The dust from the sand monsters had not yet settled when the air grew heavy with suspicion. Captain Valerius approached the boy—not to thank him for saving his men, but with his hand resting firmly on the hilt of his sword. His eyes scrutinized the young man's hands, searching for any trace of trickery or hidden artifacts.
"A fireball... without an incantation... and with that much power?" the Captain growled. "Even a Royal Mage couldn't have vaporized an adult sand worm in a single shot with a first-tier spell."
The soldiers whispered among themselves, their glances shifting from forced admiration to hushed hostility. To them, this wasn't luck; it was a dangerous anomaly.
The boy, however, didn't hear them. He stared at his gauntlets, his heart thumping in his ears. That flame... he hadn't felt magic flowing; he had felt a searing rage erupting from his blood. Who was he? A monster disguised as a child? A fallen mage? Solitude struck him harder than any sand monster ever could.
"That is enough, Valerius," Elara intervened, her voice cutting through the murmurs. "The sun is setting, and the desert is truly beginning to wake. Let's find rocky shelter."
After establishing a secure camp in a cave, the Captain attempted another interrogation. But faced with the boy's tears of confusion and his sincere silence, Valerius had to accept the obvious: questioning a blank slate was useless.
That was when Elara laid her cards on the table.
"Captain, you will get nothing from him here. His power is 'raw,' unstable. If we want to know the source of that massacre and who this boy is, we must take him to the Solis Academy of Magic. There, the Archives and mana sensors will be able to identify his magical signature."
She turned to the boy with that smile that never quite reached her eyes.
"What do you say, Little Dragon? Do you want to discover the truth of what you are, or would you rather remain a nameless shadow?"
The boy looked down at his gauntleted hands. He had no choice. If he didn't find answers, he would forever remain the prime suspect of a crime he wasn't even sure he hadn't committed.
"I want to know," he replied, his voice firmer. "I want to understand why I did that."
"Then it is decided," Elara declared. "As soon as we arrive at the capital, you will be presented to the Academy Council."