Priscilia didn't keep him waiting for long.
The moment Alex's emergency ping reached her, she immediately called back.
"Alright, Alex, breathe. I already heard the gist. She's not going to hurt you." she said, brushing aside his spiraling worry with casual certainty. "Elena found out you can use magic, right? I didn't expect anyone to figure it out this early… but if it had to be someone, thank the stars it was her."
Her tone stayed relaxed, but the underlying seriousness carried enough weight to unknot the tension further in Alex's shoulders.
Across the table, Elena raised an eyebrow—arms folded, expression balanced somewhere between amused, exasperated, and just a touch smug—as she watched Alex and Priscilia talk through the phone.
Afterwards, Alex sat opposite to Elena, his phone resting on the desk in speaker mode, projecting Priscilia's holographic figure beside him. It still amazed him how, in a world filled with magic and monsters, their technology somehow managed to put Earth's to shame.
Priscilia's projection mirrored her real self, folding her arms with a sharp look. "Anyway, Elena, mind telling me exactly what happened? How did you discover it?"
Elena shifted her attention from Alex to the hovering image. "I suspected it the first time I saw him up close today. After the spar, everything lined up. His reactions just confirmed it."
"Hah… of course," Priscilia muttered, rubbing her forehead with a sigh. "Your eyes really don't miss anything."
She aimed a pointed stare at Alex. "See? You're lucky. Anyone else would've made a big fuss."
Alex nodded weakly. 'Lucky… is one way to put it.'
The tension in the office eased—not completely, but enough. As Priscilia's hologram flickered softly, the atmosphere settled into something quieter, steadier—an unspoken negotiation forming between the three of them about what would come next.
Elena didn't waste time.
"So, why are you two hiding his magic talent?" she asked, slicing right into the question that had been gnawing at her ever since the spar.
Priscilia let out a long sigh and rubbed her forehead. "I guess there's no point hiding it from you anymore."
Alex tensed without meaning to.
Priscilia continued, voice calmer but noticeably heavier. "The thing is… he has affinity for Dark magic."
Elena didn't flinch. She absorbed the statement without so much as twitching, her gaze sharpening. "Dark affinity, huh. Rare, but nothing concerning on its own. With Alicia wrapped around him like a mother dragon, there's no real danger. So what exactly are you hiding?"
Priscilia hesitated, eyes flicking to Alex.
He gave a tiny nod.
Only then did she speak the real problem.
"The issue isn't what magic he has. It's how much of it. Alex has an SS-rank affinity for Dark magic."
The room fell dead silent.
"What…" Elena breathed, the disbelief striking a beat later, widening her eyes. "Unbelievable…"
She stared at Alex as though she were reassessing reality itself.
A weary exhale left her. "If this gets out, the entire world would band together to take you—whether to worship you, dissect you, or control you." Her voice dropped, solemn and heavy. "It would be chaos."
Alex swallowed, throat tight. 'Yeah… that's exactly the part I want to avoid.'
Elena softened her tone, the sternness easing. "As long as we're covering for you, your secret will stay safe."
Then, without warning, she added:
"But I want you to start using magic openly."
"What?!" Alex and Priscilia shouted at the same time.
Priscilia practically lunged forward in her holographic form, eyes wide. "You want him to use magic—openly?! Do you understand how suspicious that is when he's never shown a scrap of it before? And dark magic of all things!"
Elena shrugged as if the answer were obvious. "Why not? If he has the talent, he should use it properly. Hiding it will only stunt his growth."
She leaned back in her chair, completely unfazed. "And suspicions aren't hard to deal with. In a world overflowing with magic, miracles happen daily. We can fabricate a reason. A sudden awakening. Dormant potential. An old blessing activating. Divine intervention. Pick whichever story fits."
Priscilia stared at her with a blank look. "…You say that like it's normal."
"It is not normal," Elena admitted. "But something like that—" she pointed subtly toward Alex "—is sitting right in front of me."
Alex blinked, then leaned forward slightly. "What way exactly?"
Elena flashed Alex a confident smile. "Hmm… I actually haven't thought of anything specific yet."
Alex's brief spark of excitement died instantly. His shoulders slumped. "…Seriously?"
Elena waved off his despair with practiced authority. "Relax. I know exactly what you're both afraid of. But with me added to your backing, no one will be able to touch you."
Priscilia ignored the reassurance completely. Her hologram folded its arms as she leaned forward. "That aside—what's your motive? Why are you so insistent on him using magic openly?"
Alex also shifted his gaze toward Elena, curiosity quietly replacing panic. He'd wondered the same thing. Why go this far for him?
Elena didn't hesitate.
"First," she said, tone firm and almost motherly, "as a teacher—and as Principal—I refuse to let one of my students cripple his own growth. Talent like his should never be suppressed."
She paused.
"Second…"
Her eyes sharpened, a spark of excitement glinting through her otherwise composed demeanor.
"Initially, I wasn't certain. But after today? I want him to participate in the upcoming Nine Academy Tournament."
Alex blinked, and Priscilia's projection turned toward him at once.
"Let Alex decide," Priscilia said. "It's his secret, and his future. Does he want to hide his magic… or use it openly?"
Silence settled like a heavy blanket.
Alex lowered his gaze.
He had been running from this choice for months—ever since he arrived in this world. Hiding was safe. Comfortable. But suffocating. Deep inside, he had always known what he truly wanted.
"I… want to use it openly," Alex said quietly. Then, steadier: "I don't want to hide anymore."
Elena nodded, her expression satisfied and firm. Priscilia smiled softly, her eyes flickering with unmistakable pride.
"Then it's settled," Elena said. "We'll handle the rest."
After another round of back-and-forth—mostly revolving around Alex, his magic, and how he had gotten it in the first place—Elena finally leaned forward. She rested an elbow on her desk and fixed Alex with a steady, almost predatory gaze.
"With your potential," she said with absolute certainty, "if I train you myself, I can guarantee you'll reach A-rank in less than three months. And S-rank… won't take long after that."
Alex blinked. Hard.
"...So you want to take me as your student?"
Aurora floated closer, her smirk widening. "Well, it is only natural. With talent like yours, anyone would want to claim you as their disciple."
Priscilia's holographic smile twitched.
She could already see it—the moment Alicia returned from the labyrinth and found out. Still… given Elena's seniority and experience, Alicia shouldn't mind.
Well, she definitely would. That was a future disaster waiting to happen.
And Priscilia—being Priscilia—was absolutely not going to stop it. Why would she? This was top-tier drama material.
Alex, meanwhile, frowned thoughtfully. "But… you don't seem to have an affinity for either Dark or Ice. So how would you teach me magic?"
Elena blinked once, then shrugged with the kind of confidence only someone who routinely breaks the natural order could have.
"So what? I can't help you with Dark magic or Ice magic specifically, but I can still teach you magic." She crossed her arms. "If it's magic and fighting, I can teach it."
Priscilia nodded, adding in a voice that was both encouraging and faintly cautionary, "Your Principal Elena has… an unreasonable amount of teaching experience. She's even trained multiple S-rank adventurers."
Aurora chimed in immediately, hands on her hips. "Of course, aside from me, when it comes to magic knowledge, she's the best you could possibly get."
Alex stared at the three of them.
…This was escalating very, very quickly.
And somehow, he felt like his life was about to become much more brutal—and much more chaotic.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Alex finally stepped out of the Principal's office, the door closing behind him with a soft, echoing thud. The tension in his shoulders—built from panic, disbelief, interrogation, and a whole stack of unexpected revelations—slowly began to bleed away with each step he took down the quiet corridor.
By the time he reached the dorm wing, the last of the adrenaline had drained from his system, leaving behind a strange, almost surreal blend of exhaustion and exhilaration humming through his veins.
Tomorrow, Elena would begin training him.
That alone was enough to make his stomach twist with a mixture of fear and excitement.
But now that everything had finally settled… the real reason for his excitement resurfaced, bubbling up with renewed intensity.
The system.
The updated system was waiting.