His voice was calm and flat; it carried perfectly in the room without him needing to raise it.
A few students echoed the greeting, but most just straightened up in their chairs.
The professor clasped his hands behind his back. A dignified stature.
"My name is Professor Halden Naeric, of House Naeric. Some of you may know that, some of you may not. Regardless, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that I will be instructing this cohort in the Fundamentals of Aether module for this term, among other modules you are not yet qualified to ruin."
That one got a few restrained laughs.
Ryn leaned forward and whispered, "Ooh, I like this guy."
I kept my eyes forward. "Aren't you a bit premature to jump to that conclusion?"
"Kael. He just insulted the entire room in one sentence. That's all I needed."
"If you say so." I huffed.
Professor Naeric's eyes swept the room.
"Congratulations, you are here because you passed the intake examinations," he continued. "However, do not mistake this as proof of excellence. All it proves is that you are at least usable. Some more than others."
The back row collectively stiffened.
Except for Ryn, who let out a soft breath through his nose that was dangerously close to laughter.
Professor Naeric either ignored it or allowed it. I couldn't tell.
"Before we begin," he said, "I will provide some clarification on the ranking system. Many of you have already seen your provisional cohort rankings. More importantly, you should have all seen your Circuit placements by now."
At that, a projection made from fire magic appeared overhead, and a set of glowing letters appeared in the air, as if originating from the professor:
S
A
B
C
D
'Interesting.'
Professor Naeric gestured, and the letters spread into a descending ladder over the central floor.
"Circuits," he said, "are not for decoration. They are your current cohort standing, based on intake theory, practical performance, composure, adaptability, and, for some of you, projected academic value. They are, in simple terms, your placement in the machine that is called Aetherion Academy."
Ryn muttered under his breath, sarcastically, "That sounds like a healthy thing for the Academy to do."
I ignored him.
Professor Naeric continued.
"Circuit S contains the highest-ranked first-years. Circuit A follows. Then B. Then C. Then D. Placement determines certain training privileges, access routes within the Academy and some portions of Valoria, recommendation probabilities for certain modules, and dungeon exploration, which we'll introduce later in the year."
'Dungeon exploration—'
"Yes! This is the exciting stuff I'm talking about— what the Academy is famous for." Ryn said excitedly, cutting off my thoughts.
"Most importantly, the Circuit system presents how seriously the Academy initially values you."
A ripple of tension passed through the room.
Yes. That would do it.
"If there were one thing you could say to scare and motivate students, it would be that," I mutter.
"You can certainly say that again," Ryn replied in agreement. "But I have to admit, we're finally getting to the good stuff."
'I wonder what he meant by certain portions of Valoria being accessible.'
"You are most likely wondering, can these placements change?" Professor Naeric asked, echoing the question before anyone else could. "Well, yes. They certainly can."
The ladder of letters rotated slowly in the air.
"You can rise. You can fall. Through examinations, combat records, practical assessments, faculty recommendations, and any extraordinary demonstrations, upward movement between Circuits is possible."
Ryn leaned toward me.
"Did he just say extraordinary? What does he expect us to do? Explode something?"
I scoffed, "Maybe."
Professor Naeric's expression remained excruciatingly dry.
"However," he said.
"Great. There's a 'however'." Ryn moaned.
"Significant movement in ranking is unlikely to occur before the final examinations. The structure of the Circuits is designed to bring stability."
He let that settle, but then added–
"The last student to move more than one full circuit before the final year assessment occurred three years ago."
The room sharpened all at once.
It looked like even the heirs were mildly more attentive.
Professor Naeric turned slightly towards the crowd, noticing the students' attention.
"I can see that you are all curious as to who was the last student to achieve this. Very well. He's a son of House Blake, an Aetherion fourth-year. Cassian Blake."
Loud murmurs rippled through the lecture hall.
"Who's that?" I asked Ryn.
Ryn whispered, "I'm not too sure. I've heard of House Blake; they're a new noble House that recently broke through to elite status this past year. Rumours had it that they had a prodigy within their ranks. I'm guessing it's that guy called Cassian."
Professor Naeric didn't elaborate.
"If you do not know that name, learn it later," he stated. "Those of you who do, do not romanticise it. An outlier is still an outlier."
"I want you to remember. Your placement is not your destiny," he said. "It is a valuable metric; use it to your benefit, or ignore it at your own expense."
'Honesty. Something I can respect.'
No false comfort.
Classification.
And for me, that's useful.
Professor Naeric shifted the lattice again, and the room dimmed slightly as the central arrays activated. Lines of blue-white Aether light formed a hovering model of the human body, its veins, core channels, and nodal points all stripped to essential geometry.
"Now," he said, "Let's begin."
Ryn sighed very quietly beside me.
I almost smiled.
Professor Naeric paced once across the floor, then stopped beneath the projected core model.
"You have all, by this point, heard a variation of the same phrase. From tutors. From examiners. From families."
His gaze moved across the hall.
"You must feel Aether."
A pause.
Some students nodded instinctively.
Some straightened as if they already agreed.
Professor Naeric turned toward the central projection and lifted one hand. The glowing model pulsed.
"Aether is not merely just a force," he said. "Nor is it fuel. It is the medium by which one's will can become structure."
He looked back at us.
"But before structure, before law, before anything worth the effort— you must feel it."
Beside me, Ryn shifted slightly in his seat.
I stared at the model and thought, 'Or map it.'
Professor Naeric began with the basics. Core pressure, Aether flow through the veins, the relationship between a person's mental state and the amount of elemental pressure being inputted.
Nothing in what he said was wrong; in fact, most of it was technically sound.
But he framed it as intuition.
A sensation first, then understanding second.
It's certainly useful for beginners... but it feels incomplete.
Ryn leaned toward me and whispered, "I swear, if he says something like 'feel the universe', I'm leaving."
"Please don't."
"I'm being dead serious."
Professor Naeric's hand moved through the projection, and the human core model widened into concentric rings representing flow discipline.
"Aether, at your stage," he said, "is unstable because you are unstable. Most first-year errors are not failures of output but failures of internal alignment."
Ryn muttered, "That's harsh."
"It is," I whispered back.
"It does make sense, though."
Professor Naeric continued, moving now into the distinction between core stage and affinity. He explained it cleanly enough: that core development determined what the self could sustain, while affinity determined what the self reached for first when shaping Aether.
Some students scribbled notes furiously.
Others pretended not to.
A few, mostly heirs, looked as though this was a review.
Then Professor Naeric paused and looked toward the middle rows.
"So, a question to you students," he said. "Can a mage possess more than one affinity?"
This one question caused the entire room to rumble.
'Interesting.'
One student near the centre raised a tentative hand. "Yes, professor. Although it is rare."
"Correct, but that is an incomplete answer," Professor Naeric said. "Rarity is not an explanation. Can someone tell me why it is rare?"
Silence.
He let the silence stretch.
I begin to raise my hand as I can feel Ryn tugging at my side, his expression begging me not to say anything.
He leaned toward me and whispered, "Please. Don't."
I kept my gaze forward.
"Because most cores stabilise around one dominant expression of elemental affinity," I said.
My own voice carried more cleanly than I expected in the lecture hall.
A few heads turned.
Professor Naeric's eyes found me immediately.
"... Continue."
So I did.