The party was long over.
Lanterns had dimmed, guests had gone, and the last bowls of stew were empty beside the fire pit. Dain snored half-upright in his wooden chair, one arm draped lazily over the table, a tankard still clutched in his grip. Elara hummed quietly in the kitchen, wiping down plates with a soft hum.
Caelum stood alone near the back fence, the grass brushing his boots as he stared at the sky.
Stars spilled across the darkness like flecks of powdered silver—far too many for any one boy to count.
But he tried anyway.
He wasn't thinking of the celebration, or of the exam he passed, or even of what came next.
He was thinking of a name.
Not his own.
Not entirely.
Sometimes… just sometimes… in the silence between breaths, a name would echo faintly at the edge of his memory—blurred, broken, distant.
A woman's voice.
A scream.
And then nothing.
He gripped the carved pendant on his chest—his father's gift. Its edges were worn now, the design nearly faded, but it grounded him all the same.
That's when he heard the knock.
—Knock. Knock.
Not on the front door.
It came from the gate. Low, wood, iron-hinged—separating the forge yard from the outer road.
He turned just as a man stepped through, cloak green, boots muddy, a sealed letter in hand.
The courier.
"Caelum Varian?" the man asked, voice low, formal.
Caelum blinked once. "…Yes."
"By the order of the Argent Vale Assembly and its Board of Magical Evaluators, I am to deliver this."
He extended the envelope with both hands. The wax seal was unmistakable:
A silver crest of two intertwined serpents coiling around an arcane circle—Argent Vale Academy's official emblem.
Caelum hesitated a second, then took it.
The paper was thick. Heavy. Important.
And oddly… warm to the touch.
---
Elara placed a hand over her mouth when she saw it. Dain jolted awake halfway through Elara's gasp, blinking at the letter, then chuckling.
"Didn't think it'd come with such ceremony," he grinned. "I figured a regular parchment and a handshake!"
Elira reached out, eyes wide. "Open it. Come on, Cael!"
He nodded and slowly broke the seal.
---
"To Caelum Varian,
We are pleased to formally invite you to the 117th Enrollment Cycle of Argent Vale Academy, located within the Silverlight Dominion.
Your performance in the Evaluation Examination has been reviewed and approved by three senior moderators. Based on your mana aptitude score and theoretical proficiency, you are granted a full admission into the First Tier General Magic Division.
Please report to the Central Arrival Hall of Argent Vale by the 8th bell, four days from now, accompanied by this letter and personal belongings. A Gate Relay will open in Veredale's central square at dawn, lasting for only one hour.
Welcome, Initiate.
—The Board of Arcane Admissions
Argent Vale Academy"
---
The room was quiet for a moment.
Then Dain exhaled, long and slow, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, that settles it. My boy's going to the capital."
Elira beamed. "You're official now!"
Caelum, still staring at the letter, slowly folded it back up.
The word Initiate lingered in his head.
Not prodigy. Not talent. Not even potential.
Initiate.
As if he were barely at the threshold.
Good.
---
Three days passed in a blur.
Elara packed his satchel herself, stuffing it with rolled parchment, sealed ink, a little wooden comb she pretended not to cry over, and a warm outercoat too big for him.
Dain gave him a blade—not a real one, not enchanted, but solid steel with his family's symbol etched at the hilt. "You don't swing it unless you need to," he said. "But you carry it like it means something."
Even Elira, always bold, seemed unusually quiet that last morning.
"You sure you'll be okay?" she asked, picking imaginary lint from his sleeve.
He gave the smallest smile. "You'll miss me."
"Hah! Maybe. But they'll probably throw you out for reading too much."
He smirked faintly and ruffled her hair.
---
At dawn, the Gate Relay shimmered into life at the village square.
A flat ring of glowing blue sigils burned into the ground, humming softly like a held breath. Around it, villagers stood in respectful silence—half-proud, half-curious, half-resentful.
Caelum stepped forward.
His boots met the ring's edge.
And then, for just a second—he hesitated.
He looked back once, over his shoulder.
To the house.
To the smoke curling out the chimney.
To the hammer that had fallen silent.
And then he stepped in.
---
The world blurred.
Colors twisted. Air pulsed. Space folded like cloth.
And when it uncoiled, Caelum stood no longer in the village—
—but at the foot of Argent Vale Academy.
---