Argolaith didn't answer right away.
The room was quiet, tension subtle but unmistakable—like the air before a storm that hadn't yet decided if it would break.
Vel Raelis stood tall, his arms relaxed at his sides, but his gaze sharp, analytical. He wasn't just curious—he was asuring. Judging. Anira Vale leaned slightly to one side, her fingers brushing the hem of her robe in a slow, thoughtful rhythm. She didn't blink much. Keson looked between the two of them and Argolaith with a faint, nervous smile.
"So?" Vel said again, stepping farther into the room. "That cube—what is it?"
Argolaith followed his gaze to the object resting calmly near the center of the chamber, hovering a few inches above a stabilized glyph etched into the air. The cube rotated slowly, silent and steady, still holding the impossible presence it always had.
"I made it," Argolaith replied simply.
That answer didn't satisfy Vel, not really. His brow lifted a fraction.
"Made it out of what?"
"Nothing," Argolaith said. "It's not constructed. It's… created."
Anira took a cautious step closer, her eyes narrowing with sudden interest. She stopped within a few feet of the cube and tilted her head as if trying to see through it.
"It's not made of mana," she murmured. "It doesn't reflect light. Doesn't pull energy. But it's definitely there."
Keson stepped beside her and frowned. "It's like looking at a hole in the world that's… full."
Argolaith didn't speak. He watched them carefully—how they looked, how they moved, what they didn't ask.
Vel turned to face him again.
"They say your magic doesn't belong to any discipline."
Argolaith t his gaze.
"Because it doesn't."
The room was still. The cube pulsed—once, faintly. A heartbeat of sothing distant.
Vel smiled faintly.
"I want to see it."
"You already are."
"I ant the other part," he said, voice quiet now. "The spell. The one that made the sky scream."
Argolaith's expression didn't change, but his eyes sharpened.
"That's not a spell you use casually."
"I figured." Vel gave a slight shrug. "Still. You're not going to be left alone now, you know that, right?" He gestured broadly. "Every departnt is already whispering. They're arguing about where you belong. Rune theory? Astral creation? Void studies? So are even saying they should create a new division for you entirely."
Anira crossed her arms again. "It doesn't matter where they put you. People are going to test you either way."
Keson nodded. "So because they're scared. Others… because they're not."
Argolaith turned toward the window. The academy shimred in the distance, its towers now humming again with reconstructed spells and shielding runes.
"Let them watch," he said softly.
Then he turned back.
"If they want to understand what I am, they'll have to earn it. One spell at a ti."
Outside the room, footsteps approached.
Sharp. Deliberate.
Soone else had co.
Another visitor… or another challenge.
The cube pulsed again, this ti brighter.
The knock on the door wasn't polite.
It wasn't hesitant.
It was sharp, deliberate—like soone declaring their presence before even stepping inside.
Argolaith turned his head, his posture unchanged. The cube pulsed once behind him, steady and silent.
Vel raised an eyebrow. "Expecting soone?"
"No."
The door swung open before anyone could answer.
A tall student stepped into the room without invitation. He wore a deep crimson uniform, accented with a black sash embroidered in gold—the mark of a Sixth-Year Honor Duelist. His boots glead. His cuffs were pinned with diamond-like clasps shaped like rising suns. Every part of him radiated wealth, control, and superiority.
His eyes, a sharp shade of bronze, scanned the room briefly before landing on Argolaith with a sneer of obvious disdain.
"So you're the one they've been whispering about."
Argolaith said nothing.
Vel frowned, stepping slightly forward. "Caelus."
The newcor didn't glance his way. "Vel." He said it like acknowledging a servant. Then back to Argolaith. "You don't bow to elders. You shatter sacred windows. And you nearly deafened the entire Academy. I suppose we're all supposed to clap for you."
Argolaith t his gaze evenly. "You seem to be here instead of clapping."
Caelus' smirk widened.
"I'm here to bring balance."
He stepped closer, ignoring the rising tension in the room. "Every few years, so overhyped 'prodigy' arrives thinking they're above the rules. Above respect. But this is the Grand Magic Academy. Here, strength earns its place. Not stories."
Argolaith's gaze didn't waver. "You're here to challenge , then?"
Caelus made a slow, formal gesture across his chest, the duelist's sign of an open match invitation.
"That's right. Public. Sanctioned. No limits—outside of lethality."
Vel muttered under his breath. "Here we go."
Anira groaned. "He really couldn't wait even a day?"
Caelus ignored them.
"You've made quite the entrance, Argolaith. Let's see if there's anything behind the noise."
Argolaith rose slowly from his chair, stretching one arm behind his back.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then word spreads that the cot boy who flattened a Saint beast is scared of a duel from a Sixth-Year." Caelus grinned, baring white teeth. "Your na fades as fast as your firework spell did."
Argolaith gave a faint smile.
"It wasn't a firework."
Caelus gestured toward the dueling coliseum in the distance, visible from the window.
"Tomorrow morning. Dawn. Public arena. Prove it."
He turned to leave, but not before giving the cube a brief glance—just a flicker of sothing unreadable.
Then he was gone.
The silence that followed was thick.
Vel was the first to speak.
"He's arrogant, but he's not weak. Don't underestimate him."
Anira added, "He's held the highest honor dueling rank for two years running. And he's a combat-focused specialist. Fast, brutal, tactical."
Keson nodded. "Also a total ass."
Argolaith looked at the fading ripple of magic left behind from Caelus' boots. Then to the cube. Then to his hand, which still faintly tingled with the aftermath of the Starborn spell.
He walked back to the window.
Outside, the sky was calm again.
But not for long.
"Tomorrow at dawn, then," he said quietly.
"Let's see how far noise can echo."
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