[STATUS: Damien Karyon (Alias: Damian Black)]
[Cultivation Base: 2nd Order, 8th Rank (Peak). Threshold to 3rd Order: 12%]
[Physique: Glacial-Phoenix Constitution (Nascent - 5% Integration)]
[Mana Reserves: 780/850 (Regeneration: 45/Hour)
[Core Abilities: Cryo-Shaping (Master), Frost-Specter Avatar (Materialized), Glacial Devourer (Evolved), Rime-Step (Advanced), Oculus of Frozen Truth (Active)
[Secondary Traits: Soul-Sight (Basic), Fire Resistance (High), Psychic Dampening (Low)]
[Current Directives: 1. Assimilate Academy Curriculum. 2. Advance to 3rd Order. 3. Map Tower Network. 4. Assess Lyra's Utility.]
Spatial Theory was held in the Folded Hall, a classroom that existed in five slightly different locations simultaneously. Professor Halcyon, an ancient Chrono-Gnome with four independently moving eyes, taught by unfolding reality itself.
"Space is not empty!" he chirped, his voice echoing from multiple points. "It is a texture. Some textures are smooth—that is stable space. Some are wrinkled—that is where portals form. Some are torn—that is where we are!" He gestured to the shimmering rift visible through the crystal ceiling.
Kiran sat front and center, his pale grey eyes intense. Void manipulation was spatial manipulation's destructive cousin. Lyra sat to Damien's left, her amber eyes wide as she tried to follow the gnome's four-handed gestures. Around them were other notable first-years:
· Thrain Ironroot, a dwarf with a metallic beard, could "anchor" space, making areas immobile.
· Sylas Swiftwing, a hawk-like Avian-kin, had innate short-range teleportation.
· Mara of the Deep, a merfolk exchange student whose water portals defied conventional physics.
· Jax "Fingers", a human thief-turned-student who could make small objects phase through others.
Professor Halcyon demonstrated by folding a piece of parchment into a crude teleportation circle. "Homework! Each of you will create a spatial anchor—a point you can always return to. Due next week. Dismissed!"
As they filed out, Kiran blocked Damien's path. "Your frost. It's... different than last week. Tighter. Sharper." His void-sense was probing again, but more cautiously this time.
"I adapted," Damien said simply.
"You consumed something," Kiran corrected, his eyes narrowing. "I can taste the... afterburn. Like solar ash."
Lyra popped up between them, smiling brightly. "Are you two comparing flavors? My fox-sense says Damian tastes like a winter sunrise over a volcano. Kiran tastes like the silence after a star goes out. I taste like cinnamon and trouble!" She linked arms with both of them before either could react. "Now, since we're all spatial theory partners—"
"We're not partners," Kiran said coldly.
"Professor's random assignment!" Lyra produced a slip of parchment showing their three names. "We have to build an anchor together. My dormitory courtyard, one hour. Don't be late!" She skipped away, leaving the two rivals standing in uncomfortable silence.
Kiran glared at Damien. "This changes nothing."
"It changes our proximity," Damien said. "Opportunity for better assessment."
One corner of Kiran's mouth twitched—almost a smile. "You think you can assess me?"
"I already am."
---
Silas met Damien outside the Folded Hall. "Update. Kiran's made contact with the Tower liaison—a third-year named Corvus. They met in the Echoing Stacks. Corvus gave him a listening crystal. Also..." He lowered his voice. "There's rumors about the lower dorms. Students going missing during rift-surges. Not just failing—vanishing."
[New Data: Pattern suggests either spatial accidents or predation. Opportunity: Investigate during next surge (predicted in 72 hours). Potential reward: Unique spatial attunement or evidence of Academy corruption.]
"Monitor Corvus," Damien instructed. "The disappearances... we'll investigate during the surge."
---
Lyra's "courtyard" was actually a rooftop garden she'd claimed, filled with illusionary flowers that changed color based on mood. She'd already drawn a complex triple-circle diagram on the stone floor.
"Alright!" she announced as they arrived. "Spatial anchor principles: we need a unified mana signature, a geometric focus, and a permanent physical component. I'll handle the geometry—witch circles are half spatial theory anyway. Kiran, you provide the void-stability—make sure our anchor doesn't unravel. Damian, you... do whatever it is you do that makes reality sit up and pay attention."
Damien examined her diagram. It was clever—using foxfire as a persistent energy source. "My frost can crystallize the pattern. Make it permanent."
For the next two hours, an uneasy truce held. Lyra chattered constantly, explaining her work. Kiran was silent, intense, his void-energy creating a perfect negative space at the diagram's center. Damien traced the lines with finger-tips that left permanent, faintly glowing frost.
As they worked, Damien observed:
[Kiran Dracos - Focus Rating: 97%. Control Fluctuations: 0.3%. Emotional State: Frustrated/Competitive. Void Manifestation shows early signs of "Event Horizon" development—dangerous.]
[Lyra Moonshadow - Focus Rating: 84%. Control Fluctuations: 8.2% (deliberate, creative). Emotional State: Genuinely curious/Playful. Kitsune heritage manifesting as "Reality-Weaving Intuition"—high potential.]
When they finished, a perfect silver-white circle gleamed on the stone. Lyra tossed a pebble into it. The pebble vanished, then reappeared in her hand a second later.
"Success!" she cheered. Then frowned. "Though it only works within twenty feet. Homework grade: B-minus."
Kiren examined his hands. "Waste of time."
"Not entirely," Damien said. He'd used the process to analyze both their mana signatures at a microscopic level. He now had baseline readings for future comparison.
As they dispersed, Lyra caught Damien's sleeve. "You feel it too, don't you? The way he watches everyone. Not just rivals—everyone."
"You're observant."
"My mother says a fox notices what the wolf misses. Be careful, winter sunrise. Some silences are hungry." She gave him a look that was suddenly, uncharacteristically serious before her playful mask returned. "See you in Alchemy!"
---
That night, during meditation, the System alerted him:
[Alert: Foreign data-stream detected in personal quarters. Source: Academy monitoring array. Purpose: Talent assessment. Threat level: Low.
[Countermeasure Suggested: Feed false data—display controlled power growth at 12% above average, conceal Glacial-Phoenix evolution, maintain 'Frost-Specter' as primary manifestation.]
So the Academy was watching. Good. Let them see what he wanted them to see.
He opened a communication to Silas through a whispered frost-rune they'd developed. "Status on disappearances."
"Four first-years in the last month," Silas's voice came back, thin and spectral through the ice. "All during rift-surges. All had spatial-affinity talents. Common factor: they were last seen near the Foundry Pits."
The Foundry Pits—where reality was most unstable, where the Academy forged its experimental artifacts.
[Hypothesis: Something in the Pits is feeding on spatial-attuned students during surge events.
[Recommended Action: Investigate during next surge. Bring backup—recommend Kiran (void expertise) and Lyra (perception/sensing).]
Damien considered. Involving them was risky. But spatial threats required spatial specialists. And watching Kiran fight something truly dangerous would provide invaluable data.
He sent two more frost-messages, crystallizing in their rooms:
To Kiran: "Foundry Pits. Next rift-surge. Real challenge. Come if you're not afraid of something that eats void-wielders."
To Lyra: "Mystery in the Pits. People vanishing. Your illusions could save lives. Meet at surge-start."
The responses came quickly:
Kiran's was a single, sharp ice-shard that dissolved into a void-scented whisper: "Don't get eaten first."
Lyra's was a small, glowing fox that curled on his windowsill and spoke in her voice: "A real adventure! I'll bring cookies!"
Damien looked at his status display, the numbers glowing in his mind's eye. He was approaching the 3rd Order threshold. A battle against a spatial predator, with two powerful but unpredictable allies, might just provide the catalyst he needed.
And if something in the dark was eating students, he had a new question to answer: could his Glacial Devourer consume a creature that fed on space itself?
[New Directive Added: 'Investigate Foundry Pits Disappearances'.
**Success Conditions: 1. Identify threat. 2. Acquire spatial-attuned resource. 3. Advance to 3rd Order. 4. Assess team dynamics.]
The Academy was full of lessons. Some were in classrooms. Others waited in the dark, hungry and patient.