The courtyard still crackled faintly with magic as Aria wiped sweat from her brow.
Nyra was lazily floating a pebble in midair while Elric leaned back against a pillar, half-impressed, half-terrified.
"I feel like," Nyra mused, "we're either making history... or about to get expelled."
Elric nodded solemnly. "Probably both."
Aria only smiled, heart hammering with the thrill of creation. She had touched something deeper than spellcraft today. Something that changed the rules instead of obeying them.
But even as she basked in the glow of her success, a cold prickle ran down her spine.
Footsteps.
Measured, deliberate.
Not from a student.
She turned sharply.
Striding into the courtyard was a figure clad in long black robes trimmed with crimson thread.The symbol of the Academy Council — the highest governing body within Magi Core Academy — gleamed on his chest like a threat.
His silver hair was tied back in a severe knot. His gaze was sharp and unblinking, like a hawk sizing up prey.
Aria instinctively straightened, feeling both Nyra and Elric stiffen beside her.
"Aria Valemir," he said, voice smooth as polished steel. "A word."
She nodded mutely, casting one last glance at her friends. Nyra gave a tiny, almost imperceptible thumbs-up; Elric just looked worried.
The man gestured, and she followed him across the courtyard into a side building — an administrative hall she had only seen from a distance.
Inside, it was cold, dim, and utterly silent.
He led her to a small office and shut the door behind them with a whisper of magic.
For a moment, he simply studied her.
"You were seen," he said finally. "Warping spells. Manipulating structure and function beyond the theoretical limits."
Not a question.
Aria met his eyes evenly. "Yes."
He nodded slowly, almost approvingly.
"My name is Professor Alaric Draven III. Head of Magical Ethics and Anomalous Magic Studies."
Ethics and Anomalies? Great.
"You must understand," Draven continued, pacing slowly around her, "that magic as we know it — as it has been taught and catalogued — relies upon stability. Predictability. Tradition."
He stopped directly in front of her.
"And you," he said softly, "are a variable."
There was no anger in his voice. Only calculation.
"I'm not harming anyone," Aria said carefully.
"For now," Draven murmured. "But even a pebble thrown into a pond can create a tidal wave... given time."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, he leaned back against his desk, folding his arms.
"The Council will not act against you yet. You have... potential. Great potential."
The way he said it made her shiver — as if he saw her less as a person, more as a weapon still being forged.
"However," he continued, "you are now under observation."
He tapped a thin silver band onto the desk. It glinted coldly in the light.
"A monitoring charm," he said. "Non-invasive. But if you push too far — if you cause an incident — the Council will know. Immediately."
Aria stared at it.
Chains again.
Different this time, hidden under the guise of "protection," but chains all the same.
Still, she had no choice. Not yet.
She picked up the band and slipped it onto her wrist. It sealed with a faint click.
Draven smiled thinly. "Good."
He straightened, gathering a few papers from his desk.
"One more thing," he said casually, almost as an afterthought. "Your affinity for reality magic... it is not unique."
Aria froze.
"There have been others. Sealbearers, yes. But also... those who touched the fabric of existence too freely."
He glanced up, eyes gleaming.
"Most of them," he said, "burned themselves away."
Then he handed her a slim folder stamped Classified and dismissed her without another word.
Outside, the sun had fully set, and the world felt heavier.
Nyra and Elric were waiting, loitering awkwardly by the courtyard entrance.
"You didn't get expelled!" Nyra cheered.
"Yet," Elric said grimly, eyeing the silver band on her wrist.
Aria gave a tired smile. "I'm on a... very short leash now."
Nyra patted her on the back with way too much enthusiasm. "Congratulations, you're officially dangerous but supervised. Like a firework strapped to a chicken."
Aria burst out laughing despite herself, the tension easing slightly.
Elric offered her a more serious look. "You're not alone, Aria. Remember that."
She nodded, tucking the classified folder under her arm.
She would read it tonight.
She would learn everything she could.
About the Sealbearers.About the ones who came before her.And about the true cost of touching the threads of reality.