Kaelen stood alone in the moonlit clearing behind the academy's aqueduct gardens, his robes damp with the residual mist of his latest failed attempt. He extended his hand again, focusing, whispering the arcane incantation he'd refined for days.
"Cascade: Aqua Bind."
A ribbon of translucent water surged from the nearby stream, twisting toward the practice dummy. It coiled around the target — then splashed harmlessly to the ground.
Kaelen let out a frustrated sigh.
"Your control has improved, but you're still overexerting," came a voice behind him.
Master Elreyn, the academy's Water Discipline mentor, emerged from the shadows. Her silver hair shimmered like flowing mercury under the starlight, and her presence silenced Kaelen's irritation.
"I've been trying to strengthen the core of the spell, but it keeps losing shape," Kaelen admitted.
Elreyn approached and knelt beside the stream. "You are forcing the flow. Water doesn't obey force—it yields and waits for the right moment."
She tapped the surface. The stream rose, curving upward into a spiraling sphere that shimmered with mana before melting back into the current.
Kaelen watched carefully.
"Your mana pool is strong," she added, "but there's something inside you that resists the flow. Like a deep well sealed shut."
Kaelen's brows furrowed. "You feel it too?"
"I've felt it from the moment you arrived." Elreyn rose. "You're trying to master Aqua Arcane… but your essence pulses with something deeper. Something… darker."
Kaelen didn't respond. He didn't know how to.
The next morning, the central arena buzzed with activity. Academy students were summoned for paired duels—one of the monthly training trials meant to assess progress and identify standouts for elite tracks.
Kaelen was called early.
His opponent: Dren Halvor, a brute of a student from the Flame Discipline. Red tattoos flickered along his arms, signaling ember-aligned mana veins.
"Try not to drown out here, Aqua-boy," Dren sneered, fire already dancing around his fists.
Kaelen raised his hand calmly. The instructors nodded, signaling the start.
Dren lunged forward, hurling an arcing bolt of flame. Kaelen countered with a wall of water—but the fire sizzled through it, weakening the barrier. The crowd roared as Kaelen rolled to the side, launching a volley of pressurized water shards in retaliation.
Dren laughed, deflecting most of them with heat waves.
"You'll have to do better than a puddle splash," he taunted.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
"Tide Grasp!"
Water erupted from beneath Dren's feet, twisting into a vice-like grip. For a brief moment, Dren stumbled—but fire exploded around him, vaporizing the bindings.
Kaelen's mana pulsed wildly. His chest felt tight—not from exhaustion, but something else… like pressure building under his skin. A voice. A hum. A ripple through his soul.
Then everything shifted.
Time slowed.
The arena dimmed.
He was no longer standing on stone, but on an endless ocean of black water. The stars above shimmered like unfamiliar constellations, and in the distance, a massive eye opened beneath the waves.
"Remember… who you are."
Kaelen gasped, yanked back into reality just as Dren's fist closed the distance.
But he moved differently now.
Faster.
He ducked, water exploding outward in a precise spiral that sent Dren flying backward. The flames sputtered as the Aqua Arcane responded with unnatural sharpness.
The crowd fell silent. Even the instructors exchanged wary glances.
Kaelen stood at the center, panting—but untouched.
"Winner: Kaelen Virell," came the announcement, hesitant.
Kaelen's hands trembled slightly.
He hadn't activated a new spell. But his magic felt... deeper.
Stronger.
Like something beneath the Aqua Arcane had stirred for just a heartbeat.
Later that night, Kaelen sat at the edge of the academy's reflecting pool, his thoughts churning.
That ocean.
That eye.
He had felt it before—in his dreams, in the moments between waking and sleep, in the tremors during meditation. But this time, it answered.
What was it?
Not just water.
Not just mana.
Something older.
Abyssal.
He glanced at his reflection. For a fleeting second, his irises shimmered a deep violet before fading.
He didn't yet understand what was coming.
But whatever lay dormant inside him...
It was starting to awaken.
And the world wasn't ready.