The Academy's coliseum rumbled with anticipation. Crestborne banners danced in the wind—each representing the eight Houses: Ignis, Glaciem, Petra, Caelum, Lucentia, Umbra, Aeonis, and Anima. From the viewing stands above, instructors and senior students watched as the first event of the intra-academy competition commenced: The Trial by Flame.
Kael adjusted the hood of his rune-threaded cloak, black gloves faintly glowing with dormant sigils. He stood among other first-years, a year into academy life yet still largely an outsider. His reputation as a brilliant enchanter and the only first-year allowed into Tier 3 of Arx Memoria earned respect—if not friends.
Captain Selai of House Anima had summoned him earlier that morning.
---
Selai's Office – House Anima Quarters
"Kael." Captain Selai gestured toward the seat across her desk, her Spirit Crest pulsing softly behind her like ethereal wings.
Kael entered, silent as ever.
"The Trial begins today. They'll be watching you—even if you can't see them."
"Watching?" Kael's brow twitched, the only visible crack in his usual calm.
"Some from the royal palace. And perhaps others."
A pause. She leaned forward. "Are you ready?"
Kael looked down at his gloves, the runes woven like veins of power. "As ready as I can be."
---
Back in the Coliseum
The rules were simple. Scattered across a burning field were sigils—runes etched into stones, each requiring a trial of will or strength to claim. Only a limited number could be retrieved. First-years scrambled toward them in groups.
Kael, with his usual silence, moved in the opposite direction of the crowd. Where others avoided the pillar surrounded by fire wisps and a seething mana haze, Kael approached it like a moth to flame.
"That's suicide," one Ignis student sneered. "No one claims that sigil."
"Ignore the fool," said another. "Let's get the easy ones."
Kael studied the array surrounding the sigil—an intricate enchantment resistant to basic nullification. Fire magic spiraled out like teeth.
Perfect.
He stepped through the first flame barrier, letting his glove absorb and redirect the heat through a runic counterseal. Another step—he knelt, palm hovering over the sigil stone.
Then someone shoved him from behind.
"Step aside, bookworm!" barked an Ignis student, red hair flaring like a torch.
Kael didn't respond. He simply placed his gloved hand over the rune. It flared, recognizing his mastery.
The sigil floated up and etched itself onto the back of his uniform—chosen by the trial itself.
The Ignis student froze. "You—what did you just—?"
A blinding light shot upward, signaling a claimed sigil.
From the shadows of the stands, a hooded figure turned and vanished.
---
Elsewhere
Master Illovar stroked his beard, murmuring to Captain Selai beside him, "He chose that one?"
Selai smirked. "He didn't choose it. It chose him."