Asher’s eyes remained fixed ahead, though his expression did not soften at the praise.

Kaelen continued as the screen shifted to Asher battling an Advanced Horror with thick armored limbs and a maw lined with hooked teeth. The demon charged, but Asher did not retreat. Blue flames exploded beneath his feet, and he darted sideways before driving a flame-coated fist into the creature’s exposed flank.

When the demon adapted and tried to crush him against a stone wall, Asher used a sudden vertical burst to launch himself upward, then came down with a concentrated spear of flame that pierced through the demon’s spine and core.

"Your flames have improved since the previous evaluation," Kaelen said. "Your output is higher, but more importantly, your control has become sharper. Months ago, much of your strength was carried by raw intensity. Now there is more structure behind it. You are learning to compress your flames, alter their direction faster, and use them not only as destructive force but as movement support."

The screen showed Asher crossing unstable ground by propelling himself with short bursts of blue flame, similar in function to Liam’s flame movement but different in rhythm and intensity. Asher’s style was more aggressive, less subtle, and far more forceful, but effective nonetheless. He used the bursts to close distance quickly, break out of encirclements, and strike before enemies could fully reposition.

"Your survival decisions also improved compared to earlier patterns," Kaelen continued. "You did not simply chase every enemy that appeared before you. There were several times when you withdrew, secured water, preserved shelter, and chose not to engage when the risk offered no meaningful benefit. That growth should not be overlooked."

Asher’s jaw tightened faintly at that, because he knew exactly which moment Kaelen would eventually mention.

"Your greatest quality remains your offensive instinct," Kaelen said. "You are able to seize control of a battle’s pace and force the enemy to respond to you. Against demons that rely on instinct or direct aggression, that is extremely effective. You overwhelm, pressure, and punish hesitation. When you are focused, you can turn a fight into something that happens entirely on your terms."

The screen showed Asher surrounded by three Horror-class demons within a burnt clearing. Instead of letting them coordinate, he attacked one with enough force to make the other two react defensively, then used the shift in their movement to split them apart.

He killed the first with a concentrated burst to the core, baited the second into lunging through lingering flames, and finished the third by driving it into a burning tree before tearing through its skull with blue fire.

It was brutal, fast, and exactly the kind of fight Asher excelled at.

Then the screen changed.

The roar echoed through the footage.

Even inside the hall, the memory of it seemed to settle over the students who had heard similar sounds during the assessment. The screen showed Asher standing in the burning clearing, his body tense, his blue flames dimming slightly as his eyes fixed on the deeper eastern forest. The roar rolled across the area, distant but unmistakably powerful. The trees around him trembled. Leaves shook loose from the canopy. The air itself seemed to pressure the screen.

Asher watched himself make the decision again.

He backed away.

Carefully.

Then, when the roar came again, he launched himself away from the area with explosive blue flame.

Kaelen did not criticize him for it.

Instead, he said, "This moment was one of your better decisions during the assessment."

Asher’s eyes sharpened with immediate irritation.

Kaelen continued, "You sensed a threat beyond what was necessary for your survival or evaluation, assessed the pressure correctly, and withdrew. That is not cowardice. It is judgment. Many students mistake courage for approaching every danger they encounter. That is foolishness. Knowing when a threat does not need to be challenged is part of survival."

Those words made Asher’s anger deepen rather than ease.

Because even though Kaelen was praising him, Asher could not accept the praise cleanly. Not after seeing Liam do the opposite and win. Not after knowing the threat he had retreated from was the same one Liam had gone on to erase.

Kaelen’s logic was sound. Asher knew it was sound. Retreating from that roar had been the smart choice. But knowing that did nothing to soothe the frustration twisting inside him.

If anything, it made him hate himself more.

Kaelen continued, unaware or perhaps fully aware of the effect his words were having.

"That decision preserved your strength, prevented unnecessary risk, and allowed you to complete the full assessment period. In that regard, it contributed to your rise."

Asher’s fists clenched tighter.

Rise.

That word tasted bitter.

Kaelen’s tone then shifted slightly. "However, you still made several errors that cannot be ignored."

The screen changed again, displaying moments where Asher’s aggression became a liability.

In one clip, he pursued an Advanced Horror into a narrow ravine after injuring it, only for two more demons to ambush him from above. He escaped, but not cleanly, taking a harsh wound across his side before burning his way out.

Another clip showed him using too much output against a group of weaker demons, eliminating them quickly but wasting more Myst than necessary. A third showed him fighting through fatigue and allowing anger to sharpen his flames at the cost of control.

"Your aggressiveness remains both your weapon and your weakness," Kaelen said. "When you control it, it allows you to dominate fights. When it controls you, it causes unnecessary damage to yourself. Several of your injuries during the assessment were not unavoidable. They came because you pressed too hard, too quickly, or refused to break pace when the battlefield shifted against you."

Asher stared at the screen, silent.

"You also continue to rely heavily on overpowering exchanges," Kaelen added. "That works against many demons, especially those beneath you in intelligence or speed. But against an enemy that can endure your first wave, adapt to your pressure, or punish your momentum, that habit becomes dangerous. You must learn to alter tempo, not only increase it."

The advice struck close enough that Asher’s eyes narrowed.

Kaelen’s gaze remained steady. "Your growth is impressive, Hawthorne. But strength does not only come from burning hotter. It comes from knowing when to reduce the flame, when to redirect it, and when to let your opponent destroy themselves chasing what they think is an opening."

The screen showed one final image of Asher near the end of the assessment, standing on a scorched ridge beneath a dark sky, battered but upright, his blue flames burning low around him. His expression in the footage looked fierce, exhausted, and dissatisfied all at once.

"Rank two is deserved," Kaelen said. "But whether you can remain there, or climb higher, depends on whether you learn to control the same fire that makes you dangerous."

Kaelen stepped back.

For several moments, the hall remained quiet.

The students had listened carefully, but there was a different weight now. Everyone knew who remained. The moment Asher’s evaluation ended, the last name had become obvious. Only one rank was left. Only one person could occupy it now.

The air in the hall seemed to tighten slightly.

Sheila Granger stood among the students with her posture composed despite the exhaustion visible in her body. Her white hair fell over her shoulders in loose strands, no longer as perfectly arranged as it had been before entering Nalim.

Her academy attire bore marks of battle, especially along the sleeves and lower edges, and there were faint healing marks along one cheek and one hand.

Yet compared to many around her, she stood with a quiet steadiness that made her seem almost untouched in spirit, if not body.

Lucia looked down at her clipboard.

For a brief moment, even she seemed to let the silence settle properly.

Then she tapped the enchanted surface one final time.

The magical screen above the stage shifted, blue flames fading away and giving way to a pale, luminous image of ice, water, and radiant light spreading across a frozen river within Nalim.

Lucia lifted her gaze toward the students.

"Rank one," she said clearly. "Sheila Granger."