The pain didn't fade.
It changed.
Rafe lay awake long after the lights in the medical wing dimmed, staring at nothing while the ache behind his eyes pulsed in a slow, steady rhythm.
Not chaos.Not damage.
A pattern.
Like breathing, Elyra had said.
Rafe inhaled slowly.
Held it.
Then exhaled.
He didn't push power outward.
He didn't compress himself inward.
He let a thread slip.
Not Light.Not Shadow.
Just presence.
The ache flared sharply—then eased.
Rafe froze.
He tried again.
Inhale.Hold.Exhale.
This time, he felt it clearly: a tiny release of pressure, like opening a valve just enough to keep a system from bursting.
His thoughts sharpened.
The fog in his head thinned.
Rafe's eyes widened.
"…So that's it."
Not suppression.
Regulation.
He sat up slowly, testing his balance.
No dizziness.
The anchor tugged faintly—then settled.
Rafe smiled for the first time since entering the Academy.
By morning, the Academy buzzed with rumors.
The Unassigned who collapsed.The pressure test.The instructor confrontation.
Rafe felt the eyes on him as he walked across the grounds—less fear now, more calculation.
Predators adjusting.
Eiden found him near the outer training rings.
"You passed out," Eiden said casually, falling into step beside him. "Guess the rumors were true."
Rafe didn't stop walking.
"I woke up," he replied.
Eiden chuckled.
"Temporary."
Rafe turned his head just enough to meet his gaze.
"Careful," he said calmly. "You're assuming I'm avoiding pressure."
Eiden's smile faltered for half a second.
"Then prove it," he said. "Spar with me."
Rafe stopped.
Students nearby froze, sensing the shift.
"I can't," Rafe replied. "Unassigned rules."
Eiden leaned closer.
"Rules are excuses," he whispered. "You're afraid to be seen breaking."
Rafe felt the familiar tug to compress.
He didn't.
Instead, he released—just a fraction.
The air around him tightened briefly, then relaxed.
Eiden blinked.
"What was that?"
Rafe looked at him evenly.
"A warning."
Eiden's jaw tightened.
Before he could respond, a bell echoed across the grounds—low, authoritative.
All movement stopped.
A voice rolled through the Academy, amplified and calm.
"Attention, instructors and candidates."
Rafe felt it before he heard it.
A foreign pressure.
Not Academy wards.Not student mana.
Official.
"This is a formal notice from the Central Commission."
Silence hardened.
Elyra appeared at the edge of the courtyard, eyes cold.
"The Academy is requested to submit updated data on all anomalous candidates."
Rafe's chest tightened.
Eiden's expression shifted—interest replacing arrogance.
The voice continued.
"Specifically, the individual classified as Unassigned."
Whispers erupted instantly.
Rafe exhaled slowly, regulating the surge inside his chest.
The voice finished:
"Compliance is expected within seventy-two hours."
The pressure vanished.
The Academy breathed again.
Elyra's gaze found Rafe across the courtyard.
Just for a moment.
A single nod.
We're on the clock.
Eiden laughed softly beside him.
"Looks like you're popular," he said.
Rafe looked forward.
"No," he replied. "I'm being measured."
And this time—
He was ready.