The observation deck was quiet.
Too quiet.
Kael and Aria followed the instructor through a corridor of glass and steel, the academy lights dimming as night crept over the horizon. Below them, the training grounds shimmered with fading crimson energy—remnants of the Pairing Trials dissolving into the wind.
At the far end, Headmaster Eryndor Valen waited by the railing. His long coat stirred in the cold air, eyes reflecting the faint red hue of the moonlight.
"Pair Twenty-Seven," he said, voice even. "Step forward."
Kael obeyed. His pulse hammered, his sight still prickling with residual heat.
Valen's gaze lingered on him, calm but sharp enough to slice through excuses. "During Stage One, your eyes emitted an unknown wavelength. The system recorded a pulse outside any known spectrum. Explain."
Kael hesitated. Words felt heavy, wrong. "I don't know, sir. It just … happened. I reacted."
Valen's tone didn't shift. "Reaction reveals instinct. Instinct reveals truth. Tell me—what did you see?"
Kael's throat tightened. He remembered the wasteland—the beasts, the flashes, the man in the mist. "A figure," he said quietly. "In the fog. Watching."
Valen's expression didn't change, but Aria caught the slight twitch of his fingers—an unspoken cue that the answer mattered.
"The simulation had no such entity," Valen said. "What you saw was not part of the trial."
The silence stretched. Kael felt the room tighten around him, like invisible eyes pressing closer.
Aria spoke first, crisp and controlled. "Headmaster, the system logs showed his eyes flash red before the pulse. The sensors detected a resonance. It wasn't instability—it was synchronization."
Valen turned to her. "Interesting observation, Miss Valen. Though you should know better than to speculate on phenomena beyond your clearance."
Her jaw tensed, but she nodded. "Understood."
He shifted his gaze back to Kael. For a moment, the faint crimson glow in the Headmaster's pupils deepened—same shade, same intensity. Kael froze. The light felt… familiar.
Valen finally spoke, softer now. "You've touched something that should not awaken this early. The Crimson Sight is not a gift—it's a threshold. Cross it too soon, and it will consume you."
Kael blinked, pulse racing. "Crimson Sight?"
The Headmaster straightened. "Forget the term. Focus on control. Your next trial begins soon. Until then, rest. Speak of this to no one."
Aria bowed lightly. "Understood."
Kael opened his mouth to ask more, but the Headmaster's eyes flared—just once. The world tilted. The sound dulled. Then, suddenly, they stood outside the deck door, the meeting already over.
Aria exhaled sharply, steadying herself. "He used a memory seal. We won't remember everything."
Kael rubbed his temples, a fragment of Valen's voice echoing in his mind—
> Threshold.
He looked toward the crimson sky above the academy, unease threading through his chest. Whatever he'd awakened, it wasn't sleeping again.
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