Levitation was supposed to be easy.
That was the problem.
The Grand Fields stretched wide under the open sky, marked with faint glowing circles where students stood in neat rows. Instructors walked between them, correcting posture, adjusting stances, murmuring instructions that most students already knew by heart.
For many of them, levitation was muscle memory.
For Elio Rowan, it was humiliation waiting to happen.
"Focus on balance," Professor Kael Ardyn instructed calmly. "Not height. Balance first."
Students rose.
Some only a few inches. Some a full foot. A few floated like they had forgotten gravity was ever a thing.
Elio stayed firmly on the ground.
He frowned, closed his eyes, and tried again.
Nothing.
He bent his knees slightly, copied the posture of the boy beside him, inhaled slowly.
For half a second, his feet left the ground.
"YES—" Elio whispered.
Then he tilted sideways.
"Oh no—"
He spun. Arms flailed. Balance disappeared entirely. Elio shot upward like a startled bird, then immediately dropped.
He landed hard, rolled once, and somehow knocked into three other students on the way down.
Laughter rippled across the field.
Elio groaned into the grass. "I hate magic," he muttered.
He tried again.
This time, he floated… backward.
Straight into someone.
"Oof!"
Elio crashed into a girl mid-levitation, sending both of them tumbling to the ground in an ungraceful heap.
"I am so sorry," Elio blurted, scrambling up. "I swear I didn't mean to—"
The girl laughed.
Not sharply. Not mockingly. Just… warmly.
"It's okay," she said, brushing grass off her sleeve. She offered him a hand. "You looked like you were fighting gravity personally."
Elio blinked, then took her hand. "I lost," he admitted.
She smiled, eyes bright. She had soft features, pink-tinted eyes that seemed constantly curious, and an ease about her that made people relax without realizing why.
"Thanks," she said cheerfully. "I often get that compliment. I'm Nyra Vale. Mind reader and teleportation holder."
Elio froze.
"You— you read my mind?"
Nyra tilted her head. "Only accidentally. You're very loud in there."
Elio flushed. "Right. Sorry. I'm Elio."
"I'm also a mind reader," Elio added quickly. "But I don't think I have teleportation."
"That's normal," she said gently. "Most of us can't teleport at first. Some people open portals to the wrong places."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is. That's why we're here. To learn. To join the Aurelian Order properly."
Elio nodded, genuinely grateful. She hadn't looked at him like he didn't belong.
When he returned to Mirel, Thane, and Orena, he walked this time. Carefully.
"I'm practicing tonight," Elio announced. "Alone."
Thane raised an eyebrow. "Bold."
"Desperate," Elio corrected.
He decided to go back to his friends. A woman's voice stopped him as he was leaving the field.
"Elio."
He turned.
A female professor stood a short distance away, watching him with gentle curiosity. She had kind eyes. The kind that noticed effort before results. For a brief, unexpected moment, Elio was reminded of his mother.
"I noticed you struggling," she said softly. "You're new to levitation."
"Yes, ma'am," Elio admitted.
She smiled. "Don't worry. I was new once too. I was a normal human when I first entered this academy."
That surprised him.
"I'm Professor Eira Solenne," she said. "And struggling does not mean failing."
Elio smiled back, small but sincere. "Thank you."
Across the field, Professor Kael Ardyn watched them, arms crossed, disappointment clear on his face.
"This week," Kael announced, "you will focus only on basics. After that, you will receive temporary pendants from the Astra Loom."
Excitement buzzed.
"These pendants will grant limited access to your alignment. After six months, you will face your final test. Only then will permanent Astrae be awarded."
Some students smiled. Others looked terrified.
Elio just felt tired.
By late afternoon, levitation was no longer the only thing weighing on them.
Their second class took place in a wide, open stone hall lined with marked platforms and scattered objects. Spheres of metal. Wooden blocks. Smooth stones of varying sizes.
"Non-living object manipulation," the instructor announced. "Lift. Move. Release. Do not throw unless instructed."
This, at least, was new for everyone.
Even the confident students struggled at first. Objects wobbled, drifted off-course, or slammed loudly into the ground. Frustration built quickly.
Elio tried to lift a stone.
Nothing happened.
He focused harder. Tried to imagine it rising.
The stone rolled.
He tried again.
The stone tipped over and hit his foot.
"Ow."
By the end of the class, sweat clung to his collar and his patience had vanished. Mirel managed to lift a block steadily. Thane sent a wooden cube skidding halfway across the floor before losing control. Orena raised a slab cleanly, jaw set in concentration.
Elio failed. Repeatedly.
When the bells finally rang, signaling the end of the day, even the strongest students looked exhausted.
By nightfall, the others collapsed into bed, muscles aching, heads heavy from effort and information.
Elio lay staring at the ceiling, replaying every mistake.
Levitation. Failure.
Object control. Failure.
He sighed quietly, rolled out of bed, and made his decision.
He slipped out quietly and returned to the open field, moonlight stretching long shadows across the grass.
He tried again.
Failed again.
And again.
"You really are arrogant, useless, and unruly."
Elio stiffened.
He turned slowly.
Seris stood at the edge of the field, arms crossed, firelight flickering faintly in her eyes.
And for the first time, she was looking directly at him.