The bell of Valenforge Academy rang in three tones — one for attendance, one for the start of training, and one for those who dared show up unprepared.
Kael arrived halfway through the second tone.
The Conduit Armory stood apart from the main towers — an iron-and-glass cathedral where hundreds of students honed the physical side of their power. Walls shimmered faintly, lined with Flow crystals that absorbed stray energy bursts. Rows of weapon stands gleamed: blades, staves, scythes, chains — each resonating faintly with its wielder's Histinak signature.
But the air felt heavier today. Rumors had spread quickly after Kael's outburst yesterday. Even now, whispers followed him like ghosts.
"Is that the unstable one?"
"I heard his Flow devours others."
"Why hasn't he been expelled yet?"
He ignored them all, stepping through the Armory gates into the main training hall.
At the center stood a tall woman in dark uniform armor, her hair a deep ash-gray tied behind her neck. She radiated a quiet, dangerous calm.
Her eyes, cold and clear as winter glass, met Kael's before anyone could speak.
"Instructor's here early," murmured Lyra from behind him.
Kael frowned. "Who is she?"
Lyra lowered her voice. "Professor Veyra Dathis. They call her the Iron Veil. She used to lead research for the Flow Division before she transferred here. No one knows why."
Before Kael could ask, Veyra's voice cut through the murmurs.
"Welcome to your first Conduit Synchronization Class." Her tone was flat, efficient — the kind that silenced everyone instantly.
"Your Conduit is not just a weapon," she continued, pacing before them. "It is an echo of your soul's Histinak pattern — an extension of what you are. To wield it without understanding your Flow is to swing blindly through a storm."
She turned to the row of students. "Begin phase activation drills."
Weapons flared with shimmering light. Students paired off, attacking and deflecting in carefully timed patterns. The air filled with streaks of color — crimson arcs, sapphire pulses, gold spirals of Histinak energy.
Kael, however, stood still. His weapon — a standard training sword made of flowsteel — remained inert in his hand. No light. No resonance.
Veyra's gaze landed on him. "You."
Kael stiffened. "Yes, Instructor."
"Activate your Flow."
He hesitated. "It doesn't respond properly."
"Then make it respond."
The words struck like an order from fate.
He took a deep breath, focusing inward. He felt the Hollow Veyra pulse in his chest — faint, cautious, predatory. He willed it forward.
A faint shimmer crawled along the blade, gray and uneven. For a heartbeat, it looked alive — then shattered.
The energy collapsed into nothingness, leaving cracks in the floor around his feet.
A few students gasped. The air smelled of ozone and dust.
Veyra didn't move. Her expression didn't even flicker.
"Interesting," she said at last. "Again."
Kael swallowed. "Instructor, it's not—"
"I said again."
Her tone carried no anger, but something sharper — curiosity.
He lifted the sword once more. The pulse came again, stronger, erratic. He felt the Hollow Veyra surge, pulling at the ambient Histinak in the air.
> [System Notice: Unstable Output Detected]
Warning: Veyra corruption threshold approaching.
"Control it!" Veyra barked.
"I—can't!"
"Then learn!"
The sword exploded with gray light — then vanished entirely, leaving Kael holding empty air.
For a moment, silence filled the hall. Then the gray energy condensed again, swirling around his hand like smoke.
Not forming a sword, but something else.
A shape — shifting, uncertain, alive — like a weapon trying to decide what it wanted to be.
Veyra's eyes narrowed. The corners of her lips almost curved — not a smile, but a flicker of fascination.
"That's no ordinary Flow pattern," she said quietly. "You're not channeling energy. You're devouring it."
Kael's hand trembled as the energy dissolved back into nothing. He felt drained, dizzy.
"I told you," he muttered. "It doesn't listen."
Veyra studied him for a long moment. "What's your Veyra type?"
He hesitated. "…Classified."
Her expression sharpened. "By who?"
"The Grand Seer."
That caught even her off guard. A ripple of interest crossed her eyes — quickly hidden.
"Understood," she said finally. "You'll report to me for private correction sessions starting tomorrow."
Kael blinked. "Wait—why me?"
"Because I want to see how far a curse can go before it consumes its wielder."
Her tone was clinical, but her eyes betrayed something else — not pity, not contempt. Recognition.
As if she, too, carried something the world wasn't supposed to know existed.
---
After class, Kael lingered by the training grounds, replaying the moment the weapon changed shape.
It hadn't been random — it felt alive, like the Hollow Veyra itself was testing him.
Lyra approached, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "She's really having you train privately with her? That's… intense."
"Yeah," Kael said quietly. "She doesn't seem like the comforting type."
Lyra laughed softly. "Try not to make her angry. I heard she once silenced a whole division of duelists because they interrupted her lecture."
"I'll keep that in mind."
As Lyra turned away, Kael caught sight of someone else across the courtyard — Seren Vale, leaning against a pillar, watching him with unreadable eyes. When their gazes met, she looked away instantly and disappeared down the stairs.
He exhaled slowly. Three women. Three storms.
Lyra's warmth. Seren's silence.
And now Professor Veyra — the storm wrapped in iron.
He wasn't sure which one would destroy him first.
---
That night, Kael returned to his dorm — a small chamber on the eastern tower's edge. He placed his sword on the table, staring at the faint cracks in its blade where his energy had seeped in.
He summoned his Codex.
> [Player: Kael Ardyn]
Level: 3
Title: None
Veyra: Hollow (Suppressed)
Histinak Control: 2/10
Physical Conditioning: 3/10
Flow Resistance: 7/10
Curse Synchrony: 1%
Skills: —
Passive: [Null Flow] (Unstable)
His stats were abysmal. But the last line — Curse Synchrony — pulsed faintly, like it wanted to wake up.
He whispered to the air, "What are you trying to make me become?"
The Codex flickered once.
> [Response: A mirror.]
Kael froze. He hadn't said anything aloud this time. The system — or something within it — had answered on its own.
He stared at the pulsing text until it faded.
"…A mirror," he murmured. "Then who are you reflecting?"
Outside, a low hum rolled through the academy — the sound of the Flow conduits recharging for midnight cycles. But beneath that hum, he thought he heard something else — a whisper from the ground below the towers.
The same whisper that had called him once before, deep in the Sunken Veins.
---
End of Chapter 4