The hall outside the Headmaster's office was silent, too silent for a place that usually hummed with mana. Light filtered through tall windows, painting the marble floor with shifting colors. Every few seconds, a faint vibration rippled through the air, like the heartbeat of the Academy itself.
I stood there, waiting. My hands were clasped behind my back, though the faint shimmer around my left palm betrayed my restlessness. The memory of the crystal's light still lingered on my skin. It hadn't just reacted to me. It had recognized me.
The door opened with a whisper.
"Enter," came a calm, low voice.
Inside, the office looked nothing like I'd imagined. It wasn't cluttered with scrolls or relics. It was simple, spacious, and lit by a single orb floating near the ceiling. The air smelled faintly of ink and lavender.
Behind a wide desk sat the Headmaster. His hair was white, but not from age. His eyes, pale gold and sharp, studied me the way a scholar studies a mystery.
"Erian Thalos," he said quietly. "Please, sit."
I obeyed, though my pulse quickened. There was something about him, something ancient that pressed against the edges of my mind. I felt as though the air itself bent slightly around him.
"You caused quite the commotion this morning," he continued. "Your resonance reading was… unprecedented."
"I didn't mean to cause trouble," I replied carefully.
He smiled faintly. "I believe you. But meaning and consequence are not always aligned."
He tapped his fingers once on the desk. A thin sheet of mana appeared above it, displaying the readings from earlier. I recognized the faint traces of silver light curling across the projection like smoke.
"Tell me, Erian. Have you ever experienced uncontrolled magical surges before?"
I hesitated. "Not like this."
"Hmm." He leaned back. "Then you understand why this is concerning. Your output does not match any known elemental or celestial pattern. In fact, your mana signature partially overlaps with a restricted domain."
My breath caught. "Restricted?"
He nodded. "Starborn resonance. A phenomenon tied to ancient constellations, sealed since the War of Empyreans. It should not exist within a living vessel."
I swallowed. "So what does that make me?"
His gaze softened, but it didn't comfort me. "That's what I intend to find out."
He stood and walked to the window, looking out toward the sprawling academy below. "You come from the Thalos line. A family known for strong earth and wind mages. Yet your affinity is unlike theirs. Almost as if something foreign merged with your core."
Foreign.
That word echoed inside me.
I wanted to deny it, but deep down, I already knew.
Aster's power wasn't gone. It was inside me.
The Headmaster turned back to face me. "For now, you are to refrain from using direct mana channeling in public exercises. I will assign a mentor to oversee your control training. Until then, you are not to attempt any independent rituals or resonance testing."
I nodded, though a quiet frustration burned inside me. "Understood."
"Good," he said, though his eyes lingered on me longer than they should have. "You may go."
As I stood to leave, his voice followed me. "Erian, one more thing."
I paused.
"The stars are shifting again. Whatever path you walk, be careful where it leads."
Outside the office, the corridor felt colder. My reflection on the polished floor looked pale and uncertain. I touched my chest, feeling the faint warmth beneath the uniform. The mark was still there, hidden, pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat.
Somewhere far above, beyond the glass ceiling of the academy, the constellations moved.
And one of them was calling my name.
The training hall smelled faintly of cold metal and dust. Rows of crystalline conduits lined the walls, their surfaces etched with ancient sigils that pulsed like slow, steady breaths.
I stood in the center, still unsure why the Headmaster had sent me here.
Then a door slid open at the far end of the chamber, and a man stepped out.
He was tall, his black coat trimmed in silver. His hair, streaked faintly with starlight, caught the glow of the conduits as he approached. One of his eyes gleamed with a mechanical lens, the other a deep shade of gray that seemed to hold entire galaxies.
"You're Erian Thalos," he said, voice low but firm.
"Yes, sir," I answered.
He studied me for a moment, then sighed. "So you're the one who nearly fried the entire resonance grid this morning."
My face flushed. "It wasn't intentional."
He smirked. "Good. That means there's still hope for you."
He walked past me, brushing a hand across the conduits. The sigils responded, glowing brighter in a ring around the chamber.
"I'm Kael Vyrin," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Instructor for advanced mana manipulation, and apparently, your new babysitter."
"I don't need a babysitter," I muttered.
He raised a brow. "Then don't act like someone who does."
I bit back a retort.
Kael gestured to the center circle. "Sit. Cross your legs, close your eyes, and don't resist whatever happens next."
I hesitated. "What are you going to do?"
"Find out what's living inside you."
His words sent a chill through me, but I did as he said.
The air shifted. The conduits dimmed until only a faint silver glow remained. I felt a tug beneath my ribs, gentle at first, then stronger. It wasn't Kael's magic, it was mine, responding instinctively.
"Breathe," he said softly. "Let it flow."
I did.
And suddenly, the world dissolved.
The floor vanished beneath me, replaced by an endless expanse of stars. My body felt weightless, drifting between constellations that pulsed like living beings.
"Do you see it?" Kael's voice echoed somewhere far away.
"I… I think so," I whispered.
A shape moved within the starlight. A massive figure, wings unfolding like ribbons of fire and shadow. Its eyes, twin orbs of molten gold, met mine.
The same presence from that night.
Aster.
But this time, it spoke.
"You shouldn't be here."
My heart pounded. "What are you?"
"Bound to you," the voice rumbled. "And yet… you are unprepared."
A violent pulse rippled through the void. My body jerked. I gasped, opening my eyes to find Kael kneeling in front of me, his hand pressed to my chest.
"Stop it!" he hissed. "You'll tear your own core apart!"
The conduits around us flared white. Cracks spidered along the sigil floor as arcs of light surged toward the ceiling.
I tried to control it, to pull the magic back inside, but it fought me, wild and alive.
Then Kael struck the ground with his palm, releasing a wave of golden runes that slammed into me like a seal.
The power collapsed.
Silence filled the hall once more.
Kael exhaled sharply, wiping sweat from his brow. "Well," he muttered, "that answers that."
I coughed, still shaking. "What… did you see?"
He studied me for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
"Something that shouldn't exist," he finally said. "And something the Academy will want to keep quiet."
My throat tightened. "So what happens to me now?"
Kael turned away, adjusting the lens in his eye. "For now? You learn control. And you learn fast."
He looked back at me, his voice low, almost a whisper. "Because if you don't, the stars will eat you alive."