The training yard of Haven Academy was filled with the clash of practice weapons and the faint buzz of mana weaving through the air. Dust swirled under the midday sun, kicked up by students sparring across the packed earth, their movements a disciplined dance of power and precision.

Fin stood near the perimeter, his pale blue eyes fixed on Ren's staff as it spun tight, controlled arcs, each swing heavy with intent. The wooden staff shimmered faintly, not from polish but from the subtle distortion of gravity mana rippling around it, bending light in ways that sparked Fin's curiosity. Three concentric rings of faint purple energy briefly manifested where the staff cut through air, evidence of whatever Skill Ren was using.

"One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven," Ren counted under his breath, the number oddly precise for what appeared to be a simple practice routine. But Fin knew better, Ren counted not his swings but the micro-adjustments to his mana flow, calibrating his core's output with monk-like patience.

Ren pivoted, staff slamming downward, and the ground beneath cracked, faint fractures spiderwebbing from the impact. Gravity mana. Ren's Tier One core channeled the mana with a mastery that spoke of relentless practice, amplifying the staff's weight for a moment before releasing it, a skill that multiplied force without straining materials.

Fin tucked the observation away, already wondering how gravity mana might interact with his own lightning, perhaps anchoring plasma constructs or stabilizing electromagnetic fields. The equations flickered through his mind, theoretical physics intertwining with Aetherys' magical principles in ways that would have baffled his professors back on Earth.

"Keep staring, Aodh, and I'll drag you into a spar," Ren called, not breaking his form, his voice dry but tinged with a rare smirk. Sweat beaded on his bronze skin, but his breathing remained measured, controlled.

Fin snorted, leaning against a wooden fence post, his cloak catching the breeze. The garment, deep blue with silver threading, had been a practical purchase after his return from Mount Veyra, loose enough to conceal subtle mana manipulations, yet tailored to avoid hindering movements in combat. "Hard pass. I'd rather not be pancaked by your gravity skills." His tone was light, but his mind was already drifting to the journal in his pack, leather-bound and filled with his cramped handwriting. Tier Two had unlocked new possibilities, and his Theoretical Physics Application buzzed with ideas begging to be explored, concepts from Earth's science repurposed for Aetherys.

The training yard bustled around them, first years practicing basic forms while senior students executed complex skills. A water made conjured serpentine ribbons that danced around her body like living shields, while two fire mages sparred with blades wreathed in controlled flame. The diversity of skills at display always fascinated Fin, each student's style as unique as their fingerprint.

Ren's staff paused mid-spin, hovering unnaturally for a heartbeat before he caught it. He shot Fin a sidelong glance, dark eyes narrowing with the perception of someone who'd learned to read people as meticulously as he controlled his mana. "You're taller. And your mana's... quieter. What happened on Veyra?"

"Got lucky," he said, repeating the curt excuse he'd given Neela days ago when she'd cornered him, her eyes sharp with suspicion. He pushed off the fence, shouldering his pack with practiced nonchalance. "Heading in. Try not to break the yard."

Ren grunted, resuming his practice, staff humming as gravity mana pulsed again, this time forming concentric circles that expanded outward like ripples in a pond. Fin turned toward the western spire, its white stone gleaming against the azure sky. He wove through clusters of students, their mana signatures flickering like sparks in his enhanced perception, some bright and chaotic, others tightly controlled, each core a unique constellation of energy.

Haven Academy felt different now, its stone corridors and open courtyards both comforting and ominous after his transformation on Mount Veyra. Every step carried the weight of his new reality: Tier Two, Anomaly, a beacon for unseen threats. The academy's familiar rhythms, students rushing between classes, instructors drilling forms, scholars debating arcane theories, continued unchanged, yet Fin moved through them with heightened awareness, like a wolf among sheep who didn't realize a predator walked among them.

The western spire's interior was a maze of narrow hallways and sparse rooms.

In his dorm, the door creaked shut, muffling the distant clang of the training yard. The room felt smaller now. Ren's side was bare, almost ascetic, bed perfectly made, gear arranged with military precision. Fin's bed, by contrast, was a mess of books and crumpled notes, equations scrawled on parchment alongside diagrams of mana circuits and elemental interactions.

He dropped his pack, pulling out his journal. The pages were thick, quality parchment, worth every coin for its durability and how well it absorbed ink without bleeding. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he flipped to a blank page, quill scratching as Theoretical Physics Application guided his thoughts, the skill enhancing his natural intelligence with near supernatural insight.

Dimensional Pocket Realm¸ he wrote, underlining it twice, the ink a deep blue. The Legendary skill, chosen from the token earned in Shattered Echoes, had already proven useful, storing his spare tunic and emergency supplies with ease. But its potential felt untapped, like an unsolved equation waiting for the right variables. 125 cubic feet, accessible only to me. Could it hold mana constructs? He sketched a sphere representing Plasma Compression Core, its miniature sun-like structure pulsing with energy, arrows indicating the flow of mana through its theoretical channels.

Storing pre-charged cores in the subspace could let him deploy them instantly in combat, bypassing formation time. The idea sparked excitement, his quill racing across the page with renewed vigor. He added notations about spatial anchoring and quantum entanglement, concepts that bridged his knowledge from both worlds.

Electromagnetic force field, he jotted next, inspired by Ren's gravity mana. The concept had been germinating since he'd observed senior students practicing barrier techniques in the eastern courtyard. Synchronization could map ambient fields, align lightning mana to create a barrier that would respond to threats much like Earth's magnetic fields deflected solar radiation. Physics principle: Lorentz force. Probably high mana cost, but feasible with Tier Two core.

He chewed the quill's end, mind spinning through possibilities. Earth's equations were like old friends, grounding him in Aetherys' mystical framework. Maxwell's equations, reimagined for mana instead of conventional electromagnetism, offered pathways that Haven's traditional mages might never consider. A force field could deflect physical attacks or disrupt mana-based spells.

The afternoon light cast long shadows across the floor as Fin lost himself in calculations, occasionally pausing to test small mana manipulations above his palm, tiny lightning arcs forming geometric patterns, each pulse carefully controlled to avoid detection. Outside, Haven's daily routines continued: the changing of guard rotations, students transitioning between classes.

A faint prickle ran down his spine, interrupting a promising equation about plasma containment. Electromagnetic Synchronization buzzed like a warning bell, the skill detecting subtle shifts in the environment that most mages would miss. Fin froze, quill hovering above parchment, ink dripping to form an unintended period. The dorm was silent, but his skill detected a subtle shift in the ambient mana outside, a presence, cloaked but imperfectly, lingering near the window.

He set the journal down with deliberate slowness, heart steadying as Convergent Equilibrium tamped down his adrenaline, another skill that had proven invaluable since Veyra. Rising, he peered through the glass, careful to stay partially concealed by the frame. The courtyard below bustled with students heading to evening meals, their forms casting long shadows across cobblestones. None looked out of place, yet the sensation persisted, someone watching, analyzing, their mana signature muted but present like a radio signal just below the threshold of clear reception.

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"Paranoid," he muttered, but didn't believe it. Someone, or something, was watching. The question was why.

He returned to his journal, forcing focus through sheer discipline, but the prickle lingered, a splinter in his mind that couldn't be ignored. The sensation wasn't new, since returning from Veyra, he'd felt occasional moments of scrutiny, as if unseen eyes tracked his movements through Haven's halls. Until now, he'd dismissed it as heightened awareness, a side effect of his transformation. This felt different. Targeted. Intentional.

An hour later, Fin finally decided to leave his room. He decided to head to the library. His journal tucked under his arm, he crossed the main quadrangle where ancient trees cast dappled shadows across manicured grass, their leaves rustling with whispers that sometimes seemed almost sentient.

The central hall was a cavern of polished stone. Students milled about, their chatter a low hum beneath the hall's massive chandeliers.

One figure caught his eye, Rebecca, from his initiation testing months ago. Her pink hair, tied with a bow, bobbed as she approached, a bright smile on her face. They'd spoken perhaps three times since testing, brief exchanges in passing, nothing substantial.

"Fin!" she called, voice cutting through the crowd with unusual clarity. "Heard you were back. Tier Two, right? That's insane!"

Fin slowed, brow furrowing at her enthusiasm. Rebecca had been friendly during testing, respecting him based on her brother's stories, but her enthusiasm now felt... off. Too eager, too sudden, lacking the casual distance that had characterized their previous interactions. "Yeah," he said cautiously, adjusting his grip on the journal. "Thanks."

She fell into step beside him, closer than necessary, her arm brushing his with a familiarity that seemed forced. "You've got to tell me about Veyra. Everyone's talking about it. First Year, Tier Two? You're practically a legend."

"It's not a big deal," Fin said, quickening his pace toward the library's arched entrance, its massive doors carved with scenes of Aetherys' creation myths. Her proximity grated, an instinct he couldn't shake, like static electricity raising hairs on his skin. "Just trained hard."

"Oh, come on, don't be modest!" Rebecca laughed, her hand grazing his shoulder in a gesture that seemed calculated rather than casual. "Let's grab a table in the commons, catch up. I want all the details."

Fin stopped, turning to face her. Her smile was wide, eyes bright, but something in her posture, too relaxed, too deliberate, set his nerves on edge. The rhythm of her speech, the angle of her stance, even the way she blinked felt choreographed, a performance rather than natural interaction. "I've got research to do," he said, voice flat. "Maybe another time."

Her smile faltered, but she nodded, recovery too quick to be genuine. "Sure, Fin. Catch you later." She waved, retreating into the crowd, but Fin's gut twisted with unease. Electromagnetic Synchronization hadn't flagged anything specific in her mana signature, yet the encounter felt wrong, like a gear out of alignment, a frequency slightly distorted.

The library's quiet enveloped him as he passed through its threshold, the ambient noise of the hall fading as if cut by a knife.

Fin settled at a corner table, surrounded by towering shelves of tomes. He opened his journal, diving back into his theories, but focus eluded him. Rebecca's face lingered, her eagerness clashing with the reserved girl from testing. He shook it off, scribbling notes on EMP pulses, disrupting mana flows with electromagnetic bursts, but the prickle returned, stronger now.

Electromagnetic Synchronization flared, detecting a mana signature approaching from behind a shelf. Fin's hand twitched, mana pooling instinctively. He turned, expecting a librarian, but Rebecca emerged, her smile softer, almost apologetic.

"Didn't mean to spook you earlier," she said, sliding into the chair across from him. "I just… you're kind of a big deal now, Fin. Thought it'd be cool to reconnect."

Fin's eyes narrowed, suspicion crystallizing into certainty. She'd followed him, despite no indication he was heading to this section of the library. His skill scanned her mana, Tier One, as expected, but unnervingly calm, lacking the faint fluctuations of a first year's core.

Hers was too steady, too perfect, like a machine's hum rather than a living pulse. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked, voice low, tension coiling in his muscles.

Rebecca blinked, then laughed, a touch too loud for the library's hush. The sound drew annoyed glances from nearby students. "Saw you head this way. Lucky guess."

"Lucky," Fin echoed, unconvinced. Ambient Cloak tightened around his core, masking its strength, but he let a thread of lightning mana coil in his palm, hidden beneath the table. "You seem... different, Rebecca."

Her smile didn't waver, but her eyes sharpened, a flicker of something not quite human crossing her features, a predatory assessment, calculating rather than curious. "Growing up, I guess. You've changed too, Fin. Taller, stronger. That core of yours must be something else."

The air thickened, mana shifting subtly around her. Fin's skill caught it, a faint distortion, like a cloak slipping, revealing glimpses of something artificial beneath her seemingly normal appearance. He stood, chair scraping against stone, and summoned Lightning Armament, a crackling sword forming in his hand. The blade hummed with controlled power, arcs of blue-white energy dancing along its edge as he stepped forward in one fluid motion, positioning it an inch from her throat. The electric hum filled the silence, drawing gasps from nearby students.

"Who are you?" he demanded, voice cold, every sense heightened. Students nearby froze, whispers rippling through the library's quiet, but Fin's focus was absolute, peripherally aware but unmoved by the audience.

Rebecca's smile widened, unnaturally so, her eyes glinting with amusement that held no warmth. "Oh, you are good," she said, voice dropping to a low, resonant tone that wasn't hers, deeper, older, tinged with an accent Fin couldn't place. Before Fin could react, her hand darted to her chest, fingers plunging into her sternum with a sickening crunch. No blood flowed, only a faint shimmer of mana, and her body convulsed, collapsing inward like a puppet with cut strings. Her form melted, skin and hair dissolving into a viscous pile of dark mud that spread across the floor, reeking of earth and magic. The bow sat atop the sludge, untouched by the decomposition.

Fin staggered back, sword dissipating into sparks, heart pounding despite Convergent Equilibrium's efforts to regulate his shock. The library erupted in gasps and shouts, students scrambling away from the puddle as if it might reach out to claim them next. Fin's mind raced, Theoretical Physics Application analyzing the residue, mana-infused clay, animated by a complex spell, a construct, not a person. A golem, sent to test him, observe him, or worse.

"Who sent you?" he whispered to the empty air, knowing no answer would come. The mud was inert now, its mana signature fading like radio static, but the bow nagged at him, a clue, or a taunt. He knelt, using a scrap of cloth to lift it, careful not to touch the mud directly. Dimensional Pocket Realm shimmered as he invoked the skill, the bow vanishing into his subspace, evidence for later examination.

Footsteps approached, light but purposeful, cutting through the chaos of fleeing students and shocked whispers. Instructor Mara appeared. Her youthful face, belying centuries of life, remained unreadable as she surveyed the scene. "Aodh," she said, voice calm but edged with steel. "Explain."

Fin stood, meeting her gaze, his mind calculating what to reveal. Mara was Haven's combat instructor, feared and respected, but her loyalties beyond the academy remained unclear. "I thought it was Rebecca," he said, gesturing to the mud. "But it was some sort of construct. It followed me."

Mara's eyes flicked to the puddle, then back to him, sharp with assessment. Her fingers twitched, a subtle gesture that sent a pulse of mana through the mud, confirming his claim. "You're unharmed?"

"Yes." Fin hesitated, then added, "It knew about my core. Someone's targeting me."

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded, decision made. "Clean this up," she called to a librarian, who scurried to obey, summoning earth mana to gather the mud into a containment sphere. To Fin, she said, "My office, tomorrow. We'll discuss your cloaking skill... and this." Her tone left no room for argument, a command not a request.

Fin nodded, pulse still elevated despite his skill's dampening. As Mara turned away, directing students to disperse with the authority of her position, he glanced at the mud once more. Someone knew too much, his core, his growth. The thought chilled him, but he pushed it down, compartmentalizing as he'd learned to do since arriving in this world of magic and danger.

He left the library, journal clutched tight, Electromagnetic Synchronization scanning continuously for threats. The courtyard was quieter now, students whispering about the incident, their eyes following him with new wariness. Fin ignored them, heading for his dorm, the bow's weight in his subspace a constant reminder of the danger closing in.

Back in his room, Ren was absent, likely still training with the single-minded focus that defined him. Fin sat on his bed, opening his journal to a new page, handwriting more angular than usual, reflecting his tension. Mud construct, he wrote. Advanced spell, Tier Three or higher. Purpose: surveillance, intimidation, or test. Sender unknown. He paused, quill hovering, then added, Need to enhance detection. Synchronization upgrade? EMP pulse to disrupt constructs?

The prickle of being watched was gone, but Fin knew it would return. He closed the journal, storing it in Dimensional Pocket Realm alongside the bow, safer there than in physical space where prying eyes might find it. Paranoia clouded his mind as he laid down to rest. Sleep would be a struggle tonight.

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