Aftermath

  Whimwood Preacademy stood like a wounded sentinel in the morning haze. Repair sigils buzzed against the cracked walls and singed earth of the training yard. Professors moved in silence, their eyes wary, their steps cautious. The incident with the rogue elf and Howlthorn werewolf had pierced the academy’s sense of safety like a dagger to the ribs.

  The students were shaken.

  But none more than Kagami.

  He sat alone atop the north terrace, the wind combing through his midnight hair. His eyes, normally clear and sharp, were heavy with weight.

  ---

  Internal Struggle

  “I could’ve stopped them,” Kagami muttered. “If I had used everything… if I hadn’t held back…”

  Master Rivel’s words repyed in his mind: They didn’t come to kill you. They came to confirm something.

  And in doing so, they’d endangered everyone. Minna was bruised. Iren had a cut across her ribs. Leo’s arm was still in a sling.

  All because of me, Kagami thought.

  His fists clenched.

  A cold wind wrapped around his guilt like frost on gss.

  ---

  Headmaster’s Intervention

  Later that day, Headmaster Alric, a stoic elder with clouded eyes and a cane carved with ancient runes, summoned Elias to his study.

  “I want you to shadow him,” Alric said, tapping a sigil on the desk. “Kagami is no longer just a gifted student. He is a beacon—and beacons attract darkness.”

  Elias nodded, jaw set. “He won’t like it.”

  “I don’t care,” the Headmaster said. “Stay close. If the elf or that werewolf return, I want someone capable of fighting at his side. At all times.”

  ---

  New Resolve

  The next morning, Kagami stood in the frost-bitten clearing behind the Preacademy. His guilt remained, but something new had bloomed beneath it—resolve.

  “Water and wind,” he whispered. “Two elements. If I shape one to match the rhythm of the other…”

  He raised his hand. Frost began to coil around his palm.

  He remembered something from a magic text Elias once gave him—a rare elemental fusion not taught to beginners.

  “Icence Formation: Cryo Tempestas.”

  Kagami took a breath, molded his mana with precision, then intoned:

  > “Whisper of wind, breath of tide—

  Coil and freeze, let stillness collide.

  Shatter the storm, and pierce with frost—

  Cryo Tempestas!”

  A howl of frozen wind erupted from his palm, condensing into a translucent spiral of ice-ced spears that burst toward the dummy ahead—impaling it in a frozen bloom.

  Kagami exhaled sharply, steam rising from his mouth.

  It worked.

  ---

  Elias Arrives

  “Nice incantation,” Elias said from behind, arms crossed. “Not bad for someone spiraling in guilt.”

  Kagami didn’t turn. “What do you want?”

  “To train,” Elias said. “And to keep you alive. Orders from Alric. I’m your babysitter now.”

  Kagami frowned. “I don’t need protection.”

  “You do,” Elias replied calmly. “Not from them… but from yourself.”

  There was silence between them. Only the wind speaking.

  “…Then spar with me again,” Kagami said. “But this time—I’m not holding anything back.”

  Elias grinned. “Fine by me.”

  ---