Magus Elowen walked with regal purpose through the crystalline corridors of Dawnspire Academy, her ivory robes sweeping behind her like a trail of moonlight. Elias followed a few steps behind, his breaths uneven, his hands clammy. Every surface of the hallway—walls veined with mana, torches that burned without fire, enchanted statues—seemed sharper than before. He could see subtle runic engravings inside the torches, each glyph revealing the spell matrix sustaining the flame. He could sense the resonance of mana crystals locked deep within the walls. His perception did not feel expanded—it felt invaded.
"Your talent is active," Elowen said without turning. "Suppress it."
Elias stiffened. "I… I don't know how."
Elowen finally stopped. She turned, her cold silver eyes piercing through him like needles.
"You must learn," she said sharply. "Immediately. Before your mind fractures."
He swallowed hard. He didn't care what she thought, but he cared what she meant. His mind… fracturing? The pressure behind his eyes pulsed like a heartbeat. Standing here, surrounded by raw magic and ancient conduits, felt like standing inside a raging storm.
Lena kept pace next to him; she had refused to leave, and surprisingly, Elowen hadn't stopped her. Lena's hand brushed against Elias's arm.
"I'm here," she whispered.
He nodded weakly.
Elowen resumed walking.
---
They reached the Hall of Minds, a perfectly circular chamber where transparent crystal mirrors formed the walls. Dozens of glowing runes hovered around the ceiling like drifting fireflies. Elias felt nauseous as soon as he entered.
The reflections in the mirrors moved slightly differently than he did.
Not perfectly mirrored.
A fraction delayed.
And worse—some of the reflected "Eliases" weren't moving at all.
"Elowen," he whispered fearfully, "these mirrors… they're wrong."
"They are Mind-Gazing Crystals," the Magus replied calmly. "They react to mental instability and spiritual sensitivity. Which is precisely why we are here."
Lena shivered behind him. "I don't like this place…"
"Good," Elowen said. "Fear focuses the mind."
She gestured and a circle of runes lit up under Elias's feet.
"Sit."
Elias obeyed.
The Magus approached one of the crystal mirrors, placing her hand upon it. The runes inside flickered, rearranging into new shapes that made Elias's head ache simply by looking.
"Elowen," he said quietly, "everything hurts. My eyes. My skull. My veins. And the whispers—they're still there."
Lena sucked in a breath. "Whispers?"
Elias pressed a hand to his temple. "Like… like my mind is a pond, and someone keeps throwing stones into it. Ripples that aren't mine."
Elowen nodded.
"Ominous Wisdom is not a passive talent. It is active, intrusive, and fundamentally incompatible with mortal consciousness. The more magic you sense, the more unstable your mind will become."
Elias's heart tightened.
"So I'm doomed."
"No," Elowen said firmly. "Not doomed. Dangerous. Untamed. And possibly useful."
He didn't take comfort from that.
"Lena," Elowen said suddenly. "Leave the chamber."
"No." Lena clasped Elias's shoulder. "I'm not leaving him alone."
Elowen turned her gaze on her with enough force to make even Lena falter. "If his talent surges again, it could crush your mind in seconds."
Lena swallowed, but she didn't withdraw her hand.
"I still won't leave him."
Elowen eyed her for a long moment, then sighed.
"As you wish. But stay near the wall and do not interfere."
Lena moved aside but kept her eyes locked on Elias.
Elowen faced him again.
"Elias Verdan," she said softly. "Focus on my voice. Nothing else. Do you understand?"
Elias tried to nod but stopped; the slight motion made the mirrors ripple.
"I'll try," he whispered.
Elowen raised her hands. Runes gathered, spinning around her fingertips like miniature stars.
"We will begin by identifying how your Ominous Wisdom manifests. Each version differs slightly. Tell me what you perceive."
Elias inhaled deeply.
He closed his eyes.
The moment he did—
A thousand images surged into him.
He saw doors opening and closing. Pages turning. Unknown faces whispering to one another. He saw the architecture of spells unraveling. He saw the memory of the mirror. He saw futures splitting like cracks in glass.
His eyes flew open and he gasped, coughing violently.
Lena rushed forward. "Elias!"
Elowen stopped her with a gesture.
"Stay back," she commanded.
Lena froze, trembling with suppressed emotion.
Elias wiped his mouth. "I—I can't shut it out. It's like… like the world is too loud."
"Then describe it," Elowen repeated. "What is 'loud'?"
Elias hesitated.
Then spoke.
"I can see everything," he said quietly. "Things I shouldn't. The runes on your robe—they're shaped to disguise your mana signature from divination spells. The mirror in that corner shows a future where I'm screaming. The lantern above you is coated with a spell to hide its own heat. And…"
He swallowed hard.
"And your heartbeat is irregular because you're pretending not to be afraid."
Lena inhaled sharply.
Elowen's expression didn't change.
"Good," she said simply. "You can already perceive truth beyond normal senses. That confirms it. Your talent manifests as All-Sight Interference—a form of forced hyper-perception."
"What does that mean?" Elias whispered.
"That you are seeing more than a human mind is meant to handle."
Elias closed his eyes tightly. "I want it to stop."
Elowen nodded once.
"And it can be controlled. But only through discipline stronger than instinct. I will guide you through stabilizing it."
She leaned forward.
"Tell me what hurts the most."
Elias pressed his hands to his temples.
"The futures," he whispered. "They don't stop. Every time I look at someone, I see dozens of branching possibilities. Death. Life. Betrayal. Accidents. Miracles. It's like… like every moment hides a thousand more."
"That is probability-sense," Elowen murmured. "Very rare. Very dangerous."
"It feels like my head is splitting open," Elias choked.
Elowen raised both hands, forming a complex seal.
"Then we will start by limiting your perception."
A ring of runes flared to life above Elias's head.
"I will impose a Mind-Binding Seal. It will not harm you, but it will suppress your talent temporarily so you can breathe."
Elias closed his eyes in relief.
"Please… please do it."
The seal descended toward his forehead—
—and then the mirrors screamed.
Not in words.
Not a sound humans should hear.
High, shuddering, cracking tones that felt like knives scraping inside the skull.
Lena covered her ears with a cry.
Elowen staggered.
Elias fell off the platform, clutching his head as agony tore through him.
The runes above him shattered like brittle glass.
"What—what is happening?" Lena yelled.
Elowen steadied herself, eyes wide.
"It's him," she whispered. "His talent is rejecting suppression!"
The crystal mirrors flickered.
Dozens of reflections of Elias turned their heads in unison.
All of them.
And they all stared at the real Elias.
Then—
they smiled.
Elias screamed as the reflections leaned forward, their mouths opening in silent laughter.
The light in the chamber dimmed.
Renegade runes swirled.
Elowen swore under her breath.
"No! He's overloading!"
She formed a rapid series of hand seals and sent waves of stabilizing mana toward Elias. The spells hit his body but dissolved instantly, as though swallowed by an unseen force.
"He's absorbing the stabilizers?" Elowen hissed. "Impossible!"
Elias gasped, his breathing shallow.
The reflections began stepping out of sync, each moving independently.
Lena took a terrified step forward. "Elias!"
The real Elias grabbed his head as something inside him snapped.
And suddenly—
Everything stopped.
The mirrors froze.
The runes froze.
Even Elowen's spells hung motionless in the air.
Lena was stunned mid-step.
Only Elias moved.
Or rather…
Only his mind moved.
He stood in a space of infinite black, the mirrors replaced by countless stars. A presence lingered behind him—vast, cold, ancient.
Look.
The voice was not spoken.
It was a command carved into the fabric of his consciousness.
Elias turned.
An enormous Eye, larger than mountains, peered down at him with a gaze that stripped the world of meaning. Its pupil was a swirling galaxy, its iris an endless night sky.
You see too little, the Eye said without words. Let me show you more.
"No!" Elias shouted. "No, I don't want more!"
But the Eye did not care what he wanted.
A sliver of its gaze fell upon him—
—and Elias saw everything.
Millions of moments of his future—dying, living, crying, screaming, laughing—collapsing into each other.
Wars he had never heard of.
Lands he would never see.
Monsters older than kingdoms.
Secrets buried beneath the sea.
The downfall of the Kingdom of Dawn.
And his own shape—twisted by madness, or crowned by enlightenment—standing atop mountains of corpses or leading armies of light.
It was too much.
Far too much.
His mind cracked.
The Eye spoke one last time:
Wisdom is a burden. Carry it well… or be devoured.
And suddenly—
Everything resumed.
The mirrors cracked violently.
The stabilizing runes collapsed.
Elowen crashed backward.
Lena fell to her knees in panic.
And Elias—
Elias slumped to the floor, unconscious, smoke rising from his fingertips as though he had touched lightning.
---
He awoke to darkness.
Not the comfortable darkness of sleep.
The heavy, suffocating darkness of someone trapped in their own skull.
His breath came out ragged. His head throbbed in waves.
Lena's voice drifted to him through the haze.
"Elias? Elias, please wake up…"
Her hands cupped his face.
He forced his eyes open.
She let out a sob of relief. "Thank the gods…"
Elias blinked, vision swimming, but the mirrors no longer rippled. The runes were dim. The chamber was quiet.
Elowen approached cautiously.
"Your consciousness collapsed," she said. "But you stabilized on your own. That should be impossible."
Elias wanted to speak but couldn't.
Elowen knelt, placing her hand above his chest.
"Your mind… reorganized itself," she murmured. "Like a broken mosaic rearranging into a new pattern."
She hesitated.
"How much do you remember?"
Elias swallowed.
Everything.
He remembered the Eye.
He remembered the visions.
He remembered futures no mortal should witness.
But he couldn't say any of that.
Instead, he whispered:
"Too much."
Elowen nodded grimly.
"So the legends were true. The Ominous Wisdom does not grant clarity. It grants overwhelming insight. And only those with extraordinary mental fortitude survive the first surge."
Lena squeezed his hand.
"What happens now?"
Elowen stood.
"Now?" She sighed. "Now we determine whether Elias remains himself."
Lena's jaw clenched. "He is himself."
"For now," Elowen corrected softly. "But his mind has touched something divine. Or demonic. Perhaps both. Each use of his talent risks eroding his identity."
Elias tried to sit up. Lena supported him.
"Elowen…" he said slowly, "what… what if I can't control it?"
The Magus looked at him with a mixture of fear and fascination.
"Then, Elias Verdan… you may become the greatest sage this world has ever seen."
Her eyes darkened.
"Or the harbinger of its destruction."
Elias's hands shook violently.
He had not asked for this.
He had not trained for this.
All he wanted was a normal life.
But the Eye…
The Eye saw him.
And it was still looking.
---
That night, as he lay in the isolation chamber, Lena asleep beside his bed and Elowen watching from the shadows, Elias stared at the ceiling.
And the Eye whispered.
Wisdom comes with a price.
He felt his sanity tremble.
But he also felt something else—
Resolve.
"I won't be devoured," he whispered to the empty room. "No matter what you are… I won't let you control me."
The whisper faded.
But not entirely.
And Elias understood something then:
If he wanted to survive…
If he wanted to stay human…
If he wanted to keep his mind…
He would have to learn to wield the Ominous Wisdom—
before it consumed him.