Chapter 111: Power Stages [2]

Leon raised his hand and concentrated. A green glow appeared between his fingers.

Alarion nodded. "Stage IV. Virtuoso."

Leon let out a breath he had been holding since the two Calyndor students’ faces had turned pale during the explanation. "Yes."

Roselle stepped forward and produced the same green light. The yellow-haired girl from Calyndor matched it almost simultaneously.

"Stage IV," Alarion confirmed for both.

Nicholas stepped forward. A clean, steady orange light lit up his palm, matching Claire’s exact shade.

"Stage V. Luminary."

Adrian produced an orange light as well, already looking sideways at Roselle while doing it.

The remaining two Calyndor cadets stepped forward. They looked down at their palms. The light was blue.

"Sir Alarion," the male cadet said quietly. "Both of us... it’s blue."

Alarion looked at them with no particular expression. "Then you are not yet qualified, regardless of your selection."

Before either of them could respond:

Snap.

They were gone. The space where they had been standing was simply empty.

Adrian stared at the empty floor. "Where did they go?"

"Back to their academy," Alarion said.

Alden stared at the empty space.

Without warning or ceremony, the unqualified are sent back immediately. That is the standard here.

Leon looked down at his green hand and felt significantly better about it.

Alarion’s gaze moved to Alden, who was still standing near the back.

"Why are you standing there without showing your core?"

Alden blinked. "Sorry, Sir Alarion. I didn’t paid attention."

Alarion stared at him.

Alden raised his right hand and pulled from his core. Mana surged to his palm.

The light came out orange.

And then through the center of it, vivid and unmistakable, a streak of red pulsed once and held.

Everyone stared.

Alarion took a single step closer. He looked at the dual-colored light in Alden’s hand with an expression that was the closest thing to surprised he had shown since they arrived.

"Stage V." He paused. "But not simply Stage V. You are between Stage V and Stage VI."

Roselle leaned forward slightly. "Orange and red. Does that mean he is already almost at Arcanist?"

"Correct," Alarion said. "Now that you are verified, I will take you to the grand selection to get your Assembly," he said. "Wait here." He then stepped into the room beyond the wall.

Leon looked at Alden’s hand. Then he broke into a grin so wide it seemed like it might stay. "I knew it." He walked over and put a hand on Alden’s shoulder. "You are an absolute monster, you know that?"

Alden shook his head. "You’re exaggerating."

"I am not exaggerating even slightly! You are between Stage V and Stage VI and you have been living like a normal person this whole time!"

Before Leon could keep going, Nicholas walked over. His expression was quieter than Leon’s, but there was something behind it that Leon’s enthusiasm didn’t have. Something that had been worked for.

"Alden," He stopped in front of Alden.

"I know a lot of things happened between us," he said. "Going back to the dorm." He stopped himself. Let out a short breath. "Actually. I don’t want to dig up the past."

He looked Alden directly in the eye.

"Can we start fresh?" He held out his right hand. "As friends. Training together, pushing each other, and growing stronger side by side?"

Alden looked at the hand.

A year of Nicholas watching him from across hallways with narrow eyes and a hand near his sword. The dormitory floor. The council table. The arena. The mountain pass.

He took the hand.

"Of course, Nicholas."

They shook once.

It didn’t erase anything. But it was a real beginning, which was worth more than erasure.

Roselle stepped forward next. She looked slightly nervous, which was unusual enough that it was noticeable.

"I’m sorry too, Alden." She twisted her hands together once and then stopped herself. "I hope we can get along from now on."

She extended her hand.

Alden looked at it.

"No."

Roselle froze. Her hand stayed where it was, suspended in the air, for one long second.

Then it started to drop.

"Wait, why not?" Her voice cracked slightly at the edges.

Leon grinned immediately and put his hands behind his head. "Maybe he hasn’t forgiven you after all."

Nicholas made an expression that was trying to be neutral and was not succeeding.

"But I really am sorry!" Roselle took a step closer, her hands clasped now. "I regret how I treated you, I genuinely do! So please—"

"It’s not about forgiveness, Roselle," Alden said.

She blinked. "Then what is it?"

"I’m worried," he said, completely seriously, "that if I get too close to you, you’ll hit me with another wind spell."

The color that appeared on Roselle’s face was immediate and total.

The memory came back before she could stop it. Alden on the dormitory floor, trying to explain himself through the noise and the accusations and the absolute certainty she’d had that he was lying.

"Listen to me! I’ve been framed! She’s the one who—"

And then her spell hitting him square in the face, the force of it throwing him backward through the bedframe in a cloud of broken wood. He had hit the stone floor and gone completely still.

She had lowered her hand and said, very coolly: "You have the nerve to lie."

Roselle’s hands came up and waved frantically. "That was then! I would never do that now! Never! And why are you bringing that up right now?!"

"Just a feeling," Alden said.

"I WILL NOT!" She was completely red from the ears down. "I’m sorry, okay?! I’m saying it again! I’m sorry!"

Alden watched her for one more second.

Then his expression softened. A genuine smile came through.

He held out his hand.

"I was teasing you," he said. "I forgive you."

Roselle stared at the offered hand.

Then the embarrassed flush shifted into something that was partly relieved and partly still exasperated, and she shook it firmly.

"Thank you," she said.

"That was surprisingly easy," Claire said.

Alden glanced at her. "I was never holding a grudge."

Leon laughed quietly. "I suppose that settles it then."

The tension dissolved. The kind of dissolving that happens when something that needed saying finally gets said, and everyone can breathe differently afterward.

"Umm." A new voice came over.

They all turned.

Adrian was standing a short distance away, rubbing the back of his neck with the specific expression of someone who has been trying to find the right moment to approach and has decided that now is probably it.

He gave a small, slightly too eager wave.

"Hello there?"