A week had passed since the Harvest Festival, and the village of Bellmonty was still grappling with the aftermath. The excitement of the festivities had long since faded, replaced by a lingering unease that clung to the cobblestone streets like the morning mist.

Cooper, whose life had been irrevocably altered that fateful night, found himself at the heart of the village's disquiet. The magic he had unleashed—a power he barely understood—had become the subject of hushed whispers and wary glances.

It was on a morning tinged with the crispness of impending autumn that Morgan le Faye arrived at Elara and Thorne's doorstep. Her presence was like a sudden gust of wind that swept through the stillness, her arrival like a stone cast into a still pond, the ripples reaching to every corner of the village. Her purple eyes finding Cooper's with an intensity that seemed to pierce his very soul.

Cooper, his nerves frayed, watched as she entered the house that he called home. "I've been sent by the Academy to assess you," Morgan announced, her voice calm and clear. Cooper's heart raced at the word "assess," a myriad of questions swirling in his mind.

Morgan asked him to recount the events of the night of the festival. With a voice that trembled with the memory of terror and adrenaline, Cooper spoke of the fire, of Lila's peril, and of the desperate surge of power that had flowed through him to douse the flames. "It was instinct... I don't even know how I did it," he finished, his gaze falling to his hands, as if they possibly held the answers.

"It's not uncommon for magic to manifest in moments of great duress," Morgan explained as she studied him with an intensity that made him feel as though she could see into his very soul. "You tapped into your latent power to save Lila. That much, I believe, is certain."

She inquired if he had cast any more spells since that night. Cooper shook his head, his voice a whisper. "I've been too scared, too anxious. And I wouldn't know how to begin even if I wanted to."

"That's not a concern," Morgan assured him. "But I do need to assess your current magical power and potential." She spoke of a spell that would allow her to gauge his abilities, and Cooper felt a mix of fright and curiosity.

They sat across from each other, Morgan's hands enveloping Cooper's. She released her magic, a soft glow enveloping them, illuminating the room with a light that seemed to pulse with life. As her magic touched his, Cooper felt a warmth spreading through him, a sensation of power awakening.

Morgan's eyes widened in astonishment at the response from Cooper's magic. It was clear that he possessed a well of power that was rare, even among those trained in the mystic arts. Though she kept her findings to herself, simply stating, "Your power is sufficient." She continued, “It is my pleasure to formally extend to you an offer to attend the Britannian Royal Magical Academy.”

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Morgan’s words left Cooper, Elara, and Thorne in a state of shock. Lila's reaction was one of anger, her feelings a tempest that threatened to burst forth.

Morgan continued, explaining that the Academy trained both Sorcerers and Mystic Knights, depending on one's magical sensitivity and affinities. "Your life in the fields and on the sea has given you the strength and stamina to train as a Mystic Knight," she said. "But you also have the power to become a Sorcerer. It is up to you."

Cooper felt as though the ground beneath him was shifting. "Everything is moving so fast," he said, his voice barely audible. "I don't know if I want anything to do with magic or the Academy..."

"The choice is yours, and yours alone," Morgan reiterated. "But I shall only remain in this village for tonight. I will need your answer before I depart in the morning."

With those final words, Morgan le Faye left the house, her departure as enigmatic as her arrival. Cooper sat in stunned silence, full of turmoil, consumed by the decision that lay before him-a choice that would alter the course of his life. Elara and Thorne exchanged worried glances, while Lila's anger simmered in the air as she finally stormed out of the house before anyone could try and stop her.

As the day waned and the shadows grew long, Cooper sought out Lila, hoping that maybe she had calmed down a bit and that perhaps he could find solace in their shared past and comfort in their longstanding friendship. But when he approached her, she brushed him off with an abrupt nod, her eyes avoiding his. The sting of her dismissal cut deeper than he would have admitted, leaving him feeling isolated in a way he had never known.

That night, as Cooper lay in his bed, the events of the past week swirled chaotically in his mind. The fire, the magic, the villagers' wary glances, and Lila's coldness—it was a maelstrom of confusion and anxiety that robbed him of sleep. He tossed and turned, the blankets becoming a tangled mess around him.

He was worried about the future, a path that was now shrouded in uncertainty. The life he had known, the simple existence of a villager, seemed to be slipping through his fingers like grains of sand. And the more he grasped for it, the quicker it all seemed to vanish.

Lila's upset weighed heavily on him. Her anger, her frustration—it was a mirror to his own feelings, yet he felt powerless to bridge the gap that had formed between them. The villagers, too, had changed in their demeanor towards him. Once a part of the community, he now felt like an outsider, an object of suspicion and fear.

Cooper had never yearned for a life beyond Bellmonty. The village, with its rolling fields and the steady rhythm of the sea, had been his entire world. But the incident at the festival had shattered the tranquility of that world, leaving him to wonder if there was even a place for him within it anymore…

As the first light of dawn crept through the window, Cooper's thoughts were a tangle of emotions—fear, frustration, longing, and a deep-seated sadness for the simplicity that seemed lost to him now. The decision that lay before him was more than a choice about attending the Academy; it was a choice about who he wanted to be and what place he could call home…