The Academy could be felt long before it could be seen.
Rafe sensed it the moment they crossed the final hill.
Pressure.
Not hostile.Not gentle.
Evaluating.
The air itself carried layered enchantments, invisible waves brushing against his skin, sliding across his aura like cold fingers searching for flaws.
Lyn shivered.
"…It feels heavy."
Mara cracked her neck.
"Feels like the world telling us to behave."
Selene slowed her steps.
"From here on, every movement is watched," she said quietly. "The Academy's outer wards don't attack. They measure."
The Seer's gaze sharpened.
"And they remember."
The path opened into a vast plateau carved from pale stone. At its center stood the Academy.
No walls.
No towers.
No banners.
Just a massive structure of white and dark crystal fused together, floating slightly above the ground as if gravity had simply given up trying to claim it.
Runes rotated slowly around its base, each one pulsing with different mana signatures.
Rafe's breath caught.
It wasn't beautiful.
It was absolute.
The moment his foot touched the final stone path, something reacted.
A sharp tightening inside his chest.
The anchor pulled.
Hard.
He stumbled.
Mara caught him instantly.
"Hey—!"
Selene raised her staff, eyes flashing.
The Seer swore under her breath.
"The wards noticed him."
The air rippled.
A ring of light expanded outward from the Academy, passing through the plateau like a slow-moving wave.
When it reached Rafe—
It hesitated.
Not long.Not visibly.
But enough.
Rafe felt the third layer stir faintly beneath the seal.
Not awakening.
Responding.
The ring passed.
The pressure eased.
Selene exhaled.
"…It accepted him."
Mara blinked.
"Accepted?"
The Seer nodded grimly.
"The Academy decided he's allowed to exist here."
Rafe swallowed.
That didn't feel reassuring.
Ahead, hundreds of young people gathered near a wide stone gate that didn't look like a gate at all—just a vertical slice in space, shimmering faintly.
Prospective students.
All ages.All backgrounds.All talents.
Some radiated mana openly.Others hid it behind practiced masks.
Eyes turned as Rafe's group approached.
Whispers followed.
Not because of Selene.
Not because of Mara.
Because of him.
Rafe felt it.
That same uncomfortable pull of attention.
Someone laughed nearby.
Another scoffed.
A tall boy with silver hair glanced at Rafe, eyes narrowing.
"…New blood," he muttered.
A girl in crimson robes tilted her head, curiosity flickering.
Interesting.
At the front of the gathering, a platform rose from the ground.
An elderly man stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back.
No aura.
No pressure.
And somehow—
More dangerous than anyone else there.
"Welcome," the man said calmly, his voice carrying effortlessly. "You stand before the Helion Academy."
Silence fell instantly.
"I am Instructor Kael," he continued. "Today, you will learn whether you belong here."
A ripple of excitement and fear ran through the crowd.
"There will be no written tests," Kael said. "No interviews. No mercy."
Mara grinned.
"I like him."
Kael raised one hand.
"The entrance trial has one rule."
The shimmering gate behind him widened slightly.
"If the Academy rejects you—"
The air turned cold.
"—you will know."
Rafe's anchor tightened again.
Lyn squeezed his hand.
Selene leaned closer.
"From this point on, I can't interfere."
Rafe nodded slowly.
He stared at the gate.
At the unknown waiting beyond it.
At the eyes watching him.
At the Director, somewhere far away, undoubtedly smiling.
He took one step forward.
The Academy's runes brightened.
The gate pulsed.
And a quiet voice echoed inside his chest—not the Primordial, not the Vestige.
Something else.
Something new.
"Candidate detected."
The trial had begun.