Five years.
It had been five long, swift years since I first opened my eyes to this world in a broken cradle of snow and bark.
Now, I lay in the sun-drenched courtyard of Xyrus Academy, the grass warm beneath me, soft clouds adrift above. A breeze stirred the trees around the edge of the stone balustrade, carrying with it the scent of jasmine and old parchment. I stretched an arm over my face, squinting at the sky.
Five years… and not once had I regretted that avalanche.
My name is Alister. Chosen, not given, by Cynthia Goodsky herself—a name she said belonged to a son she never bore but might have, in another life.
In the time since she had taken me in, I had grown under the careful eyes of instructors and the sharper watch of Cynthia herself. My body, once infantile and vulnerable, was now honed with quiet, patient brutality. Not from drills alone, but from the very nature of the men and women she summoned to mold me. Each of them a tool, sharp-edged and meticulous.
My mornings began before dawn. My combat instructor, a man named Kael Voren, was an ex-military knight with a voice like thunder and hands that moved like ghosts. Under his steel discipline, I had learned the language of blades.
Sword, dagger, hand, and foot.
But above all—I loved the Spear.
There was a rhythm to it, a dance hidden in the twirls and strikes. It extended my will like a phantom limb, elegant and brutal. My movements with it were fluid, my accuracy nearly peerless among the trainees in the academy courtyard who still treated me like a peculiar pet.
Kael had stopped calling me "boy" after the first year and started calling me "problem." With gritted admiration.
And then there were the other lessons.
Etiquette. Manners. The subtle flex of a noble's wrist, the right tilt of a smile during a dance, the precise angle to bow that suggested grace without subservience.
My tutor, Lady Elenora, had been a court enchantress in her prime and could spot an unrefined vowel from across a ballroom. I'd hated her at first. Now, I could waltz in three different regional styles, recite ancestral lines back four generations, and order tea like a royal heir.
It was ridiculous. And necessary.
Cynthia believed in polish as much as purpose.
And it was Cynthia who taught me the secrets of this world—of magic, mana beasts, and the woven truths of elemental theory. Her voice had become the silent backdrop of my mind, echoing facts and philosophies with every step I took. My first word had been "mana," much to her delight.
I'd never had a mana core, not yet. But I could feel mana.
Not just the ambient threads in the air, but deeper—beneath stone, within storms, inside breath and heartbeat. It whispered to me even before I summoned it, like threads waiting for a tailor's hand. That alone made me... different.
Unique, Cynthia called it.
She thought I was a prodigy.
She didn't know the truth.
I wasn't creating just a mana core.
I was designing something new.
A dual-core structure—
…I wanted versatility. And evolution.
It was still raw, still an echo inside me. But I could feel the twin seeds pulsing beneath my consciousness, slowly binding to my existence, drawing in mana like roots testing the soil.
Soon.
Very soon.
A gust of wind rustled the nearby trees, bringing with it the faint scent of lavender.
"Alister," a voice called.
I blinked. Soft sandals whispered over polished stone. A familiar silhouette stood above me, blocking the sun. Tall, regal, and unbothered by time.
Cynthia Goodsky.
She had aged like an untouched painting—eyes sharp, robes flowing with the grace of cloud and silk, her long silver hair braided over one shoulder. She smiled faintly, arms crossed.
"Still pretending you're a flower in the sun, are you?"
I smirked, sitting up and brushing grass off my dark training tunic.
"I was meditating. Clearly very seriously."
"Ah yes. Meditating. On which blade of grass would make the finest pillow?"
"You joke, but some of these are incredibly supportive."
Cynthia chuckled, a rare sound. She gestured toward the stone path leading to her tower.
"Come. It's time for your lesson."
I followed, steps silent beside hers. We passed beneath arches filled with glyph-light and murals of great elemental battles. She glanced sideways at me as we entered the main chamber—our usual study.
Today, the room had changed.
The walls shimmered with active enchantments, runes glowing in hues of deep blue and soft gray. A pair of crystal basins floated nearby, swirling with water and suspended dust. The air felt alive. Buzzing. Tense with hidden energy.
Cynthia turned toward me, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Today," she said, "we begin your exploration of affinities. Specifically, the elements of Wind and Sound."
I tilted my head. "Sound?"
"It's rarer," she admitted, "and often misunderstood. But you're not like the others. You need to understand more than what's convenient."
She raised a hand and the first basin—filled with soft blue light—lifted into the air.
"Wind," she began, "is not merely air moving. It is momentum made manifest. It is the memory of speed, the will of movement. It can slice, carry, obscure, and erase."
The basin trembled. A stream of air burst forth, swirling through the chamber in a tightening spiral. Papers rustled. Light bent around the edges.
"Wind is finesse," she said, "but it is also violence. It can lift a feather—or peel flesh from bone."
She let the stream die and turned to the second basin. The light within this one was… different. Vibrating. It seemed to hum even as it stood still.
"Sound," she said, more quietly now, "is the ghost of impact. It travels through every medium—air, earth, even water. It is the echo of intent."
She snapped her fingers.
Crack.
The room shuddered faintly, and I felt the noise ripple through me, bouncing off my bones and mind alike.
"Sound is pressure," she said, voice layered now by faint magical resonance, "and resonance. With it, you can disrupt spells, cause internal damage, obscure speech, even shatter enchantments."
I swallowed. "You can weaponize silence?"
Cynthia smiled faintly. "And turn a whisper into a scream."
She lowered both basins. "Now tell me, Alister. Which do you feel most drawn to?"
I stepped forward, closing my eyes.
I reached—not with hand or mind, but with that seed of perception, the embryonic root of the core I was slowly, secretively growing.
Wind was fast. Elusive. It danced just beyond my reach, laughing as I tried to touch it.
But Sound?
Sound sank into me. It slid into the gaps of thought and breath, humming with my pulse. It felt like home.
"Both," I said. "But… Sound is stronger. Clearer."
Cynthia nodded. "That is quite intersting that you are able to precive an element without a core.... you'll train both. But I'll have you specialize in Sound first when you awaken your core may it be naturally or through another method. There are techniques I can teach—some long buried. But they require… delicate understanding."
She placed a hand on my head, her tone shifting.
"You continue to surprise me, Alister. And I like surprises."
I looked up at her. "You just want a reason to yell and call it training."
She smirked. "Well, someone has to keep you humble."
She dismissed me with a flick of her fingers. "Off with you. And try not to blow up anything this week."
---
I returned to my room. Polished floors. Bookshelves sagging under forbidden knowledge. Enchanted windows overlooking the spires of the Academy.
I locked the door. Drew the heavy curtains.
Then I sat in silence, legs crossed on the floor, and reached inward.
Beneath thought. Beneath breath.
The core was forming. Slowly, steadily.
But not as one but two one was my main core which has been ninty-nine percent compleate the other was a mana circulation around my heart.
A mirrored pair, spiraling in sync. One focused on perception and manipulation. The other on storage and flow.
Not yet real. But growing. Living.
And around it , a pattern of mana flow was seen and controlled
Dual-core resonance, I called it.
Unstable. Unorthodox.
Unheard of.
But it would work. I would make it work,for if this was unsuccessfully done the result will be death or being severely crippled.
As the mana rotaion around my heart increased and i added the final pieace of my core shards both my the circle around my heart and my mana core was completed,though this was the easy part as my core was completed i instantly creted a thin mana barrier around my heart.
Less than a second after doing this the mana which was rotating around my heart rapidly condensed and shrank putting large amounts of pressure on my heart threatening to crush it,though my resolve did not fail me as i increased the strength of the barrier around my heart.
As time passed the pressure slowly faded as the mana rotaion stabilized and the second phase was conpleted,as this was done I used all merger to merge the mana from the rotation with my heart,this Merger brought about emense pain but i stayed stoic and soon the pain passed.
Looking inwards i say a black core then i looked at the other source of mana i felt, my heart which was now a dark red colour it leaked no mana put pulled power inwardly,makeing the very air i breath give me Vitality.my first creation in this world the "mana heart".
End of Chapter 3