The instructors didn't speak much after the match.
No congratulations. No lectures.
Just silence. And glances.
Karl followed Instructor Calen across the lower court, past the floating staircases and rune-lit walkways. Every few steps, students turned to watch him pass.
Some with curiosity.
Some with something colder.
So much for keeping a low profile.
At the edge of the East Spire, Calen stopped beside a tall archway wrapped in violet ivy. Two crystal sentries flanked the door—each shaped like a faceless knight, humming quietly.
"Wait here," Calen said.
She disappeared inside.
Karl stood alone.
Until he wasn't.
The door opened a minute later.
And from the shadows stepped a woman unlike any he'd seen.
She wore no armor. No robe.
Just a layered black coat lined with silver-threaded scales — dragonhide, if he had to guess. Her hair was split — white on one side, obsidian on the other, bound at the base of her neck in a coil of string. One eye glowed softly violet.
The other was gold.
"So," she said, voice low and steady.
"This is the Veilwalker."
Karl didn't speak.
The air around her felt… strange. Balanced. Heavy and light at the same time. Her presence was neither threatening nor welcoming.
Just watching.
"You flared two affinities," she continued, circling him.
"Cold and pressure. Mana of descent."
"I didn't mean to."
"Good. That means it's yours."
She stopped in front of him.
"You carry something deep. Something that's still trying to remember itself."
Karl's chest ached slightly.
The mark wasn't glowing. But it was listening.
"Who are you?" he finally asked.
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Headmaster Elaris."
A pause.
"Half-blood, if it matters. My mother was human. My father…" She smiled faintly.
"Was not."
Karl didn't respond.
She didn't expect him to.
"You won't be placed with the others," Elaris continued.
"Your bond, your mana, your… echo — all of it is still unstable."
She stepped closer.
"But I'm going to help you stabilize it."
Karl blinked.
"Why?"
Her violet eye narrowed.
"Because if I don't… you might tear a hole through this academy before the Veil does."