Kyrex barely slept after the dream.

  Every time he closed his eyes, he saw those wings behind the stars.

  Not attached to anyone.

  Not moving.

  Just… there.

  Watching.

  Morning drills arrived too quickly.

  The training hall buzzed with noise — wood striking wood, bursts of sparks, students showing off.

  Today’s lesson: mana reinforcement.

  Enhancing the body with magic.

  Kyrex already knew how this would go.

  Badly.

  “Pair up,” the instructor called.

  Students quickly found partners.

  Kyrex was left standing.

  Again.

  A few whispered.

  “Poor guy.”

  “He should’ve joined a theory school.”

  Before the awkward silence could grow—

  A wooden practice sword slid into view.

  “I’ll pair with him.”

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  Kyrex looked up.

  Silver eyes.

  The late student from yesterday.

  Calm. Unbothered.

  The instructor nodded. “Vaelix, then. Begin.”

  So his name’s Vaelix.

  They stood across from each other.

  Other students reinforced their bodies with mana — faint glows around arms and legs.

  Kyrex felt nothing.

  Vaelix held his sword loosely.

  “You don’t need to win,” Vaelix said quietly.

  “Just move naturally.”

  Easy for you to say.

  “Begin!”

  Kyrex stepped forward and swung.

  Normal. Human. No magic.

  Vaelix moved once.

  Just once.

  His wooden blade met Kyrex’s.

  A sharp crack echoed.

  Kyrex blinked.

  His sword… split clean in two.

  Not chipped.

  Not dented.

  Cut.

  Like a real blade had passed through.

  The hall went silent.

  No glow.

  No chant.

  No visible mana.

  The instructor’s eyes narrowed.

  “…Again,” he ordered.

  Vaelix bowed slightly. “Apologies. I misjudged the force.”

  But Kyrex saw it.

  For a fraction of a second—

  Light gathered along Vaelix’s blade.

  Thin. Bright. Controlled.

  Like a line drawn by the sky itself.

  After drills ended, whispers spread.

  “Did you see that?”

  “That wasn’t normal reinforcement.”

  “Was that a technique?”

  Kyrex approached him outside.

  “…What was that?”

  Vaelix tilted his head.

  “What was what?”

  “You cut through it.”

  Vaelix smiled faintly.

  “Sometimes things break when they meet the right angle.”

  That was not an answer.

  He walked away.

  Again.

  Leaving Kyrex with more questions than before.

  That evening, Kyrex stood alone in the courtyard.

  He tried to feel mana.

  Sense it.

  Grasp it.

  Nothing.

  Frustration built.

  “…Why can everyone else do it?”

  The courtyard lamps flickered.

  His shadow stretched long.

  Then longer.

  Then—

  It moved without him.

  Kyrex froze.

  The shadow’s head tilted.

  Mirroring Vaelix’s earlier gesture.

  A whisper crawled through the air.

  “You’re looking in the wrong direction.”

  Kyrex turned sharply.

  “No riddles. Just tell me!”

  Silence.

  Then the shadow slowly pointed upward.

  Toward the sky.

  Kyrex looked up.

  Clouds drifted calmly.

  Stars faint in the twilight.

  “…The sky?” he murmured.

  The shadow returned to normal.

  Like it never moved.

  Far away, in a place without ground or sky,

  Two voices spoke.

  “One shines.”

  “One watches.”

  A pause.

  “And the boy stands between.”

  Back in the courtyard, Kyrex clenched his fists.

  For the first time since arriving at the academy—

  He didn’t feel useless.

  He felt… noticed.

  And somehow,

  That was more terrifying.