"Pffft…"

Cedric pressed his lips together, shoulders trembling as he tried to hold back his laughter. The sight before him was just too much.

Kyle was running. Not just running, but dragging his feet around the massive training hall like his very soul was being wrung out of him. Seris had told him to take a hundred laps as punishment for being late, a hundred laps.

And as if that wasn't cruel enough, Cedric could feel it, the air itself pressing down on Kyle; his own space affinity wasn't anywhere near Seris's level, but even he could sense the immense weight of space closing in around Kyle like invisible shackles.

Every step his friend took was heavier than the last.

Cedric nearly lost it when he remembered Kyle's face earlier, that pitiful expression he wore when Seris had declared the punishment.

'It was priceless… hah, I can still see it.'

"Anything funny, Mister Valtieri?"

The authoritative voice cut in.

Cedric froze, his laugh died in his throat, and his body locked up as he slowly turned around.

His smile vanished instantly.

Seris was staring at him. Her golden eyes glowed faintly with that usual sharpness, the weight of her presence making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"N-no, it's nothing, Master."

He stammered, shaking his head quickly.

She didn't answer right away, just let her gaze sweep over him. He felt like his whole body was being dissected in silence.

Then she finally asked,

"Are you done with your warm-up?"

"Yes, Master, I'm done,"

Cedric replied immediately, spine straightening.

"Good."

Seris gave him a slight nod, her white ponytail shifting slightly as she moved.

"Now, before we begin… Tell me, Cedric. I want your perspective. What do you think about space affinity? What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of space?"

Cedric blinked. He met her gaze, hesitated, then spoke carefully.

"It's… the ability to manipulate the distance between points. To fold space for teleportation, or to create pockets of compressed dimensions. The power to move without crossing the space in between."

Seris tilted her head.

"Not the correct answer, but not incorrect either. Pedestrian, though. That is the view of someone who sees space only as a road to be shortened."

Her steps echoed faintly as she moved closer, white hair swaying, golden eyes glinting with quiet intensity.

"You view space as an obstacle, Cedric. Something to overcome. However…"

She gestured broadly at the training hall around them. Her voice deepened.

"I view it as a medium."

He frowned.

"A medium?"

"Yes."

Her eyes glowed faintly.

"You are standing in an ocean, Cedric."

"An… ocean?"

"That's right, an ocean of space. You are not separate from it. You are a concentration of matter within it. When you use Blink, you are not 'jumping over' the water. You are asking the current to carry you. And like any current…"

She paused, the air thickening around her.

"It has flows, eddies, and disturbances."

Cedric's heart beat faster as he listened.

He had studied space affinity under a few decent tutors before, mages his father, Duke Valtieri, had hired them, saying his son was interested in space magic and wanted to take some lectures.

They were strong, Gold-rankers with respectable mastery. But compared to Seris's words, their lessons felt… shallow.

"An ocean of space," Cedric repeated softly.

He had never read anything like this in a book and never heard anyone describe it this way.

It was said that space affinity was one of the hardest to master. Rarely did a mage reach Diamond rank or above with it. It was too fickle, too vast, too demanding.

But hearing Seris's explanation, Cedric suddenly felt as though he had been looking at it all wrong.

Her voice pulled him back again.

"Your current understanding of space affinity is why your [Blink] is clumsy."

"You decide on a destination and force your way there. You are swimming against the current."

Her gaze sharpened, pinning him in place.

"A master does not fight the ocean. They feel the tide. They understand the waves. They move with them. They can sense a storm long before the waves have risen."

The words sent a chill down Cedric's spine.

Gulp—

He swallowed hard.

"I…"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn't know how to respond.

Seris didn't wait for him to try. She straightened, her expression returning to its usual cool, and calm unreadable one.

"Now, let's get to training. But before that—"

She snapped her fingers.

The sound was crisp and sharp, and the air trembled in response.

A crack split the space in front of her, jagged and glowing faintly purple.

The distortion twisted, folding in on itself as glowing space mana spun in slow, deliberate spirals. In moments, a large portal bloomed open, swirling like the mouth of a vast abyss.

Cedric could feel the raw power radiating from it, the layers of mana woven into the construct.

Seris didn't explain. She glanced at him, then tilted her head slightly toward the portal.

She expected him to step in.

'Are we… training somewhere else?'

He wanted to ask, but the words caught in his throat.

So he swallowed down the question. He knew better than to waste Seris's time with hesitation.

Slowly, he stepped forward. The swirling edges of the portal hummed faintly as he extended his arm toward it. The mana was cold, almost biting, and it made the fine hairs on his arm stand on end.

His fingertips touched the surface.

In that instant, space folded around him, swallowing him whole.

Zooop—

And he was gone.

———————

Zooop—

The world twisted.

Cedric dropped out of the portal mid-air, his body lurching as if gravity had grabbed him too suddenly. He braced instinctively, arms crossing over his chest, before he twisted his torso and spun mid-air.

He hit the ground on one knee, one hand pressing into the cold floor to steady himself.

The world around him tilted. His vision spun, his stomach heaved.

"Urgh—"

He slapped a hand over his mouth, fighting the bile that burned at the

back of his throat.

For a second, he thought he could hold it back.

"Blaaarghhh—!"

He vomited onto the dark floor. Strings of acid burned his throat as he coughed, eyes watering. His body convulsed again.

"Blaaaargh—"

Another wave came out, leaving him trembling with uneven breaths.

This shouldn't have happened. He had space affinity. His body was naturally resistant to the disorientation of space travel.

A simple teleportation shouldn't have left him like this, unless…

His jaw tightened as his stomach churned one last time, and he wiped the corner of his lips with the back of his sleeve.

'She did this on purpose, didn't she?'

There was no way Vice Principal Seris would make a mistake like this.

No.

That portal had been designed to churn his insides. The violent pull, the jagged edges in the distortion, the unstable shift in space.

Seris had deliberately thrown him into chaos.

'Maybe… maybe she wants me to develop stronger resistance.'

He tried to convince himself.

His breathing slowed as he steadied himself, eyes still spinning. After a few seconds, the disorientation cleared just enough for him to look around.

And what he saw… was nothing.

Pitch-black darkness, not dim light, not shadows.

Complete absence.

At first, he thought it was his head still reeling from the teleportation, his vision refusing to focus. But no, this was different. There was truly nothing here.

"…Where am I?"

He pushed himself off the ground, and his hand brushed against the smooth, featureless floor.

The darkness swallowed every direction, every movement.

He lifted his hand forward, gathering mana in his palm. Light mana flowed through him, golden threads weaving into his hand.

A small sphere of light flickered, trying to form.

But the instant it stabilized—

Pop—

It shattered apart. The light scattered like sand in the wind, vanishing before it could illuminate even an inch.

"What…?"

He tried again, this time concentrating harder, weaving his mana tighter. A golden glow pulsed in his palm—

Pop—

It burst again, ripped apart by something unseen.

The air around the light hadn't rippled like usual; The space around it, the very medium that converged and collapsed the sphere.

"Vice Principal, are you ther—Uck—!"

A crushing weight slammed into his stomach mid-sentence.

"Gahhh!"

The impact knocked the wind out of him as pain tore through his abdomen.

His knees nearly buckled as his vision blurred from the shock.

He clutched his stomach, coughing violently, saliva spilling from his lips.

'What—what was that?!'

It felt like he'd just taken a direct mana-coated strike from a high Silver Ranker. He hadn't even had the chance to reinforce his body. He hadn't sensed a thing.

Something rolled against his leg.

He blinked through as he reached down, tapping his fingers across the floor until they touched something solid.

He picked it up and realized it was a sphere.

"…That orb you're holding is your training material."

Seris's voice echoed all around him, impossible to locate.

"It is made of special materials that is covered with spatial mana, it's almost undetectable with normal mana sense and when thrown, it makes no sound. But—"

Shhhh—

Something sliced past his cheek, so close it sheared off strands of his golden hair. He froze as his eyes widened.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

His heartbeat hammered in his chest.

"—but to you, with your space affinity, it will ripple through the spatial medium itself. That is what you must learn to sense."

Seris's voice was merciless.

"Expand your spatial sense. Feel the distortions in the air. And no,using light mana to enhance your vision is forbidden."

Something moved.

A strip of cloth. It simply appeared, wrapping around his eyes in one swift motion.

Darkness dropped to absolute zero.

He clenched his fists.

"Now, you understand what this training is."

Click. Click.

Her footsteps echoed as she walked away. Each sound stretched farther, until only silence remained.

"Good luck surviving."

Her voice trailed off.

A shiver crawled down Cedric's spine.

Tsss—

Another orb shot through the air.

"Agh—!"

It slammed into his shoulder, nearly spinning him sideways. The sting spread into his arm.

He gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his temple.

'This… this won't be easy.'

But he couldn't afford to falter. His mind burned with the memory of the Black Gate. Of Rodrick. Of the helplessness that had crushed him.

His fists tightened until his knuckles cracked.

"Never again," he whispered under his breath.

"I won't be helpless again, never again."

——————