Professor Elyra closed the door behind her.
The runes on the walls flickered once—then stabilized.
Rafe felt it immediately.
The room's wards shifted.
Subtly.Precisely.
They weren't the standard safety enchantments anymore.
"These wards aren't registered," Rafe said calmly.
Elyra's eyebrow lifted.
"Oh?" she replied. "You noticed."
She walked to the center of the room, her boots silent against the stone floor.
"Most students wouldn't," she continued. "Most instructors wouldn't either."
Rafe didn't relax.
That told him everything he needed to know.
"This evaluation isn't on my schedule," he said.
Elyra smiled faintly.
"No. It isn't."
The air grew heavier.
Not oppressive—Focused.
Like a blade held just short of cutting skin.
"Why am I here?" Rafe asked.
Elyra turned to face him fully.
"Because the Academy doesn't know what you are," she said plainly. "And when something doesn't fit, we either study it… or eliminate it."
Rafe's anchor tightened.
"…Which one are you here to decide?"
Elyra chuckled softly.
"That depends on you."
She raised one finger.
"This is a simple test. You won't fight me. You won't cast spells."
Rafe waited.
"You will endure," Elyra finished.
She snapped her fingers.
The world tilted.
The room didn't change—
But Rafe did.
Pressure flooded his senses, not external, but internal. His Light recoiled instantly, suppressed by the wards. His Shadow curled inward, unable to expand.
And the third layer—
Didn't respond.
Not because it was sealed.
But because something else was taking priority.
Pain bloomed in Rafe's chest, sharp and sudden, like his heart had forgotten how to beat properly.
He staggered.
Elyra watched closely.
"This room amplifies contradiction," she said calmly. "Any imbalance inside you will be… highlighted."
Rafe clenched his teeth.
He refused to scream.
Images flashed behind his eyes—fragmented, violent, unreal.
A throne shattered.Hands reaching for him.Lyn crying.Mara falling.Selene burning herself out to keep him alive.
His breath hitched.
The anchor flared violently.
Rafe dropped to one knee.
"Good," Elyra murmured. "You're resisting instinctively."
The pressure increased.
Rafe's vision blurred, dark bleeding in from the edges.
He felt it then.
Not the third layer.
Not Light.
Not Shadow.
Something between.
A narrow, precise awareness—A state where power didn't flow outward…
It folded inward.
Rafe exhaled slowly.
He stopped fighting the pressure.
He accepted it.
The pain didn't vanish.
But it stabilized.
The room's runes flickered.
Elyra stiffened.
"…Interesting."
Rafe rose to his feet.
Not fully steady.But upright.
"What you're doing," he said hoarsely, "forces imbalance."
"Yes," Elyra replied. "And?"
"So instead of pushing against it," Rafe continued, "I reduced myself."
Silence fell.
The pressure plateaued.
The anchor loosened slightly, no longer screaming.
Elyra's eyes widened just a fraction.
"You compressed your presence."
Rafe nodded once.
"I didn't output anything," he said. "I narrowed it."
Elyra slowly lowered her hand.
The room's wards returned to normal.
The pressure vanished like it had never existed.
Rafe exhaled shakily.
Elyra stared at him now—not like a subject.
Like a discovery.
"That wasn't Light," she said."Not Shadow.""Not Primordial."
Rafe met her gaze.
"It's just… control."
Elyra laughed softly.
"No," she said. "That was a state."
She stepped closer.
"A pre-technique. A foundation."
Rafe frowned.
"For what?"
"For Unassigned," Elyra replied. "For variables."
She turned toward the door.
"This test never happened," she said casually. "If anyone asks, you fainted from mana exhaustion."
She paused, hand on the handle.
"But understand this, Rafe."
She looked back at him, eyes sharp.
"The Academy is not safer than the Commission."
Rafe nodded slowly.
"I figured."
Elyra smiled.
"And yet… you adapted faster than I expected."
The door opened.
Before leaving, she added:
"Rest. Tomorrow, you'll be given a private training window."
The door closed.
Rafe sat down heavily on the bed.
His hands trembled.
But inside his chest—
Something had changed.
Not awakened.
Refined.
A new awareness settled into place, quiet and dangerous.
A way to exist without being noticed.
A way to endure.
Somewhere deep inside the Academy's hidden records, a new line etched itself silently:
UNASSIGNED STATE: INITIAL STABILIZATION — CONFIRMED
And far away, beyond wards and walls—
The Director felt a faint disturbance.
And smiled.