# **Chapter 5: The Interrogation of Lightning**
## **The Headmaster's Wrath**
The air in the Headmaster's office was thick with tension, the scent of aged parchment and burning incense doing nothing to mask the hostility radiating from the gathered professors.
Headmaster Aldric sat behind his massive obsidian desk, fingers steepled, his piercing silver eyes locked onto Ethan. To his right stood Professor Yvrelle, her thin lips pressed into a disapproving line. To his left, Professor Dain—the combat instructor—crossed his arms, his scarred face unreadable.
**"Let us begin,"** the Headmaster said, his voice like rolling thunder. **"Ethan Gale. You cast two Supreme Tier spells today. Spells that require decades of study, spells that even some of our senior professors struggle with. Explain."**
Ethan kept his expression carefully blank. He had anticipated this.
**"I don't know what tier they were,"** he said, feigning confusion. **"I just… remembered them."**
A beat of silence.
Professor Yvrelle's eyebrow twitched. **"You *remembered* them?"**
Ethan nodded slowly, letting his gaze drop to the floor as if recalling a painful memory. **"Last night, I had a dream. My father—before he died—he showed me two spellbooks. The Holy Knight Shield and Heaven's Descent. I didn't think much of it, but when Rolan attacked me… the spells just… came to me."**
The professors exchanged glances.
Headmaster Aldric leaned forward. **"Your father? The man who abandoned you as an infant?"**
Ethan clenched his fists slightly—just enough to sell the act. **"I don't remember much. Just flashes. But in the dream… he wasn't the man people say he was. He was strong. A mage. Maybe even…"** He trailed off, letting the implication hang.
**"A high-tier spellcaster,"** Professor Dain finished, his voice gruff.
**"Impossible,"** Yvrelle snapped. **"The Holy Knight Shield is a sacred spell of the Astral Order. It hasn't been taught outside their temples in centuries!"**
Ethan shrugged. **"I don't know about that. I just know what I saw."**
The Headmaster's eyes narrowed. **"And you expect us to believe that after two years of being unable to cast even the simplest Spark, you suddenly mastered two Supreme Tier spells from a *dream*?"**
Ethan met his gaze. **"I don't expect anything. But it's the truth."**
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Then—
## **The Mind Probe**
Headmaster Aldric's staff glowed ominously. **"We shall see."**
Before Ethan could react, a surge of foreign energy **speared into his mind**, tearing through his thoughts like a blade. The Headmaster's magic was relentless, searching for deception, for hidden knowledge, for any trace of dark arts or stolen power.
Ethan gritted his teeth.
*"System. Can you hide the Infinite Point System from him?"*
**[Affirmative. Deploying mental barriers.]**
The pressure in Ethan's skull lessened slightly as the System erected an impenetrable shield around its presence. The Headmaster's magic scraped against it, finding only what Ethan **allowed** him to find—fragmented memories of a dream, half-remembered images of a man who might have been his father, and the raw, unfiltered terror of facing Rolan's flames.
After what felt like an eternity, the Headmaster withdrew, his expression unreadable.
**"Well?"** Yvrelle demanded.
Aldric's fingers drummed against the desk. **"He believes what he's saying."**
Dain frowned. **"That doesn't mean it's true."**
**"No,"** the Headmaster agreed. **"But it does mean he isn't lying."**
Another tense silence.
Then—
## **The Verdict**
Headmaster Aldric stood, his robes billowing. **"Ethan Gale. Until we determine the truth of this matter, you are hereby forbidden from participating in unsupervised spellcasting. You will report to Professor Yvrelle daily for evaluation. And you will **not** use those spells again without explicit permission. Understood?"**
Ethan bowed his head. **"Understood."**
**"Dismissed."**
As Ethan turned to leave, the Headmaster's voice stopped him one last time.
**"Oh, and Ethan?"**
He glanced back.
Aldric's smile didn't reach his eyes. **"Sleep well tonight. I'll be watching your dreams."**
---
### **The Shadow's Gaze**
Ethan stepped into the moonlit hallway—and immediately sensed her.
Lirien Veyne leaned against the far wall, her silver eyes gleaming like daggers in the dark.
**"A dream?"** she mused, pushing off the wall. **"How… convenient."**
Ethan didn't stop walking. **"Believe what you want."**
She fell into step beside him, her voice a whisper. **"I don't believe in coincidences. And I don't believe in *dreams* that gift Supreme Tier spells."**
Ethan smirked. **"Then I guess we'll find out who's right."**
Lirien's fingers brushed against his arm—light as a spider's touch, but laced with something **cold and dangerous.**
**"Oh, we will,"** she promised. **"Sweet dreams, Ethan Gale."**
Then she was gone, vanished into the shadows.
Ethan exhaled.
The game had just gotten **a lot more complicated.**
---
### **Next Chapter Preview:**
- **The Nightmare Watcher:** Headmaster Aldric invades Ethan's dreams—but what he finds **terrifies him.**
- **Lirien's Hunt:** Rolan's sister begins her own investigation, and she **plays dirty.**
- **The System's Warning:** Upgrading spells has consequences… and Ethan's body is **starting to rebel.**
**End of Chapter 5.**