Morning in the inner wing arrived without sunlight.
Instead, a low chime echoed through the corridors, soft but insistent, vibrating faintly through the stone. The runes along the walls brightened in response, shifting from dull gray to a muted silver glow.
Phaeros opened his eyes immediately.
Across the room, Rhaelis was already sitting up, hair tied back neatly, expression alert. She met his gaze for a brief moment before looking away, as if embarrassed to be caught ready.
"You didn't sleep," she said.
"Neither did you."
A pause.
"…Fair."
They dressed in silence, the quiet between them no longer awkward but charged with unspoken awareness. Whatever had begun forming between them last night wasn't trust yet — but it was close to its shadow.
The corridor outside was already active.
Other provisional students emerged from their rooms, some whispering, others tense. The atmosphere felt sharper than before, like a blade drawn halfway from its sheath.
At the far end of the hall stood Deyron.
He looked exactly as he had the night before — calm, unmoved, as if time passed differently around him.
"Follow," he said simply.
They did.
The training hall was different this time.
The suppressive runes still lined the floor, but additional markings had appeared overnight — tighter circles, layered sigils, intersecting patterns that radiated subtle pressure.
The air hummed.
Power was being regulated, not blocked.
Deyron stopped at the center and turned to face them.
"Today, you learn control," he said. "Not technique. Not strength. Control."
His gaze swept across the group.
"Power is not a weapon. It is a response. If you cannot command the conditions under which it responds, it will command you."
A few students shifted uncomfortably.
From the far side of the room, a tall boy with cropped dark hair scoffed quietly.
"Sounds like something people say when they're afraid of real strength."
Several heads turned.
Phaeros recognized him instantly — not by name, but by the shape of his presence. Aggressive. Assertive. The kind of person who naturally gathered followers.
A future problem.
Deyron's eyes flicked to the boy.
"Your name."
"Kassien," he said without hesitation. "Kassien Rault."
The name carried weight. Noble, or close enough to it.
"And your concept?" Deyron asked.
"Force amplification."
A murmur rippled through the group.
Kassien smiled faintly, clearly enjoying the reaction.
Deyron regarded him for a long moment. "Step forward."
Kassien did, confidence radiating from him.
"Activate."
The air around Kassien thickened. His muscles tensed, veins standing out as power surged through him. The runes on the floor flared in response, compensating.
Cracks spiderwebbed faintly along the stone.
A few students flinched.
Deyron raised a hand.
The pressure collapsed instantly.
Kassien staggered back, surprise flashing across his face.
"You see?" Deyron said calmly. "Power without restraint collapses under its own excess."
Kassien clenched his jaw but said nothing.
Deyron turned his gaze to the group. "You will pair up. One stabilizes. One acts."
His eyes landed briefly on Phaeros.
"You. Pair with Rhaelis."
A subtle pause rippled through the room.
Rhaelis glanced at Phaeros, then nodded once.
They stepped forward together.
The rest of the group paired off quickly, some with obvious reluctance.
Deyron gestured toward a marked circle. "Your task is simple. Maintain stability while attempting controlled manifestation. If the array spikes, you fail."
He looked directly at Phaeros.
"You will act second."
Of course.
Rhaelis stepped into position first.
She inhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as faint, threadlike lines of pale light shimmered briefly around her hands. Her expression tightened — not from pain, but focus.
Phaeros felt it immediately.
A tension in the air.
A pull.
Her power reached outward instinctively, searching for structure.
It brushed against him.
Just barely.
And reacted.
Her bindings tightened, responding to something they couldn't define. She stiffened, eyes widening slightly.
"Something's wrong," she whispered.
Phaeros took a slow step closer.
"Don't fight it," he said quietly. "Just… hold it."
She hesitated, then obeyed.
The threads steadied, trembling but intact.
Deyron watched closely, eyes sharp.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Phaeros stepped into the circle.
The moment he did, the runes dimmed slightly.
Not failing.
Adjusting.
A subtle pressure pressed against his awareness — a familiar sensation — and beneath it, something deeper stirred.
Not power.
Structure.
He felt it as a shape rather than a force.
A folded presence, curved inward.
Protective.
Waiting.
His breath slowed.
He did not reach for it.
Instead, he did something different.
He aligned with it.
The effect was subtle — almost invisible — but immediate.
Rhaelis' trembling bindings steadied.
The threads stopped straining.
The pressure in the room equalized.
A faint hum filled the air.
Silence followed.
Deyron's eyes widened just slightly.
Across the room, Kassien scowled.
"That's not fair," he muttered. "He didn't even do anything."
Deyron didn't respond right away.
He watched the two of them for several long seconds.
Then, quietly: "Exactly."
He raised a hand.
The array disengaged.
The pressure lifted.
Rhaelis exhaled sharply, bracing herself on her knees. Phaeros reached out instinctively, steadying her elbow.
Their hands brushed.
The contact lingered for a fraction too long.
Rhaelis looked up at him, breath caught.
"…Thank you," she said softly.
He nodded, withdrawing his hand a moment later than necessary.
The room felt different now.
Charged.
Unsettled.
Deyron addressed the group again.
"This is what control looks like. Not dominance. Not excess."
His gaze flicked briefly to Kassien.
"But alignment."
Kassien's jaw tightened.
The look he shot Phaeros was sharp, calculating.
Not hatred yet.
Interest.
The dangerous kind.
Deyron clasped his hands behind his back.
"This concludes the first lesson."
He paused.
"Tomorrow, we test limits."
A murmur rippled through the room.
Deyron's eyes met Phaeros's one last time.
"And some of you," he added quietly, "will discover exactly how much you've been hiding from yourselves."
The students were dismissed.
As they filed out, Phaeros felt the faint, familiar pressure return — not heavy, not hostile.
Amused.
Waiting.
Rhaelis walked beside him in silence until they reached the corridor.
Finally, she spoke. "You didn't overpower anything back there."
"No."
"You didn't suppress it either."
"No."
She stopped walking and turned to face him fully.
"Then what did you do?"
Phaeros met her gaze.
"I listened."
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then, slowly, a small, incredulous smile tugged at her lips.
"That might be the strangest answer you've given yet."
He smiled faintly in return.
Somewhere deep inside, the folded presence shifted again — approving, patient.
And far beyond the academy walls, unseen forces adjusted their attention.
Because something subtle had just changed.
Not a surge.
Not a revelation.
A direction.
And that was far more dangerous.