The next morning brought a tension that didn’t come from lectures or magical equations. It pulsed through the academy like a subtle tremor beneath our boots.

  Matchups were posted.

  A glowing board floated near the combat wing’s entrance, students crowded beneath it, whispering, groaning, exchanging worried gnces or smug nods. I arrived te—because I enjoy dramatics, obviously—and saw the crowd part slightly when they noticed me.

  And of course, the gods of drama, irony, and inconvenience hadn’t taken a day off.

  Match: Cain William & Elira vs. Lorran Vaircrest & Tareth Vellin.

  “Of course,” I muttered. “Why have peace when we can have petty nobles with inferiority complexes?”

  I turned just in time to see Tareth, cousin to the William family — though I’d rather eat gss than cim any retion — walk up to Professor Tholric Bravestone.

  Lorran followed, more hesitantly.

  “Professor,” Tareth said, his voice smug and smooth as polished stone, “I’d like to request a formal stake on the upcoming duel.”

  Tholric raised a thick eyebrow. “Speak it pin.”

  “If Cain’s team loses,” Tareth said, “his spirit—Luna—must sever her bond and form a new one with me.”

  The crowd erupted in whispers and gasps. Even a few professors in the distance stopped walking.

  Luna, who had been standing beside me, went still. Not frozen. Not surprised. Just… quiet. Like the air before a storm.

  I looked at her.

  Then at Tareth.

  And for the first time since I’d arrived at this academy, I got serious.

  No sarcasm. No jokes.

  I took a step forward. My voice didn’t raise, but every word nded like weight.

  “You can insult me. You can mock my name, my blood, my strength. And I let it go.”

  Tareth sneered. “Because you’re beneath—”

  “Shut up.”

  The words cut the air like a bde.

  “You don’t get to touch her. You don’t get to look at her like she’s property. You crossed the line.”

  I turned to Tholric.

  “Professor. What do you say?”

  Tholric grunted, arms folded. “Power should be with the strong. That’s the way of it.”

  I nodded. “Good. Then if we lose, Luna walks.”

  I heard her breath catch—but she said nothing.

  “But if we win,” I continued, stepping close, “Tareth forfeits his magic core.”

  That killed the noise in the room.

  Tareth bnched. “W-What? That’s—”

  “Unacceptable,” Tholric muttered, watching me with new eyes.

  Then I smiled. Cold. Controlled.

  “Why? You said power should be with the strong. So how can someone who just awakened his core a week ago defeat a noble who’s been swimming in elixirs and spoon-fed mana since birth? Should he even deserve a core if he loses to me?”

  The logic smmed into the crowd like a wave.

  Some students looked down. Others nodded, slowly.

  Even Tholric rubbed his beard, considering.

  “Point taken. It stands.”

  Lorran grabbed Tareth’s arm. “This is getting out of hand.”

  But it was too te. Stakes are sealed only when spoken aloud and confirmed by a certified professor.

  And the moment Luna turned her head and said, “It is accepted,” the magic sealed the bet.

  That Night – Training Grounds

  No more half-measures. No more casual swings.

  Luna didn't smile, but I could tell—she was pleased.

  “You stepped forward,” she said. “Now you must make sure you don’t step back.”

  She ramped up the training. Doubled my drills. Tripled my casting exercises. I no longer just swung a sword—I carved through air, reinforced by wind, moving faster than the eye could follow. She made me run until my vision blurred, then made me cast until my mana burned.

  And Elira?

  She transformed.

  No longer was she chasing behind me, stumbling to catch up. Luna had her casting while moving, maintaining range, compensating for terrain, pressure, even emotional stress.

  “I—” she gasped on the third night, “I can’t—heal him while moving like this—”

  “You must,” Luna said coldly. “In battle, Cain will never be still. Heal him in chaos. Or watch him fall.”

  Elira grit her teeth and kept going.

  Day 4

  During one sparring session, I overreached on a feint and twisted my ankle mid-dash. I went down hard, sliding across the stone.

  “Elira—!”

  She moved before Luna gave the command.

  Kneeling, hands up, casting mid-run — her magic spiraled toward my leg, weaving in green threads that glowed bright against the wind. It pulsed, soothed, and held—from ten feet away.

  I stood again.

  Luna whispered, “She’s ready.”

  Day 6

  I had felt something stirring in me since the duel stakes were made. Like pressure building behind my ribs.

  Rage. Determination. Fear. Power.

  I pushed it. Every swing. Every cast. Until, one night, during a set of drills Luna called “suicidal but educational,” it broke.

  I surged forward, bde in hand, spell in my mouth.

  “Veylun’shara… Redroth!”

  My magic ignited — not in fme, but in force. The wind I cast tore through four dummies in a single slice.

  And my core—shifted.

  Bck no more.

  Red – Dark. The first evolution. Raw, intense. Votile.

  Luna watched in silence, then nodded once.

  “You are no longer the boy scraping for survival,” she said. “You’re becoming a weapon.”

  “I’d rather be a shield,” I muttered, breath heavy.

  “Then sharpen both sides.”

  Elsewhere – Selene’s Report

  By candlelight, Selene scribbled with perfect strokes:

  Observation Log – Subject Cain William

  Match drawn: Cain/Elira vs. Lorran/Tareth.

  Stakes decred by Tareth: Seize Luna’s bond upon victory.Counter-stake by Cain: Forfeit of Tareth’s core upon loss.

  Professor Tholric Bravestone accepted verbal contracts. Binding magic confirmed.

  Luna shows no opposition. Trust level: absolute.

  Notable breakthroughs:– Elira now capable of ranged healing under duress.– Cain achieved core evolution: Red (Dark) stage in 6 days.

  Talent observed: High adaptability, tactical casting, accelerated growth.

  Conclusion:Subject Cain William is no longer an anomaly.He is a threat.

  She dipped her pen once more… then, for the first time, hesitated.

  And wrote beneath it:

  He’s going to win. I’m sure of it.