Chapter 33 – The Watcher’s Eye
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The sky above the Academy turned gray.
Not from weather, but from an unnatural pressure—a silent heaviness that crept across the campus. Most students didn't notice it consciously, but their instincts did. Conversations grew quieter. People glanced over their shoulders more often. Even magic circles carved into the marble halls flickered now and then, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.
Something had changed since Harvey's last duel.
And someone new had arrived.
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Arrival of the Guest
The central spire of the Academy was reserved for high-ranking guests—imperial dignitaries, world-class magicians, and ancient lineage representatives. Very few were allowed past its enchanted barriers.
That morning, it opened.
A black carriage drawn by six steel-feathered beasts descended from a dimensional gate. It made no sound as it landed. The door opened not with a creak, but with the quiet ripple of dimensional displacement.
Out stepped a man.
Mid-thirties in appearance. Pale silver eyes. Short black hair. Dressed not in robes, but a sleek black suit lined with runes that shimmered like obsidian. His aura was so faint it was almost imperceptible—yet any experienced mage felt it:
> He was dangerous.
Like a blade sheathed in starlight.
He was introduced as Professor Arlen Vael—a "wandering scholar of ancient spell theory," here to provide "special lectures" for upperclassmen.
A lie.
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Meanwhile – Harvey Notices
Harvey stood at the edge of the mana lake, where he often went to think. The wind was cold. The water shimmered faintly under the magical dome that covered the Academy grounds.
He didn't need to be told.
He felt it the moment the dimensional gate opened.
A presence—not like the students, not like the professors. A stillness that echoed too closely to the past.
He closed his eyes, letting the system interface hum in the back of his mind.
> [WARNING: A Tier 9 entity has entered your proximity.]
[Caution: Soul-layer memory flux is advised.]
He didn't flinch. Instead, he smiled faintly.
"They really sent him," Harvey murmured. "So the Empire still remembers me."
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The Guest Lecture
Two days later, Arlen Vael's "guest lecture" began.
Only the top ten students from each class were invited. Liora sat near the front, wary eyes watching every move. Harvey sat near the back, gaze relaxed but razor-focused.
Arlen didn't introduce himself with titles.
He stepped to the center and wrote a symbol in the air—a perfect, floating rune that none of the students recognized. Not even the professors watching from the shadows could identify it.
"This," Arlen said, "is not part of your curriculum."
"It is from a spellbook burned in the Last Erasure."
Silence.
He began to speak not about casting, but about breaking.
> "Spellbreaking is the art of understanding a spell at the moment of its invocation—and rewriting the outcome. Not deflecting. Not resisting. Rewriting."
Liora glanced at Harvey.
His expression was still. But she could see it in his eyes.
Recognition.
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A Test Unfolds
Arlen waved a hand.
Twelve magical circles formed midair, each one representing a spell commonly used in combat. Flame javelins. Shadow binding. Illusions. Ice walls. The spells rotated slowly like a constellation.
"Disrupt any of these," he said to the students, "without using brute force."
One by one, the elites tried.
All failed.
They threw mana bolts, disrupted runes, or overcharged fields. None could change the spell's structure.
Then Arlen turned to the back.
"Harvey Alzahar."
The name dropped like ice into a bowl of boiling water.
"Would you try?"
Liora tensed.
But Harvey stood up calmly, walked forward, and raised his hand.
He didn't even chant.
His fingertips glowed with a faint line of red light, pulsing like a heartbeat.
And then—each of the twelve spells twisted. Not exploded. Not broken. Rewritten.
Flames turned into petals. Shadows turned into light. Illusions became truth, then faded.
A perfect spellbreaker's demonstration.
The room was silent.
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Aftermath – The Unspoken Duel
As students left, Arlen spoke just loud enough for Harvey to hear.
> "I've been looking for someone who remembered that spell. You've grown."
Harvey paused by the door.
> "You never forget how you died."
Arlen's silver eyes narrowed.
> "Then perhaps it's time we rewrite your ending."
Harvey turned without another word and walked away.
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Elsewhere – The Empire Reacts
In the capital, deep beneath the Imperial Spire, alarms whispered through the obsidian archives.
> "Code 713B: Spellbreaker confirmed."
The council moved.
Because if Harvey truly was who they thought he was…
Then the game had changed.
Forever.
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