The moment the pressure peaked, she released it.
A burst of energy shot out of her. It was sharp, loud, and impossible to ignore.
Even the air cracked.
The stone beneath her feet shuddered. Candles flared violently. Papers flew off the council table. The Maesters, including Roldar, gasped out loud as one.
Silence followed.
A hot, stunned second passed. No one moved, breathed, or dared to inhale.
Then one of the Maesters leaned forward slightly, squinting at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle he did not like.
"Did you just fart?"
Arin blinked once.
When she opened her eyes and saw their horrified, stunned faces, she had thought she had done something great. Something powerful.
Not something greatly embarrassing.
She cleared her throat and straightened from the pose she had been holding.
Roldar made a sound that might have been a cough. Or a prayer. Hard to tell.
"I did not," Arin said calmly.
Another Maester covered his mouth. Someone else turned away entirely.
"Because," the first continued, undeterred, "there was a sound."
"And a force," another added.
"And a smell?" someone else muttered, already offended.
"There is no smell," Arin said through her teeth. That much was true, at least to her. She wasn't perceiving anything foul. Which felt important.
"Then how do you explain the guards behind you on the ground," one of the Maesters yelled, "or the looming foul cloud above your head?"
Arin turned around to see what the fuss was about.
The guards who had been standing by the door were now crumpled on the ground, blood streaming from their noses.
Her stomach dropped.
Then she looked up.
Her eyes widened.
The thing looming above her didn't look foul. Sure, it had a greenish shape, and there was an unmistakable heat radiating from it, but it looked… fine. Contained. Almost calm. Respectable, even.
Just then, the cloud shifted.
It started moving toward the Maesters.
The room erupted into an uproar.
Roldar, who had been standing at her side moments ago, was now behind the Maesters, cowering slightly and holding his nostrils shut, as if that would somehow help. Or save him.
But he did not maintain that position for even ten seconds before the Maesters, who were already retreating, backed into him. On noticing him behind them, they shoved him forward without ceremony.
"You brought her here," one of them barked, "and you cultivate air. Make it go away."
Color drained from Roldar's face. "But I need the actual substance to move air—"
"That is enough air substance," another snapped. "Move it. Now. It's getting closer."
Roldar turned back to the cloud, which was now an inch from his head.
With a shaky cry, he raised his hands and forced his will forward.
The cloud resisted.
Roldar groaned, sweat breaking out along his brow as he poured everything he had into shifting it. Inch by inch, it moved toward the window. But when it reached the glass, it did not pass through as he intended.
The wall around the window crumpled outward instead, as if struck by a violent blast.
The cloud shot through the opening and slammed into the open land outside, the impact resounding across the Academy grounds.
Roldar straightened slowly, wiped the sweat from his face, and turned back to the Maesters.
He did not step anywhere near Arin again.
The Maesters returned to their seats one by one, their eyes never leaving her. A tense silence followed, broken only by Arin's faint shuffling as she adjusted her stance nervously.
Then one of the Maesters spoke.
"We will," he said carefully, "ignore the… delivery."
His gaze locked on Arin. Then it drifted to the guards struggling to their feet, then to the open space where a window used to be.
"But we will not ignore the power."
Arin swallowed. Her fingers curled at her sides.
"It is obvious," she said slowly, choosing her words with care, "that I do not know how to cultivate properly. I don't even know how to use magic yet."
No one interrupted her. The Maesters simply watched.
"But if something like that"—she gestured vaguely toward the ruined wall—"can happen without intent, then it should also be obvious that I do not fall under the category of under."
A quiet murmur rippled through the table.
"One accidental release," a Maester said thoughtfully, "was enough to incapacitate guards and damage Academy grounds."
Another leaned back. "Which means once trained, the outcome is… unpredictable."
Roldar spoke before Arin could react. "Then does that mean he should be placed above?"
The Maester at the center shook his head. "Not yet."
Roldar stiffened. "Why not?"
"Because power without understanding is neither above nor below," the Maester replied. "Until we know what he can do, and what he cannot, his placement remains undecided."
The doors opened before anyone could respond.
Rhory, Tiago, and Koa stepped inside.
They stopped.
Their eyes moved over the room. The shattered wall. The unsettled Maesters. The guards wiping blood from their faces.
Then, slowly, their attention settled on Arin.
"Perfect timing," One of the Maesters said, clasping his hands together, then turned to Arin. "Until your placement is decided, you will remain housed under supervision."
Arin blinked. "Under supervision?"
"You will remain with your current roommates."
The words barely landed before the boys reacted with an unpleasant grunt.
Arin's eyes widened, not liking where the conversation was going. "Actually—"
She started to say, but the Maester had already shifted his gaze from her to the boys. "Since you are currently the highest-ranked students," he said, pausing just long enough to glance at Arin, "you will guide him. Train him. Teach him how to cultivate."
Arin stepped forward without thinking. "Please. Not them." she let out desperately, almost forgetting to use her baritone to assert a male voice. "Pair me with anyone else."
Before the Maester could respond, Rhory spoke.
"It would be our honor to train him to his full potential." he said and bowed respectfully. making Tiago and Koa… bow too hesitantly.
When Rhory straightened, his gaze trailed to where Arin stood and his lips curved slightly, making her stomach drop.
"We will take very good care of him." he added without breaking eye contact.
Arin stiffened. That did not sound good. At all.
She inhaled, and turned away from him to the Maesters, ready to object.
"You are dismissed," one of the Maesters said.
The finality in his tone left no room for argument.
Roldar bowed and the boys did too.
Arin hesitated, then followed. Dismissed meant dismissed.
Outside the hall, Arin and Roldar walked ahead, the boys trailing behind them, whispering among themselves.
She hoped—quietly, desperately—that Roldar would walk her all the way to the dorms. For a few precious steps, it seemed like he might.
Then Rhory fell into step beside him.
Arin stiffened.
"You must be exhausted," Rhory said pleasantly. "It's been a long day."
Roldar waved a tired hand. "Yes. Yes, it has."
"We'll take Arin from here," Tiago said, moving closer. "Show him around. Get him acquainted with the Academy."
"And feed him," Koa added with a grin. "Roommates should bond."
Roldar looked relieved, the tension visibly leaving his shoulders. "That would be wonderful."
He patted Arin's shoulder and walked off without another glance.
The moment he was gone, the space around her changed.
The boys closed in.
Rhory stepped slightly ahead of her. Tiago took her left. Koa her right.
Tiago leaned closer.
"Shall we go on a tour?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
Arin didn't return the smile.
She already knew.
There was not going to be a tour.