The morning sun shimmered over the academy's training field.
Students were already running laps under the sharp, commanding voice of Miss Mila.
"Faster! Don't stop until your legs give up then keep going!" she barked, hands on her hips.
Her tone made the Class F students groan, but there was warmth hidden in her words.
A small boy tripped mid-sprint. Mila immediately walked over, crouched, and offered a hand.
"You okay?"
He nodded weakly. "Y-yeah… Miss Mila, you're so cool… you never get tired."
Mila chuckled. "That's because I eat my vegetables."
The class laughed the tension broke.
But her smile faded for a moment.
A flicker crossed her vision blinding, crimson light.
Her breath hitched.
Suddenly she was somewhere else.
A battlefield. The skies were red, filled with roaring dragons and collapsing fortresses. She saw flashes of black armor, violet hair glowing in the fire, and a familiar voice shouting her name
"Milly! Pull back!"
Her heart stopped.
That voice-
Then everything went white.
When her vision cleared, she was back on the field, holding her head as a searing pain throbbed behind her eyes.
"Miss Mila?" a student asked nervously.
"I'm fine," she said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just… a bit dizzy. Keep running."
But her hands were shaking.
That name. That voice. That battlefield.
Why did it feel real?
Across the training field, a figure stood silently behind the academy's second-floor window. The Sage watched her with sharp eyes, his hands clasped behind his back.
He had seen the brief moment her aura had flared. It was faint almost imperceptible but to someone like him, it was unmistakable.
"That wasn't human magic," he murmured.
The Head Mistress entered the observation room, surprised to find him there. "Still watching her, Sage?"
He didn't turn. "She lost focus just now. Her magic signature shifted for a second, it was something… ancient."
The Head Mistress frowned. "Ancient? Are you sure?"
He nodded slowly. "I've only felt that kind of energy once before. When I faced against the Forgotten Legion during the old wars."
The Mistress blinked. "That's impossible. Those beings vanished centuries ago."
"Perhaps." He finally turned, eyes narrowing. "But if I'm right… one of them is standing in that training field."
Later that night, Mila stood on the beach, the waves brushing her feet. The stars shimmered above as she whispered softly to herself.
"Basei… that name again. Why does it hurt to remember?"
Her reflection shimmered in the moonlight and for a split second, her eyes turned golden.
Then, as quickly as it came, the color vanished.
The sea breeze whispered around her as she clutched her chest, feeling something stirring deep inside.
Far away, from the academy's balcony, the Sage watched her again his expression unreadable.
"You can hide your power, Miss Mila," he muttered.
"But you can't hide your past."