7 The Weight of Tomorrow
The incident in the training yard cast a long shadow. For days, a careful distance existed between Rimo and the others. Kai's jokes were a little forced, and Athena's observations were more hesitant. They weren't afraid of him, he realized, but of the thing that lived inside him—the thing that had looked out through his eyes with murderous intent.
He kept to himself, throwing himself into Elara's lessons with a frantic energy. He learned about the Magic Aptitude Test, the pivotal event every child underwent at age fifteen. It measured two things: elemental affinity—Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and the rarer Light and Shadow—and raw mana capacity, ranked from E (negligible) to S (prodigious). The results would dictate their futures: recruitment into the Mage's Guild, apprenticeship to a knightly order, or a life of common labor.
The test was a week away, and the orphanage was abuzz with nervous energy. Everyone had a theory, a hope, a fear.
"I'm definitely going to be Fire Affinity, high B-rank at least," Kai declared, puffing out his chest as they sat on the orphanage roof, watching the sunset. "They'll probably drag me off to the capital for special training the very next day."
"Your control is still erratic," Athena noted, not looking up from a book on magical theory. "A C-rank is more likely. And they don't 'drag' you. It's an offer."
"Whatever," Kai said, waving a hand. "What about you, Athena? I bet you're some boring Water or Earth type. Perfect for growing library shelves."
Athena closed her book. "I've been cross-referencing symptoms. My hypothesis is a Light Affinity, linked to knowledge and clarity. It would explain my memory and comprehension." She then turned her gaze to Rimo, who had been unusually quiet. "And you?"
Rimo stared at his hands, clenched in his lap. The question was a lead weight. "You know what I am. Zero. They'll test me and it will read zero, and then... what? They'll send me to a farm? Throw me out?" The thought of being separated from Kai and Athena, from Elara, from the only home he knew, was a cold knot in his stomach.
"Hey," Kai said, his bravado softening. He nudged Rimo with his shoulder. "Wherever they send me, I'll find you both again. I promise."
"Promises are not strategic," Athena said, but her voice was gentle. "However, the three of us possess a unique synergy. Our skill sets are complementary. It would be illogical to separate us."
"See?" Kai grinned. "She means we're a team."
Rimo managed a weak smile. Their loyalty was a warmth against the chill of his anxiety, but it couldn't completely dispel it. The test was an inescapable wall, and he was running straight for it.
The night before the test, sleep was impossible. The dormitory was filled with the sounds of other children tossing and turning. Rimo slipped out of bed and into the cool night air. He found Kai and Athena already in the yard, having had the same idea.
"I can't stop thinking about it," Rimo admitted, his voice barely a whisper. "What if they don't just send me away? What if they... study me? Because of the zero mana? Because of... the other thing?"
Athena nodded grimly. "It's a valid concern. Anomalies are either destroyed or examined."
"Cheery," Kai muttered. He kicked a pebble. "Let's not just sit here and worry. Let's do something. One last adventure before our futures get decided for us."
"The forest is off-limits at night," Athena stated.
"Exactly," Kai said, a familiar glint in his eye. "One last walk. For old time's sake."
Driven by a shared, unspoken fear of the coming dawn, they agreed. They slipped past the sleeping orphanage and into the embrace of the dark woods. It was different at night—alive with chirping crickets and the hooting of owls, the path illuminated only by slivers of moonlight.
They walked in silence for a while, the familiar routine calming their nerves. But then, Rimo stopped. A shiver, cold and unwelcome, traced its way down his spine.
"Do you feel that?" he whispered.
Kai frowned, concentrating. "The mana... it's weird here. Thicker. Sour."
"Like spoiled milk," Athena added, her analytical mind kicking in. "This isn't natural. The flow is disrupted."
Rimo was the first to see it. A part of the forest ahead was... wrong. The trees were twisted and leafless, even in the height of spring. The air hummed with a low, sub-audible frequency that set his teeth on edge. In the center of the blighted clearing stood a monolithic stone archway, covered in runes that seemed to writhe in the moonlight. It pulsed with a faint, purple light.
"What is that?" Kai breathed, his confidence replaced by awe.
"I've never seen these runes before," Athena said, stepping closer, her scholar's curiosity overpowering her caution. "This architecture isn't from any known kingdom or race. It's... ancient."
Rimo couldn't speak. The energy radiating from the archway was sickeningly familiar. It felt like the white rooms and cold metal from his flickering memories. It felt like home.
A deep, primal terror seized him. "We should go," he said, his voice tight. "Now."
But it was too late. As Athena reached out a hand to trace one of the glowing runes, the purple light flared violently, blinding them. The hum became a deafening roar. The world twisted, stretched, and dissolved into a vortex of searing energy and agonizing pressure.
Rimo's last conscious thought was not his own, but a single, panicked word that echoed from the depths of his shared soul:
Trap.