The Academy claimed all races were equal. Seraphina Aurelion had known this since childhood. The Imperial Academy’s founding charter declared that any student—regardless of race, bloodline, or origin—could enroll and receive the same education. It was a noble ideal. A symbol of the peace that had lasted three thousand years. Walking through the grounds that morning, Seraphina observed how the ideal played out in practice. A beastfolk girl with wolf ears walked past, her silver star glinting on her collar. A group of human nobles watched her go, their whispers loud enough to carry. The beastfolk girl’s ears twitched—she heard them—but she didn’t turn around. A dwarf student carried a heavy crate of artifacts toward the Artifact Studies building. Students passed him without acknowledgment, as if he were furniture. An elf sat alone beneath a tree, reading. His posture was perfect, his expression serene. No one approached him. He didn’t seem to mind. Two demon-blooded students walk

The practical exercise ended with the sound of the final bell. Teams gathered in the courtyard, some celebrating, most looking frustrated. The obstacle course had been harder than anyone expected, and more than a few groups had stalled completely at the rune barrier. Aren’s team had finished first. The other students didn’t know how. Some assumed they’d found a way around the barrier. Others figured they’d simply gotten lucky. A few noticed that the rune pillars had gone dark and didn’t know what to make of it. None of them asked. Aren walked toward the dormitories with Kairos and Lyssa at his sides. The afternoon sun was warm, and the noise of the courtyard faded behind them. Kairos was still buzzing. “I can’t believe you just touched it and it fell apart,” he said, waving his hands for emphasis. “That barrier was supposed to be impossible! I hit it with everything I had, and it didn’t even blink. Then you walk up, trace some lines, and poof—gone.” Aren said nothing

The dining hall had been busy that afternoon. Students crowded the long tables, their voices a constant hum as they ate and talked and planned for the upcoming examination. Aren had taken his usual quiet corner, a cup of tea cooling beside his tray. The tea had been slightly bitter. He’d noticed the taste immediately—a faint, unfamiliar edge beneath the honey. Not enough to be unpleasant. Just… different. He’d drunk it anyway. Now, hours later, he walked alone through the darkened forest at the edge of the Academy grounds. The moon was high, casting pale light through the branches. The air was cold and still. He kept walking until he reached a clearing far enough from campus that no one would hear anything. Then he stopped. The footsteps came from behind—three sets, trying to be quiet, failing. Theo and his two friends emerged from the treeline, their faces pale in the moonlight. Aren waited. “Your mana is sealed,” Theo said, his voice carrying a confidence he clearly didn’

The door closed behind them with a sound like a tomb sealing shut. The second level of the dungeon was different from the first. The corridors were wider, the ceilings higher, the shadows deeper. The walls here were carved with battle scenes—armies clashing, monsters rampaging, heroes falling. The air was colder, heavier, pressing in from all sides. Kairos’s voice echoed too loudly in the silence. “This place is creepy.” “Stay focused,” Seraphina said. “This level has monsters.” The team moved forward, their footsteps careful. Lyssa’s eyes never stopped moving, tracking the walls, the floor, the shadows. Aren walked with them, his expression as calm as ever. They entered a large circular chamber. The room was vast—fifty meters across, with a ceiling that vanished into darkness. Stone pillars ringed the edges, their surfaces carved with the same battle scenes as the corridors. The floor was smooth, polished stone, inlaid with a pattern of runes that glowed faintly. At the cente

The third level of the dungeon was different from everything above it. The corridors were wider here, the ceilings lost in shadow. The walls were carved with symbols older than the Academy’s foundation, their edges worn smooth by centuries. The air was cold and heavy, thick with the weight of ancient magic. Every step echoed too loudly. Every shadow seemed to shift. The team moved in silence. Kairos’s earlier jokes had died somewhere on the second level. Even he could feel it—the sense that they had entered a place that didn’t welcome intruders. Seraphina led the way, her family’s map clutched in one hand. Her light magic cast a soft glow around the group, pushing back the darkness. Lyssa walked beside her, eyes scanning the runes on the walls. “The runes here are different,” Lyssa said quietly. “Older than the upper levels. I don’t recognize the script.” “The Academy didn’t build this part of the dungeon,” Seraphina said. “It was already here when the school was founded. No on