Chapter 41
Tomorrow was the Selection.
Today was our final evaluation.
Once again, we stood inside the training arena while our magic was assessed one last time.
Alongside Headmaster Draksen, Mr. Shiford, Eugene, and Azriella stood several familiar faces—Dilraba, Tarven, Miloran...
...and someone I had never seen before.
He was tall and lean, with strikingly sharp features.
High cheekbones.
Shoulder-length curls that seemed determined to go in every possible direction.
But what caught my attention most were his eyes.
They glowed with a soft violet light beneath impossibly long eyelashes—so long I could make them out even from across the arena.
"Who's that?" I whispered to my unofficial support group—Stasia, Gianna, Seris, and Kaeron.
I wasn't entirely sure how it had happened.
We still didn't talk all that much.
Yet somehow we'd grown closer.
Sharing the same struggles had turned us into something more than classmates.
Not quite friends.
A team.
Even if we trained in different groups.
"Cosmei," Seris answered quietly.
"He's one of the Strongest Twelve."
"His ability is probably the least understood of every type of magic we've documented," Stasia added.
"I guess you could compare him to a seer," Seris said thoughtfully.
"But even that doesn't really fit."
"So what exactly does he do?" I frowned.
"Predict his opponents' actions or something?"
Honestly, every explanation somehow managed to confuse me even more.
"...Something like that," Stasia admitted, sounding just as uncertain.
"Let's begin our final assessment before tomorrow's Selection."
Azriella's clear voice interrupted us.
Unlike the rest of the judges, she looked genuinely excited.
Almost radiant.
Everyone else seemed...
Tense.
Draksen rested his chin on a closed fist, studying each of us in silence.
Mr. Shiford repeatedly stretched his fingers.
Eugene's jaw tightened and shifted as though it had developed a mind of its own.
Every one of them looked uneasy.
"Pria Haradas."
"You're first."
Pria rose from the third row.
Dozens of eyes followed her as she walked toward the center of the arena.
Unlike the first evaluation, her movements were calm.
Confident.
She no longer looked like someone trying to impress everyone around her.
She didn't need anyone's approval anymore.
Pria demonstrated not raw power, but remarkable mastery over her lightning.
Every movement was precise.
Controlled.
Effortless.
Several other students followed her, most of them wielding mental forms of magic.
No one seemed particularly worried about their control.
It was the elemental mages everyone feared would lose control.
"I honestly don't see why the mental mages even need to be tested," Stasia murmured.
"Am I the only one hearing a hint of jealousy?" Kaeron asked, arching a brow.
Stasia snorted.
"And what exactly would I be jealous of?"
"I actually agree with Stasia."
Pria's voice carried from the third row, where she sat beside Loretta and an unusually grim-looking Taylor.
"We should be saving time."
"...How did you even hear us from over there?" Stasia asked in surprise.
Before anyone could answer, Draksen Ardevain's voice echoed through the arena.
"Illariana Arden."
"You're next."
My entire body froze.
The anxiety must have been written all over my face because Stasia immediately leaned toward me.
"You've got this."
"Your connection with your magic has improved."
"You've been doing really well during training," Gianna added with an encouraging smile.
"And you actually slept last night."
"You're rested."
I let out a slow breath, silently praying they were right.
My legs suddenly felt twice as heavy as I made my way toward the center of the arena.
I tried not to think about the dozens of eyes following my every step.
At least I didn't have to demonstrate power.
Only control.
But how was I supposed to control something that might disappear the moment I reached for it?
Maybe...
I needed to stop thinking.
To stop sabotaging myself before I'd even begun.
As I passed the third row, my eyes briefly met Pria's.
For just a heartbeat...
I thought I saw the faintest smile.
A supportive one.
I drew another deep breath.
Somehow, stepping forward for the second time felt even harder than the first.
Knowing people believed in me...
Felt strangely like pressure.
I hated the thought of disappointing them.
"Looks like I arrived just in time."
The familiar voice sent a shiver racing across my skin.
My head snapped up.
Airis.
He offered me a quiet smile as he walked toward the spot directly opposite me.
The entire arena seemed to fall silent.
I could almost feel the confusion spreading through the room.
Along with the admiration reflected on so many faces.
Including my own.
My eyes instinctively swept over him.
Checking.
Making sure he was all right.
My heart wanted to sing with relief.
My mind wrapped iron chains around it.
For the first time in a long while, they actually agreed.
But they needed calm.
Something my hopelessly emotional heart had never quite understood.
I took another breath.
This time, I didn't hesitate.
I reached for my magic.
Instead of feeling it awaken in my hands...
I felt it stir inside my heart.
A single pulse.
Warm.
Alive.
It flowed through my chest...
Down my arms...
Into my palms.
It felt...
Happy.
As though my magic was just as glad to find me as I was to find it.
For the first time...
our connection felt effortless.
Whole.
Stronger than it had ever been.
A tiny flame bloomed in the center of my palm.
My mind immediately seized the moment, shaping the magic into something more...
Something tangible.
Flames burst from my hands, cascading across the arena floor before rising into the shape of rolling waves.
As I curled my fingers, the waves grew taller.
When I relaxed them, they gently receded.
I had no idea why this was the form I'd chosen to demonstrate my control.
Maybe sharing a room with a water mage had influenced me more than I'd realized.
Or maybe...
I simply liked the contrast.
When it felt like enough, I lifted my other hand.
The moment my palms came together, the fiery waves collapsed into glowing embers before disappearing completely.
My eyes found Airis's immediately.
There was pride in them.
And in that instant...
My heart began to sing.
"Very good," Eugene said simply.
Without making a bigger deal of it, he called the next student forward.
I returned to my seat.
The people waiting there smiled at me.
Somehow...
They no longer felt like strangers.
Stasia wiggled her eyebrows, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"That was absolutely incredible."
The moment I sat down, she leaned closer and whispered,
"And the way your eyes lit up when you looked at Airis..."
She smirked.
"We could've turned off every light in this arena and still seen perfectly."
I rolled my eyes and nudged her lightly with my elbow.
Her laughter only grew louder.
Heat rushed straight into my cheeks.
I knew I'd started blushing.
Only then did I realize...
Airis was still looking at me.
And something in his expression had changed.
It wasn't just pride anymore.
The memory of Dwayne's letter surfaced in my mind.
Along with the promise I'd silently made to myself after reading it.
I drew a slow breath.
Then I decided to do one of the bravest things I'd ever done.
******
Making my way along the now familiar path toward the Temple of Nereida, I tried not to think.
Every thought felt dangerous.
Whether hopeful or fearful, it had the power to change everything I had planned.
I spotted Airis almost immediately.
He was leaning against one of the marble columns, his hands tucked into his pockets.
"Couldn't we have had this conversation somewhere closer to the training grounds?" he asked.
As I walked toward him, I noticed the dark circles beneath his beautiful silver eyes for the first time.
Back in the arena, I'd been so consumed by my own thoughts that I hadn't realized how exhausted he looked.
"I missed you too," I blurted out.
Airis froze.
Even his breathing seemed to stop.
Embarrassed by my own honesty, I hurried to change the subject.
"How are you feeling? You look exhausted."
He lowered his gaze to his boots and let out a quiet sigh.
He didn't answer.
And with every passing second, I felt the confidence I'd come here with beginning to crack.
"Did something happen?" Worry sharpened my voice before I could hide it.
"Dwayne, Gwendolyn, and Mike are all fine," he replied automatically.
"I wasn't asking about them."
I stepped closer before I could second-guess myself and rested my hand lightly on his shoulder.
"I'm asking about you."
His eyes lifted to mine.
"Don't make me worry."
A faint smile ghosted across his face.
"Let's not switch roles."
"Then don't keep avoiding the question."
The words escaped before I had time to think.
Deep down, I'd always suspected he worried about me.
Hearing him admit it—even indirectly—felt dangerously comforting.
"You're practically an Istmond student now," he said quietly. "You already have enough to worry about. I don't want to give you even more."
There it was again.
That rare, almost impossible tenderness in his eyes.
Once, Joelle had told me Airis was the coldest and most ruthless of the Strongest Twelve.
Most people had never even seen him smile.
But with me...
He kept showing me someone entirely different.
Someone real.
"Not knowing is worse," I said softly. "My imagination always comes up with something far darker than the truth."
Silence settled between us.
Airis released another long, weary sigh before finally speaking.
"We have reason to believe Harold Moss isn't working with just one informant."
My stomach tightened.
"What makes you think that?"
"We captured two people working for him in Vuduarus."
My breathing caught.
He noticed.
"They sensed the magical surge and thought they could reach the site before we did," he continued before I could spiral any further. "Lars's squad got there first."
Some of the tension eased from my chest.
"So... there's another mage from Vuduarus?"
He shook his head.
"Sometimes the network mistakes magical surges for electrical disturbances."