This is what a prestigious and hard to get in academy had to offer? Pathetic.
The first guy who hit the ground staggered to his feet, clenching his jaw as he readied himself for another go. The others around him, still visibly rattled, managed to shake off their shock and gather around. They locked eyes, then charged at me all together, practically tripping over each other to get through the narrow frame of my door. My lips twisted into a smirk.
“Idiots,” I muttered, darting forward.
The first two that barreled through the door barely had time to register my movement before I’d grabbed them both by their hair. I wrenched them toward each other, their skulls colliding with a crack before I shoved them backward into the fourth guy, sending the trio tumbling over themselves in a heap. I dusted off my hands as I stood over them.
The remaining two figures, who’d somehow kept their distance, stood just inside my doorway, their posture defensive, though I could tell they’d lost their nerve. One of them, probably the leader, barked in a desperate attempt to regain control.
“You’re going to regret this!” he blustered, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “Just come quietly, and you’ll save yourself a world of pain!”
I arched an eyebrow, stifling a laugh as I leaned against the door frame. “You’ve got blood all over the lower half of your face,” I said with mock concern, watching him as he reflexively touched his cheek, only to stop when he realized the mask was preventing me from seeing anything.
His eyes shot up to me, I could see the embarrassment clear as day. “Shut up!”
I gave a shrug. “Whatever. What do you even want?”
He seemed to ignore my sarcasm. “You’ve been summoned,” he bit out, doing his best to sound authoritative. “Follow us, and make this easier on yourself.”
I rolled my eyes, peering past the ragged group toward the massive slab of stone we were standing on. It hung in the air, with only open sky and other floating doors in view. The ground below looked like a distant, endless drop. An isolated prison—or a fortress.
“Summoned?” I repeated with a snort. “You guys can’t be serious. It can’t be me, I just got to my room.” I took a step back, intending to slam the door in their faces, but the leader shot his hand out, wedging it between the door and the frame.
“It’s definitely you.” He grit his teeth, glowering. “Jai Boone isn’t exactly a common name.”
A heavy sigh escaped my lips. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I yanked the door open, stepping out into the stone platform. As the masked figures surrounded me, they linked hands, forming a tight circle. One of them grabbed my arm while the leader lifted his Tenus, playing around with it, and soon it began to glow with a faint hum. I barely had time to process the feeling of my body shifting, disintegrating into scattered light particles, before the scene before us warped and twisted.
The gritty stone beneath us disappeared, replaced by the polished hardwood floor of a vast gymnasium. Bleak gray walls enclosed us, rising high above. My eyes swept over the empty space, catching sight of four other students stationed at various points along the wall. The figures I’d arrived with peeled off, stepping away one by one, until just one remained at my side, guiding me toward the raised stage at the far end of the room.
Five figures stood with their backs turned to us, their postures tall and unwavering. I felt a surge of irritation as I stepped closer, wondering what game they were playing. As we neared the stage, the figure beside me bowed out, leaving me to face the silent figures alone.
A moment later, a tall man in immaculate clothing stepped forward onto the stage, his expression haughty as he looked down at me. Every inch of him screamed arrogance, from his pressed, spotless clothes to the sharp, haughty tilt of his chin.
“Welcome,” he said, voice dripping with self-importance. “You should feel honored to have attracted my attention.” He stretched his arms, as if he was some deity descending from the heavens. “I am—”
“Who are you?” I interrupted, deadpan, crossing my arms.
His jaw tightened at the interruption, but he forced a thin smile. “I am this academy’s greatest warrior—the insurmountable wall, the undefeated—”
“I didn’t ask for your life story. Why did you bring me here?” I cut him off again, not even bothering to hide my boredom.
His nostrils flared, but he quickly regained his composure. “You five,” he said, glancing toward the others around me, “are the most promising fighters of this year’s class. Under my guidance, you’ll reach greatness. I’m offering you the opportunity to swear allegiance to me and to the House of Light.”
I blinked. “House of Light?” The name rolled off my tongue as if it were the punchline to some inside joke. The corner of my mouth twitched, then the absurdity hit me in full, and I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up. “House of Light?” I repeated, doubling over. “Are you… five?”
The man’s face contorted with fury as he took a menacing step forward, his entire body suffused with a golden glow. His fists clenched and unclenched, each movement calculated to exude power.
But then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a familiar face among the crowd of students—white-haired, her expression as unreadable as before. The woman from the main exam. Our gazes met for a fleeting second before she turned away, unperturbed.
The man stormed off the stage, closing the distance between us with fury in his steps, his golden aura intensifying to a blinding sheen. I fought the sudden urge to recoil, feeling a strange tension I couldn’t explain.
“Kneel,” he commanded, pointing at the floor. “And apologize.”
I blinked. “What?”
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“Kneel,” he repeated, his tone sharp and venomous. “Apologize. If I find it amusing enough, I might let you leave here the way you came.”
That strange impulse flared up inside me again—a raw, surging anger that I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, control. My fist swung before I even registered it. There was a sharp crack as my knuckles connected with his jaw, sending him staggering back, blood trickling from his split lip.
He clutched his mouth, muffled words spilling out. “Y-you… you hit me!”
“You know,” I began to walk forward, “I really couldn’t care less about you. In fact I don’t really care about this academy all that much. All I want is to get stronger and get out. So maybe, if you didn’t piss me off, we could have ended our relationship with no blood shed.”
My left arm grabbed a fistfuly of his hair, centering his head. “But you see,” I pushed my face right up next to his ear, keeping my words to a whisper.
“I’m not exactly a stable person, and of course I wish to heal. But for now, I’m going to enjoy this, while my body runs off hatred and satisfaction.”
I pulled away, a smile stretched across my face.
“No! No! You-”
My fist shot out again, this time with a fury I had never felt before, and it was amazing. Each punch landed with brutal accuracy, shattering the delicate perfection of his features until his pristine face was a canvas of blood and bruises. When I finally stepped back, panting, he slumped to the ground, his body crumpling in a limp, broken heap.
Yes. This was it.
I found my high, the rush was coming back to me. The excitement, the euphoria, god it felt amazing.
I crouched beside him, inspecting the mess I’d made of his face. “Now you look like a warrior,” I muttered, barely recognizing him anymore.
I straightened up, glancing around the room. The rest of the crowd had vanished, everyone except the white-haired woman. She was still there, watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
“What? Want to finish what we started?” I asked, though my voice lacked any real fire. I’d spent all my energy on my so-called ‘greatest warrior.’
Her gaze flickered to the man’s unconscious body, then back to me. “Are you prepared for the consequences of your actions?”
“He’s not dead. And I doubt a school for warriors would mind a little… sparring.” I shrugged, wiping the blood from my hands onto my clothes.
She shook her head, her expression serious. “I’m not talking about the academy. I’m talking about the House of Light.”
“You mean his little cult?” I laughed. “Let them come.”
She hesitated, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder. “He isn’t the leader. Not even close.”
I pulled back, eyeing her suspiciously. “What’s it to you?”
“I can protect you.”
“I don’t need nor want your protection.” I turned to face her. “Also why would I trust you.”
She paused, narrowing her eyes as if weighing her answer. “I don’t want you to lose to anyone but me,” she said, extending her hand.
“So? What do you say?”
My eyes drifted down to her outstretched hand, my mind racing. I knew nothing about this woman, not even her name, yet she was offering me protection with such easy confidence. Was she genuine… or did she have some other motive?
“Jai Boone.” A voice thundered from above, pulling me from my thoughts. A figure descended from the shadows, landing next to the bloodied man I’d left on the ground.
“While we encourage… spirited sparring, this goes a step beyond.” The new arrival’s face was impassive as he took in the scene. “You’ll be coming with me.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but before I could respond, my surroundings warped, and I was whisked away, finding myself in a stark, white-walled office. Everything here seemed both delicate and intimidating, as if I’d somehow wandered into a museum display meant to keep intruders out.
Soft, ambient light poured from thin, floating globes suspended in the air—each one casting an ethereal glow that seemed to shift from color to color, responding to some unseen mood. The ceiling was high, vanishing into shadows, and the walls were an impossible combination of dark stone and reflective metal, like ancient rock polished to a mirror finish.
My eyes fell on the desk at the room’s center—a piece of furniture that seemed to be made of living wood, tendrils and branches twisting and winding together in an elegant, organic shape. The surface itself had a glossy, black finish, inlaid with veins of glowing minerals that pulsed with a subtle, rhythmic light.
The chair behind it was massive and imposing, draped in silken fabrics that shifted in color like the lights above, cycling from deep blues to shadowy purples, giving it an aura of both luxury and danger.
All around, books and artifacts floated in mid-air, defying gravity. Open tomes spun slowly, each covered in glyphs and symbols that looked old enough to be from an ancient language.
They bobbed and rotated in the air, as if they were observing me, holding their secrets just out of reach. Glass cases hovered here and there, containing strange objects: a staff with a crystal swirling with lightning, a dagger that radiated cold mist, a pendant glowing with an inner fire. They looked like trophies or relics, though I couldn't tell if they were prizes of honor or warnings to those who’d dared cross whoever worked here.
An ancient map hung on the far wall, covering nearly half the space. It depicted an entire network of floating islands, cities, and strange realms marked with unknown symbols, each place connected by thin, glowing lines that seemed to pulse as if alive. The details were mesmerizing, and I found myself squinting, trying to make sense of the patterns.
Then there was the smell—a faint mix of burned incense and something sharper, like metal left to sit in the sun.
I took a few cautious steps forward, expecting someone to appear any moment, but there was nothing, just the distant hum of the glowing stones overhead. I felt as if I were trespassing in a forbidden place, caught in a space reserved for a powerful being who’d built a world of their own, one where normal rules simply didn’t apply.
A subtle hum started under my feet, and suddenly the walls flickered, displaying a series of shifting images, scenes from different worlds and places. I saw deserts under twin suns, cities with impossible, spiraling architecture, and strange landscapes filled with creatures I couldn’t name.
“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise.”
Confused, I spun around, only to be met with the door. The only thing in sight was a single door on one side. As I moved toward it, a voice—soft, almost weary—broke the silence.
“Over here, dear,” the voice murmured.
I turned to find a small, unassuming woman seated behind a desk that hadn’t been there a moment ago. She gestured to an empty chair that slid out from the shadows, inviting me to sit.
“It’s always wonderful to see new students,” she said with a faint smile. “Though not… like this.”
I sank into the chair, feeling a strange mix of wariness and curiosity.
The small woman’s smile widened as she observed me, her gaze sharp and calculating
----------------------------------------
“So soon?”
“You know his personality.”
“How do we smooth things over?”
“Why would he? It’ll be a good opportunity.”
“For what?!”
“You all seem so sure that he’s the perfect vessel, but I’m unconvinced. He’s too weak. Too unstable.”
“Watch yourself.”
“Look, just let things play out for a bit. If I’m wrong, I’ll repent.”
“Fine. But don’t think I’ll let things go easily if you are.”
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