The academy hadn't changed.
But Root had.
The halls still gleamed with floating glyph-light. Summons still darted between classes like loyal pets, trophies, or weapons-in-waiting. The air still buzzed with that half-magical current, a hum of curated potential designed to make students feel like they were on the cusp of greatness.
But Root didn't feel awe anymore.
He felt watched.
[ Student Registry: ROOT ]
Rank: Unranked
Affiliation: None
Current Status: Under Observation
System Note: "Monitor for subversion patterns."
Summon: Veyr (Type: Null-class – Unregistered)
The whispers followed him.
"Is that the Rift freak?"
"He walked out of a collapsing simulation—alone."
"His summon floats like a professor, but talks like a drunk poet."
Veyr, who was floating beside him, nodded graciously to a passing third-year.
"Drunk poet? How flattering. I usually go for 'existential jester' but I'll update the résumé."
Root didn't respond.
He walked steadily, eyes forward, boots echoing down polished stone.
The usual cliques stepped aside. Not out of respect—but caution. He was an error now. An exception. The kind of student who either becomes a myth… or a memory.
Ahead, someone didn't step aside.
A boy with gold-trimmed robes and eyes too sharp for someone his age.
Kellen Draive.
Root stopped a few feet away.
"Something wrong?" he asked, voice calm.
Kellen's summon—a glimmering wolf of crystal and thunder—growled, its hackles charged with visible voltage.
"I don't care what the Rift says," Kellen said. "You're not one of us. You never earned your path. You didn't survive it. You broke it."
Root tilted his head.
"You think surviving Collapsepoint was easier than a scripted trial?"
"I think it was a glitch."
"Then fight the glitch," Veyr said, arms folded. "See how that goes."
Kellen flinched at the voice—but didn't back down.
"Sooner or later, someone's going to test you properly. Just remember that when it happens, there's no system override to save you."
He walked past.
Root didn't turn.
Just whispered, "Didn't need one the first time."
The classroom was shaped like a spiral—one of the newer Rift structures imported from simulation layouts. Rows curved inward like a whirlpool of stone and glass, with the professor's podium suspended above the center like a floating shard.
Root walked in last.
Everyone noticed.
Eyes trailed him. Some narrowed. Some backed away.
He took a seat near the edge.
Not out of caution.
Out of strategy.
[ New Entry Detected: Root – Unranked ]
Behavioral Alert: Peer Index Fluctuation
Student Responses:
• Avoidance – 62%
• Aggression – 18%
• Curiosity – 20%
The system was watching him, even now.
From the corner of the room, Lyra gave him a tight nod. She hadn't changed much… but her summon had. The rabbit now glowed with thin lines of violet lightning and wore a tiny armored sash across its chest like a field commander.
Root almost smiled.
Almost.
The lights dimmed.
"Welcome back, Initiates," said a cold, amplified voice. "Today's assignment: fusion scenarios."
The instructor appeared in a shimmer of static—one of the Crown's projection avatars. She had no physical body here, just a wireframe cloak and glowing eyes.
"You'll be grouped based on power compatibility, threat potential, and instability index. Your summons will be tested in direct synchronization simulations. Fail, and you forfeit your chance at Crown Tier."
A pause.
"And one of you," she added, tone dropping, "will be paired manually. Due to system interference."
The air chilled.
[ Group Override: Root Assigned to Lyra ]
Status: Compatibility – Low
Threat Index – Unknown
Summon Sync – Unstable
A ripple of murmurs filled the room.
Lyra stared straight ahead.
Root raised an eyebrow. "Manual pairing?"
The instructor's projection glitched for half a second.
"The system wants to see what happens when two anomalies collide."
Veyr stretched like a cat in the air.
"Oh good. A team project. Just what I needed: sparks, trauma, and a lecture on friendship."
The door to the simulation chamber sealed behind them with a hiss.
Lyra stood on the left platform, arms folded. Her electric rabbit summon hovered beside her—wings humming, ears twitching, gaze locked on Veyr like he was a loading screen that wouldn't end.
Root stood on the right platform. Calm. Detached. But inside, he felt it:
The system was setting him up.
[ Fusion Chamber: Scenario Prime 3-B ]
Initiates: Root (Unranked) + Lyra Vell
Summons: Veyr (Null-Type) + Arcelle (Voltage-Type)
Synchronization Compatibility: 14%
Threat Rating: Elevated
Outcome Probability: "Unmeasurable"
The arena shimmered—walls turning to smoke, stone folding into a canyon of shattered towers. Wind howled through broken rooftops. The sky was ink. The floor cracked with every step.
This wasn't a practice sim.
This was a memory.
Root's jaw clenched. "This is from the Rift."
Lyra glanced sideways. "You've seen this before?"
"It's where I almost died."
"Oh, fun," Veyr muttered, floating above the ground. "Let's do trauma bonding the hard way."
Lyra didn't respond. Her rabbit—Arcelle—launched a static field around them. Sparks flared off the edges.
"Sync with me," she said. "Try not to screw this up."
Root stepped forward, eyes flashing faint silver.
"I'm not the one pretending this is still a school."
Suddenly, the sim flared.
Dozens of constructs appeared—shadows in armor, featureless faces, blades shaped like regrets. They didn't move yet.
But they were watching.
[ Objective: Synchronize Summons. Survive. Overcome Bias. ]
Root looked at Veyr. "You ready?"
Veyr's eyes narrowed behind the mask.
"Always. But I don't sync with electricity. I delete it."
The first wave charged.
Arcelle darted ahead—lightning lancing through the first shadow.
Veyr drifted sideways—then dropped down like a void spike, folding a construct in half with gravity that snapped the ground open like glass.
Root and Lyra moved opposite of each other. No rhythm. No sync.
"Come on," Lyra muttered, dodging a slash. "Work with me—"
"You're not in control here," Root snapped, parrying with a ripple of null energy.
Arcelle screamed.
Not aloud—but through the system.
Veyr caught the noise, froze mid-air, and—
"Enough."
Suddenly, their summons collided—electricity surging into a vacuum, null folding around lightning.
And instead of canceling out?
They harmonized.
For three seconds, the battlefield went still.
Then exploded.
A wave of violet-null energy rippled outward, erasing every shadow construct in a 40-meter radius like paper caught in a gravity well.
Silence followed.
[ Synchronization Achieved – 68% ]
Status: Volatile, Adaptive
Note: "Repeat under pressure recommended."
Score: Pass
Root stood alone.
Lyra on the opposite side, panting slightly.
Her eyes met his.
Confused.
Impressed.
And something else.
Fear.
Not of him.
Of what they had just made.