The sky was still cloaked in pre-dawn darkness when Alden stepped onto the academy's outer training grounds. A faint chill lingered in the air, and the dew on the stone tiles glistened under the dim lantern lights. Despite the stillness around him, his heart thudded with anticipation. Today marked the first official day of lectures.
He had risen two hours before sunrise, just as he always did back home. Old habits rooted in discipline and solitude. But here, at the Royal Academy, things felt different—bigger, more significant. He wasn't just training for survival anymore. He was training for greatness.
Alden preferred to train his aether in solitude, shielded from curious eyes. But privacy was a luxury granted only to the top ten students—those whose names would be carved on the mid-semester leaderboard. Until then, he had to share the open grounds with everyone else.
Drawing in a slow breath, Alden dropped into a meditative stance. He centered himself and began circulating aether through his body, drawing it in from the morning air like threads of energy. The flow was slow, reluctant. The ambient aether at this hour was still faint.
One by one, his other friends came, greetings were exchanges .But, Alden kept to himself, pushing his body and spirit until sweat clung to his brow. When the bell rang from the central tower, they all began dispersing to their respective floors to prepare for class.
Back in his dormitory, Alden finally slipped into the official uniform of the Royal Academy for the first time.
It was elegant and minimalistic—jet-black with deep crimson accents trailing down the sleeves and cuffs. The golden crest of the academy, an ornate emblem of a sword piercing a book, shimmered subtly on the chest. The fabric felt impossibly light, almost like silk infused with aether, adapting to the wearer's body.
He gave himself a quick glance in the mirror. In that moment, he didn't look like the boy who'd once scraped by in a border village. He looked like a student of the most prestigious magical institution in the Ironhold Kingdom.
After a quick breakfast in the mess hall, he walked through the academy's vast corridors toward his first lecture.
The classroom was shaped like a miniature amphitheater, with rows of crescent-shaped desks rising in tiers. Magical lamps embedded in the walls provided soft, white light. The walls themselves were etched with runes, softly pulsing—likely spell wards to suppress uncontrolled aether surges.
Students had already begun taking their seats, most clustering in familiar groups—regions, families, noble affiliations. The air buzzed with the hum of eager conversation and nervous energy.
Alden's eyes scanned the room and landed on a familiar figure. Avan sat alone near the middle tier, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk.
The others weren't there.
Alden approached and nodded. "Mind if I sit?"
Avan glanced up and gave a quiet smile. "Not at all."
Moments later, Lysa entered, her face as expressionless as ever, and chose a seat behind them. No words were exchanged. Just a silent acknowledgment. Then came Veydan, late but unbothered, plopping down beside Lysa with a yawn.
And then the room hushed.
The door opened, and a tall man in obsidian robes stepped inside.
His presence was commanding—not from his appearance, but from the sheer weight of aether radiating off him like heat from a furnace.
"I am Eon Duskrend," he said, walking to the center of the room. "A five-circle mage, and your instructor for this course. And yes—if the name sounds familiar—it's because I hail from the Duskrend Dukedom."
A few murmurs rippled through the room. The Duskrend family was one of the high nobility.
"This course will serve as your foundation in magic theory—particularly spell formation, aether control, and the history of awakened magic. But today, we begin with the core—aether itself."
He paused and surveyed the room, his gaze sharp.
"I assume all of you know what aether is. It's the invisible energy present in all things—earth, air, water, life. And most of you have already awakened, reaching the first circle. That's why you're here. But here's the question: if aether is everywhere, why can't everyone absorb it?"
A girl from the southern row raised her hand. "Because not everyone awakens."
"Correct," Eon nodded. "But why? If aether is free and flowing, why are only a few chosen to wield it?"
Another student added, "Maybe because they're not destined for it? Like they weren't chosen by fate or the gods?"
Eon chuckled. "A common belief. And partially true. You see, in ancient texts, we learn that thousands of years ago—when the gods still walked among us—humans were weak. We had no need for power. The gods protected us from beasts, demons, and other threats."
He raised his hand and projected an illusion in the center of the room—a shining, angelic figure descending upon a battlefield.
"But when the gods ascended and left this world, they saw the dangers humans would face alone. And so, in their mercy, they unlocked certain pores within the human heart—tiny spiritual gates that allow us to absorb and channel aether."
Gasps filled the room.
"Yes," Eon continued, "we had these pores all along, dormant and sealed. And only a few were gifted with their activation. Over time, especially after the Great War, the number of awakened increased dramatically. Today, almost every child awakens by the age of ten. But it was not always so."
A hand shot up. "So… did the gods give us this gift after they left? Why would they hold it back?"
Eon looked around, inviting the class to think.
"Anyone else?" he asked.
Alden stood up slowly. "Because they feared us."
The room quieted.
"They feared that if we all had power, we'd no longer need them—or worse, we'd rise against them. If everyone could absorb aether, who would worship a god that no longer protected them?"
There was silence. Even Eon seemed briefly surprised.
A slow smile curved on the instructor's lips. "Precisely."
He turned back to the illusion and waved it away.
"Shrines, temples, prayers—all declined as more humans awakened. Power shifts belief. That is the truth we live in."
For the remainder of the lecture, Eon introduced core concepts—how to sense aether in the environment, techniques to refine control, and the basic structure of aether-based spells. He performed a few demonstrations, igniting flames from thin air, condensing them into a glass orb, and then snuffing them out with a thought.
By the time the lecture ended, the students were buzzing with excitement.
As they filed out, Alden couldn't help but glance back at the podium. For the first time in his life, he felt something stir—not just excitement, but the faint promise of power. Of destiny.
And he would chase it.