The courtyard of Ironcrest Academy trembled beneath the roar of summoned flame.
Runes etched into the arena floor pulsed orange, forming the maze of the Flame Guantlet— a trial of fire meant to push aspiring warriors to there limits. It wasn't just about strength. It was about control.
Senko Yuhira stood at the edge of the platform, adjusting the grip on the academy -issued practice blade. Around him, dozens of students whispered.
"There's the freak"
"The fucking weirdo Purple Eye showed up?"
"Bold to him to think he won't get burned alive."
He said nothing. However never did. There words rolled of him like ash in the wind— but the look in there eyes, the fear, always struck a nerve.
THEY DON'T SEE ME. THEY SEE IT
"Don't let them get in your head" came a voice beside him.
Liora Eyn
Bright auburn hair pulled into a tight braid, cloak swept over one shoulder, she leaned in close and jabbed a meat into his hand.
Senko blinked "You seriously brought snacks to the Flame Guantlet?"
"You skip breakfast when your anxious so shut the fuck up and check" she chuckled.
Despite himself, he smiled.
From the far side of the arena, Rin Asher's strutted forward in his pristine silver uniform, golden-blonde hair practically glowing under the morning sun.
"Well, well," Rin called, voice rich with arrogance. "Didn't think the demon spawn would actually crawl out the bed."
Senko didn't answer.
"Your gonna fight with your creepy stare, Yuhira?" Rin taunted. "Or just whisper to your to your imaginary friend again?"
Koru Fen, another classmate and resident spell-slinger, muttered, "Rin must have his ego permanently stuck up his ass."
Liora snorted.
A deep horn sounded.
All chatter died instantly.
On the balcony above, Master Duran stepped forward — tall, muscular, cloaked in scorched steel and fur. His voice boomed like thunder:
"Trial of Flame. Begin."
The runes ignited, and the floor split apart.
———————————————————
Flame pillars shot up around the students. Pathways twisted and shifted, forming a chaotic maze. Spinning blades. Heat-sealing fire wisps. Illusions.
Senko bolted into the first hallway.
He dodges a burst of flame, ducked under a falling wall, rolled past a burning trap rune.
He was fast. Sharp. But the flame felt… wrong.
It wasn't just heat.
It was watching him.
A corner of the path shimmered. The air bent.
Suddenly the maze twisted — his path changing shape, warping as though reality had just blinked.
He stopped dead.
Around him the walls turned black. The fire turned purple.
And he was alone.
————————————————————
A scream echoed in the distance — no not a scream. A laugh. Familiar. Monstrous.
"Again?" Senko whispered.
LET ME HELP
The voiced clawed into his mind.
THEY HATE YOU. LET ME BURN THEM.
His hands trembled. He clenched them until his nail cut his palms.
"You're ur not real."
I AM YOU
The hallway split open, revealing a vision — Jenkiora, in ruins. Screaming citizens. Burning buildings. Demons soaring through ash-filled skies.
At the center of it all stood a boy
HIM
With glowing purple eyes standing on a throne of bones.
Senko stumbled back, choking on air that felt like fire.
"No. No, no—"
Flames surged towards him.
Instincts kicked in.
Senko slammed his blade into the ground, channeling every ounce of will into a protective barrier.
For a moment, the fire hesitated.
And then— it recoiled.
The illusions shattered.
He was back in the trial.
Real fire roared from above, collapsing a stone arch. He dove forward, rolled under it, and burst out the other side of the maze — coughing, singed, but alive.
————————————————————
A crowd had already gathered at the finish line.
Run was polishing his blade, only mildly sweaty. Zeph Oren stood off to the side, arms crossed, watched Senko like he was studying a puzzle that need solving.
Liora ran over, eyes wide. "Senko— are you okay?"
"I…I'm fine."
"You're shaking."
"I'm fine."
From the balcony above Master Duran leaned towards Mistress Valien, her face pale.
"That's wasn't normal flame he faced," Valien muttered.
"His aura warped the trial."
Captain Rhys, nearby, growled, "we're sitting on a goddamn powder keg. If that demon wakes up—"
Thorne Calix appeared behind them, robes flowing like a shadow.
"It won't. Not yet."
————————————————————
Back on the ground, Ron shoved past Liora, smirking "Awfully dramatic finish, Yuhira. Did the Fire ask for your autograph?"
Senko didn't look at him
Rin's grin faltered.
That night, in the silence of the dorms, Senko sat in his bed starting at his hands. His fingers tingled. Not from heat— but from power. From something that wanted out.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror across the room.
One eyes glowed faintly violet.
And for a second.
He saw something smile back.
The reflection's grin was wrong — too wide, too calm, too knowing.
Senko blinked.
Gone.
Just his face again, pale in the moonlight. Just his tired eyes, one still humming with a hint of cursed color.
He tore his gaze away and buried his face in his hands.
"Now now" he whispered. "Not again."
But the silence responded with a whisper only he could hear.
YOUR SLIPPING, BOY. AND THE DEEPER YOU FALL, THE EASIER IT GETS TO RISE.
He didn't sleep. Not really. Only drifted in darkness, each breath shallower than the last, as if even his lungs were afraid of what lurked inside of him.
————————————————————
When dawn broke over Jenkiora, the sky was stained orange and violet, as if fire still lingered in the clouds. Ironcrest Academy stirred awake with the clang of bells and training blades.
Senko walked through the courtyard like a ghost.
Students parted without needing to be asked. Some averted their eyes. Others whispered. None stepped close.
Only Liora approached.
"You didn't answer my knock" she said, keeping her pace beside him.
"I didn't sleep."
She studied him. "It happened again, didnt it?" Whatever you saw in the gauntlet."
He said nothing.
But silence, to someone who truly cared, was always a confession.
"Senko…" she touched his arm gently. "You can talk to me, you know that, right?"
He almost said something.
But a burst of laughter across the years drew their attention.
Rin stood surrounded by a group of upper-rank students, recounting the trial like it was a tavern tale.
"And then Yuhira screams like a banshee and just — boom! Collapses the whole damned wall! Thought he was gonna summon hellfire and eat someone."
Laughter.
Senko's jaw clenched.
Liora did too. "Ignore him."
"I always do," Senko muttered. "But he knows something's off. They all do."
Liora lowered her voice. "If you don't want them to fear you, then prove them wrong."
He looked at her — not with anger, but something deeper. Sadder.
"I'm not sure I can anymore."
————————————————————
Later that morning, the ranking results from the Flame Gauntlet were posted on the central marble pillar.
Senko found his name near the bottom of the pass list. Rank D+, barely qualifying for the next level of training.
Rin, of course, was second overall. Zeph Oren ranked fourth. Liora landed an impressive Rank B, surprising many.
Koru was the only one visibly frustrated. "A damn D? You nearly set the whole Gauntlet on fire!"
"Exactly," Senko said quietly. "They don't know what I did — they're just scared of what I could do."
Behind them, Mistress Valien appeared silently. "Power without control is not strength, Yuhira. Be glad you passed at all."
Senko turned to her, hesitant. "What… did I face in there?"
She paused, eyes narrowing like a hawk.
"You tell me."
Then she walked away, robes swirling like smoke behind her.
————————————————————
That evening, when the halls were mostly quiet, Senko found himself walking — not aimlessly, but pulled by something. A thread in his chest. A whisper he couldn't quite resist.
It led him to the eastern wing of the Academy — a place students were told to avoid. Locked halls. Sealed doors. Old walls that breathed magic.
He moved past statues of long-dead kings and warriors, following the thrum in the air.
Eventually, he stopped before a stone door etched with seven stars and a single, vertical slit — shaped like an eye.
He pressed his palm against the center.
Warmth answered.
Then, a voice.
"You seek truth."
He breath caught in his throat.
"But truth is a blade. Cut to deep, and you will not survive what bleeds out."
Then silence.
The door remained closed.
He stepped back.
But something inside him — not the demon, but him — whispered back:
"I'm not afraid of bleeding anymore."
————————————————————
Back in the instructor chambers, Headmaster Thorne stood before a glowing table, runes swirling above the wood like mist.
A tiny orb pulsed violet — faint, but growing.
Mistress Valien entered behind him. "He's found the Door."
Thorne nodded.
"Too soon?" she asked.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps exactly when he needed to."
Captain Rhys leaned against the wall. "You're gambling a lot on the boy."
"I'm not gambling," Thorne said, turning. "I'm preparing."
"For what?" Rhys asked.
The Headmaster's eyes glinted.
"For the day the seal breaks — and the world has to decide whether Senko Yuhira is its savior… or its executioner."