Kael met Professor Halvek's gaze steadily.
"What exactly did you find beneath this mountain?" the professor asked.
Kael hesitated only briefly before answering.
"I hit my head pretty hard when I landed," he said. "Knocked the breath out of me."
Halvek said nothing.
Kael continued.
"There was a cavern down there. Big one. A few tunnels running off in different directions." He shrugged slightly. "Most of them disappeared into the dark. I didn't go far."
"You explored none of them?" Halvek asked.
Kael shook his head.
"I stayed close to where I fell. Didn't seem like a good idea to wander too far with creatures down there."
Darius looked up from the rune stone.
"Creatures?"
"Stone Skulkers," Kael replied. "Saw one moving around in the tunnels."
That earned a few nods from the miners nearby.
Skulkers weren't uncommon in deeper caverns.
Halvek studied Kael quietly for a moment.
Then he asked a different question.
"Tell me, Kael. Why are you not enrolled at the academy?"
The question caught Kael off guard.
Before he could answer, Garrick spoke.
"He's Groundless," his father said plainly.
Halvek glanced at him.
"Is that so?"
Garrick shrugged slightly.
"He never showed any sign of elemental affinity growing up. No point sending a boy to the academy if he can't feel the earth."
Halvek turned his attention back to Kael.
The professor studied him carefully.
Longer this time.
Thoughtfully.
Then he shook his head slightly.
"I'm not certain I agree with that assessment."
Garrick frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Halvek folded his hands behind his back.
"I've spent most of my life studying elemental resonance," he said calmly. "Occasionally individuals are… misjudged."
Darius smirked faintly.
Aria, however, continued watching Kael with quiet curiosity.
Halvek looked back toward Garrick.
"If you don't mind, I would like to test him later."
Garrick raised an eyebrow.
"Test him how?"
"Nothing complicated," Halvek replied. "Just a simple resonance check."
Garrick shrugged.
"Doesn't bother me."
Kael kept his expression neutral, though his thoughts raced.
A test.
That could be dangerous.
Halvek turned toward the sinkhole.
"For now," the professor said, "let's see what lies beneath your ridge."
He gestured toward the collapsed shaft.
"Darius. Aria."
Both students stepped forward immediately.
The miners nearby shifted back, giving them space.
Halvek pointed toward the wedged slabs blocking the opening.
"Clear the obstruction."
Darius cracked his knuckles slightly.
"With pleasure."
Aria said nothing.
The two academy students stepped to the edge of the collapse and placed their hands against the stone.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the ground trembled.
Stone groaned as the slabs began to move.
Not slowly.
Not awkwardly.
The rocks shifted smoothly, sliding aside as if guided by invisible hands.
The largest slab lifted several centimeters before gliding toward the edge of the shaft and settling safely against the ridge.
Dust drifted through the air.
Several miners exchanged impressed looks.
Within less than a minute, the opening was clear.
Sunlight spilled down the shaft into the cavern below.
Darius stepped back with a satisfied grin.
"There."
Halvek nodded once.
"Good control."
Aria brushed dust from her hands and looked down into the dark shaft.
The miners murmured quietly among themselves.
Even Garrick looked impressed.
"Academy training," one of the older miners muttered.
Halvek glanced back toward the group.
"Miners develop practical control over their element," he explained calmly. "Enough to assist their work. But the academy trains individuals to understand the deeper mechanics of elemental forces."
Darius folded his arms confidently.
"It's a bit more complicated than moving rocks for a living."
A few of the miners frowned at that.
Aria gave him a brief look but said nothing.
Halvek ignored the comment.
His attention shifted briefly toward Kael again.
The professor's eyes narrowed slightly as if studying something invisible.
Then he turned back toward the open shaft.
"Let's take a look beneath your mountain."