The book sat closed in Raelus's hands, but the echo of his voice—shifting seamlessly between the languages of all sixteen known races—still lingered in the air like lingering magic.
Serelienne hadn't spoken for almost a full minute.
She stared at him as if the boy before her had just recited the divine tongue of the gods.
"You're… not normal," she finally breathed, slowly lowering herself into the chair across from him. "You shouldn't be able to do that. Nobody should."
Raelus blinked. "Did I mess up the dwarven part? I think the rune pronunciations were a little crunchy—"
"No, you didn't mess up anything," she said, holding up a hand. "You just fluently read, wrote, and spoke the hardest dialects of the continent—in under ten minutes."
He tilted his head, expression genuinely puzzled. "That's… not common?"
She let out a breath that might have been a laugh or a plea to the heavens.
"Raelus. You picked up what takes years of formal study and cultural immersion. Most people barely manage two languages their whole life." She leaned in, eyes narrowing slightly. "Do not tell people you can do that. Not unless you absolutely trust them. Got it?"
Raelus nodded slowly. "Okay… so I'm still pretending to be a strong beastman?"
"Exactly."
She stood up then, brushing her hands off like she'd just accepted a new mission from the gods themselves. "Well… if you're planning to apply to the Academy, you've got a lot more to learn than just languages."
Raelus perked up immediately. "The Academy, tell me more about it."
"The Grand Academy in Academis. It's the most prestigious institution in the world—neutral territory, nestled in the heart of the continent between all sixteen kingdoms. They train the best warriors, mages, summoners, scholars… you name it. But it's not easy to get in, and the entrance exam is brutal."
Raelus's eyes sparkled. "I still really wanna go."
Serelienne gave him a tired, fond smile.
"I figured you'd say that."
She walked over to a set of enchanted drawers behind her desk and began rummaging. A few glyphs flared to life with soft light as she whispered unlocking sigils. After a moment, she emerged with a towering stack of heavy books—some bound in leather, others sealed with arcane stitching, and a few still faintly glowing from residual enchantments.
Raelus's jaw dropped.
"These," she said, straining slightly as she set the stack down on the nearby table with a thud, "were my textbooks from when I attended the Academy."
"Whoa…"
"Core curriculum, advanced tracks, electives—everything. You'll need to study all of it if you want a shot at passing the entrance evaluation."
Raelus opened the top book, eyes wide.
Elemental Mastery I – "The Will of Flame, the Whisper of Water"
He flipped through a few more:
Mana Theory & Internal Flow – "The River Within"
Combat Tactics – "The Flow of Battle"
Sigils of Steel: A Forger's Companion"
Chronicles of the Arcane Era
"Some are basics," Serelienne said, tapping the pile. "Others are specialized tracks—things like aura warriors, beast tamers, dimensional mages, even royal strategy." She narrowed her eyes. "And no, you can't skip the boring ones. Arithmetic matters too."
Raelus poked a book near the bottom labeled:
"The Red Line: Ethics of Power"
"Do I have to read this one?"
"Yes. Especially that one."
He sighed, but his grin never faded. "Alright… time to level up, I guess."
Serelienne chuckled.
Something about his energy—like he genuinely enjoyed the idea of learning—was contagious. Dangerous, maybe. But promising.
She glanced at the mountain of books.
If he masters this like he did those languages… the world really isn't ready.
⸻
The quiet hum of flipping pages echoed like rain in the still air. Serelienne sat at the corner of the table, watching with a growing blend of fascination and disbelief as Raelus skimmed yet another thick tome. The sunlight had shifted twice since he began, golden rays now angling through the tall arched windows of her study chamber in the guild's upper wing.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by towers of books—dozens of tomes pulled from the pile she'd given him. Not a single trace of strain showed on his face. In fact, he looked… happy.
Peaceful.
Like a boy devouring his favorite bedtime story.
Serelienne leaned forward, arms crossed over the desk. "You're not actually reading every word in those, right?"
Raelus glanced up, smiling softly. "I am."
She blinked.
"…Every word?"
"Mhm. Even the big ones."
He tapped the now-closed spine of Symphony of Storms: Fusion Magic for Elementalists and reached for the next—Sigilscript: Constructing Spells Without Error. "I like this one. The symbols look like they're dancing."
"That's not how most people describe advanced incantation logic."
"I dunno. It's just… fun." His eyes sparkled. "It's like the spells are talking to me."
⸻
Two hours passed.
Raelus finally stood, stretching his arms with a soft pop of his shoulders. "Okay. I'm finished."
Serelienne blinked slowly, as if she hadn't heard him right. "You… finished?"
"All of them."
"You mean the ten or so introductory ones I gave you?"
"Nope." He gestured to the towering pile. "All of them. From the Elemental Mastery series to Starlit Paths. Even the electives about cooking with mana. That one made me hungry."
"…Those were my books, Raelus. All my books. Everything I studied over five years at the Academy."
He tilted his head innocently. "Was I not supposed to?"
Her mouth opened.
Then closed.
Then opened again.
"You're telling me you read over eighty textbooks, some of which aren't even part of the entrance exam, and you understood them?"
"Yep."
"And memorized them?"
"Double yep."
She ran both hands down her face with a groan. "Gods above…"
⸻
"Alright," she said at last, moving to a shelf and pulling out a thick leather-bound volume, flipping through pages already bookmarked and scribbled with notes. "Fine. You're a prodigy. I get it. Let's see how well you actually learned."
She pulled out a stack of pre-prepared parchment sheets and began scribing on each one with sharp, fluid motions of her enchanted pen. Symbols, equations, theories, application models, historical names, magical formulae—all weaved together into a dense mock test that would've made a graduating fifth-year sweat.
Twenty minutes later, Raelus placed the test gently on her desk.
"I'm done."
She raised an eyebrow and turned the pages with slow deliberation.
Her hands stilled after the third page.
Then the sixth.
Then the final.
Silence.
He'd gotten every single question right.
Even the ones she'd intentionally worded to confuse him. Even the riddles hidden inside the phrasing. Even the obscure references that weren't in any textbook but had been discussed during field lectures or oral traditions passed down from professors.
"…You're not real," she muttered.
Raelus blinked. "I don't think I'm fake."
Serelienne slumped back in her chair, eyes wide.
"You're terrifying."
He laughed, scratching the back of his head. "That's what my moms used to say when I learned to fly before I could walk."
"Of course you did…"
She exhaled deeply and looked at him like someone watching a sunrise rearrange the horizon.
Then she sat forward, resting her elbows on the desk. "Alright, listen closely, Raelus. If you're serious about attending the Academy, you're going to pass every entrance exam they throw at you. But I want to be clear… this," she gestured at the papers, "is not normal. People study for years to get through what you just did in a few hours."
He shrugged modestly. "I just… learn fast."
"Fast is one thing," she said. "This is something else entirely. I don't know if it's your bloodline, or your Divine Beast upbringing, or something… more. But promise me something."
"What's that?"
Her gaze turned serious. "Don't let just anyone see what you're capable of. The world… it's not always kind to people who stand above the clouds."
Raelus nodded slowly, a rare moment of gravity settling into his expression.
"I promise."
⸻
End of chapter 18 "A Mind of Boundless Potential"