At the same time, somewhere else within Velcrest Academy, deep beneath the east wing in a dimly lit chamber lined with enchanted stone, a very important meeting was taking place—one that would unknowingly alter Rin's fate forever.
The room was circular, domed like an ancient war chamber, with a glowing crest of Velcrest carved into the center of the floor.
In that very big room, only Two figures sat in a ring.
One of them was chairman of the academy..
"We got attacked," she said, her voice calm, but laden with gravity. "For the first time in over a hundred years, A villain bypass the academy security, took our cadets to dream space from the auditorium when I was about to give speech and I couldn't do anything."
The other figure, Lena, Lena leaned back in her seat, her gloved fingers tapping lightly against the armrest. The faint flicker of the chamber's blue runes reflected in her eyes as she spoke, her tone calm but edged with unease.
"…And you're certain it was him?" she asked. "Kai Foster."
The chairman nodded slowly. "There's no doubt. The mana signature from the collapsed dream space matched his precisely. His domain lingered longer than it should have. It took the combined efforts of five division heads just to stabilize the residual space."
Lena exhaled through her nose, her brows furrowing slightly. "That's… insane. I thought we erased every trace of his consciousness years ago."
"So did I," the chairman said quietly, her gaze dropping to the glowing crest beneath them. "But someone reactivated his core fragment."
That made Lena's eyes narrow. "Reactivated? That's not possible. Those fragments were sealed in the Directorate's vault. No one outside the Council even knows where—"
"Unless," the chairman interrupted, "someone inside the academy helped."
The silence that followed was thick and cold. Even the enchanted flames along the walls seemed to dim in response.
Lena's fingers stilled. "…You're suggesting internal involvement?"
The chairman looked up, eyes sharp as tempered steel. "I'm not suggesting it. I'm certain."
Lena's throat bobbed slightly, but she didn't argue. "Then we'll need to run an internal audit. Every head of department, every researcher, every mage involved with dream-related studies…"
"Yes," the chairman said. "And quietly. I don't want this leaking to the students—or to the Council. Not yet."
"Understood."
The chairman turned her gaze toward the crystal sphere floating above the center of the chamber. It shimmered faintly, showing flickering fragments of the auditorium—the aftermath, the scattered cadets, the unconscious boy lying among them.
Her eyes lingered on one face in particular.
Rin Evans.
The boy who have said that Academy was going to be attacked by villain.
She heard this report from the guard that Rin said this information.
"The records indicate that cadet used a restricted ability," Lena said softly, following her gaze. "Enhancement. A-rank classification."
"Lena," she said, her voice carrying a sharp edge. "Isn't this the cadet who claimed a villain attack was going to happen at the Velcrest Academy?"
Lena hesitated for a brief moment, as if processing the Chairman's words. Then, she nodded.
"Yes, Chairman. According to report from the gaurd that was …there when the cadet arrived—he did warn about an incoming attack. He claimed it would take place during the entrance examination but for some reason attacked got delayed and happend in the entrance ceremony where cadets were taken into dream space."
The Chairman's eyes gleamed with intensity, her posture rigid.
Lena tapped a few keys on her console. The footage minimized, replaced by a report. She scrolled swiftly through lines of text before stopping, her eyes narrowing as she read aloud.
Lena cleared her throat. "He's a first-year cadet. No recorded achievements before enrolling in Velcrest."
The Chairman hummed, still watching the paused image of the boy on the screen. "No achievements… yet he predicted a terrorist attack and remained unfazed during it?"
Lena nodded. "That's correct."
The Chairman leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers. "Interesting."
Her gaze lingered on the cadet's face. A nobody, according to the records. But instinct told her otherwise. There was always a pattern, always a thread connecting the seemingly ordinary to something far greater.
She had seen it before—geniuses hiding in plain sight, only to shake the world when the time was right.
Was he one of them?
Or was he something else entirely?
Lena shifted uncomfortably. "…Should I request an interview?"
The Chairman didn't respond immediately. She simply stared at the screen, as if trying to see past the pixels, past the layers of uncertainty surrounding this cadet.
Then, she smiled.
"Not yet."
Lena blinked. "Not yet?"
"No." The Chairman's voice was smooth, confident. "If we bring him in now, he'll know we're watching." She turned her gaze to Lena. "And I don't want him to know that. Not until I understand what he is."
Lena hesitated before nodding. "Then… what should we do?"
The Chairman's eyes gleamed with quiet amusement.
"We wait."
It wasn't hesitation—it was patience. The kind of patience that came from knowing something valuable was just within reach, not yet ripe enough to pluck.
"But in the meantime," she added, tapping a finger against her desk, "keep an eye on him. Discreetly. I want everything—his behavior, his interactions, his habits. No matter how small."
Lena exhaled softly, already dreading the task ahead. "Understood."
The Chairman's smile widened.
This academy year had just become far more interesting.
---
Few hours later...
Elsewhere, in a surveillance room not far from the Chairman's chamber…
A young woman in uniform sat before a row of flickering screens, each one tuned into different corners of the academy. Her eyes were sharp, but there was a weariness in her expression that suggested she'd been watching for hours.
One screen was tagged with a glowing red marker: Subject #017 - Rin Evans.
She leaned forward, adjusting the view.
"Still in his room," she muttered, logging his position into the daily report. "Hasn't left since sunrise. No communication. No suspicious behavior… yet."
But even she could feel it.
This wasn't just any student.
"Who are you really?" she asked the screen quietly, as if expecting an answer.
Behind her, a figure stepped into the room silently.
It was Lena.
"You've been watching him?"
The young woman stood instantly. "Yes, ma'am. As instructed. He hasn't done anything out of the ordinary."
Lena stepped closer, arms folded, eyes scanning the monitor. She watched as Rin leaned against his desk, silent, brooding.
"…He will," she said simply.
Then she turned and left without another word.