Niko had the kind of face that could make you think twice, sharp cheekbones, a crooked grin, and eyes that seemed to flicker with mischief even when he was trying not to smile. He was everything Alex wasn't. Loud was where Alex was quiet. Reckless was where Alex was careful. The kind of person who'd jump off a cliff and ask questions later.
They had been roommates since Alex arrived at the academy, an accidental pairing that somehow stuck. Niko had been assigned the lower bunk, Alex the upper, though neither cared much for rules. They shared a cramped dorm with two windows overlooking the ancient stone courtyards of the school, a space cluttered with textbooks, half-finished experiments, and a mountain of old snack wrappers.
To anyone else, Niko was just another Second-year student. But to Alex, he was a constant link to the simple things in a complicated world: a classmate and a friend.
That morning, Niko was already up when Alex stumbled into the room, his arms laden with the gloves Haku had given him. He dropped them on the desk with a soft clink.
"Morning, genius," Niko said, not looking up from the small metal contraption he was tinkering with, a curious mix of clockwork gears and arcane symbols.
"Morning," Alex replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Niko grinned. "You look like you didn't sleep."
"Thoughts," Alex said. "Too many."
Niko shrugged. "Welcome to the club."
Alex picked up the gloves and examined the silver wiring and copper tape. They looked fragile, almost like jewelry, but he knew better. Haku's lessons weren't about flash; they were about precision.
"I heard about your demonstration yesterday, and Professor Haku also demonstrated something new with his theory of magic energy," Niko said, snapping a gear back into place.
"Yeah. It was nothing special."
Niko laughed. "You and that boss of yours are special. Miracles are one way to put it. I'm still trying to figure out how he did that with sound waves and… whatever else he used."
Alex's fingers twitched. "It's not magic. It's science. Real, measurable, repeatable science."
Niko paused, turning to look at him. "You really believe that stuff? That the mana we all use can be broken down?"
Alex nodded. "Mana is energy, isn't it? It follows laws, just ones we haven't fully understood yet. Haku's showing us the cracks."
Niko smiled, shaking his head. "You're starting to sound like him. You think you'll ever stop surprising me?"
"Maybe not."
The door creaked open, and Issabella slipped inside. She was the older sister of Niko, and heard who his roommate is, her wide eyes instantly locking onto the gloves on the desk. She was one of Haku's students, and unlike Ricardo, she had an almost worshipful fascination with their teacher.
"Those are the gloves, right?" she asked, barely containing her excitement.
Alex nodded.
"I wish I could understand what Haku's doing. It's like he's speaking a language no one else can hear," she said softly.
Niko laughed again. "You want to learn his language, Issabella? You better buckle up."
Issabella smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm ready."
Alex watched them both, the restless, fearless Niko and the quietly determined Issabella.
Later that day, Alex found himself in the practice hall with Ricardo and Issabella. Haku had tasked them with reconstructing a basic mana flow circuit, a foundational exercise, but one that could be tricky without proper understanding.
Ricardo immediately began rushing, trying to force the flow with bursts of mana and loud commands.
Alex watched quietly, noting the flickers of instability and the slight tremors in the glowing runes.
"Stop," Alex said calmly.
Ricardo blinked. "What? It's not working."
"Because you're pushing," Alex explained. "Mana isn't a wild beast to be tamed with brute force. It's more like water, it follows paths of least resistance and can be guided gently."
What he learned by using magic and feeling the mana in the Qultivation realm was paying off, it seemed.
Issabella's eyes widened. "Like… fluid dynamics?"
Alex smiled. "Exactly."
He knelt beside the circuit, tracing his fingers along the edges of the runes. "See this? If you redirect the flow gradually, it won't overload or destabilize. You're trying to shove it through, but it needs room to breathe."
Ricardo frowned. "That sounds like science."
"Because it is," Alex said. "Haku's teaching us to think differently. To blend magic with real principles."
Issabella nodded, her fingers trembling slightly as she tried to mimic Alex's movements.
As they worked, Alex couldn't help but think of Haku, sitting alone in his room the night before the last demonstration, wrestling with equations and theories that made the academy's entire system look like a child's game.
Back in their dorm that evening, Alex unpacked his notes from the day. Niko was sprawled on the bed, reading notes on elementary physics with a bored expression.
"You ever think about how all this started?" Ricardo asked suddenly.
Now also befriending Niko and Alex
"What do you mean?"
"Magic, mana, the academy… Haku's arrival. The way things are changing."
Alex folded his hands. "I think it's like a wave breaking. Something old is crashing down, and something new is rising."
Ricardo grinned. "Poetic."
Alex looked out the window, the stars above glittering cold and distant.
"I want to understand everything," he said quietly. "Not just how to fight or cast spells, but why they work. Or don't."
Ricardo nodded. "And when you do, what then?"
Alex smiled faintly. "Then I change the game."
The next morning, Alex was already in the practice hall when Elena stormed in, her eyes sharp and cold.
"Alex," she said, voice dripping with disdain, "you will join me for a private session today."
Alex raised an eyebrow but nodded.
As she launched into a barrage of questions designed to trip him up, theoretical traps, mana paradoxes, arcane history twisted to confuse Alex stayed calm. He answered each question with precision, weaving in scientific principles that Elena clearly didn't expect.
"Your understanding of mana is… unconventional," she snapped, "but correct. How do you explain that?"
Alex hesitated just a fraction before answering.
"I've been learning from someone who sees magic differently. It's not just about power; it's about understanding the underlying forces. Physics, chemistry, and energy transfer. Mana is part of the natural world."
Elena's lips pressed into a thin line. "You're crazy."
Alex smiled, a little.
"Maybe."
That afternoon, back in the dorm, Ricardo and Niko tossed a small sphere of energy between their hands.
"You're turning heads, man," Niko said.
Alex shrugged. "I just want to learn."
"Yeah, but learning like this," Ricardo said, "you're not just a student anymore. You're a threat to the old guard."
Alex looked out the window again.
"And I'm ready for that."
Weeks passed. Whispers about Alex's growing skill circulated through the academy like wildfire. He wasn't just a quiet orphan anymore. He was a force in the making, quietly rewriting the rules.
Niko and Ricardo stayed at his side, sometimes the reckless counterpoints, sometimes the grounding forces.
And Issabella? She was becoming more than a fan. She was a partner in this new way of seeing magic.
Together, they were threads weaving a storm, one that no one, not even Bernard Van Keunen or Elena, could ignore for long.