The weeks that followed brought changes to every aspect of life at the Lumina Academy.
Classes that had once been theoretical became practical. Students who had spent their time studying now spent it fighting—against each other, against simulated enemies, against the darkness that lurked in the corners of every practice ring. Teachers who had been kind became stern. Teachers who had been stern became harsh.
And at the centre of it all, Finn trained.
Master Thorne pushed him harder than ever before. Each morning, Finn climbed to the spire and spent hours learning to control the fused crystal's power. Each afternoon, he practised with his friends, learning to fight together, to trust each other, to become a unit that could face any threat. Each evening, he collapsed into bed, too exhausted even for nightmares.
But he was growing. He could feel it—the power flowing more easily, the elements responding more readily, the crystal pulsing with a strength that had nothing to do with borrowed light.
"You're ready for the next stage," Master Thorne said one morning, after a particularly gruelling session. "It's time you learned about the Source."
Finn looked up, his heart pounding. "The Source? The origin of all magic?"
"The same." Master Thorne settled onto his cushion, his ancient eyes serious. "The Source is not a place, not exactly. It is a convergence—a point where the five elements meet and merge, where magic is born and reborn. It is hidden, protected, accessible only to those who are pure of heart."
"And you think I can find it?"
"I think you must." The old man leaned forward. "The Void cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. It can only be sealed—sealed with power greater than its own. The Source is the only power in existence that might match the Void's darkness."
Finn touched his crystal. "How do I find it?"
"You follow the compass in your blood. The same compass that led you to Lumina, that led you to your mother, that has guided you from the beginning." Master Thorne's eyes held his. "The Source is calling you, Finn Merton. Can you not feel it?"
Finn closed his eyes and reached inward. Beneath the warmth of the crystal, beneath the pulse of his own magic, there was something else—a whisper, a pull, a direction he couldn't name but couldn't ignore.
"Yes," he breathed. "I feel it."
"Then follow it. When the time comes, follow it, and it will lead you where you need to go." Master Thorne rose. "But first, you must learn to protect yourself. The journey to the Source will be dangerous. The Void will try to stop you. You must be ready."
"I will be." Finn's voice was steady. "I'll be ready."
That afternoon, Finn found his friends in the practice yard, sparring with intensity he'd never seen before. Elara moved like water, flowing around attacks, striking when least expected. Theo fought with his mind as much as his body, anticipating every move before it came. Briar was a fortress, her stone-armour impenetrable, her counterattacks devastating.
They were beautiful. They were terrifying. They were his.
"Finn!" Elara spotted him and waved, her face bright with sweat and joy. "Come join us. We're practising formations."
Finn stepped into the yard, and for a few hours, he forgot about the Void, about the Source, about the weight of destiny. He fought beside his friends, moved with them, trusted them. And in those moments, he understood what his mother had meant.
Love. Connection. Trust. These were weapons the Void could never wield.
That night, Finn dreamed of the Source.
He stood in a place of pure light, surrounded by elements that danced and swirled in patterns too beautiful to comprehend. Fire and water merged without conflict. Air and earth embraced without resistance. And at the centre, a crystal—not like his, but greater, vaster, infinite—pulsed with the heartbeat of creation itself.
Come, the crystal seemed to say. Come find me. Come claim what is yours.
Finn reached out, and the light swallowed him.
He woke with the dawn, the crystal blazing on his chest, his father's voice echoing in his mind.
Remember who you are. Remember what you carry. The light—
The light would guide him. The light would save him. The light would become the weapon that defeated the darkness.
He rose, dressed, and went to face whatever the day would bring.