"How are you feeling, student Damon?"
The voice was calm, steady, carrying the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
Damon sat across the large desk inside the dean's office, his posture relaxed but his eyes attentive as they rested on the woman seated before him.
The office itself reflected the same refined elegance that defined the rest of Crownspire Academy. Tall glass walls curved around the room, allowing the distant skyline of the floating city to shimmer faintly beyond them, while thin veins of gold ran through the white marble floor and along the edges of the furniture like delicate streams of light. Shelves of ancient tomes and crystalline archives lined the walls behind the desk, their surfaces glowing faintly with restrained mana.
Behind that desk sat the dean of the academy.
Her long black hair had been streaked with gray and white by the passing of time, though the sharpness in her eyes had not dulled in the slightest. Thin gold-framed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose as she studied the young man seated before her.
Damon met her gaze without hesitation.
"I… don't feel anything," he replied calmly. "Wasn't it just a class placement exam? What exactly is there to feel about it?"
The dean watched him quietly for a moment before giving a small nod.
"I see."
Silence briefly filled the office.
But Damon's mind had already begun racing.
She surely didn't call me here just to ask that… did she?
His eyes remained steady even as his thoughts churned beneath the surface.
No. There's no way that's all this is about.
The memory of the battlefield flashed faintly in his mind.
The fractured mana, the black smoke.
The words that had echoed endlessly through his own voice.
Fractured Ruin.
I don't even know how I activated it…
His fingers tightened slightly against the armrest of the chair.
Hell… I don't even know why I did what I did after activating it.
For a moment, his gaze lowered slightly.
I just know one thing…
Some part of it…I can activate again.
Across the desk, the dean slowly removed her glasses, folding them neatly before placing them on the surface of the table.
"What happened during the exam yesterday—"
"I don't think I broke any rules," Damon interrupted calmly.
The dean paused.
Damon continued without hesitation.
"Have I?"
You want to expel or suspend me thinking something like, I am harmful to your pretty students, do you?
For the first time, the dean's eyes sharpened slightly.
"You are saying," she replied slowly, "that you were in perfect control of what happened, student Damon?"
Damon leaned back slightly in his chair.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about."
Inside his mind, his thoughts remained cold and deliberate.
Even if you know I wasn't…
I'm not obligated to admit it.
The dean studied him silently for a moment before speaking again.
"Hmm."
Her fingers rested lightly against the desk.
"But after what you did yesterday, we have reached a conclusion—"
"According to our deal," Damon cut in again, his tone still calm but firm, "as long as I don't break any rules, you cannot suspend or expel me from the academy."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"And eliminating competitors during the exam…"
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I don't believe I broke any rules there, did I… Dean?"
Inside his head, the memory surfaced again.
The deal was that I wouldn't apologize to that smiley-faced fallen-heir…
The condition stated that I would be expelled if I broke any rules.
Which can also be framed as…
As long as I don't break one… I'm safe. A Sterling never makes a deal that's harmful to him..
The dean sighed quietly.
Then she said something unexpected.
"Did you hear it?"
Damon frowned slightly.
"Hear what?"
For a moment nothing happened.
Then—
The glass of water sitting on the desk before the dean trembled.
The liquid inside it slowly lifted into the air, rising from the cup in thin streams that twisted and gathered together like living silver threads.
Damon's eyes narrowed slightly.
The floating water began shaping itself.
Limbs formed.
Hair.
A figure.
Within seconds, the water condensed into the familiar shape of a woman standing calmly beside the dean's desk.
Miss Elowen.
Her watery form settled completely beside the dean's desk, her gentle smile unchanged as the last ripples of mana faded from the glass of water.
"Good morning, Damon,....I am sorry to inform you…" she began softly.
Damon straightened slightly in his chair.
"If this is about—"
"I am not as indifferent as the dean when it comes to being interrupted, student Damon," Elowen said pleasantly, her smile never faltering though the quiet authority behind her words made the air in the room feel noticeably heavier.
Damon fell silent , as Elowen nodded faintly before continuing.
"We had a long discussion about you yesterday evening," she said, folding her hands calmly before her. "After reviewing the events of the examination, it was determined that your resonance is… dangerous."
Her eyes studied him carefully.
"Dangerous to the other students… and perhaps even more so to yourself."
The chair scraped sharply against the marble floor.
Damon rose abruptly to his feet.
"You cannot expel me for that," he said firmly.
Before another word could leave his mouth, the air around him suddenly thickened.
A formless pressure descended upon his shoulders like invisible weight, not enough to harm him, but more than enough to remind him exactly where he stood.
Elowen's smile remained perfectly gentle.
"Student Damon…"
***
[Yesterday, Instructor's conference, Conference room]
"I agree."
Back in the academy's conference chamber, the quiet declaration immediately drew every pair of eyes toward Miss Elowen.
Elowen continued before anyone could speak.
"I agree that he is dangerous to others… and perhaps even more so to himself," she said calmly.
Her voice remained gentle, yet every word carried clearly across the room.
"But…"
She looked around the table at her fellow instructors.
"Isn't it the responsibility of this academy to teach him how to control his ability? To guide it toward the right path?"
The room remained silent.
"This academy was established so that students may learn how to control their resonance," she continued, her expression serene. "So that they may grow strong enough to fight for this world… to stand against the breaches that carry the power to destroy it."
Her hands folded neatly atop the table.
"But more importantly…"
Her eyes softened slightly.
"It exists to nurture and teach values, discipline, and control to the students who will one day face those dangers alongside us."
She glanced at each instructor seated around the table before finishing.
"So it becomes even more our responsibility to guide student Damon Valecrest."
Her voice remained calm.
"He is not a student that the academy needs."
She paused.
"He is a student who needs this academy the most."
Then she looked back at them.
"So I ….disagree."
Her smile returned gently.
"Student Damon…."
***
"...You won't be expelled."
The words settled into the quiet room like a stone dropped into still water.
Damon slowly lifted his eyes toward Miss Elowen.
She continued to smile at him, her expression warm and composed as though the tension that had filled the office moments ago had never existed at all.
"But," she added gently, "you will have to learn how to control your power… or rather, your resonance."
The invisible pressure resting on Damon's shoulders lingered for a moment longer as she spoke.
"Even though it is dangerous," she continued calmly, "it would be unfair to expel you simply because of an ability you were born with."
Her gaze remained steady on him.
"But whether you choose to learn to control it… will be your decision."
A quiet pause followed.
"And choices," she said softly, "always have consequences."
She folded her hands lightly before her.
"So we have decided that I will personally be responsible for guiding you."
Her smile softened slightly.
"Guiding you to control your power… or more accurately, to control the emotions that fuel it."
At that moment the invisible pressure around Damon finally faded.
The weight lifted from his shoulders as though the room itself had exhaled.
Damon remained standing where he was.
Silent.
His eyes rested briefly on Elowen, then on the dean seated behind the desk.
When no response came from him, Elowen gave a small concluding nod.
"Now then," she said lightly, "you should return to your dormitory and rest."
Her tone returned to its usual calm.
"You will be attending Class S starting tomorrow."
She gestured faintly toward his Manacron.
"The remaining class placement results will be distributed to all students shortly."
The meeting was over.
Damon turned without another word.
He walked toward the door, opened it, and stepped outside before closing it quietly behind him.
The office fell silent.
For a few moments neither woman spoke.
Then the dean turned her gaze toward Elowen.
"Do you regret your decision?"
Miss Elowen stood beside the desk with the same gentle smile resting on her lips.
"No," she replied softly.
"He seems paranoid… and overly defensive," she admitted. "But from his conversation with you alone, he does not quite match the rumors surrounding him."
Her eyes drifted briefly toward the closed door.
"He remained calm," she continued thoughtfully. "And more importantly, he appears to understand his situation very well."
Outside the tower, Damon was already walking through the academy corridors.
A few minutes later he reached the stairwell of the dormitory building.
The quiet stairway echoed faintly with the sound of his footsteps as he climbed upward, one floor after another beneath the soft glow of mana lights embedded in the walls.
I did suspect it a bit…refuting it instantly..
His hand brushed lightly against the railing as he continued upward.
But the thought that followed carried far more weight.
But this resonance…
His steps slowed slightly.
….is fueled by my emotions.