.
Caelum's gaze settled on Alex.
"So," he said at last, his voice calm and cool, like wind sweeping across snow, "you're the student who recently awakened magic. Ice magic, at that?"
Alex stiffened. "Ah… yes, sir."
A flicker—barely noticeable—passed through Caelum's eyes.
"Interesting."
Talent like this did not appear quietly. It disrupted hierarchies.
Elena turned toward the door. "I'll leave him to you, then."
Caelum wasted no time.
The moment Elena left the training hall in his care, the atmosphere shifted. Where Elena's presence had been oppressive and merciless, Caelum's was cold and absolute—like standing on a frozen lake, never quite sure where the ice might crack.
For two days, he drilled Alex relentlessly.
There were no dramatic spells or explosive displays. Instead, Caelum focused on repetition, correction, and precision. He made Alex cast the same spell dozens of times, every attempt scrutinized with an unforgiving eye. When a construct formed too quickly, Caelum stopped him. When it formed too slowly, he stopped him again.
"Your mana flow is excessive," he said more than once, icy blue eyes narrowing. "Ice magic needs control, not force."
Every mistake was met with calm disapproval, each correction delivered with surgical precision. By the end of the first day, Alex's head ached—not from exhaustion, but from the relentless demand for refinement.
By the end of the second day, Alex could feel it—his Ice magic was sharper, cleaner, colder.
Caelum observed him for a long moment, then gave a single nod.
"That will do—for now."
It was the closest thing to praise Alex would receive.