---
It began with a scream.
Not one he heard—one he felt.
Aster jolted awake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, heart hammering like it had been chasing something through a dream he couldn't remember. His breathing came sharp and uneven, each gasp loud in the stillness. For a moment, he stayed frozen, eyes wide, as if expecting something to leap out from the shadows.
The dorm room was dark. Silent.
Too silent.
No wind. No creaking wood. No snoring from the room next door. Just the soft thud of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
He rubbed his face and sat up, the cool air biting against his skin. The moonlight spilled faintly through the closed curtains, painting the room in silver outlines. His blanket had tangled around his legs, half-thrown aside in his sleep. He pushed it off and set his feet on the cold floor, wincing slightly at the sudden chill.
Still breathing. Still alone. Still... alive.
That was enough. For now.
---
The academy had changed lately.
Not in a way you could see.
The stone towers still stood tall, casting long shadows across the courtyards. The lecture bells still rang at precise intervals. Students still laughed in packs, clutched books, grumbled about assignments, and secretly competed behind each other's backs.
But something was different.
Something had cracked beneath the surface.
Three students had vanished in the last seven days.
Just—gone.
No blood. No screams. No goodbyes. No alerts.
One moment they were seen. The next, they weren't.
Some claimed they left voluntarily. Others whispered about punishment, about secret detention dungeons. But Aster knew better. He could feel it in the way the walls seemed to watch now. In the way certain halls felt colder. Older.
It wasn't just paranoia.
He'd seen enough to know what fear looked like.
And this academy? It was afraid of itself.
As for Aster?
He wasn't curious. He wasn't brave.
He just wanted to survive.
No mysteries. No confrontations. No heroism.
Just live long enough to figure out why he was here—and how to make it through tomorrow.
---
It happened the first time outside the training hall.
He'd been heading back from a solo sparring session—one he forced himself through, movements mechanical, thoughts drifting to the nothingness that came easier these days—when the sound hit him.
A bell.
Not from above. Not from any tower or nearby building.
From below.
A sound not made for ears. Deep. Ancient. Metallic and wet, like rusted chains being dragged through stagnant water. It vibrated in his bones, low and pulsing, like the heartbeat of something dead.
He stopped. Mid-step. Breath caught in his throat.
Around him, students passed by. Some paused. One girl frowned and looked over her shoulder.
But then they moved on. Laughing. Talking. Oblivious.
He turned his head slowly.
No one else had truly heard it.
"Wonderful," Aster muttered under his breath, his voice dry. "Now I'm hallucinating ominous bells. All part of the magical curriculum, I'm sure."
He shook it off and kept walking.
But the sound stayed. Not in his ears, but in his mind. A weight. A pulse.
Something had stirred.
And it knew his name.
---
The changes in him were harder to deny now.
He didn't flinch anymore when someone raised their voice. He didn't smile at small jokes or blush when he bumped into someone.
His sarcasm had teeth. His eyes were colder.
Aster hadn't noticed it until someone bumped into him in the hallway.
It was nothing. Just a shoulder nudge. Normal. Unintentional.
But he turned sharply, his eyes glinting with something sharp.
"Watch it."
His voice was low. Firm.
The student—a short first-year with messy hair—stared up at him and paled.
"S-Sorry."
They scurried away, and Aster stood still, breath steady.
Then he looked down at his hand.
It was clenched.
Tight enough to tremble.
He slowly opened it and stared at his palm.
"What's happening to me?"
But he already knew.
He was changing.
And he wasn't sure he could stop it.
---
That night, it returned.
Dong.
A single toll. Low. Heavy.
No source. No echo. Just pressure.
Like the world itself exhaled grief.
His window was closed, but frost crept along the edges. His breath fogged in the air, and the silence in his room became suffocating.
Then the system chimed.
> [Hidden Quest: Shadow Trial - "The Whispering Bell"] Hear the Bell. Speak no lies. Survive the echo. Penalty: Undefined. Reward: Hidden.
He stared at the screen.
Then at the ceiling.
Then back.
His heart beat once.
Then again.
Slower.
He should've felt panic. Or fear. Or something.
But instead?
He felt cold.
Colder than the air.
Like a part of him had gone quiet.
He whispered to himself, voice barely audible over the ringing in his ears.
"So that's what this is."
Then came the voice. Not loud. Not angry.
Just... close.
Just behind his ear.
"Liar."
Aster didn't scream.
He just closed his eyes.
And waited for morning.