Another day began.
And for most of the students, today was just another class, albeit one held by a living legend.
But to the instructors watching from above, this was something else entirely, a necessary storm. One that would separate the talented from the truly gifted.
Tashi Suko stood barefoot at the center of the wide training floor, surrounded by quiet rings marked with healing glyphs.
His robes were plain today, dark brown with fading green edges, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Despite his fame, he looked less like a mythical healer and more like a regular oldman
"Take a partner," Tashi instructed. His voice was clear but without fanfare. "Sit across from them. We begin immediately."
Kaelen didn't need to look around. Jered was already beside him, adjusting the cuffs of his tunic.
Neal paired off again with another girl with sharp-features from House Slylls, whose glowing silver hair hinted at light affinity.
Around them, whispers broke out. Some students were excited. Others looked vaguely terrified.
Tashi started teaching on how to heal without spells.
"Today," he said, gesturing to the ring glyphs, "you will learn to heal using only your mana. No spells. No incantations. No class skill shortcuts. Pure, directed intent."
That caught everyone's attention.
Tashi continued, kneeling as he placed his hand near one glyph.
"Mana control is not a privilege. It is a foundation. And healing with it requires something even rarer than talent which is trust."
He stood again, eyes passing over them all.
"Begin."
Students closed their eyes and reached inward, pulling mana into their hands.
They reached out to their partners, trying to send threads of energy across the space between them.
At first, it seemed beautiful.
Threads of blue, violet, and golden light arced from palm to palm like fireflies in ritual. But beauty is not mastery.
Gasps echoed.
Within moments, the room was filled with chaotic energy.
One boy from novice class cried out as his partner collapsed, coughing violently.
Another student fell back, clutching their chest as if struck.
In one corner, a girl began to tremble uncontrollably as her body rejected the mana invading her system.
Tashi did not interfere.
He watched, eyes calm.
"Again," he said, when half the class was groaning in pain and panic.
Kaelen remained motionless. His hand hovered near Jered's forearm, where a tiny cut had been made earlier by a dull ceremonial knife.
A faint shimmer of golden-blue light passed between them, subtle and steady.
Jered was sweating bullets from seeing all the other students groaning in pain "I don't feel a thing. Is it good or bad"
"Good," Kaelen said quietly. "That means it's working."
Indeed, the cut on Jered's arm closed with unnatural grace, vanishing beneath fresh skin in a matter of seconds.
No sting. No flare. Just warmth.
Around them, chaos reigned.
Dozens of students had failed. Some passed out. Others cried from the disorientation.
A few began vomiting as their internal systems rejected foreign mana.
Only a handful remained stable, and of those, most were from the veteran class.
Kaelen sat back, calm and focused.
Tashi finally spoke again.
"Now you understand. Mana is not universal. Each soul has a signature and a unique tone. You cannot pour one tone into another without creating dissonance."
He gestured to the coughing, trembling students.
"This is what dissonance feels like. It is not dramatic. It is simply ruinous."
One student stood up angrily. "Why didn't you warn us?!"
Tashi met his gaze and mocked. "I already did yesterday and it's better to learn from experience."
Silence.
The students were dumbfounded by his nonchalant behaviour.
He walked slowly to the center again.
"Healing is not about throwing energy into a wound. It's about resonance. Understanding the flow of another's soul as clearly as your own. You must learn to listen before you act."
Students lowered their heads. Some nodded. Others looked away in shame and some in anger.
Kaelen listened intently. He had heard this before in quiet lectures and strange metaphors from Tashi. But now the lesson was clear.
Tashi turned toward him briefly. Their eyes met. No words were needed.
"Again," Tashi repeated.
"But this time, you will start by synchronizing with your partner. Close your eyes. Feel their rhythm. Do not act until you understand it."
The groans began anew. But this time, the students moved more carefully.
Jered grunted. "Damn this is really dangerous, why didn't you warn me about it."
Kaelen allowed himself a small smile. "I did. You were too busy calling me a monster."
Jered chuckled. "Still true."
Kaelen shook his head and placed his hand back over Jered's pulse. This time, he showed him.
"Close your eyes," Kaelen said. "Don't just feel your mana. Feel mine. Let it sit beside yours. Not over it. Not under. Just beside."
Jered hesitated but complied. And slowly, he felt it a foreign mana not just warmth but it wasn't invasive either, but present.
Like someone breathing next to him in the dark, calm and steady.
"That's... kind of eerie," Jered muttered.
"That's harmony," Kaelen replied.
"I'm truly a genius Jered you better call me big brother from now on"
"Big brother my as.." before Jered could finish his sentence a sharp pain stopped him from talking further.
Kaelen had intentionally done it.
The duo had a very lax time until it was Jered's turn to heal.
Tashi with a straight face commanded "Alright, now switch, time to return the favor."
It was time for payback some grin like a devil and intentionally miss healed their partners.
Another round of groans and students fainting repeated again.
As the class dragged on, the worst began to pass. Students who had nearly given up tried again, now with patience.
The pressure of failure slowly transformed into determination.
Tashi did not praise or scold. He simply circled, offered adjustments, nudged postures.
Only near the end of the third hour did he speak fully again.
"You think healing is about kindness. About light. No. Healing is about discipline. Control. Intention. And when your friend is bleeding on the battlefield, what matters isn't your compassion. It's whether you can keep your hands steady."
He looked across the room.
"Mana manipulation is not exclusive to healers. It is the bedrock of all high-tier awakening. You want to control time? Life? Stars? Then learn this first. Master the hand before the blade. The breath before the storm."
Kaelen watched him carefully, memorizing every word.
Tashi concluded, voice calm but heavy
"This Academy will not coddle you. But we will give you every book, every artifact, every technique known to man. And the failures and the triumph... that is earned will be all on you."
"That's it for today's class dismissed, the next class will be after the exam until then practice what you have learned today as the saying goes practice makes a man perfect".
Kaelen lingered after class, watching the sunlight through the high windows.
He had felt something during that session. A deeper resonance.
Not just with the student he healed but with the very essence of mana.
During Jered's turn to heal him, Jered had made lots of mistakes but because of his divine cleric class' buff he had suffered only minimal backlash, just itchy but no harm, he had learned another truth that his class accepts mana of all kinds.
His Divine Cleric class was awakening, layer by layer.
Tashi approached, handing him a sealed scroll.
"Advanced techniques," he said simply. "For you. You're ready."
Kaelen bowed slightly. "Thank you."
Tashi smiled.
"Nah this was not even a test for you. Don't compare yourself with others in the path of healing you're special and need something more difficult to be served as a lesson."
Then rising his tone in laughter "But don't worry I'll make sure you begged you were never born as a divine cleric"
As the chamber emptied, and the echo of mana faded, Kaelen felt a quiet certainty settle within him.
This path of healing, understanding and refining was not a detour from power.
It was its truest form.