Changes

Wade first noticed it in the silence.

Not the kind that followed a spell's end or the respectful hush during a professor's lecture but the kind that spread when he walked into a room.

People didn't just pause anymore.

They adjusted.

The moment he stepped into the spellcraft hall that morning, several heads turned. Two noble born boys straightened their posture. A third nudged his partner, whispering something under breath. One younger student—wide eyed, barely thirteen, actually dropped his quill as Wade passed by.

"New crowd," Juno muttered beside him. "Careful, they're either going to ask for your autograph or try to marry you."

Wade grunted. "Or stab me."

"Or all three," Juno added cheerfully.

In the days since the Council duel, the atmosphere around him had grown dense with expectation. The duel had been meant to humble him—bring him to heel. Instead, it had branded him a threat. Or worse, a rising star they couldn't predict.

He wasn't invisible anymore.

Now he was unignorable.

Professors adjusted too. In Elemental Synthesis Theory, he was called on constantly. Given advanced texts. Asked to remain after class for "theoretical exploration." Even the quietest instructors spoke to him differently now, like he wasn't just a student but something more.

He felt something watching.

He tried to ignore it, focus on his training. Rae helped with that. She pushed him harder in physical drills, tried to keep things normal with sarcasm and jabs but even she started glancing toward the towers when they trained, like expecting an audience.

The pressure came to a head three days later in team combat drills.

The format was familiar, pairs formed by affinity. Sparring exercises. Simulated scenarios. But today, Wade was assigned to a team without Rae or Juno.

Instead, they placed him with a sharp jawed noble named Arden Vael—lightning affinity, known for his dueling finesse and being a devoted lackey of Lucien.

It wasn't subtle.

During the drill, Arden deliberately rerouted their formation to leave Wade exposed.

Twice.

The third time, Wade caught the pattern.

The fourth time, he didn't dodge.

Instead, he grabbed Arden by the collar mid charge, spun behind him, and whispered calmly, "Stop playing with me."

Then he redirected the entire defense line solo, using controlled wind gusts to stagger their attackers, fire to corral their movement, and a sudden burst of earth from beneath to send the last two opponents tumbling into containment glyphs.

Clean.

Precise.

Over.

Arden landed face first in the dirt.

Wade didn't gloat.

He didn't need to.

Later that afternoon, a scroll appeared on his desk.

Not royal. Not from the Council. No crest.

It bore only one sentence, handwritten in ink that shimmered faintly with residual magic,

"They want you to rise fast. Then fall faster. Be careful."

He burned it before Juno could ask.

It got worse by evening.

Someone had carved a glyph into the side of his dormitory door. Ancient. Inverted.

A binding sigil—half used. Half forgotten.

Wade stared at it for a long moment, then traced it with his palm. The system flared in his mind.

[Unidentified Mark Detected – Curse Origin: Unknown]

[Dissolving… Complete. Threat Level: Passive.]

He didn't speak of it to Juno. Not to Rae.

He just stood at his window later that night, watching clouds spiral over the eastern hills, and wondered how many of his classmates were really just classmates anymore.

[System Notice: You are now listed under Tier 2 Magical Surveillance.]

He whispered to the dark, "I didn't come here to play their game."

[Then change the rules.]

"What's a way to make all this stop? The survellance and the stares."

[Those with overwhelming strength are not watched and Heros are admired.]

"So i become one of the above then."

[Or both.]

He smiled faintly.

For once, the system said something that felt like it came from him.

That night, Wade didn't sleep.

Not for lack of trying.

His eyes closed, but his mind refused to follow. Every time the world faded into darkness, he felt the cold touch of something pressing against his senses, like a whisper waiting just outside the door of sleep.

By the third hour of tossing and turning, he sat up and lit a small rune candle by the window.

The city below shimmered in gold and blue light, spires glowing faintly through the mist. Even this late, floating glyph carriages moved across the academy's airways, silent as stars drifting along enchanted rails.

He ran his fingers over the mark on his forearm.

The brand still pulsed—faintly, but in rhythm. Not just with his heartbeat, but… something else.

Then he noticed it.

A flicker in the courtyard.

Not torchlight.

Not a passing student.

A silhouette.

It stood beneath the old willow, unmoving. Not hiding but not approaching, either.

Wade narrowed his eyes. He could barely make out details—cloak, tall, broad shouldered, but hunched.

Watching him.

He turned toward the door—ready to go outside, and confront it—

Then blinked.

The figure was gone.

Gone without movement. Without sound. As if it had never been there at all.

A soft breeze stirred the candle's flame.

[System Alert: Null Signature Detected – Shadow Presence Detected: Unknown Entity]

[Note: This entity bypassed detection wards.]

Wade's breath caught.

"Someone got through the wards?"

[Correct. Entry Method: Non magical. Unknown Entity.]

He stood slowly, walked to his door, and opened it.

No new glyphs.

No messages.

But something new had been left in his shoe.

A pebble.

Smooth.

Black.

Marked with a spiral pattern almost identical to his brand—but inverted.

He held it in his palm for a long time.

Then crushed it into dust.

The threat wasn't just from politics or the academy anymore.

Something older had begun to notice him.

And it had wanted him to know.

Wade opened his palm. The dust from the crushed pebble shimmered faintly before vanishing into the air, as if swallowed by the night.

No residue. No trace. No magic flare.

Just gone.

He turned back toward the window, eyes scanning the courtyard once more—but it was empty. Quiet. Still.

Too still.

The system said nothing.

But the wind outside stirred again.