The morning air smelled of ozone and expensive incense. I lay in my infirmary bed, my eyes half-lidded, watching the dust motes dance in a shaft of sunlight.
The heavy oak doors creaked open. Elara stepped in first, her silver mana humming with a protective, anxious frequency. Behind her, however, was someone who didn't vibrate with pity.
She vibrated with Authority.
Seraphina Vane stepped into the room. She was a Third-Year, a high-ranking member of the Student Council, and Princess Aurelia's most trusted "Aide." Her mana was a pale, crystalline blue—Glacier Mana—that seemed to suck the warmth out of the room.
"Cassian Valerius," Seraphina said, her voice like cracking ice. She didn't bow. She didn't offer a platitude. She simply opened a floating ledger made of light. "I am your court-appointed Supervisor for the Observation Period. My job is to ensure your 'Fracture' remains stable... and to report any irregularities directly to the Princess."
"I... I'm honored," I rasped, leaning back into the pillows. I let my hand tremble slightly as I reached for a glass of water.
Seraphina didn't help me. She watched me struggle with the glass, her eyes scanning my throat, my wrists, and the way my "veins" pulsed with dark, broken light.
"Don't bother with the theatrics, Valerius," she said coldly. "I've read Professor Hecate's report.
"Up," she commanded.
Elara stepped forward, her hand reaching for my arm. "He can barely stand, Seraphina! The healers said—"
"The Princess said he is a tool of the Crown," Seraphina countered, not even looking at my sister. "A tool that cannot be moved is a paperweight. If he can negate Grade-2 spells, he can walk to the Southern Gardens."
I forced myself to stand, my knees buckling on cue. I leaned heavily on Elara, but I could feel Seraphina's gaze—it was like a needle, searching for a single muscle that moved too smoothly, a single breath that was too steady.
As we walked through the crowded hallways, the whispers followed us like a wake.
"There he is... the Human Shield."
"Look at the way he leans on his sister. Disgraceful."
"I heard the Voss family is petitioning to have him stripped of the 'Hero' title by the end of the week."
I kept my head down. I needed them to see the shame. I needed the Voss spies to report that the Valerius "Shield" was barely held together by spite and medicine.
We reached the Southern Gardens, a place of high-density mana flora. The air was thick with natural energy—the kind of environment that should be "painful" for a Fracture Neutralizer.
"Stop here," Seraphina said.
She turned to a group of Second-Year students practicing nearby. Among them was a cousin of the Voss family—a hotheaded boy named Marcus.
"Marcus," Seraphina called out. "The Princess requires a calibration check. Cast a Grade-2 Frost Nova at the subject. Low intensity."
Elara's silver mana flared. "Seraphina, stop this! He's just out of the infirmary!"
"It is a 'Calibration,' Elara," Seraphina said, her eyes never leaving mine. "If he is to be used on the front lines, we must know if his 'sink' functions when he is fatigued."
Marcus didn't need to be told twice. He grinned, his hands glowing with a jagged, white light. "With pleasure, Supervisor."
The Frost Nova expanded—a ring of biting, crystalline cold that shattered the grass as it moved. It was a perfect Grade-2 spell. To a normal person, it would freeze their blood. To a Null, it would be a death sentence.
"Don't just eat it," I thought. "Make it look like it hurts."
I didn't move. I let the ring of frost hit me.
As the magic touched my skin, I opened a tiny "pore" in my Void-Skin. The Frost Nova didn't vanish instantly; it seemed to drain into me, swirling around my legs like water down a sewer pipe. I let my teeth chatter violently. I let the "bruises" on my arms turn a deep, sickly indigo.
"It's... it's cold..." I wheezed, falling to my knees.
The spell was gone. The grass around me was frozen, but I was standing in a circle of dry, dead earth.
Seraphina walked over, kneeling in the dirt. she didn't look at my face. She looked at the ground. "No residue," she whispered. "He didn't ground the magic. He truly... deleted it."
She reached out and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at her. Her eyes were millimeters from mine.
"You're a very strange thing, Cassian Valerius," she murmured. "Most people who lose their magic lose their soul with it. But you? You feel like you're hiding something behind all that pain."
"I'm... hiding... nothing," I gasped, my eyes tearing up from the "strain."
"We'll see," she said, standing up and dusting off her robes. "Tomorrow, we move to Grade-3 tests. I want to see exactly where your 'sink' overflows."
As they led me back to the High Tower, I caught a glimpse of a grey-masked figure perched on a distant roof—Vane. He gave a sharp, subtle hand signal: The Voss Archive map is complete.
I leaned my head against Elara's shoulder, playing the part of the exhausted victim.