The Next Morning
Whispers followed Hal like phantoms, clinging to his steps as he entered the classroom. Their voices weren't loud, but the weight of their meanings pressed down like invisible stones on his back.
"He beat Cali…"
"His eyes were glowing, did you see that?"
"Do you think he's like Ray?"
Hal sat down slowly, jaw tight, hands in his lap. He kept his eyes low, as if doing so could block out the murmurs. But the attention clung to him. The whispers didn't come from cruelty—at least, not all of them. There was awe in some, curiosity in others. But that didn't make it easier to bear.
He felt Haiden's gaze before he saw it. His best friend sat diagonally across from him, his silver eyes serious—not suspicious, but concerned. Like someone watching a friend teeter on the edge of a ledge.
Before Hal could look away, Professor Aer entered. The murmurs quieted. The man's presence always had that effect, a silence earned through deep respect and deeper danger.
"No sparring today," Aer announced, stepping to the center of the room with his long coat trailing behind him. "You all need recovery—and some of you need perspective."
His gaze swept across the class, and it stopped on Hal. A few seconds too long. Enough to draw glances from others.
"Starting next week," Aer continued, "each of you will be assigned a personal trial—an outdoor mission that will test your true alignment with your concept."
Murmurs again. This time sharper, tighter. Outdoor missions meant isolation. Meant challenges that could kill unprepared initiates.
"Don't ask where. Don't ask what. Your concepts will shape the test themselves."
Then he turned toward Hal fully.
"Some of you may find out… what you really are."
Later That Day
Hal, Haiden, and Astrid walked beneath the outer trees that ringed the academy's stone walls. The sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling their uniforms in gold. The breeze was calm, the birds lively. But none of that reached Hal. He felt like his skin was buzzing. Like something inside him was trying to claw out.
"Do you think Aer knows what happened to me?" Hal asked quietly.
Haiden didn't hesitate. "He knew the moment your aura changed."
Astrid added, "Heck, even I knew somethin' snapped inside ya. The speed? That manic grin? That weren't you, Hal. Not the Hal I know."
Hal couldn't respond. He wanted to say they were wrong, that he'd been in control. But… he hadn't. Not really. It was blurry. Heat. Cold. A surge of authority so violent it felt like standing at the center of a storm.
"Well enough talkin'," Astrid said cheerfully, always one to change the subject when things got heavy. "Let's hit the dorm. I need to test the new grub I got since I ranked up to Eclipse."
Turned out that was a mistake.
Astrid went through seven trays of food before they were all kicked out of the buffet by a tearful kitchen staff and two frustrated stewards.
"Worth it," Astrid mumbled with a full mouth as they walked out.
The Next Day
After class, Hal was summoned to Aer's bureau.
He expected something pristine. A scholar's office, maybe even a magical sanctum. Instead, it was chaos incarnate. Piles of parchment. Books open and glowing. Half-filled mugs of cold coffee littering every surface. A wall map covered in notes and red thread.
Hal stepped in carefully, avoiding a pile of scrolls. "You wanted to see me?"
Aer didn't look up immediately. He was reading something, eyes narrowed. When he finally did speak, his tone was calm—but laced with steel.
"What was that in the trials, Hal?"
Hal blinked. "I don't—"
"That wasn't you," Aer interrupted. "Or not just you. Was it?"
Hal stiffened. "It was me. Why are you asking?"
Aer stood. He was tall, but it was his presence that towered. "You can fool your peers. Maybe even yourself. But not me. And definitely not the Dean."
As if on cue, the door behind Hal opened.
And in walked Vera.
The air shifted. Even Aer adjusted his stance.
She was tall—taller than Hal, which was saying something. Her frame was powerful, her suit crisp and precise. Short black hair, scars on her face, hazel eyes that saw too much. A soldier. A judge. A weapon.
Hal had heard about her long before he'd ever seen her. The Emperor who crushed dozens of noble hopefuls with a single glance. The one who denied bloodlines and legacies if the soul behind them wasn't worthy.
"Hal," she said, her voice cool, deep. "I watched your trial. When you were getting your ass handed to you, I noticed your aura. Bright white at first. Then blue—pure concept energy, linked to speed. Then, right after the fight, it shifted back to white. And your personality? Reversed."
She stared at him. "That looks like possession to me."
Possession.
The word hit like a punch to the ribs.
Possession wasn't just rare—it was illegal. A crime. A danger to reality itself. When a being of higher Authority took over a lower one, it usually ended in collapse. Either the host burned out—or they became something unrecognizable.
Hal tried to stay calm.
"I can… temporarily incarnate a concept," he said, half-truth. "The one I used was Speed. That's all."
Vera folded her arms. "Then show me."
He froze.
"I—"
"Now."
He tried. Reaching deep, focusing, calling out to Haste in his mind.
But something was wrong. The connection wasn't clean. It twisted. Warped.
And then it snapped.
A blinding surge of light exploded around him.
Authority flared as two forces tore apart within him.
A clash of Authority.
One side—Haste. The Concept. The other—Hal's core.
His aura spiked. White lightning danced from his fingertips. Books flew from shelves. Glyphs on the walls began to activate.
"Contain him!" Aer barked.
Vera didn't hesitate. She moved with the confidence of someone who had seen death and taught it fear. A flash of her aura—an emerald-gold sigil—and she slammed a barrier into place.
Hal screamed as his body twisted, light spiraling from him like a solar flare. Something deep in his chest—his soul, maybe—felt like it was being pulled apart.
Aer moved next, drawing sigils into the air with precise, glowing runes. "Stabilize. Lock the boundary between host and invocation."
Hal fell to his knees.
When it ended, he was shaking. Sweat soaked. Breathless.
Vera knelt down to his eye level. "That wasn't Speed, Hal. That was near-collapse. You tried to force something you can't control."
Aer's voice was calmer now, but no less serious. "You're being removed from general curriculum, effective immediately."
"What?" Hal rasped.
"You'll be moved to Hollow Spire," Aer said. "We've already begun shifting others with similar instability. You're not the only one with more potential than control."