Evening fell like a blanket of stone.
The academy lights dimmed, casting gold-orange halos through the arched halls. Students either crammed into the mess hall for evening stew or retreated into their dorms for last-minute revisions.
Lyle walked alone—down the western staircase, past the Arcanist Wing, until he reached Tower V.
He passed the normal training floors without pause.
First floor: Spell theory.
Second floor: Elemental combat.
Third floor: Tactical dueling.
Each one full of noise, light, pressure.
He didn't stop.
At the end of the third floor's long hallway was a narrow door.
No guards. No label.
Only a faint sigil carved above it—a single circle intersected by three lines.
He pressed his palm to the surface.
It opened with a soft click.
And the stairs beyond led down.
---
Sub-Level 3 didn't feel like part of the academy.
The walls were darker, older. Cold air coiled along the steps like smoke. The glowstones were dimmer, flickering gently like candlelight.
But the pressure in the air was thick.
Like something waited at the bottom—not patient, not malicious… just present.
Lyle reached the final step.
A single training room stretched before him.
Wide.
Empty.
And at its center stood a man with skin like burnished bronze and eyes that shimmered with fragmented color—red, green, silver.
He wasn't smiling.
But he looked like someone who used to smile, once, before life gave him reasons not to.
"You're late," he said.
Lyle checked the time crystal on the wall. "I'm early."
"Exactly."
The man turned his back and walked to a rack on the far wall. Dozens of weapons, wands, and crystals lined the shelves.
"I'm called Asterion," he said. "Former Third Chair of the Arcai Vanguard."
Lyle's stomach flipped. He said nothing.
"I'm going to train you. Not to fight. Not to survive. To think like them."
"The Arcai?"
Asterion glanced over his shoulder. "No. The ones that killed them."
Lyle didn't move.
But inside, the Core flared—once, sharply—like it recognized the name.
Asterion turned fully and tossed a small, bladed wand toward him. Lyle caught it instinctively.
"Today," Asterion said, "you'll unlearn everything this academy taught you. And if you survive, I'll teach you how to bend truth into casting. How to weaponize fear. How to stop being a mage—"
He stepped closer.
"—and start being a myth."
---
For the next hour, Lyle didn't cast spells.
He broke them.
Asterion challenged him with flawed glyphs. Inverted formations. Runes meant to backfire. Spells designed not to work.
Each failure had a price.
A shock through the arm.
A cut across the air that nicked his cheek.
A pulse of mana that rattled the Codex in his chest.
But every mistake taught him something deeper.
Instinct.
Not just what to cast—but when not to.
Not what to believe—but how to fake it.
By the time he stumbled to his knees after the fifth sequence, Asterion knelt beside him.
"You're not powerful," he said. "Not yet."
Lyle panted, sweat dripping from his brow. "But I'm getting smarter."
Asterion smiled for the first time.
"Then you'll live."
---
That night, as Lyle returned to his room, the Codex pulsed once more.
Not just to alert him.
But to offer something.
> [Arcai Ethos – Tier I Available: Choose Your Path]
Three glowing phrases appeared before him:
---
1. "Deceive to Survive"
> Grants passive concealment to mana flares. Increases success in hidden casting, disguise, and false signature manipulation. Enhances mimicry and adaptive glyph shaping.
2. "Burn to Break"
> Increases destructive capacity of unfinished or broken spells. Unlocks critical success chance on failed castings. Gains unstable force when outnumbered or injured.
3. "See Beyond the Veil"
> Unlocks passive insight into unknown magic. Can sense intent of foreign spellcasters. Rare chance to predict spell structure before it's formed.
---
The Core pulsed, as if leaning forward.
The ring in his pocket glowed faintly in agreement.
Lyle reached out.
And chose—
"Deceive to Survive"
> Grants passive concealment to mana flares. Increases success in hidden casting, disguise, and false signature manipulation. Enhances mimicry and adaptive glyph shaping.