The next morning on the Tower's Reach, Magister Ovrin wasted no time. The students barely finished their dry bread when he ordered them back onto the deck.
"Sit," he said.
They sat.
"Yesterday, you learned to circulate mana. Today, you will shape it."
A few students stiffened. Everyone knew what came next.
"The first threshold every mage crosses is the forming of a rune."
He tapped the wooden deck with a boot. "A single, simple rune. Imperfect. Fragile. But yours."
Most children looked terrified. Kael wasn't. He'd been waiting for this.
Ovrin raised his hand. Blue energy gathered at his fingertip — a small glow, not flashy, but dense. He drew a symbol in the air. A shape like a half-open hook, then a curl beneath it. It hovered there, steady.
"This is the Foundation Rune," Ovrin said. "Every element shapes this differently. You will form your own version. If it collapses, you try again. If it explodes—"
A boy gulped loudly.
Ovrin didn't soften. "—that is also a learning experience."
He lowered his hand. The rune dissipated like smoke.
"Begin. Do not imitate. Feel your own flow."
Kael closed his eyes. Cold gathered behind his heart instantly. His mana responded faster than yesterday — smoother, cleaner.
He guided it upward.Chest → shoulder → arm → fingertips.
A faint chill collected around his nail. The Codex responded:
[MANA CONTROL: Stable][ICE AFFINITY: Optimal for Rune Shaping][Recommendation: BEGIN FORMATION]
Kael exhaled and drew a small line of mana in the air. It shimmered faintly blue — colder looking than Ovrin's version. He curved it downward.
A spark crackled.
The mana shivered but held.
He added the connecting hook. Slowly. Deliberately. The air condensed around the symbol, forming tiny crystals.
The rune hovered, small and sharp-edged — made of cold light.
Kael opened his eyes.
Ovrin was watching him.
Silence stretched across the deck for three long seconds.
"…Ice affinity," Ovrin murmured. "Fine control for a first attempt."
Other children stared. Some in awe. Some in jealousy.
Kael said nothing. He dismissed the rune quietly. It dissolved into frost dust.
He hid his satisfaction under a calm breath.
The Codex pulsed text:
[RUNE STRUCTURE COMPLETE.][APPRENTICE THRESHOLD REACHED.][STAGE ACHIEVED: WIZARD APPRENTICE – FIRST CIRCLE]
Kael's heartbeat steadied. A line of warmth moved through him, then cooled again into something clean and certain.
He had crossed the line.
Not a trainee.Not a prospect.A real wizard apprentice.
The lowest rank — but a rank.
Ovrin moved on to other children. Some formed collapsing runes that fizzled out. Others made crooked, weak ones that barely held shape.
One boy's rune cracked and popped with a small bang. He yelped. Ovrin didn't even turn.
"Again."
Eiden, sweating beside Kael, managed to form a shaky green rune that looked like a melting leaf."I… I did it?" he gasped.
"Barely," Kael said, but not unkindly.
Eiden laughed breathlessly. "You're too calm about this."
Kael didn't answer. Calm was easy when he had a Codex auto-correcting his flow.
After nearly an hour, Ovrin clapped once. A sharp sound.
"Enough. Those who formed a stable rune today are now considered Apprentice-Level Initiates."
Three children succeeded.
Kael.Eiden.And a quiet girl named Aria Vale, who shaped her rune with a strange, trembling silver glow.
"Your next step," Ovrin continued, "is imprinting. You will inscribe your rune into your core."
Several children paled.
Ovrin's eyes swept over them like cold knives.
"This is the beginning of real magic," he said. "And the point where most fail."
He paused on Kael.
"You… will not fail."
It wasn't reassurance.It was observation.
Kael inclined his head slightly.
The Codex whispered its silent data:
[RUNE IMPRINT READY][WARNING: CORE NOT FULLY DEVELOPED][PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 88%]
A high number for a beginner.
Kael didn't smile. But something inside him sharpened.
He was no longer just House Ardent's second son.