The air in the Forbidden Floor was still thick with dust and silence. Aria had returned—alone this time—drawn back by the presence of the strange book that now pulsed faintly from her satchel like a second heartbeat. No wards had triggered, no guardians awakened. Either she was being allowed in… or watched.
She sat cross-legged beneath a crooked window, moonlight spilling over her like a blessing or a warning. The book rested in her lap, bound in black hide that shimmered like oil when her fingers brushed the surface.
The Codex of the Forsaken Seal.
She had seen the name briefly—just once—before the cover sealed itself shut the moment she brought it back to her dorm.
Tonight, it opened.
The moment her magic touched the edge of the pages, a golden spark leapt from her fingers, and the book flared to life. Symbols crawled across the pages in flowing script, not unlike the runes she had seen etched in the Archival Halls, but these were older. Hungrier.
A voice slithered into her mind, a low whisper that felt like silk and thunder at once.
"You bear the mark. The seal rejected. The soul displaced. You are not of this world, and yet you carry its weight."
Her heartbeat faltered.
"What do you mean?" she asked aloud.
No answer. Only the pages turning themselves—revealing spells, diagrams, incantations etched in blood-ink, histories written by the forgotten.
She caught a glimpse of a name. Valemir. The fallen capital. Then another—The Sealbearers. A history far older than what the Academy taught.
Aria leaned closer, absorbing it all.
Apparently, Sealbearers weren't just defenders—they were sacrifices. Each generation, one was chosen to carry a fragment of an ancient god's will, to keep the balance between realms. But something went wrong. The last Sealbearer vanished, and the seals began to weaken.
Her hands trembled.
She was one of them.
And the book… it had found her.
As she whispered an incantation on the page—purely out of curiosity—a ring of gold light formed around her. The air turned cold. A sigil burned into the ground. Not destructive magic… but summoning.
With a pulse, a creature emerged from the light. Not of this world. Six-limbed, armored in arcane bone, eyes glowing violet. And then, like snapping glass, the summoning ruptured—Aria flung back against the wall, smoke curling from her fingertips.
Pain lanced through her skull. The connection had failed.
Not because she was weak—but because something inside her resisted.
Something was sealed.
She coughed, staggered up, and slammed the book shut. It didn't protest. The golden burn in her eyes flickered brighter than usual. She stared at her hand. The veins glowed faintly.
"Limit testing," she muttered, shaking her head with a grim smile. "Might've gone a bit too far."
She returned the book to her satchel, cast a minor mending spell on the scorched floor, and left the Forbidden Floor behind—again. But this time, it felt different.
Behind her, the sigil she'd drawn with the spell remained faintly etched in the stone, pulsing with a life of its own.
Back in her room, Aria stood before the mirror. Her reflection looked back with golden eyes no longer shy or unsure. She had seen the ancient truth hidden beneath the world.
And the world… was far more fragile than it pretended to be.
She sat at her desk and began copying some of the symbols she remembered—sketching them by hand onto parchment. Her fingers moved with precision she didn't know she had. A memory from another life? Or one from the Codex itself?
She glanced out the window. Somewhere out there, others were watching her. Maybe even hunting her. But tonight—she had gained more than just knowledge.
She had touched power not meant for mortals.
And it had whispered back.
"Aria Valemir… bearer of the forgotten seal. The game has begun."