Night had settled fully over the academy by the time I made it back to my dorm, worn through from the day's lectures. The hallways that had been so full of noise that afternoon had gone quiet, nothing but the whisper of wind through the stone corridors keeping me company as I settled in to rest.
A few hours later, a soft knock roused me. A letter waited on the floor outside my door — the same one delivered, I guessed, to each of the other scholars — penned in Misoha's neat hand.
Tomorrow at dawn, Professor Marlowe and I will teach you to cast using your chosen affinities. Be ready in the central courtyard when the sun rises.
My pulse picked up reading it. Actual spellcasting, taught directly by both professors — I lay back down turning the possibilities over until sleep finally caught up with me.
The grounds were still gray and quiet when I woke, the chill of early morning slipping through my open window. I dressed quickly and stepped outside into air that hadn't fully shaken off the night yet, the world only beginning to stir around me — a rustle of leaves here, a distant bird there.
Busy day ahead, I thought, settling into my jog along the cobblestone paths. This is what keeps my head clear before it starts.
I finished the run and dropped onto a stretch of grass for push-ups, counting them out with the same steady focus I'd carried through two months of construction quests. The dawn light caught the results of all that labor plainly enough now — shoulders broader than they'd been, definition where there'd only been softness before.
Worth every early morning, I told myself, pushing through the last set.
I didn't notice, that morning, that I wasn't entirely alone.
Krisha had risen early too, curiosity about her rival's routine pulling her out from behind a cluster of trees where she'd stationed herself to watch, unseen. As the light strengthened, she found herself genuinely startled by what she was seeing — not just discipline, but a kind of relentless, quiet focus that didn't match the picture she'd built of a commoner scholarship applicant in her head.
He's serious about this, she thought, something like respect settling in where she'd expected to find an easy rival to measure herself against. I think I underestimated him.
Realizing after several minutes just how long she'd been watching, embarrassment caught up with her all at once, and she slipped back toward her dorm before he could notice, her cheeks warm the whole way. That wasn't exactly the impression I meant to make of myself, watching from the bushes like that. Hopefully he never finds out.
Unaware of any of it, I finished my routine and made my way toward the central courtyard, where the others were already gathering as the sun properly cleared the horizon. The stone underfoot had been prepared overnight — intricate circles and affinity symbols etched into the surface, each one glowing faintly through the last of the morning fog.
"What are these?" Roderick asked, staring at the markings.
Professor Marlowe and Professor Misoha arrived together, their presence enough to settle the whole courtyard into attentive quiet.
"Affinity symbols," Marlowe explained. "Each of you will choose one of your two selected affinities to begin with today. Step into the matching circle, and it will respond."
The others weighed their choices, glancing between the glowing symbols.
Misoha turned to me. "Kazu — since you've chosen all six, you'll need to pick just one to start with this morning. The symbol will light for whichever you step into."
I considered it only briefly before choosing Air — its speed and versatility felt like the strongest foundation to build the rest on. The moment I stepped into the circle, it brightened beneath my boots, a soft, shimmering light spreading outward.
One by one, the others made their own choices, each symbol flaring in turn as the professors moved among us, observing.
Standing in the Air symbol, I felt the wind respond almost before I'd consciously reached for it — the currents moving with an ease that surprised even me.
From the sidelines, Krisha's attention kept drifting back toward me despite her own practice, the memory of that morning's routine still fresh — the discipline of it, the quiet intensity she hadn't expected to find so compelling. She caught herself watching a beat too long more than once, a small, private warmth settling into her chest that she wasn't entirely sure what to do with yet.
As each of us settled into our chosen symbol, a strange, pleasant tingling spread through me, and the Air magic suddenly felt less like something foreign and more like something I'd simply forgotten I knew. A notification flared in my vision.
A notification — here? I thought, startled.
[Environmental Mana Amplification Detected] [New Active Skill: Gale Force] [New Skill: Wind Slash]
I scanned my status quickly, and one line stopped me cold — a bracketed, unreadable entry under Magic Spells. [???]
What is this? No matter how hard I focused on it, the entry refused to reveal anything more. Why would it be hidden from me specifically?
I filed the mystery away for later as Marlowe and Misoha called us together for the actual spellcasting.
"Now that you've chosen," Marlowe said, "it's time to cast your first true spell. Pay close attention — this is the foundation everything else builds on."
Misoha stepped forward. "Close your eyes. Those using spoken incantation, focus on the spell, extend your palm, and let the words come naturally. Those casting silently — simply channel your energy directly into your hand."
I closed my eyes along with the others, reaching for the flow of Air the way I'd reach for fire or water, feeling it gather quickly in my open palm.
Misoha and Marlowe moved quietly through the courtyard as we worked, and their attention found me almost immediately — a controlled, precise aura of wind already curling around my body despite my eyes still being shut.
"He's already connected," Misoha murmured to Marlowe, disbelief plain in his voice. "Nearly instantly."
"Remarkable," Marlowe agreed, his usual composure slipping. "Most students need several minutes just to establish the connection. Given the God class, though—" He didn't finish the thought, but the look he exchanged with Misoha said enough on its own. Whatever they were watching, both of them understood it as something well beyond an ordinary display of talent.
Curious, and a little too pleased with myself, I decided to test one of the new skills while my eyes were still closed — Gale Force, a wide gust meant to strike whatever stood nearest.
I hadn't accounted for how much force actually sat behind the thought.
The breeze around me sharpened fast, climbing toward something closer to a contained storm than a gust.
"Marlowe — Kazu's about to lose control of that!" Misoha's voice cracked with sudden urgency.
Marlowe's expression tightened, already moving. Misoha conjured a thick wall of water around me in an instant, layering it over with ice until I stood sealed inside a shimmering, solid dome. Marlowe, in the same breath, threw a golden barrier of Light over Krisha and the other three, shielding them from whatever was about to happen.
Inside the dome, Gale Force finally went off.
BOOM.
The gust slammed against the inside of the ice hard enough that the whole dome cracked and shattered outward around me a heartbeat later.
I stumbled, blinking, thoroughly disoriented, chunks of ice scattered across the courtyard in every direction.
"Why is there ice everywhere?" I asked, turning to Misoha. "What just happened?"
His expression was some careful mix of relief and real concern. "You unleashed a considerably stronger wind attack than either of us expected, Kazu. You'll need to learn to control the intensity of what you're casting."
"I didn't even think I was actually using it," I said, mortified. "I just — pictured it, in my head. I'm sorry, if that caused trouble."
"With silent casting," Misoha said, not unkindly, "your imagination is your incantation. You'll need to hold that with more care going forward."
The other students had dropped their own spells entirely, staring around at the wreckage of the courtyard with a mixture of confusion and open awe.