Lord Moldywart, Meet Your Match

Eldrin's brows furrowed as he studied the sigil glowing beneath the boy's feet. "Mirror Flesh and Chrono-Rebirth," he murmured, tapping his chin. "An unusual pairing."

A ripple of murmurs spread through the hall. Mirror Flesh was an exceptionally rare armament, allowing its wielder to replicate another's armament. Chrono-Rebirth, on the other hand, granted temporary regeneration—undoing wounds as if they had never happened. Alone, they were formidable. Together, they created something unnatural.

A fighter who could mimic any opponent and recover from any injury… A power dangerously close to immortality.

Arctha shivered. It wasn't just unusual—it was wrong. Not in the way nobles sneered at outcasts, but in the way something twisted your gut, like a puzzle piece forced into a place it didn't belong.

Grunt—because of course his name was Grunt—showed no reaction to the whispers around him. He simply nodded at his results, as if they were expected, then slunk to the back of the crowd.

Eldrin exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Next."

The evaluations continued. Some students cheered as their affinities were revealed; others paled when their results fell short of expectations. Power and lineage were laid bare for judgment.

Arctha barely noticed. The purple glow of the crystal still lingered in her thoughts. Her emergency protocol had worked—her magic remained a secret.

But at what cost?

From the sidelines, Seraphina Voss watched her with an unreadable expression. As a second-year student, Seraphina had no reason to be here beyond guiding Arctha to the hall for inau—but she already knew her affinity. Yet, as their eyes met, she leaned in slightly and murmured,

"Wow, your magic is so… different. I love how you just own being an Ise."

Arctha blinked. That was… oddly worded. "Ohhh, thank you! That's, like, the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Seraphina smirked, turning back to her group. A few girls snickered.

Arctha shook off the interaction and sat down. Beside her, Cassian Veyne sat quietly, his confidence dulled by some unspoken thought—probably the fact that he had no armament.

When their eyes met, he straightened slightly and forced a small smile.

Arctha's heart skipped a beat. Oh my god. That is the most perfect human being I have ever seen.

She grinned and waved back. Cassian's shoulders eased, as if the small exchange had lifted his spirits.

A girl sitting nearby, having noticed, leaned in with a smirk. "Eidolon Forge? Never heard of it. Sounds like a magic knockoff brand."

Arctha didn't even glance at her. She just smiled. "Oh, you'd know all about knockoffs, wouldn't you?" Then she turned back to the ceremony.

The event dragged on, but the unease in her stomach didn't fade. Had she already been noticed?

Then Eldrin cleared his throat. "Now, as for your houses…"

Arctha sighed. This isn't Toadwarts School of Sorcery, is it?

Eldrin hesitated—as if he, too, questioned the legitimacy of this process. "Uh, well, as we evaluated your magic affinity, you were also assessed and sorted into one of the six Great Houses: Valorcrest, Obscurvine, Lunaris, Duskridge, Viperthorn, and Drakoria."

His tone was dry. A few students chuckled.

He stepped aside, nodding toward the attendants. "Good luck."

Excitement buzzed through the hall as students stepped forward to learn where they belonged. Arctha hesitated, eyeing the banners overhead—their emblems looming over the ceremony.

Something told her this was only the beginning.

After the crowd thinned, she finally focused on the magical projection displaying each house's roster. She scanned for her name.

Then—there it was.

Arctha Vana Quindiesel.

She exhaled. "Oh, really? Wow. Oh… and you follow that up with… mmmm… Viperthorn? Uhhh."

A chuckle bubbled up in her throat. So this really is Toadwarts School of Sorcery, huh? And I'm the evil lord now?

She took a slow breath, then smirked. "I spent years hating snakes… and now I get the Dark Mark as my house? I get to be just like him. Well, hopefully, I get to keep the hair."

She straightened, took a deep breath, and declared, "Guess it's time to embrace the dark side… I mean, the 'resourceful' side."

And then, because she absolutely had to—

"Mwahahaha! Mwahahaha! Mwahahahaha!"

The hall fell silent.

Dozens of eyes turned toward her.

Somewhere in the crowd, someone muttered, "Yeah, she's an Ise. That explains it."

Arctha grinned, basking in the unexpected attention. Her confidence swelled as she stepped forward—though, deep in her chest, something twisted with unease.

Then, a shimmer.

Her gauntlet gleamed under the dim light. A warning.

Social missteps could lead to detection. And being detected… meant danger.

She ignored it.

The gauntlet pinged in her mind anyway, the Witch System shifting into code-switch mode.

"Hey, maybe tone down the weirdness a bit? You're not exactly vibing with normal social cues here."

Great. Just what she needed—a fancy accessory that basically screamed, Hey, I'm a witch, come and get me!