January 16th, 2012 — 1:00 PM
Asura Academy Medical Clinic
Perspective: Kaiser
The clinic smelled of sterilized linen and low-grade healing potions.
It was peaceful.
I sat in a padded chair beside the single occupied bed, my posture perfectly relaxed.
The heart monitor hummed a steady rhythm. The white sheets shifted.
Rigel Ravin gasped, his eyes snapping open.
His body jerked instinctively, trying to sit up, but the movement was immediately punished. He let out a sharp hiss of pain, falling back against the pillows. His right arm was heavily casted, suspended in a stasis sling. His shoulder was wrapped in thick, glowing bandages.
He blinked, his eyes darting around the sterile white room before landing on me.
His pupils dilated in utter disbelief. "Why are you here?" he rasped, his voice rough. "Where am I?"
"The clinic," I said, my voice completely flat. "Your right wrist suffered a severe comminuted fracture. Your brachial joint was forcefully dislocated, and the radial nerve was nearly severed. The healing mages managed to piece it back together, but you won't be lifting a broadblade for at least six weeks."
Rigel stared at me, the events of the dark dome rushing back to his eyes. The defiance, the calculation, the absolute, crushing defeat.
His breathing hitched. He frantically reached for his Dwarvian Phone resting on the bedside table with his good hand.
"I wouldn't bother," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Leena has already passed."
Rigel's hand stopped mid-air. He let out a long, shuddering breath, his head falling back against the pillow. The tension bleeding out of his muscular frame was palpable.
"Thank god," he whispered.
He closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them again, the mercenary focus was back, sharp and suspicious. "Then why are you here, Kaiser? You won. You broke me. Are you here to gloat?"
"I simply wanted a calm chat," I said neutrally. "And to thank you."
Rigel frowned. "For what?"
"For skipping the first phase pairing," I replied. "By deliberately avoiding my name, you forced the system to grant me a free win."
Rigel gritted his teeth. "So you know."
"It was obvious," I continued. "The moment I stated I scored a 95 on all academic subjects and systematically tore apart your guilt-driven motivations regarding Leena's exile, your survival strategy shifted entirely."
I tilted my head, watching his expression carefully. "You realized you could not beat me in a physical confrontation. So, you decided to win the academic phase instead."
"Why shouldn't I?" Rigel spat, his voice rising in anger. "You're a crazy bastard who's been playing the fool! You lied about your combat skills, you read my entire history like a book, and you held back perfectly until the barrier was sealed. You were going to fail us both to protect Elfie. I had to secure an academic life!"
"Oh?" I said softly. A faint smirk touched my lips. "Let's see your fate, then."
I nodded toward the Phone.
Rigel snatched the crystal device off the table. He tapped the screen, his thumb shaking slightly as he pulled up the live broadcasting results for the academic phase.
He scrolled down to his opponent's name.
[Kaiser Everhart]
[Elemental Mastery: 30]
[Arcane Sciences: 31]
[Geo & Ley Lines: 30]
[Cursed Arts: 32]
[Celestial Magic: 30]
[Arcan Mathematics: 31]
[Total: 184]
Rigel froze.
The air in the clinic seemed to drop ten degrees. He stared at the screen, then looked up at me, his eyes wide with absolute horror.
"You..." he choked out. "You barely passed the baseline."
"Yes," I said. "I hit exactly the minimum required score to avoid immediate failure."
"But... you said you got 95s!" Rigel shouted, clutching the phone. "You deduced the hidden rules! You knew everything about the grading system!"
"I did," I agreed calmly. "And counting on the sheer desperation of my bluff, I knew exactly how you would react. Knowing how thoroughly I had cold-read you and Leena, you were terrified. You were terrified of leaving her behind and failing. You assumed my academic threat was just as absolute as my physical one."
"Why wouldn't I believe that?!" Rigel yelled, his voice cracking with emotion. "Your combat skills, your reading, your deductions—they were all perfect! You used that against me?!"
He scrambled to pull up his own scores, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps.
[Rigel Ravin]
[Elemental Mastery: 72]
[Arcane Sciences: 75]
[Geo & Ley Lines: 70]
[Cursed Arts: 71]
[Celestial Magic: 74]
[Arcan Mathematics: 86]
[Total: 448]
He had abandoned his plan to fail. He had gone all out, scoring highly on every subject to ensure he beat what he thought was my 95 average.
"You scored a 448," I noted. "A highly respectable score. Unfortunately, your random opponent was not me."
Rigel's hands trembled as the screen refreshed, displaying the final duel matchup for the academic phase.
[Rigel Ravin vs. Lucas Reindhardt]
"Lucas..." Rigel whispered.
"Misfortune finds its way, even on the darkest nights," I said softly.
Rigel tapped the name. The opponent's scores populated the screen.
[Lucas Reindhardt]
[Elemental Mastery: 96]
[Arcane Sciences: 95]
[Geo & Ley Lines: 91]
[Cursed Arts: 95]
[Celestial Magic: 95]
[Arcan Mathematics: 96]
[Total: 568]
The numbers glowed with brutal clarity. 568 points. A perfect tie with Rose Valentine for the highest academic score in the entire examination.
[Academic Winner: Lucas Reindhardt]
"I have 0 lives left..."
The Phone slipped from Rigel's hand, clattering against the pristine white floor.
He stared blankly ahead. The realization hit him like a physical blow. He had lost the combat phase to me. He had lost the academic phase to a monster of equal standing to the Princess. He had failed.
"Leena..." he whispered, his voice breaking. "I promised her... I promised I'd stay with her..."
Tears welled in his intense, focused eyes. The mercenary toughness dissolved, leaving only a broken, guilt-ridden boy who had just watched his entire future collapse. He buried his face in his good hand, his broad shoulders shaking violently as quiet, agonizing sobs filled the sterile room.
I remained perfectly still in my chair, watching him cry.
He engineered a trap for us, I thought, my expression entirely flat. He deemed Elfie an acceptable sacrifice for his own peace of mind.
This level of absolute misfortune...
That should be enough to break that spirit of his.
I reached over to the bedside table, pulling a single tissue from the sterile white box. I held it out to him.
"Do you want a tissue to cry, princess?" I asked, my voice soft.
Rigel's head snapped up.
The sorrow vanished, instantly replaced by a blinding, feral rage. He death-stared me, his eyes bloodshot and completely wild.
"I'll kill you," he snarled.
He lunged forward, throwing his weight off the mattress with his good arm. But the sudden torque pulled violently on his dislocated shoulder. He let out a choked gasp, the agonizing pain forcing him to collapse back against the pillows, panting heavily.
I let out a soft, quiet sigh.
I pulled my Phone from my pocket, tapping the crystal screen before turning it around to face him.
"Look," I said.
Rigel gritted his teeth, refusing to look at first, but the bright blue glow forced his eyes downward. He stared at the public leaderboard profile displayed on my screen.
[Rigel Ravin: 1 Life]
He stopped panting. The rage evaporated into sheer, unadulterated shock.
He scrambled for his own Phone on the floor, dragging it up with his good hand. His thumb slipped twice on the crystal surface before he finally opened his own status page.
[Rigel Ravin: 1 Life]
His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "But..." He looked at me, completely bewildered. "But I failed the academic phase... I have zero lives."
"You won the physical match," I stated calmly.
Rigel stared at me as if I had spoken in tongues. "BUT HOW?!" he shouted, his voice echoing loudly in the quiet clinic. "You broke me! You dismantled my entire guard! You were standing over me when the timer ran out!"
"I withdrew," I said, putting my phone away. "I tapped the yield button at the exact last minute, right before you dropped unconscious."
"Why?" Rigel breathed, gripping the sheets. "Why would you do that?"
"You may not have seen Elfie and me as true allies," I said coldly, crossing my legs. "But Elfie saw Leena as a friend. She genuinely liked her. The absolute last thing I want to do is expel the person she calls her friend. So, I ensured Leena's protector survived."
Rigel looked down at his phone, his mind racing to process the absolute absurdity of the situation. He scrolled frantically to check the remaining results.
He saw my name.
[Kaiser Everhart: Passed - 1 Life]
Then, his eyes darted lower.
[Elfina Lunaris: 0 Lives]
[Elfina Lunaris — Expelled]
He blinked, clicking into the academic duel records from Phase 1.
[Celestial Magic]
[Leena Grelynn: 90 | Elfina Lunaris: 72]
Rigel's head snapped up, his jaw dropping. "You... you allowed her to fail?!" he screamed.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my expression carefully blank.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Rigel spat, pointing his finger at me. "You did the Celestial Magic exam for her using the Alliance Clause! Just like I did for Leena's Celestial Magic test! So why the hell did she score so low?!"
"I'm not that smart with magic," I said, offering a small, helpless shrug. "It was misfortune."
"Bullshit!" Rigel demanded, slamming his fist against the mattress.
"You hit exactly the minimum passing grade on your own test! You knew exactly what you were doing! The person you call your friend is right out there in the courtyard, broken and crying because she failed, and you're sitting in a clinic having a calm chat with me?!"
He glared at me with absolute disgust. "How cruel can you be?"
I stared back at him. The temperature in the room plummeted.
"The sooner Elfie realizes this place is entirely out of our league, the better."
Rigel froze, shocked by the sheer coldness of my tone.
"Look at the leaderboards," I instructed. "Lucas Reindhardt. Rose Valentine. They didn't just win their combat matches. They won them within 10 seconds. Their academic scores set the bar and broke the limits of the grading system. This academy is not a playground."
"How could you let her fail just for that?!" Rigel demanded, his voice trembling with fury.
"Don't you care about her dreams? Don't you care why she came here?!"
"Do you even know why Leena came here?" I asked, reversing the question flawlessly.
"Yes!" Rigel shouted. "She wants to graduate from this academy with prestige! She wants to earn the purity and dignity of a high sorcerer so she can visit her parents again! And I want to help her do that because she is my friend!"
He pointed a shaking finger at me. "While you... you're a backstabber. You sabotaged Elfie because you think the people here are too far above your league. You may be smarter and stronger than me, Kaiser, but you're no man."
He spat the words out like venom. "You're a coward."
I didn't react. I simply looked down, closing my eyes.
Elfie just wants to be the Celestial Midnight, I thought into the quiet darkness behind my eyelids.
It's a title. She wants to become stronger. That's it. Nothing special, no deep-rooted personal motive. For a simple goal like that, I could easily help her. But the sheer hard work, the brutal mental pressure of this academy... it would destroy her.
It's far better she gives up here.
Rigel was breathing heavily, unable to speak further as the pain and anger caught in his throat. Finally, he threw the blankets off his legs.
"I'm taking you to her right now," he growled, struggling to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.
"It's about time," I nodded, standing up smoothly and brushing off my uniform. "All the results have been fully published."
I turned toward the door, my face an unreadable mask.
I still don't get why Elfie is so exceptionally persistent about coming here, I wondered as I stepped out into the bright hallway. It's the one thing I don't fully understand—her true motive. Whether it is solely to get strong, or if there is something else entirely driving her.
Either way, I've sown what is to come.
Now, it is time for the aftermath.
---
June 2nd, 2008 — Lunchtime
The Orphanage
Perspective: Elfina Lunaris (Age 6)
I poked at the thick stew with my wooden spoon, but my eyes just kept sliding right back to him.
Ever since Kaiser came to the orphanage last year, everything changed. The caretakers started bringing him thick, heavy books—ones with tiny letters and absolutely no pictures. He read every single one. Especially the ones about Celestial Magic. He stayed up later and later, pages turning long after the lanterns went out. He ate less, too. Sometimes I'd catch him just staring at his plate like it was a puzzle he didn't want to solve.
He looked so tired.
My Kai never looked tired before.
I scooped up a big spoonful of stew and held it right in front of his face.
"Kai," I said, pouting so hard my cheeks physically hurt. "Open up."
He blinked, like he was coming back from somewhere incredibly far away. "Hm?"
"You're not eating again." I waved the spoon closer to his nose. "I've been watching. You only took two bites. That's not enough! You're gonna get all skinny and I won't be able to hug you properly."
A tiny smile tugged at his mouth—the kind that made my tummy feel warm and fuzzy. "You're not eating either, Elfie."
I huffed loudly. "Mine can wait. Yours can't. I'm your bestie, remember? It's my job to make sure you eat."
He raised a single eyebrow, that teasing spark finally back in his blue eyes. "Bestie, huh? Since when?"
"Since always," I said, scooting my wooden chair closer until our knees bumped under the table. "Now stop being stubborn and eat before I feed you like a baby bird!"
Kai stared at the spoon, then at me. He let out a soft sigh—the kind he only used when I won.
Slowly, he leaned forward and took the bite. I watched every single chew, smiling so big my face almost split in half.
"Good boy," I whispered, already loading up the very next spoonful. "See? Not so hard."
He rolled his eyes, but he kept eating. He took slow, careful bites while I kept talking endlessly about how the clouds looked like giant sheep today, and how I was going to draw us flying on them later. Every time he tried to stop, I just pushed another spoonful closer until his bowl was almost completely empty.
By the time we finished, my heart felt completely full, too.
---
June 2nd, 2008 — Evening
Evening came fast. The other kids were outside chasing each other and yelling loudly, but Kai slipped away toward the new bookshelves in the corner. I followed a little behind him, trying incredibly hard not to trip over my own feet like I always did.
Miss Liora was there, stacking the last wooden crate. Kai walked right up to her.
"Did the celestial magic books arrive?" he asked, his voice calm like always.
Miss Liora wiped her hands on her apron and nodded with a smile. "The rare ones you requested months ago finally reached us. Straight from the top ranks at the Asura Academy. They're already in your room."
Kai gave a small, polite nod and turned to leave. The exact second he was gone, I stepped out from behind the shelf, my heart thumping loudly.
"Miss Liora?" I said, tugging gently on her sleeve. "What are those books for? What's... celestial magic?"
She looked down at me, surprised, then smiled that gentle way she did when she was explaining something very important. She knelt down so we were eye-level.
"Celestial Magic is special, Elfie," she whispered. "It lets the user pour their own divine energy straight into the spell—your feelings, your soul, everything you are. It's stronger than elemental magic because it doesn't just borrow from the wind or the earth. It comes from deep inside you. And it's equal to cursed magic in absolute power, but without all the darkness. Only a rare few are ever born with the gift. Most people can train their whole lives and never touch it."
Her eyes got that faraway look, like she was remembering old, magical stories.
"If you have the gift and the knowledge... you can do almost anything. Heal wounds that should kill. Call down stars. Shape light into shields no blade can ever break. Some say the greatest celestial mages could even rewrite small pieces of fate itself. It's not just power, Elfina. It's you becoming part of the sky."
I stood there, my mouth completely open, my pink hair falling into my face. My heart beat so loud I was sure she could hear it.
"Wow..."
Miss Liora ruffled my hair gently. "Now go on. Don't keep your Kai waiting."
I spun around and ran as fast as my little legs could carry me.
---
I tried to sneak into his room, tiptoeing like a secret spy, but the second my foot creaked on the floorboard, Kai looked up from the heavy book in his lap.
"You can come in," he said without looking up. "No need to sneak."
I squeaked, my cheeks burning red, but I climbed right onto the bed beside him anyway. "You always catch me!"
He patted the spot next to him. "Because you're loud when you're trying to be quiet."
I giggled and snuggled right against his side, resting my head comfortably on his shoulder. "Read to me?"
And he did. His voice was steady and warm, explaining how celestial threads wove through the world like invisible silver strings. I listened carefully, asking a million questions, and he answered every single one patiently.
---
The next 8 days blurred together like one long, incredibly happy dream.
Every single evening we sat together—sometimes on his bed, sometimes under the big tree outside—reading until the lanterns burned completely low. I learned that celestial magic listened perfectly to emotions. That love could make a shield stronger.
That absolute hope could light up the darkest night. I told myself over and over, whispering it like a magical secret:
Celestial magic is the sky living inside you. If you feel big enough, you can touch the stars.
Kai read much faster than anyone else. His eyes moved like they were truly hungry for the words. I just watched him, my heart incredibly full, wondering how someone so smart could still need me to remind him to eat his dinner.
---
June 10th, 2008 — Evening
On the 8th evening, I bounced into his room with my usual "Kai! I'm here!" but the happy words died right in my throat.
He was sitting at the little desk, face down on his arms. His eyes looked almost completely soulless when he finally lifted his head—empty, like the light inside him had completely gone out.
"Kai?" I rushed over, my clumsy feet tripping on the rug. I grabbed his sleeve tight. "Are you okay?"
He blinked very slowly. "I'm okay, Elfie." His voice was quiet. Way too quiet. "We should go outside and play."
I wanted to argue, but he was already standing up, so I just followed him.
Outside, the sky was gray and heavy, the clouds hanging low like they might cry soon. The other kids were running around, but Kai played like someone who was just pretending. He didn't chase me the way he used to. He didn't laugh when I tagged him. He just... moved. No real spark at all.
I watched him the whole time.
He hadn't been taking care of himself at all anymore. He barely ate. He slept even less. He forgot to change into clean clothes some days. He completely skipped the little physical exercises he used to do in secret behind the shed. He didn't tease me about being his "bestie" like he always did. And he just kept rubbing his eyes like they hurt badly.
My chest felt so tight.
At dinner, he just stared blankly at his plate. The spoon, fork, and knife sat there completely untouched. I pushed my wooden bowl closer to him.
"Kai... you have to eat something."
He shook his head slowly. "I feel a little sick. Not hungry."
My heart ached so hard I thought it might literally crack. He just kept staring at the silverware like they were complete strangers.
---
After dinner, we walked to the sleeping rooms. I followed him all the way to his door, my fingers nervously twisting in my dress.
"Kai," I said very softly, "what's really wrong? Please tell me."
He turned around, giving me that calm, practiced smile he always used when he didn't want me to worry. "Nothing's wrong, Elfie. I've just been reading too much. My head's a little fuzzy. That's all. Go sleep. I'll be fine in the morning."
"But—"
"Really," he said, gently ruffling my hair the exact way I liked. "Too many late nights. Happens to everyone."
It made sense. It sounded exactly like something he would say. But my tummy twisted anyway. My gut whispered that it wasn't the whole truth.
I nodded anyway because he looked incredibly tired. "Okay... goodnight, my Kai."
"Goodnight, bestie," he teased, but the smile didn't reach his empty eyes.
I went to my room.
---
June 18th, 2008 — Midnight
The Orphanage
Perspective: Elfina Lunaris (Age 6)
I tried to sleep. I really, really did.
But every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was his empty stare. The way his eyes looked like he was soulless.
Midnight had already come. The orphanage was quiet, except for the angry wind picking up outside. I slipped out of my warm bed, my bare feet hitting the cold wooden floorboards. I clutched my thin nightgown and crept down the hallway toward his room.
The door was open a crack.
I pushed it open. The bed was empty.
"Kai...?" I whispered into the dark room.
I looked everywhere. Under the blanket. Behind the creaky door. I even opened the tiny wooden wardrobe. Gone. The window was wide open, the curtains flapping wildly in the wind.
My heart started racing so fast it actually hurt my chest.
I climbed up onto the windowsill. Rain had already started falling in big, fat drops that slapped against the muddy ground. Thunder rumbled far away. The storm was coming.
I didn't care. I didn't care about the storm or the mud or getting in trouble.
I jumped down into the wet grass and ran.
Where is he? Where is he where is he—
My bare feet slapped through the thick mud. The rain hammered down so hard it washed away every footprint the second it touched the ground. I ran anyway. My tiny heart slammed against my ribs like it wanted to break out and find him first.
"Kai!" I screamed. My voice cracked, swallowed by the thunder. "Kai, please!"
The wind howled back at me. I tripped over a thick tree root and scraped my knee hard against the rocks, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. If I stopped, he might really be gone.
The cliff path. Our cliff.
The one we used to climb together when he wanted quiet, and I just wanted to hold his hand. My tummy twisted so tight I almost threw up. He wouldn't... right? But something invisible and strong was pulling me there anyway.
Every time I took a wrong turn in the dark woods, the rain crashed harder, like the sky was slapping me to turn around. When I picked the right path, it eased—just a tiny bit—like invisible hands gently pushing me forward. Guiding me. I didn't question it. I just ran faster.
My nightgown clung to my freezing skin. I was only six. My teeth chattered so hard they hurt. But I kept climbing the steep, slippery rocks. My fingers bled from the sharp stones. I didn't care.
I reached the top.
There he was.
Kaiser stood right at the very edge of the cliff, his back to me, staring out into the black nothingness below.
My smile started to stretch across my face before my brain could even catch up.
I found him!
"Kai—!"
Too late.
He pulled something from his sleeve. A knife.
The exact same small knife he sometimes used to carve little wooden stars for me.
He stabbed the sharp edge right against his own neck.
My heart shattered.
Everything blurred pink. The world tilted sideways. My little legs kept moving, but my mind screamed in broken, terrifying pieces.
No—no—no—he's going to—he's going to leave me—Kai—my Kai—don't—
A massive shockwave ripped through the sky above me. The rain in our little circle at the top of the cliff just... stopped. The heavy clouds tore open like someone had punched a giant hole right through them. One hot tear slid down my freezing cheek.
Kai stepped off the edge.
I ran.
One foot slammed down hard into the earth, and the earth answered me.
A thick, ancient root burst violently out of the cliff face, wrapping tight around his ankle before he could fall all the way down.
I reached my tiny hand out toward him.
The wind on the ledge suddenly flipped directions, screaming as it shoved his body back up, like the sky itself was angry at him too.
I reached him.
My hand caught his wrist.
I pulled him backwards with absolutely everything I had, and we both tumbled hard onto the wet grass.
"Elf-ie...?" His voice was so small. So surprised. Like he couldn't believe I was real.
I ripped the knife out of his hand and threw it away, sobbing so hard I couldn't even breathe.
I pressed my small palm against the bleeding cut on his neck. A warm, brilliant light flared brightly under my fingers.
The wound closed instantly, the skin knitting back together perfectly like it had never been hurt.
"Kai, what are you doing here?!" I screamed at him, my voice completely raw. "Why are you leaving me?! Answer me right now!"
"Elfie, I was just—I—"
I punched his chest. Hard. Then I slapped his cheek.
My little hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"Why did you try to leave me?!" I screamed again, the tears pouring down my face endlessly. "What's wrong?! Why can't you tell me?! I'm your best friend! I'm supposed to know everything! You promised you'd stay with me forever, and now you're—you're—"
I hit him again, but softer this time, because I saw the blood on his shirt and realized I was actually hurting him. I climbed on top of him, straddling his chest so he couldn't run away again, and just kept crying.
"You can't leave me. You can't. I'll die without you. I'll break into pieces. Please—please tell me what's wrong. I can fix it. I can fix anything if it's for you—"
I blinked hard. My tears fell directly onto his face. I saw the fresh red marks I'd made with my tiny fists. I touched his cheek softly with my palm. That same warm, glowing light sparked again. Everything healed in a single second.
Kai's tired eyes widened in shock. "You... you can use magic?"
"Why are you here?!" I yelled again, my voice cracking completely. "Why do you want to die?!"
It went on like that for a long time. Me screaming and crying and holding him pinned down. Him staring up at the torn sky, trying to find words. Until my throat hurt and my little arms got too tired, and the burning anger melted into something much smaller and infinitely heavier.
We ended up sitting closely together under the big, old tree at the very top of the cliff. The storm raged violently everywhere else, but inside our little circle, the rain didn't dare fall. It felt like the sky itself was giving us space to breathe.
Kai stared blankly at the ground. His eyes looked entirely lifeless.
"It's weird," he said quietly.
"Tell me," I demanded, but my voice was much softer now. I saw how empty he looked, and my anger completely crumbled. I crawled closer and clutched his arm tightly to my chest, pressing it right against my heart like I could keep him tied to this world with sheer force.
"Please tell me, Kai. I'm begging."
He stayed quiet for a very long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was flat, like he was reading words out of one of his thick books.
"The celestial magic books... they weren't just for reading," he said. "I wanted to understand how celestial mages create entirely new spells. Especially one specific kind. Revival."
My stomach twisted into knots. I remembered the page he'd read out loud to me days ago. "What... is that?"
"It's a spell that can bring back someone who has passed away. Someone who died," he explained softly. "I really wanted to learn it."
I thought carefully about the heavy words I'd heard him read. My voice came out very small. "But... humans can't do that. Not with celestial or cursed magic. It plays with the soul. You can only bring them back as undead monsters. Not really alive."
"It's impossible."
Kai looked up at the stormy, broken sky.
"I wanted to bring back the person who loved me the most in the entire world."
"My mother. Cartethyia." His voice finally cracked on her name.
"She sacrificed absolutely everything for me. Her life. All of it. I thought... if I studied hard enough, if I learned enough... I could bring her back. I studied every single kind of magic. Demon. Elf. Fairy. Human. Nothing worked. They all came back wrong. Undead. Half-dead. Empty shells. I even tried to invent my own spell. But I can't. Because I have absolutely no mana."
He swallowed hard. Tiny tears finally started falling from his eyes.
"I just can't bring back my mama... So I didn't have any reason to keep living this life at the cost of hers. I thought... maybe dying would feel better than being such a complete failure."
He took a shaky breath. "Elfie... I was just... today is my birthday."
I froze completely.
"I turned 8 today," he whispered. "I thought... it would be the best day to do it quietly. No noise. No one would have to watch or cry. I could just... slip away and meet Mama wherever she is. She's waiting for me. I know she is."
His eyes were incredibly glassy, staring at something far, far away.
"I have no reason to live anymore. None. She gave everything so I could just breathe, and I... I can't even do the one thing that would make it worth it. I tried so hard. Every single night. Every book. But I'm empty inside. No mana. No gift. Just... a mistake that cost her life."
He swallowed again, his voice shaking much worse now.
"I keep thinking if I die today, maybe the gods will let me see her again. Maybe she'll smile at me and finally say it's okay. That I don't have to keep failing anymore. That I can finally rest. I'm so tired, Elfie. I'm so tired of pretending I'm okay when every breath feels like I'm stealing hers."
I punched his chest. Hard. Then I slapped his cheek again.
"Why are you here?!" I yelled at him. "Why do you want to die?!"
He looked up at the torn-open sky, his voice barely a whisper.
"Because I'm worthless."
"Because Mama died for absolutely nothing. Because every morning I wake up and remember I'm the reason she's gone, and I still can't bring her back. I thought... on my birthday... it would be peaceful. She wouldn't have to watch me keep failing anymore. I just want to rest with her. That's all."
I clutched his arm so much tighter, pressing my face deep into his shoulder so he wouldn't see how hard I was crying again. The rain kept storming violently outside our tree, but inside it was just us and the sound of my broken heart trying to keep beating loud enough for both of us.
It was impossible.
I knew it. The books said it.
Kai had read the words out loud himself. Humans couldn't bring back the dead. Not really alive. Only broken things that walked and didn't feel anything.
I remembered how incredibly hard I cried when my own Mama and Papa were gone. I cried until my throat burned like fire and my eyes swelled completely shut. But Kai... he had never told me about his mother. Not even once. And still, he looked more hurt than I had ever been in my entire life. She must have meant everything to him.
The whole world.
"I don't have any need to be alive anymore," he said, his voice entirely empty. "I just want to rest."
I grabbed his arm with both of my tiny hands and pulled it forcefully against my chest.
"Love yourself!" I cried out. The words came out shaky and incredibly loud. "You have to love yourself, Kai! Because I love you! I am your best friend!"
He tried to look away from me. I wouldn't let him.
"When I was sad, you were always there," I whispered, hot tears falling right onto his sleeve. "When I couldn't do anything, you did it for me. When I cried until I couldn't breathe, you hugged me and made the hurt feel smaller. I can do that for you too! I can be the one who stays! I can be the one who holds you when the world feels way too heavy! Just... let me."
My voice cracked.
"I will do anything for you. Anything. Just ask me."
Kai shook his head slowly. "It's impossible—"
"I will bring your mother back," I cut him off, completely fierce and certain. "I will become the brightest star in your life that lights everything up. I will become the Celestial Empress, and I will write the spell that brings the dead back fully alive."
"I swear it on my life."
He opened his mouth, stunned. "Thank you, Elfie. I appreciate it, but you don't have to—"
"I will." I squeezed his arm even tighter. "I will definitely do it."
I leaned against the old, dying tree, one hand still clutching his sleeve, the other pressed firmly to the rough bark. Something deep inside me pushed outward. Warm light glowed brilliantly under my palm.
The tree—old and dying, leaves brown and totally brittle—shivered violently. The dead branches straightened out. Brown leaves flushed vibrant green again. Tiny white flowers bloomed all along the trunk, like little stars waking up from a long sleep.
I looked straight into his tired eyes.
"Live for me," I said. "And live for the day I bring her back. Promise me you'll stay."
Kai stared at the blooming tree, then slowly back at me. A small, real smile finally touched his lips.
"Thank you again," he whispered.
We sat there for a very long time. I hugged him the whole while, my face buried deep in his shoulder, breathing him in. When the sky started to lighten, we finally stood up. I slid my hand into his and didn't let go the entire way down the cliff path.
I will do it. I won't let go of him. Not ever.
I have this new magic now—instincts that woke up the moment he needed me. I'll learn every book, every spell, every secret. I'll become strong enough for both of us.
We walked back through the quiet orphanage. The storm had moved on, leaving everything wet and sparkling in the morning light.
Inside his room, I climbed straight onto his bed and pulled the thick blanket over both of us.
"From now on, we sleep together," I said, my voice still thick from crying. "No arguing."
Kai raised an eyebrow, a hint of his old self returning. "Elfie, you take up the whole bed and kick in your sleep."
"I do not!" I huffed, scooting closer until our noses almost touched. "And even if I did, too bad! You tried to leave me. Now you're stuck with me forever. Bestie rules."
He sighed, but the corner of his mouth actually twitched. "Bestie rules?"
"Bestie rules." I wrapped my arms around him tightly like a koala. "Now close your eyes or I'll cry again."
A tiny, genuine laugh escaped him. "Alright. Alright."
He gave in.
---
June 19th, 2008 — Morning
The next day, I woke up first.
I made sure he ate every single bite of his breakfast. I fixed his messy black hair. I made him drink water when he forgot. I even dragged him outside for the little physical exercises he used to do behind the shed. He let me, quiet and very surprised, while I fussed over him like a tiny, bossy mother.
"Open wide," I said at the dining table, holding up another full spoonful of stew. "No more skipping meals. No more staying up all night. No more forgetting to take care of yourself. I'm doing it for you now."
He took the bite, his eyes incredibly soft. "You don't have to do all this."
"I want to." I smiled at him, big and a little wobbly. "You took care of me when I was broken. Now it's my turn."
---
Kai has long forgotten that childish promise under the tree.
Because he thought I was just a kid back then... promising the absolutely impossible just to make him feel better.
But I never did.
That promise is the only reason I learned magic. The only reason I walked into the Asura Academy, and the only reason I will do absolutely anything to become the Celestial Empress.
For him.
Always for him.
---
Present Day
Asura Academy — Examination Courtyard
Perspective: Elfina Lunaris
The world sounded like it was underwater.
I sat on the cold stone of the courtyard, my knees pulled tightly to my chest. The grand, towering walls of the Asura Academy loomed around me, but they didn't look beautiful anymore. They looked like the bars of a cage that had just permanently locked me out.
Around me, dozens of other students were crying. The sound of their despair was a chaotic, echoing hum that hurt my ears. But I couldn't focus on them.
I couldn't even focus on the massive digital leaderboard glowing maliciously above the square.
I stared at the tiny, jagged crack in the cobblestone right between my shoes.
It was such a stupid crack. It splintered out in three directions, like a little broken star. If I just traced the lines of that crack over and over in my head, I didn't have to think about the fact that I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't fulfill it.
I'm so pathetic, my mind screamed, the thought repeating in a vicious loop. All that magic. All those years of reading until my eyes burned. The promise under the tree. I failed. I failed him.
My chest physically hurt, tight and constricting, refusing to let enough air into my lungs.
"Elfie... I'm so sorry..."
The voice broke through the muted underwater hum. It was Leena. She was kneeling right beside me on the hard stone, her beautiful elven face completely ruined by tears. She was physically shaking, her hands reaching out to hover over my shoulders, too afraid to actually touch me.
"I'm so sorry, Elfie," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "I didn't mean it... I didn't know this would happen..."
I didn't look up from the crack in the stone.
"I betrayed you," Leena cried, covering her mouth as a ragged gasp tore from her throat. "Why... why did I have to score higher than you?"
I slowly lifted my head. My vision was completely blurred with hot pink.
Across the courtyard, emerging from the clinic pathway, were Rigel and Kaiser. Rigel's arm was heavily bandaged, his face pale and devastated. Kaiser walked beside him, his posture perfectly relaxed, his expression an unreadable.
The moment Leena saw them, she scrambled up from the ground and ran toward Rigel.
"Rigel!" she cried, grabbing his good arm frantically. "Why did she fail?! Why?! You said it was safe! You said you had a strategy for all of us! Why did I get a higher mark than her?!"
Rigel looked down at her tear-stained face, his jaw trembling. He opened his mouth, but absolutely no words came out.
The sheer weight of his guilt suffocated his voice.
"Tell me!" Leena pleaded, slamming her small fists against his chest. "I feel so sick... it's all my fault... why did you do it, Rigel?! Why didn't you secure her grades too... Why did you let her fail?!"
Rigel's intense eyes squeezed shut. "Leena... I..."
"I want to drop out... It's all my fault."
I forced my legs to uncurl. The world spun slightly as I pushed myself up from the cold stone, walking over to them. Every step felt like walking through thick mud.
"Leena," I said, my voice barely a cracked whisper.
She turned to me, her green eyes wide and overflowing with tears.
"You can't drop out," I told her, forcing a wobbly, broken smile onto my face. "You passed. You earned a 90 on that test. It was your grade... your hard work."
"No!" Leena argued desperately, shaking her head. "I'm leaving with you! I can't stay here knowing I stepped on you to pass! I won't!"
"You have to," I said, reaching out to gently squeeze her trembling hand. The contact made her sob harder. "You came here to fulfill your dreams... You worked hard for it. You have to continue, Leena. Even if... even if I can't follow mine anymore."
Rigel physically stepped back as if my words had physically struck him.
His broad shoulders slumped. He looked at the ground, his face twisting in absolute agony.
"It's my fault," Rigel murmured, the words meant only for himself, but mouth enough for Kaiser to hear. "I did this."
Kaiser watched him. He didn't turn his head. He only shifted his cold, piercing blue eyes toward Rigel, studying the broken genius like a scientist observing an insect on a pin.
"I'm so sorry, Elfie," Leena cried again, pulling me into a desperate hug.
"It's not your fault," I whispered into her shoulder, tears finally spilling hot and fast down my cheeks. "If only I had studied harder... if only I was smarter..."
Rigel clenched his good hand into a tight, shaking fist. He looked at Leena crying, and then at me, taking the blame for his manipulation.
If only I hadn't done it... Rigel's expression screamed in silent torture.
Kaiser stepped slightly closer to Rigel. His voice was incredibly low, a freezing current meant strictly for Rigel's ears alone.
"Elfie is the sole reason I believe this world is worth something to be saved," Kaiser said, his voice emotionless.
Rigel flinched, looking up at him.
"Kindness is always misread by the people whose only intent was to misuse it from the start," Kaiser continued coldly, his gaze locking onto Rigel's soul. "You looked at her trust, and you used it as a stepping stone. You deemed her an acceptable sacrifice."
Kaiser slowly turned his head to look at me. The icy chill in his eyes melted the moment they found me.
"I may be heartless, Rigel," Kaiser whispered softly.
"But I will never let her heart be broken because she was kind."
Kaiser walked away from the shattered boy, stepping directly into the middle of our crying circle.
He didn't say a word. He just opened his arms.
My breath hitched. The dam completely broke.
I threw myself into his chest, burying my face into his pristine uniform, gripping the fabric like it was the only thing keeping me from falling off a cliff.
"Kai!" I sobbed loudly, my legs giving out so that he had to physically hold my weight up. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I failed! I can't be the celestial midnight!"
"Shh," Kaiser murmured, wrapping his arms securely around me. His hand gently stroked my pink hair, the touch warm and grounding. "It's okay, Elfie. You did your absolute best. I know you did."
"I'm sorry!" I kept crying, the primal, stifled whimpers tearing out of my chest as the sheer physical pain of the breakdown consumed me.
Leena watched us, crying harder into her hands. Rigel stood frozen a few feet away, his face entirely hollow, suffocating under the weight of his own sins.
I'm so pathetic, I thought, clutching Kai's shirt.
I wanted to save him. I wanted to be strong for him. But I'm just crying like a little kid again.
All around the courtyard, the dynamic was fully established. The winners—students like Rose Valentine and Lucas Reindhardt—watched in quiet, dignified silence from the upper balconies. The losers wept openly on the cold stone below. The brutal reality of the Asura Academy had firmly settled in.
Suddenly, the massive speakers ringing the courtyard crackled loudly to life. The heavy, distorted sound cut through the wailing and the sobbing, forcing everyone to look up.
"ATTENTION ALL CANDIDATES."
The voice was deep, authoritative, and laced with absolute power.
"This officially concludes the Entrance Examinations for the Asura Academy. The bottom 45 students have been finalized for soon departure to the lower sectors."
The courtyard went deathly quiet.
"To the victors who survived... and the victims. Prepare yourselves. The Director of the Academy will now address you in the Grand Assembly Hall. Your true nightmare begins now."
---
Grand Assembly Hall
The massive double doors to the Grand Assembly Hall stood open. The remaining students began to file in, a mix of exhausted victors and devastated failures. The hall was cavernous, lined with ancient stone pillars and illuminated by floating crystalline chandeliers that cast a cold, unforgiving light over the amphitheater seating.
I stopped walking just before the threshold.
My heart felt heavy and hollow. My name was on the expulsion list.
I didn't belong in this grand hall of scholars and prodigies. I took a step backward, intending to slip away toward the exit gates.
I really thought I could make it.
I thought my determination, my love, my magic—that it would be enough to stand by Kai's side. But the world doesn't care about a child's promise. It doesn't care how hard you cry when the rules change under your feet.
A firm,"Stay here with me," he said softly, his blue eyes entirely focused on mine. "Just a little longer."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded weakly, letting him guide me down the aisle. We took our seats near the back. Leena and Rigel sat a few rows ahead of us, the heavy silence between them deafening.
At the very front of the hall, the heavy crimson curtains parted.
Director Valerius Vane walked onto the center stage. He was accompanied by a cadre of imposing figures—the gruff Head of Combat Arts, the severe-looking Professor of Arcane Theory, and the stoic Master of Elemental Formations. Notably, the stern Elven instructor, Aisha, who had overseen the Celestial Magic exam earlier, was completely absent.
Valerius radiated a suffocating, heavy aura of condensed mana.
He didn't even need to ask for silence; the sheer pressure of his presence forced the entire hall to hold its breath.
"Cruelty," Valerius began, his voice deep, predatory, and echoing flawlessly to the farthest corners of the room. "That is what many of you are feeling right now. You believe this academy is cruel."
He paced slowly across the stage, his sharp eyes scanning the sea of students like a hawk analyzing its prey.
"You are correct," he stated bluntly. "But it is a necessary cruelty. The world outside these walls is not fair. It is a merciless grinder that will chew up your pride and spit out your bones. We designed these exams as a psychological filter, heavily laden with unsaid rules designed to break you before the world does."
Break us. He says it so simply, as if our dreams are just numbers on his blackboard. I spent my whole life believing magic was something beautiful, a warmth that comes from the soul. But to these people, it's just a cold, calculating weapon. A tool to sort the strong from the weak.
He stopped pacing and crossed his arms.
"The fake pressure of the 60-second skip timer. The immense psychological stress of the Alliance Clause. The hidden rule that every incorrect answer granted you negative one point. We were not merely testing your academic prowess; we were testing your ability to decipher the underlying systems of reality."
A negative point for trying. That's the logic of this place. If you don't know, you are punished for even attempting to find a way. How could I have ever won? And if I leave... what happens to Kai? He has no mana. Not a single drop. He's brilliant, yes, but in a place where monsters like Lucas Reindhardt and Rose Valentine roam, how will he survive the combat phases?
Who will protect him when his intelligence isn't enough to stop a war? I was supposed to be his bestfriend. Now, I'm leaving him to fight these beasts completely alone.
Valerius's gaze swept over the crowd, heavy with judgment.
"Meritocracy is absolute here. It is the survival of the fittest. Even if you survived the physical combat phase and maintained a single life, if your academic scores were too awful, you were expelled regardless."
He paused, his piercing eyes drifting across the rows until they landed directly on our section. For a brief, chilling second, he locked eyes with Kaiser.
"In fact," Valerius noted, his tone incredibly dry, "only one person in this entire hall managed to maintain passing grades while possessing zero combat lives, ranking exactly 46th. A fascinating anomaly. For the rest of you failures, a single life was not enough to save you from your own incompetence."
Kai. The Director was looking right at him. But why did he let me fail? Did he think I was too weak to stand beside him? Or was he trying to protect me from the very horrors he's now left to face by himself?
He raised his hand. A massive, glowing holographic screen materialized above the stage.
"Let us honor those who truly understood the prestige of the Academy," Valerius declared.
[Rank 1: Lucas Reindhardt — 568 Points]
[Rank 1: Rose Valentine — 568 Points]
[Rank 2: Victor Sterling — 566 Points]
[Rank 3: Orion Rhymeria — 562 Points]
[Rank 4: Naichen Avenoir — 559 Points]
[Rank 5: Valeska L'Angela — 557 Points]
The hall erupted into hushed, awe-struck murmurs.
"You were told there were 10 fake questions designed to drain your points," Valerius said, his voice easily cutting through the whispers. "That was a lie. There were 15."
A wave of shock rippled through the students.
15. Not 10. They expected us to calculate the probability of their lies. The top five... they didn't just study magic; they mastered the art of deceit. They are built for this world. I was just a fool playing pretend, thinking that honesty and hard work would be rewarded. The reality of this academy is that the only way to win is to exploit the system.
"Those of you who arrogantly assumed you could answer them lost the majority of your points. The academy expects you to laterally calculate your own certainties. Rules and systems are inherently exploitable. These five students understood this. They accurately identified their own limits, and yet, they dared to attempt the lower-level unsolvable questions, succeeding where the rest of you bled points."
Valerius looked up at the names with a hint of genuine predatory approval.
"Risking is the path to success," he praised loudly. "These 5 answered the difficulty 10-to-15 questions correctly. And Lucas Reindhardt was the only student bold enough—and capable enough—to answer a Level 9 question. I admire their audacity to attempt and fail, because without failure, there is no evolution."
He lowered his hand, and the screen shifted to display a single, ancient portrait of a man with glowing silver eyes.
"The highest score ever achieved in the history of this institution," Valerius said, his voice dropping into a tone of absolute reverence, "was held by Marseille Astraeus."
"Over 546 years, right before the World's End Calamity. He scored over 97 on every single subject. That record remains unbroken, and will likely remain unbroken until the end of time."
Valerius looked back out at the crowd. "Even I, in my prime, made mistakes on the final 7 questions, incurring negative marks. Some of my most brilliant, theoretically sound answers only granted me half points. Meritocracy favors none. Only perfect, undeniable truth grants you points. Just like the top five here today."
He gestured to the screen, which now displayed the breakdown of the 15 unsolvable questions.
"These final 15 questions ranged drastically in difficulty," Valerius explained. "The 15th question is a magical paradox that scholars haven't been able to resolve for 10-to-15 years. But the first question? The final hurdle of the exam?"
He scoffed lightly. "That is an enigma that has remained utterly unsolvable for generations. The Level 1 questions on the Celestial and Mathematical tests have been fiercely tackled for the past 800 years. Elves and human scholars have bled themselves dry working on the celestial theories. Dwarves and human arcanists have driven themselves mad trying to crack the mathematics. Yet, nobody has come close."
Eight hundred years of collective failure, and they put it on an entrance exam. It's not an education. It's a cull. They want us to look at the infinite wall of the unknown and break. I wanted to rewrite fate to save Kai's mother. I wanted to do the impossible. But standing here, looking at the sheer scale of the world's geniuses, I realize how tiny I am. I wanted to touch the stars, but I'm just a speck of dust clinging to the earth. If even the Director, a man who radiates power like a sun, couldn't solve them... how could I? How could anyone?
He leaned forward, his presence suffocating. "I did not include them to mock you. I included them to teach you that this world is vast, filled with terrifying unknowns that you cannot solve. Humility is your greatest weapon."
Valerius straightened his posture, signaling the end of the address.
"Those who have failed, you may walk out those doors and find a different path. Those who have passed, you will proceed to your fated future."
Visuals of the top students flashed on the screen—Lucas with his cold, unbothered smirk; Rose Valentine with her elegant, untouchable grace; Victor Sterling projecting absolute confidence.
I stared at the screen, my hands gripping my skirt tightly.
I was no match for them since the very beginning. They aren't just smart; they're absolute monsters. They calculate traps and solve decade-old paradoxes while under the pressure of expulsion. How can Kai even fight against people like this? He is brilliant, but even his scores couldn't touch theirs. It's completely inhuman. If I'm gone, who will stand in front of him when the magic starts flying?
"Wait! Director Vane!"
The heavy oak doors at the side of the stage slammed open.
The missing Elven instructor, Aisha, sprinted onto the stage, clutching a massive pile of disorganized, ink-stained documents to her chest. She looked entirely unhinged. Her usually pristine silver-blonde hair was unraveled and messy, her formal emerald robes were heavily disheveled, and her gold-flecked eyes were wide and bloodshot.
The entire hall went completely silent. Valerius and the other instructors stared at her in sheer shock.
"Instructor Aisha," Valerius said, his brow furrowing deeply in displeasure. "What is the meaning of this disruption?"
"There has been a mistake!" she gasped, out of breath, practically shoving the papers toward him. "With the results! On one student!"
"The results are finalized," Valerius said coldly. "If a student failed, they failed."
"No, you don't understand!" Aisha shouted, her voice bordering on hysteria. "The student's answers on the final questions were initially deemed wrong by the automated grading matrix! But when I reviewed the paper manually, I realized the formula was completely alien. I had to call scholars from the Elven Kingdom. I had to wake up the grandmasters from Asura's highest prestige schools!"
She slammed a heavily marked exam paper onto the podium.
"We've been actively debunking and reverse-engineering this formula for the past three straight hours!" she declared, her chest heaving. "And now... we have the solution. Director, please, you must consider it!"
Valerius glared at her, utterly unimpressed. "Now is not the time or place for passing failures, Aisha. The results are given, and fate is sealed. Step down."
"Director, please!" she insisted, her voice cracking with desperate awe. "Just look at it! Read the final grade!"
Valerius stared at her for a long, heavy moment. Slowly, annoyed, he stepped forward and picked up the exam paper.
He looked at the front page.
Then, he stopped breathing.
His piercing eyes widened. His hands, usually steady as stone, physically trembled. He flipped the page, his eyes darting frantically across the ink, tracing the impossible, alien formulas written in the margins.
"This..." Valerius stuttered, his jaw actually dropping. The suffocating aura of the Director vanished, replaced entirely by the shock of a mortal man viewing a miracle. "A... A perfect score?"
The microphone caught his whisper, amplifying it across the silent hall.
A perfect score?
The student body erupted.
Up in the front row, Lucas Reindhardt's cold smirk instantly vanished, replaced by an intense, dark scowl. Rose Valentine stood up abruptly from her seat, her elegant composure shattering as she stared at the stage in sheer disbelief. Victor Sterling gripped the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles turned entirely white.
A few rows ahead of me, Rigel and Leena whipped their heads toward the stage, their mouths hanging open in total shock.
Everyone in the room was paralyzed by the sheer impossibility of what the Director had just said.
A soft breath tickled my ear.
Kaiser leaned down slightly, his voice a smooth, silken whisper amidst the deafening silence.
"The stage has been set, my princess. Now, it is time to show your light."
Before I could even process his words, a clear, commanding voice rang out from the front row.
"Who?" Rose Valentine demanded, her perfect poise completely broken.
She stepped forward, her eyes blazing with an intensity that demanded an answer. "Director Vane. Who achieved such a score?"
Valerius slowly looked up from the paper, his gaze sweeping over the silent, tense audience.
"This is the grading for the subject of Celestial Magic," Valerius announced. "This student was previously deemed a 72 because her answers on the final 15 questions were flagged as mathematically incorrect by the matrix, resulting in negated points. Even with her alliance clause. But now... it has been altered."
He took a slow, deep breath, as if bracing himself.
"The student is called... Elfina Lunaris."
The silence shattered.
"Scoring a flawless 100 out of 100," Valerius finished.
The holographic leaderboard above the stage glitched.
The top five names violently shifted downward, making room at the absolute peak.
[Rank 0: Elfina Lunaris — Celestial Magic: 100/100]
"Elfie...?" Leena gasped, whirling around in her seat to stare at me, her tear-streaked face locked in utter, paralyzing shock.
"What...? How...?"
Rigel stared at me as if he were looking at a ghost.
"Impossible..." Rigel whispered, his voice trembling.
"But how..."
Every single head in the massive assembly hall turned. Hundreds of eyes locked onto me, standing near the back rows.
The massive digital broadcast screen above the stage flashed, projecting my face for the entire academy to see. Kaiser, who had been standing right beside me, slowly and gracefully stepped aside, sinking into the shadows to let the blinding spotlight fall entirely on me.
The one who had just broken the long-existing merit scale.
"Director," Rose spoke again, her voice shaking slightly. "You said she had an Alliance Clause. Did she receive help?"
"She did invoke an Alliance Clause. But judging by the handwriting and the ink pressure... that ally only answered a single, basic question. The other handwriting belongs to a much lower-ranking student whose academic average was far below hers."
He looked directly at me. "Elfina alone could have easily passed the exam. It appears she only utilized the Alliance Clause to grant a failing ally some points to keep them afloat."
"Wait, for clarification," Rose pressed, her sharp eyes narrowing. "Are you saying the handwriting on the 15 unsolvable questions..."
"The handwriting is entirely hers," Valerius confirmed, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Every single one of the Level 1 paradoxes bears her exact penmanship."
My blood ran completely cold.
Impossible, my mind screamed, sheer panic gripping my chest. I only answered 68 questions! I left the entire back of the test blank for Kai! How can my handwriting be on the unsolvable questions? How is it possible that he only answered one basic question?! That's... that's impossible. Unless...
I slowly turned my head to look at Kaiser in the shadows. He gave me a single, unreadable smile.
He copied my handwriting perfectly. He forged my handwriting on the hardest questions in the world so that I would get the credit.
"Director Vane, this makes absolutely no sense!" Victor Sterling suddenly shouted, standing up from his seat. "How is that even possible? You yourself just stated that the Level 1 questions were unsolvable for generations! You're telling us a 12-year-old girl solved them?!"
Victor pointed a shaking finger at the stage. "I've taken that exact test! I know what question 46 is!"
Valerius's eyes darkened. "Indeed, Mr. Sterling. It is the exact same question I had to face during my prime at this academy."
The Director recited it entirely from memory, the sheer weight of the paradox crushing the room: "If celestial light is the physical manifestation of a multidimensional 'anchor' interacting with our three-dimensional reality, why does the magical potency of a star's light fluctuate in a non-periodic, chaotic sequence that defies simple gravitational or light-speed decay equations?"
He looked around the room. "To even attempt to answer it, you must perfectly calculate Non-Linear Dimensionality, apply The Observer Effect of Gravity, and finally balance it with The Recursive Proof. An impossible task."
"Then how did she answer it?!" Victor demanded, his voice cracking.
Valerius didn't answer. He turned and looked at Aisha.
Instructor Aisha stepped forward to the podium, her hands shaking as she held my exam paper.
"When I saw the formula she used," Aisha began, her voice echoing through the hall, "I thought it was a joke. But... out of curiosity I did further investigation. Once I realized its potential, I immediately contacted the grand scholars of the Elven Kingdom and the arch-mages of Asura. You must understand the sheer impossibility of this. For 800 years, resolving this specific paradox was the key to improving star recollection and drastically enhancing celestial combat against cursed magic."
She looked at Victor. "The current leading theory, Mr. Sterling, is the Resonance Decay Hypothesis, which posits that celestial mana loses coherence as it passes through the veil of dimensions, requiring a staggering 74-step calculation just to stabilize the mana frequency."
"Exactly! It's a theoretical nightmare!"
"It was the only theoretical answer our generational minds could come up with for the past centuries," Aisha agreed, taking a deep, ragged breath.
She looked directly at me, her gold-flecked eyes shining with unshed tears of absolute reverence.
"But the answers Elfina wrote..." Aisha's voice trembled.
"They were so marvelously unconventional. They were theoretically contradictory at the very start. She didn't use the Resonance Decay Hypothesis. She bypassed the 74 steps entirely. She bypassed centuries of inhuman and Elven arch-logic, and invented a completely new, recursive anchoring formula."
Aisha gripped the podium. "She surpassed the theoretical scale. She found the true answer all on her own, without decades of research. She solved the unsolvable."
"An answer that would be considered better than the ideal."
The silence in the grand hall was absolute.
"She alone," Director Valerius Vane announced, his voice carrying the finality of a god's decree, "is the student who conquered the abyss."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The slow, steady sound of clapping echoed from the shadows beside me.
Kaiser was the first one to applaud, his sharp, elegant claps cutting through the heavy silence. Slowly, others joined in. First Leena, weeping tears of joy, then Rigel, then the instructors on stage, until the entire Grand Assembly Hall erupted into a deafening, thunderous standing ovation.
He forged my handwriting, I thought, my vision blurring with fresh, hot tears as the entire elite academy stood to applaud me.
The Director himself was revoking my expulsion right before my eyes.
I looked at Kai, my chest aching with a love so deep it physically hurt.
You solved the impossible for me, Kai. But how...? How could you, with absolutely zero mana solve a celestial paradox that even the greatest mages couldn't touch? Who are you really, my Kai?
It doesn't matter. You're all mine.
"Thank you..." I whispered, fresh tears blurring my vision.
Kai simply smiled and took my hand, lacing our fingers together. "Always, Elfie."