Part 1 — The Return
Two months had passed.
Two months of relentless training under the demanding guidance of Master Calem, far from the ordinary life of Orion students.
Menma's muscles were more defined, his posture more grounded. His gaze had sharpened.The hesitant boy from before was gone.Something within him had changed.
During their final session, Calem placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"You're no longer the same as when you arrived.""You're ready."
Menma gave a small nod. Only one sentence came to his lips:
"I'm ready to prove I deserve this place."
A week before the end of the term.
In the Orion classroom, the air buzzed with restless murmurs. The trial was approaching fast.
Then, the door opened.
And silence fell.
Menma entered.
His body had changed—more athletic, upright, grounded.But it was his eyes above all: cold, determined, focused.Nothing like the trembling boy from the Revelation Ritual.
Menma had returned.
All eyes turned to him.
It wasn't just the physical changes or his newfound poise.It was the aura he now carried.Calm. Cold. Resolute.
At the back of the room, William blinked.
"Wait, is that…"
He suddenly stood up, pushing his chair back.
"Menma?!"
He stepped forward, eyes wide.
Murmurs burst out like cracks in a frozen lake:
— "That's him?"— "He really changed…"— "Looks like he survived two months in the Black Forest."— "Didn't expect that, honestly…"
"What did you eat, man?! You look like a battle tournament fighter now!"
A half-amused, half-impressed grin spread across William's face.
"Seriously, we all thought you'd dropped out or fallen into a magic vortex. You vanished without a trace and now you just… show up like nothing happened?"
Menma answered, voice steady:
"I was training."
William froze for a second, then exhaled softly:
"…You didn't just change on the outside, huh?"
In a quiet corner of the room, a girl with pale hair lowered her eyes as he walked past: Alina.She had never forgotten how he stepped in front of Zarek to protect her.
She clenched her fingers on her uniform. A faint smile touched her lips.
She had never gotten the chance to thank him.
Elsewhere, a group whispered among themselves:
— "I respect what he did against Zarek. Not many would've."— "Yeah, but now he's acting all high and mighty. Look at him—doesn't even glance at us."— "No, he's just focused. You can feel it—he's moved up a tier."— "Well, we'll see at the trial. He's playing the mysterious guy now… but he better back it up."
Opinions differed.But one thing was clear:
No one saw Menma as a background character anymore.
Part 2 — Calem's Announcement
The doors opened again.
Master Calem entered—sharp as a blade, his glasses gleaming with a hard light.
"Silence. Listen closely."
The atmosphere shifted in an instant.
"In one week, the end-of-term trial will take place."
A chill passed through the room.
"You won't be tested on scrolls or theory. You'll fight. Each of you will face a single opponent: a student from the Nova class."
He paused. Faces stiffened. Then, he said the name:
"Zarek."
The reaction was immediate:
— "What?!"— "Is this a joke?"— "That guy humiliated us in front of everyone!"— "You can't be serious!"
Menma clenched his fists.
Him again… he thought.
He felt Calem's gaze on him.
It wasn't a coincidence.This was a test—for him, and for everyone else.A chance to see who had grown since the incident.To crush fear, or awaken strength.
Calem's voice turned cold:
"There will be no ranking. No grades. Only one thing matters: the fight.""Win, lose, run… Everything will be observed. Show what you're truly worth."
He cast one last glance at the class, his eyes lingering only a second longer on Menma.
"I now leave you with Professor Sylvain. Today's lesson will cover Flux dynamics and their primary alterations."
Without another word, he exited.
Tension hung heavy, like a wire stretched to its limit.
Moments later, Professor Sylvain entered.
Unlike Calem, his aura was relaxed, almost eccentric: a gray robe covered in glowing symbols, tousled hair, and eyes that sparkled with restless intelligence.
"Alright, alright. Grimoires open to page 142."
"Today, we'll explore the fundamental schematics of raw Flux before any Arche influence. A crucial base for all advanced alteration work."
Complex circles lit up behind him on the magical board. Lines twisted, branched, overlapped.
But Menma wasn't following.
His pen didn't move. His gaze remained fixed on the page, unseeing.
His thoughts spiraled elsewhere. Back to those two months of pain, effort, and failure.To the nights when his body refused to move. To the errors. And to the rare, hard-earned sparks of progress.
And to her.
Why was no one speaking about her powers?Why had everything vanished—even her name?And her death… why did it feel deliberately forgotten?
Too many silences. Too much void.
And the more he grew, the heavier that silence became.
Yet…He had felt something.A light, maybe.Small. Fragile.But real.
If I keep moving forward, if I grow stronger… maybe someday, that silence will speak.
Calem's voice echoed in his mind:
"You must become strong. Not to prove yourself. But to understand."
Menma had stopped waiting for answers to come.
I have to rip them from the world. One by one. And for that, I need strength.
He raised his eyes to the board, where Flux patterns danced and intertwined.
Slowly, a sensation welled up.
A heat.Not rage.Not fear.Something deeper.
A light.Flickering.But real.
The light of a future where he would uncover the truth.Where he'd learn why everything had been erased.Where his mother would no longer be just a forgotten memory.
He finally picked up his pen.
He didn't write what Sylvain said.
He scribbled a single word, almost absentmindedly, in the corner of the page:
"Understand."
✧ Appendix — Silence in the Archives
A bluish lantern shimmered, casting trembling shadows across stone walls.
In a forbidden side hall of the archives, Calem slowly turned the pages of a thick grimoire, brows drawn together.
Arche records. Awakening registries. Lists of those who had marked Aeloria's history.
Nothing.
The name he sought was nowhere to be found.As if it had been erased from time.
He looked up at the dusty shelves, grave.
Not a line.Not a marginal note.Not even a copyist's error.Nothing.
And yet, he remembered.
A whisper. A forgotten debate among scholars.A name swept away too quickly.
A woman whose power could have rivaled Aeloria's most legendary mages.
Now, that name seemed to have never existed.
His fingers clenched.
How could such an erasure be possible? And why?
He slowly closed the grimoire.
A bad feeling coiled in his chest.
Someone had deliberately erased this woman from history.
And if there was one thing Calem hated more than lies...
It was imposed oblivion.