The classroom fell silent the moment Rafe entered.
Not the awkward silence of strangers.
The deliberate kind.
Instructor Halren stood at the front of the hall, tall and rigid, eyes sharp beneath a brow that looked permanently carved into a frown. Around him, rows of students watched Rafe like he was an equation that didn't balance.
"Unassigned," Halren said flatly. "Front row."
Rafe complied.
Selene remained at the back of the room, arms crossed, her presence a quiet warning.
"This is Mana Theory One," Halren continued. "Foundational. Boring. Necessary."
A few students smirked.
"Especially for those who think power excuses ignorance."
Rafe didn't react.
Halren began the lecture immediately, diagrams forming in the air—mana flow, stability curves, saturation limits.
Rafe followed easily.
Too easily.
The information clicked into place with unnatural clarity, as if the concepts were aligning themselves around him instead of the other way around.
Careful, he warned himself.
Then it happened.
A student two rows back lost control.
A minor surge.Unstable output.Enough to cause a backlash.
Gasps echoed.
The surge snapped toward the front row.
Toward Rafe.
Instinct took over.
Rafe regulated.
Just a breath.
The surge dissolved the moment it touched his field.
Clean.Silent.Perfect.
Too perfect.
The room froze.
Halren stopped mid-sentence.
Selene straightened sharply.
Rafe felt it immediately—the afterimage pulling at him, his vision splitting for a fraction of a second. Two classrooms overlapped.
His stomach dropped.
Too long.
He stumbled, catching himself on the desk as pain flared behind his eyes.
Halren was already moving.
"Enough."
He slammed his staff against the floor.
The wards snapped back into place.
"Unassigned," Halren said coldly. "Explain."
Rafe steadied his breathing.
"I prevented collateral damage."
"You interfered," Halren corrected. "Without authorization."
Selene stepped forward.
"He acted reflexively."
Halren didn't look at her.
"Reflex is the problem," he said. "Rules exist for a reason."
The student who caused the surge stared at Rafe, pale and shaken.
"…He saved me," the student whispered.
Halren's gaze hardened.
"And now he pays for it."
The room held its breath.
"Unassigned Rafe," Halren said, "you are restricted from regulation usage during class hours."
Rafe's jaw tightened.
"That defeats the point of supervision."
"Exactly," Halren replied. "You will learn restraint."
Selene's eyes flashed.
"This will end badly."
Halren finally looked at her.
"Or it will teach him humility."
Rafe felt the afterimage fade slowly, leaving a dull ache behind.
"…Understood," he said.
The lecture resumed.
But the room never relaxed again.
Whispers followed every note Rafe took.
Fear mixed with resentment.
And something worse.
Expectation.
After class, Eiden blocked the corridor.
"Nice save," he said lightly. "You like playing hero?"
Rafe met his gaze.
"I like not letting people get hurt."
Eiden leaned closer.
"Then you're going to break again," he whispered. "Because this place doesn't reward that."
Rafe didn't answer.
But as Eiden walked away, the ache behind his eyes pulsed once more—stronger than before.
A reminder.
He had broken a rule.
And the Academy had noticed.