Darkness had fallen long ago over Valkarion Academy, casting marble spires and drill grounds in silver light. The wind that blew through the courtyards was scented with chill steel and distant pine. Down below somewhere, the battered prince of Eryndor lay in the infirmary, nursing bruised pride instead of body.
In contrast, the top floor of the Headmaster's residence remained quiet except for the flickering of a single crystal lamp and the faint rustle of parchment.
Lucifer sat at his desk, sketching rune matrices over worn scrolls. He didn't look up when the knock came.
"You're late," he said evenly.
Seris stepped in, cloak wrapped close about her. Her expression was unreadable, though there was a hint of unspark to her usual radiance. The duel had stirred something in her; a sense that the world wasn't quite so narrow as she'd thought.
"I had to make sure Rayne wouldn't try to slither back up and demand a rematch," she said dryly. "He's still cursing you as a witch."
"I've been cursed worse.".
She went up to and leaned against the window, staring at the stars. Neither of them spoke for a while.
Then Lucifer said, "Imagine if I told you… you've only caught a shadow of all the world has to offer?"
Seris turned slowly. "You mean… What was it that you used in the duel?"
He nodded. "It wasn't sword magic. It wasn't knight's aura or god's blessing. It was something older perhaps but sharper."
He unrolled a scroll; one she had not viewed. Odd diagrams unrolled on its surface, glowing with mysterious symbols.
"I want to show you another, Seris," Lucifer said. "One that is different from knighthood and mage. One of knowledge that does not involve prayers or birth."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "You mean… to be like you?"
"Of a Magus," he said to her, the word ringing with power. "A one who generates magical power not by gods' delight nor kingdoms' vows… but through will and labor of themselves."
Seris seethed at him. The silence did fill. Her mind raged.
She had always excelled. A high-level student. Beast connection. But always. there had been. a limitation. A boundary. Some genius in her genes that wouldn't go further. As if the world had already decided what she was capable of and what she wasn't.
And then Lucifer arrived with magic that no one could explain.
Finally she demanded, "If I do this. what am I going to get?"
Lucifer stood up and walked toward her, holding out his hand.
You form a core. Not a mana core. Not an aura knight's. A Magical Core; a seed of will and mind. Once you possess that, we find your talent."
She looked at his hand.
Then she placed hers inside of it.
---
It was gentle, surprisingly so. As she sat in the center of the spell circle Lucifer had drawn, her body trembled then stopped.
Lucifer's hand lay over her back. Blue-white tendrils of magical energy curled out of his fingertips into the curve of her spine. Her breathing slowed.
Focus. Breathe. Let the noise fall away.
As soon as her soul quieted, the world inside her changed.
She saw something; something coiling in an empty cavity in her chest.
This is the beginning.
Lucifer slowly let her go and handed her a second parchment older than the first, its surface etched with runes that glowed weakly.
"This is a Talent Revelation Parchment," he explained. "It won't give you power. It will tell you where your power is hungry to grow."
Seris took it respectfully and unrolled the scroll.
Her body radiated a weak green.
Then the runes floated away into the air to recombine into a single word before vanishing.
[TALENT AWAKENED: BEAST TAMER ]
There was a golden glow pulsating in the background of her eyes.
At the same time, something else was formed into reality—
[Soul Page Unlocked]
Name: Seris Ashenford
Race: Human
Path: Magus
Rank: Initiate
Combat Affinity: Beast Taming
Combat Class Skills:
[Bond] lv.1—Creates a temporary spiritual bond between Seris and a target beast.
[Resonance]lv.1—When fully bonded with a beast, Seris can temporarily borrow one ability or trait of the beast.
[Whisper]lv.1—Provides one-way telepathic communication with nearby beasts or familiars.
Magical Core: Stable — Initiate
Energy Mastery: Initiate
Scan: Access available with Condition
[Soul Link]: Single usage given to Lucifer Ashenford
She breathed quietly. "This…?"
Lucifer smiled faintly. "Soul Page. Every awakened being of Aetherra and the Elysium Cluster has one. But a Magi can read one's own like a book. The others… never even notice."
"Can you… read mine?"
She paused, then placed her hand on her chest.
Lucifer's pupils shimmered faintly as the information flowed into his mind.
Seris blinked. "Is that… good?"
He nodded. "Beast Tamers are versatile. Your bond won't be just spiritual; it will be magical. You'll control and empower creatures like extensions of your own soul."
He moved to a drawer and pulled out three thin books, bound in black thread.
"Read those. Spells casting fundamentals, magical energy theory, and beast-tied magic within the Magus system."
She touched them carefully. "You planned all this?"
"No," he said. "But I wanted to."
She looked at him harder this time.
Lucifer went back to his scrolls.
"Here we are in the unknown, Seris," he whispered. "Let's see how far you can walk with me."