The room went quiet when he walked in.

Not fully. Just that specific half-second where conversations paused and heads turned and then everything resumed like it hadn’t stopped at all.

Murmurs followed him up the steps.

"He’s back."

"Heard he got into some kind of accident."

Arthur kept walking.

Havier was writing something. He didn’t look up.

Theodore caught his eye from two rows over and waved. Slightly awkward. The wave of someone who wasn’t sure how much enthusiasm was appropriate.

Arthur waved back.

Kreasial had her chin resting on both palms. She looked at him, smirked once, then looked away like she hadn’t.

He sat down.

Exhaled.

Alright. Now what.

"I can detect multiple aetheric fields," Roz said quietly from his shoulder. "More than usual for a classroom."

Arthur looked at him.

Then closed his eyes.

He pushed his shadow network outward. Slow. Letting it spread along the floor and into the corridor and up through the building the way it always did, anchor by anchor.

The resistance hit almost immediately.

Too many fields in one space. Each one pressing back slightly against his own. He could feel his network thinning at the edges faster than usual, the density behind his sternum dropping at a rate that said he couldn’t hold a full quarter-radius for long.

He pulled back to just the necessary anchors. Kept the ones that mattered.

Ivan was in Class A. Sitting next to Cael. Talking to someone. The usual arrangement.

Xavier’s field hit him even at this distance. Not aggressive. Just there. The way a wall is just there.

A movement near the cafeteria window. Someone crossing the corridor outside.

He opened his eyes.

’Paranoid?’ Vexis drifted closer.

No. Just checking.

Vexis didn’t push it.

Vivienne walked in.

The room adjusted without anyone saying anything.

"As most of you know the culmination ceremony begins tomorrow." She moved to the front without looking at anyone specifically. "I’ve also heard the speculation going around so I’ll address it directly. Yes. The Mageia council will be present."

A hand went up. Black hair. Glasses. Second row.

"Are they selecting talent?"

"They observe. What they do with what they see is their business." Vivienne’s voice left no room for follow-up. "That said. Everyone in this room has a chance to participate in the lower format and earn class points. Not just the three representatives."

Arthur looked at his desk.

The council would be watching. Which meant performing well meant being noticed. And being noticed meant losing the one advantage he currently had — that nobody with real power was paying close attention to Vexis Lestilaut.

Except Ealon.

But that was already done.

He pressed his palms flat on the desk.

I need to see what’s coming.

System.

The red box appeared at eye level.

[Welcome, Reader]

I want to use the Eyes.

[What do you want to see?]

The future of this class’s representatives at the culmination.

[Understood]

The classroom dissolved.

Black. Wide and flat. The screen assembled itself from the center outward the way it always did and Arthur was standing in the dark watching it form and hating how disorienting it was every single time.

God I hate this.

A coliseum appeared.

Loud. Full. The kind of crowd noise that hit from every direction. Afternoon light.

At the center of the floor a white-haired figure stood. Unfazed. Unhurried. Like the match had already ended and he was simply waiting for everyone else to realize it.

Below him, motionless on the stone.

Black hair. Purple eyes closed.

Elias Ignion.

Hmm. So this is the first format conclusion. Xavier wins. That’s exactly how the novel had it. Nothing new here.

The screen flickered.

Below the bleachers. A corridor. Stone walls and bad light.

Elias was alone.

He had both fists against the wall and was hitting it. Not the hitting of someone venting. The hitting of someone who had run out of other options and this was what was left. His knuckles were split. His breathing was wrong.

He stopped.

Stood there with his forehead against the stone.

Then reached into his jacket.

A small vial. Red liquid inside, catching what little light there was in the corridor.

Arthur watched his hand.

It wasn’t shaking.

That was the part that was wrong. His knuckles were bleeding and his breathing was wrecked but his hand around the vial was completely still. He’d already decided. Before he even pulled it out he’d already decided.

He drank it.

What—

Elias convulsed. Both hands slammed against the wall. His jaw locked. Saliva at the corners of his mouth. Then fire erupted from his palms, wild and uncontrolled, climbing the walls of the corridor in both directions.

Arthur stared.

He took the drug. He actually took it.

Elven tears.

But this isn’t in the novel. Elias loses to Xavier. He’s humiliated. But he doesn’t do this. He never does this. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Or did he. And the author just never wrote it.

The screen flickered again.

A platform. Open. Above the coliseum floor.

Arthur was sitting in it.

He could see himself. Gold hair. Black uniform. Theodore on his left, Kreasial on his right, both of them watching the floor below with expressions that said something had gone wrong.

Then Welya.

She was right there. Next to him. Talking to him like it was normal. Like they’d found each other in the crowd and she’d sat down and it was fine.

Her mouth was moving. He couldn’t hear what she was saying.

Then the platform surface erupted.

Fire. Immediate and enormous. Rising from directly underneath where Arthur and Welya were sitting, consuming the space in less time than it took to register what was happening.

What the hell!

The screen went black.

Arthur was back in his chair.

The classroom was the same. Vivienne still talking. Someone near the front asking something. The ordinary noise of a room that had no idea.

He grabbed his hair and held it.

His vision took a second to fully settle. The edges of the room soft and then sharp again.

73 RP. The notification faded.

He breathed.

Okay.

Welya was in that vision. Theodore. Kreasial. All of them on the same platform when Elias lost control of the drug and fired.

Not just him.

All of them.

It’s not fine.

’What’s wrong with you.’ Vexis drifted close. Eyes on Arthur’s face.

Nothing. Arthur let go of his hair. Smoothed it back. I’m fine.

Vexis looked at him for a second longer than necessary.

Then drifted back.

Arthur stared at the desk.

I need to get between Elias and that vial before the first format ends.

"Class dismissed." Vivienne closed her book. "Arrive early tomorrow. The ceremony entrance opens before first light." She looked up. "The three representatives stay. Everyone else go."

Chairs scraped. Bags. The usual exit noise.

Arthur stayed seated.

The room emptied.

Arthur looked at the desk.

He pressed both hands flat on the desk.

I need to make sure Elias doesn’t get that drug.