Magic Control Class was held within the Crystal Hall, a massive dome of glass and mana-infused stone, glowing faintly with the essence of spells cast by centuries of mages. Inside, the air shimmered with raw potential, a humming resonance that responded to intention, will, and power.
Selene sat cross-legged on the polished floor like the rest of the first-years, but she knew her presence felt like a scratch on a flawless mirror.
The instructor, Lady Veyra a master of elemental convergence walked among the students like a gliding flame. Her violet robes whispered with woven enchantments. Her eyes glowed faintly, a sign of direct mana circulation through the ocular nerves.
"Today," she announced, "you will be learning to control ambient mana. Not from within but from around. Master this, and you'll no longer just use magic you'll command it."
The room tingled. The ambient mana responded to her words like a well-trained hound.
Selene felt the sting of mana pressure immediately. Like being caught underwater. Like drowning in silence. Most of the nobles smiled, raising their palms, closing their eyes with practiced ease. Their family techniques had drilled this into them since birth.
Selene had no such privilege.
[System Notice: Ambient Mana Density = High. Recommend deep-focus breathing to avoid disruption.]
Her hands trembled slightly. She remembered what Averine had said the night before. "It's not about strength. It's about rhythm. Magic has a pulse."
She closed her eyes. Focused.
Inhaled slowly through her nose. Out through her mouth. Again.
The mana stopped biting. It shimmered around her now. Not friendly—but curious.
"Form your affinity signature," Lady Veyra called. "Let your element speak."
One by one, the air shifted around each student. Flame bloomed like petals around one. Water spiraled gently above another. Lightning cracked in precise lines.
Selene reached for hers and her shadow responded.
It curled upward like smoke from a forgotten grave. Her mana was thick, heavy. Cold. It dragged across the floor and coiled around her wrists like shackles.
Students around her flinched. One scooted slightly away.
[System Notice: Shadow Affinity Registered. Mana Type: Dense. Control: Unstable. Potential Threat Level: Moderate.]
Selene gritted her teeth. "No. Control it. Make it yours."
But the shadow refused to obey. It didn't lash out but it didn't listen either. It shimmered with echoes of pain. Of anger. Of all the things she never got to say. It was her but feral.
Lady Veyra stopped in front of her. Her gaze was unreadable."Your mana bleeds," she said softly. "You hold it like it owes you something."Selene said nothing.
"You mustn't fear it," Veyra continued. "But if you let it feed on your rage, it'll consume you."
Selene looked away, but her fingers dug into the floor.
The room shifted as the instructor moved on. Across the dome, the students resumed their exercises. Selene tried again.
"Calm. Control. Pulse," she whispered.
The pressure in the room changed.
Someone new had entered.
Footsteps echoed in the dome.
Sir Elian.
She didn't have to look. The silence that followed his entrance told her enough. Even the ambient mana stilled around him, as though shy.
"Sir Elian," Lady Veyra greeted with a respectful tilt of her head. "Come to observe or to teach?"
"A little of both," came the calm reply. "The Principal requested it."
He walked past Selene without pausing. But she felt his gaze.
Not warm. Not cruel. Just observant. Like a blade watching its next target.
[System Alert: Proximity Detected: Elian Rhys Caelus. Emotional Resonance: Flat. Curiosity: High.]
Selene forced her shadow back down. Focused. Dug deep.
She remembered pain. Hunger. Her brother's cry. The echo of the knife. The blood.And her shadow responded.
It didn't rage ,it hummed.A ripple of dark tendrils slid over her skin like ink. They didn't lash. They shaped. They formed. A perfect circle at her feet, binding runes appearing in quiet defiance.Lady Veyra's eyes narrowed. "Selene Verline."
She nodded once. "Present."
A faint smile flickered on the instructor's lips. "Control achieved. Well done."
[System Update: Shadow Circle Spell Formed. Mana Control Level 2 Achieved. New Skill Acquired: Inkbind.]
[Stats Updated] Strength: 13
Speed: 14
Magic: 23
Control: 18
Endurance: 21
Resistance: 15
Elemental Affinity: Shadow (Dense Mana Type)
As class ended, Selene rose in silence, ignoring the stares. Sweat clung to her back. Her breathing was ragged. But inside, something was lighter.
She had forced the magic to listen.
She wasn't like them.
She wasn't born for greatness.
But she would drag herself into it, clawing if she must.
And from across the dome, Elian watched her go.
Not with admiration.
But with calculation.
[System Ping: Subject Selene Verline—Mana Growth Detected. Instability Decreasing. Potential = Growing Threat.]
Solinar's voice murmured in Elian's mind.
"She's climbing."
Elian narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then why not eliminate her now? She's weak, untrained."
Solinar's voice was sharper this time. "Because, Saint Elian, if you kill her before she blossoms... the balance will tip. You cannot break what hasn't reached its full shape. Nareon knew what he was doing. Her existence is a thread one wrong cut, and everything unravels."
Elian's jaw clenched.
"Then I'll climb faster."
The battle hadn't started yet.
But the race had.