Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sharp rhythm of heels striking against the padded floor echoed inside the training hall.

Vice Principal Seris stood in the center, arms folded tightly, her unblinking golden eyes remained fixed on the entrance of hall, as her foot tapped once more.

Each tap carried the weight of her growing irritation. Her expression hardened by the second.

She was dressed in her usual training attire, simple, functional clothes. A plain top and fitted pants. Nothing extravagant. Yet the way she carried herself turned even the most ordinary outfit into something commanding.

Her long white hair was tied into a high ponytail, though several strands had slipped loose, framing her sharp face.

"How much longer does he intend to keep me waiting?"

'Does he not realize how valuable my time is?'

The thought only made her irritation worse.

A faint crease had formed on her forehead, deepening with every passing second.

Seris despised one thing above all else... being made to wait. And here she was waiting for more than fifteen minutes with still no sign of Kyle.

A few meters away, Cedric shifted nervously.

The air weighed heavily on him.

Sweat rolled down his temple, his palms damp as he tried to wipe them against his pants.

It wasn't the heat, it was the suffocating pressure Seris was unconsciously releasing.

It pressed down on him like a heavy, unrelenting weight, as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff with nothing but air beneath his feet.

'Damn it, Kyle… you bastard, where the hell are you?'

Cedric swallowed hard, his heart pounding.

Seris had ordered him earlier to begin stretching, to warm up while they waited. A simple task. Yet with her gaze fixed on the door and the suffocating pressure filling the room, there was nothing simple about it.

The training hall itself added to the weight of the moment. This wasn't a standard training hall.

It was Seris's private training hall, it was four times larger than what the students used, the walls reinforced to withstand blows from Radiant rankers.

Every detail served as a reminder of her rank, her strength, her authority.

Then, suddenly, her golden eyes turned.

Straight toward Cedric.

His body stiffened instantly, like stone. His lungs refused to work, and he froze in place.

"Let's start with you fir—"

Bang!

The door burst open, crashing against the wall.

Kyle stumbled in, nearly losing his balance before catching himself. He bent forward, hands pressed against his knees, breath coming fast and heavy as though he had sprinted across the entire academy.

The hall fell silent.

And then—cold.

The air itself seemed to shift. A chill spread through the room.

Kyle's spine straightened on instinct, a shiver racing up his back. Slowly, as if dragged by some unseen force, he lifted his head.

Blue eyes met glowing gold.

Seris stood before him now, closer than he'd realized. Her presence swallowed the space around her, her white hair lifting slightly as if stirred by an invisible wind, strands glowing faintly in the light.

"You have some nerve making me wait."

Her words were calm, but each one carried the weight of steel.

Kyle's throat tightened.

"W-wait, I can explain—"

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Gasp—

Kyle lay flat on the padded floor, chest rising and falling in heavy bursts. Every breath burned like fire inside his lungs.

Sweat soaked his shirt and dripped from his jaw, leaving dark patches on the white floor beneath him. His arms sprawled limply at his sides, legs trembling so much he couldn't even move a toe.

'I can't feel my legs anymore…'

His body screamed at him, but the memory of what put him here made him want to cry more than the pain itself.

Vice Principal Seris had ordered him to run a hundred laps around the massive training hall. That alone might have been survivable. But the entire time, she had quietly bent space around him.

The air felt heavier, his body dragged down with crushing weight, two times gravity, maybe even three. He couldn't tell.

Every step had been a battle, every lap pure torture. And no matter where he ran, the pressure followed him like a shadow.

The fact she could lock such precise control onto him alone while leaving everything else untouched… it was terrifying.

Now, sprawled on the floor, his lungs burned as if someone had set them on fire. His throat rasped with every inhale. His heart hammered wildly, fighting to keep up.

"Now, now. Get up. We don't have the whole day."

Her calm voice fell from above him.

Kyle tilted his head, just enough to see her standing there. Seris' golden eyes looked him over, sharp and observant, before she gave the slightest nod.

A small, satisfied smile tugged at her lips.

It wasn't the smile of a teacher pleased with a student's effort. No, it was the kind of smile that made him wonder if she enjoyed watching him suffer.

'She's secretly a sadist, isn't she? She has to be.'

As if she had plucked the thought right from his head, her faint smile vanished. Her brow creased, her expression turning cool.

"Are you thinking something rude?"

Kyle's eyes widened. He jolted upright, or rather, as much as his body would allow, scrambling to sit on his knees. He shook his head fast.

"I wouldn't dare to, Master!"

She stared at him for a moment longer, as if measuring the truth in his words, then sighed softly.

"Fine. Rest for five minutes."

Relief crashed over him like a wave. Kyle let out a shaky breath and dropped his shoulders, his whole body sagging. He'd take those five minutes like a man dying of thirst takes a drop of water.

He glanced around the hall, scanning for Cedric, only to realize the place was completely empty.

The vast white hall stretched out in every direction, high ceiling reflecting the glow of magic lights, but not a trace of his friend.

'Where the hell did he go?'

As if she had read his mind again, Seris answered without looking at him.

"Oh, don't worry about him. I just sent him somewhere."

Her words came with a light smile, it was sweet and harmless on the surface. But something in that smile made Kyle's stomach twist. A chill ran down his spine.

'Hope you survive, Cedric.'

All he could do now was silently pray for his friend.

Five minutes passed.

Kyle had used wind magic to dry the sweat clinging to him, though his body still ached from the punishment. His breathing had finally steadied.

Seris clapped her hands lightly.

"That's enough rest. Let's move to the real reason you're here."

Kyle blinked. "…Yes?"

Her golden eyes fixed on him.

"Let's take a look at the strange energy inside your body."

She casually rolled her shoulders back, motioning as if to pull up long sleeves, though she was wearing a sleeveless top. The motion was so natural it almost looked like ritual.

"Sit in lotus position."

Kyle didn't dare hesitate. He quickly sat cross-legged on the padded floor, straightening his back. His hands rested on his knees.

Seris stepped closer, then crouched behind him. Her palms pressed lightly against his back.

"Close your eyes. Relax. Don't resist the mana, just let it flow."

He gave a soft nod and shut his eyes. His chest rose slowly as he tried to calm his racing heart.

Behind him, Seris also closed her eyes.

A faint, almost invisible ripple of mana left her fingertips and sank into his body. She didn't force it. She let it slip gently, like water soaking into dry earth, guiding it along the natural paths already inside him.

Her awareness followed the currents of his mana veins.

At first, everything seemed ordinary.

But then—

'…Oh?'

A faint flicker of surprise touched her face. His mana channels were wider. Much wider than any normal Silver Ranker.

Normally, after reaching Gold Rank, mages underwent body reconstruction. Their channels broadened, strengthened, became more defined. That was the natural step from low to mid-rankers.

But Kyle wasn't Gold. He was still peak Silver Grade 2. Yet his mana pathways were almost at the level of reconstruction.

'Strange… his body shouldn't be like this yet.'

If an average Low Ranker had ten pathways, Kyle had twenty and gold rankers have forty. Not as broad as Gold, but still, he was far beyond what a Silver should possess.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

'This kid… he's hiding something big.'

She steadied her thoughts, forcing herself not to get distracted.

Her awareness drifted deeper, reaching his sternum where his core rested. There, something changed.

A disturbance.

Beside his core, like a massive wall. Blocking her mana.

Just beneath his sternum, something waited.

'There…'

A small sphere. It was hidden, sealed, beyond her reach.

"Can you call out that other energy?" Seris asked softly.

Kyle opened his mouth, then closed it. But he nodded.

He tried.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Nothing.

He clenched his jaw, focusing harder.

Again. Again. Again.

Nearly twenty tries passed before something stirred.

A faint response.

A thin, almost invisible thread uncoiled from deep inside him, slipping out like smoke. Black as ink. Cold as death.

Seris' senses wrapped around it instantly.

Her breath caught.

'This…'

The mana thread felt heavy. Not just dense, it was crushing. Heavier than space mana itself. She had always believed space was the hardest mana to bear, yet this… this was worse.

And it wasn't just heavy. It carried the quality of space, sharp and refined, as though it could slice through the very fabric of reality.

Her memory flickered to the attack he had used back in the Fractal Veil. It made sense now.

Seris exhaled slowly and drew her hands away.

"You can open your eyes."

Kyle did so immediately, turning his head toward her. His eyes carried a fragile hope.

"Well? Did you find something?"

For a long second, she didn't answer. Then, quietly, she spoke.

"…Unfortunately, no. I don't know what that energy truly is. The 'spirit mana' you call it, I've never seen its like."

The light in his eyes dimmed. Disappointment weighed his shoulders down.

But Seris wasn't finished.

Her gaze softened, just slightly.

"But…" She said, pausing as her golden eyes lingered on him, "there might be a way to help you control it."

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