Chapter 4: The Academy’s Secret

The tunnel was dark, narrow, and filled with the sound of Noah Blake complaining.

"This is the worst journey I have ever been on."

Ethan Vale continued walking.

Behind them, the collapsed passage blocked the academy’s agents from following. It would not hold them for long. The spell that had destroyed the entrance was powerful, but the people above had enough mana to clear the rubble.

They would be coming soon.

Noah stumbled over a loose stone.

"And I have traveled through the Swamp of Dead Lanterns."

Ethan glanced at him.

"You have?"

"No."

"Then how can this be the worst journey you have ever been on?"

"Because this is the only dangerous journey I have ever been on."

"That is not how comparisons work."

"It is how my comparisons work."

The tunnel sloped downward.

Its walls were carved from black stone, polished so smoothly that Ethan could see the faint reflection of his face in them. Strange symbols covered the surface. Some had been damaged by time, while others looked as if they had been scratched into the stone only recently.

Ethan slowed down.

Noah noticed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"That answer has never once meant nothing when you say it."

Ethan ignored him and touched one of the symbols.

The moment his fingers made contact, a faint pulse of mana moved through the wall.

A vision appeared.

A vast hall filled with white-robed mages.

A younger version of the academy stood before them, its towers still unfinished.

At the center of the hall was a black stone altar.

A man stood beside it.

His face was hidden, but the aura surrounding him was familiar.

Azeroth Veyr.

Ethan’s vision shifted.

The mages were kneeling.

Not to him.

To the altar.

A stream of dark energy flowed from the stone into the foundations of the academy.

The vision ended.

Ethan pulled his hand away.

The symbols faded.

Noah was watching him.

"You saw something."

"Perhaps."

"Was it useful?"

"No."

"Then why did you touch it?"

"To confirm that it was not useful."

Noah stared at him.

"You are exhausting."

"That makes two of us."

Ethan continued deeper into the tunnel.

The academy had been built above an ancient structure. He had suspected as much when he sensed the seal, but he had not expected to find traces of his own magic beneath it.

The old Eldoria Academy had been a military institution.

The modern academy was supposedly built three hundred years after his death.

That meant one of two things.

Either the history books were wrong.

Or the academy had been built on top of the ruins intentionally.

Both possibilities were unpleasant.

A faint sound echoed through the passage behind them.

Stone breaking.

The academy’s agents had cleared the entrance.

Noah heard it too.

"They are coming."

"Yes."

"How many?"

"At least four."

"You can tell that from one sound?"

"I can tell from the mana."

Noah looked at him.

"Right. Of course. The mana."

Ethan stopped at a fork in the tunnel.

Three passages extended into darkness.

The left passage smelled of damp earth.

The right passage was filled with a faint metallic scent.

The middle passage carried cold air.

Noah pointed toward the middle.

"That one."

"Why?"

"It has wind."

"Or something is breathing."

Noah lowered his hand.

"Why do you always make everything worse?"

"Experience."

Ethan examined the ground.

The left path was covered with dust.

The right path contained faint footprints.

The middle path had no marks at all.

That was unusual.

He chose the right passage.

Noah followed him.

"You said nothing about the footprints."

"I was saving that explanation for when you asked."

"You could have simply explained it."

"I could have."

Noah took a deep breath.

"I am beginning to understand why people might want to arrest you."

"People have wanted to arrest me for more serious reasons."

Noah stopped walking.

Ethan continued for two steps before noticing.

He turned.

"What?"

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"You are very fond of that word."

They heard another sound behind them.

The agents were closer now.

Noah hurried forward.

"You know, most people answer questions."

"Most people ask better questions."

"That was a perfectly good question."

"It was vague."

"It was not vague! It was extremely specific."

Ethan looked at him.

"What were you asking?"

Noah opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

"That is not the point."

"Then there is no point."

A bright blue light appeared behind them.

The tunnel filled with the sound of approaching footsteps.

A voice echoed through the darkness.

"Ethan Vale! Stop immediately!"

Noah looked over his shoulder.

"I do not think they are asking politely."

"They are not."

"Do you have another plan?"

"Yes."

"Is it better than the last one?"

"No."

Ethan reached the end of the tunnel.

The passage opened into a wide underground chamber.

At the center stood a circular platform surrounded by broken pillars. A pale blue glow covered the floor, forming the outline of a massive magical circle.

Noah stepped beside him.

"What is this?"

"A transportation array."

"Can it take us outside?"

"It can take us somewhere."

"That was not my question."

"It was the answer."

The academy’s agents entered the chamber.

There were four of them.

The masked mage from before stood at the front. Behind him were two young men wearing gray combat robes and a woman carrying a silver staff.

The woman stepped forward.

"Ethan Vale, you are suspected of interfering with a restricted seal and awakening an ancient entity beneath the Emerald Forest."

Ethan looked at her.

"Who made the accusation?"

"I did."

"Then it is not an accusation. It is an observation."

Her expression hardened.

"You are not in a position to be clever."

"I am standing on a transportation array while four armed people are trying to capture me. I believe cleverness is the only thing available to me."

Noah whispered:

"Do you always speak like that to people holding weapons?"

"Usually, they are holding worse weapons."

The masked mage raised his hand.

Blue mana gathered around him.

Noah took a step backward.

"Ethan..."

"Stand behind me."

"Why?"

"You are the least useful person here."

Noah looked offended.

"That is incredibly rude."

"It is also accurate."

The masked mage completed the spell.

A dozen blue spears formed in the air.

They pointed toward Ethan.

The woman with the silver staff spoke again.

"Last warning."

Ethan examined the array beneath his feet.

Its structure was damaged, but the central channel remained active. The array had been built to transport large quantities of mana, not people.

It would be unstable.

The destination was unknown.

The journey might injure them.

There was a good chance it would kill them.

Ethan placed his hand over the central symbol.

Noah looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving."

"Where?"

"Somewhere else."

The spears launched.

Ethan forced mana into the array.

The magical circle ignited.

For a fraction of a second, the world became white.

The spears struck the platform.

The explosion destroyed half the chamber.

The academy agents were thrown backward.

Inside the light, Ethan felt something grab his arm.

Noah.

The transportation array pulled them apart.

Ethan’s body began to dissolve into particles of mana. His damaged core screamed as the array forced energy through his pathways.

He saw Noah reaching for him.

Their hands almost touched.

Then the light swallowed everything.

Ethan fell.

He landed in shallow water.

For a while, he remained face-down in the cold stream.

Noah landed beside him with a loud splash.

The silence that followed was almost peaceful.

Then Noah raised his head.

"I hate magic."

Ethan pushed himself up.

"That is an unreasonable conclusion."

"I was stabbed by a branch during the teleportation."

"You were not stabbed."

Noah looked at his sleeve.

A small twig had pierced the fabric and scratched his arm.

He pointed at it.

"This is evidence."

Ethan looked around.

They were inside a ruined stone chamber.

Vines covered the walls, and moonlight entered through a hole in the ceiling. The transportation array had sent them into the remains of an ancient tower.

Ethan stood slowly.

His body was in worse condition than before.

The teleportation had strained his Mana Core, and his left hand had gone numb.

Noah crawled out of the stream.

"Where are we?"

Ethan looked through the broken wall.

Beyond it stretched a vast valley covered in silver grass.

Far in the distance, enormous towers rose from the earth.

Their tops disappeared into the clouds.

Eldoria.

The capital was visible from the valley.

They had not traveled outside the kingdom.

They had simply been thrown several miles away from the main road.

Noah followed his gaze.

"Is that the capital?"

"Yes."

"So the transportation array worked."

"It did not work correctly."

Noah examined the ruined chamber.

"What is the difference?"

"A working array takes you where you intend to go."

"And a broken array?"

"Anywhere it wants."

Noah nodded slowly.

"I think I prefer walking."

Footsteps sounded outside the ruined tower.

Ethan turned toward the entrance.

There were no signs of the academy agents.

These footsteps were lighter.

Several people.

A woman’s voice echoed through the ruins.

"Check the western side."

Another voice replied:

"We found blood near the stream."

Noah lowered his voice.

"More enemies?"

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"Could also be travelers."

"That is not reassuring."

Ethan crouched beside the remains of the transportation array.

The stone beneath it was covered with old writing.

Unlike the markings in the tunnel, these symbols were not ancient.

They had been added later.

A name had been carved into the center of the array.

**AZEROTH VEYR.**

Beneath it was another sentence.

**The first key remains asleep.**

Ethan stared at the words.

A cold feeling moved through his chest.

The writing was less than two hundred years old.

Someone had known about him long after his death.

Someone had built this array to connect to the tunnels beneath the academy.

Someone had expected his return.

A piece of cloth moved outside the chamber.

Ethan raised one finger, warning Noah to remain silent.

A figure entered the ruined tower.

She was a young woman, perhaps twenty years old, wearing a dark traveling cloak. Her silver hair fell over one shoulder, and a thin sword hung at her waist.

Two men followed behind her.

They were dressed like mercenaries.

The woman’s eyes scanned the chamber.

They stopped on Ethan.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then she drew her sword.

"Step away from the array."

Noah slowly raised both hands.

"We are not here to cause trouble."

The woman did not look at him.

"Who are you?"

"Ethan Vale."

Her eyes narrowed.

"And the other?"

"Noah Blake."

One of the mercenaries whispered something in her ear.

The woman’s expression changed.

She looked at Ethan again, this time with sharp interest.

"You are the student from Greymoor."

"Yes."

"You activated the old transportation array."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It was available."

The woman almost smiled.

Almost.

Then her gaze fell to the writing beneath Ethan’s feet.

The color drained from her face.

"You saw the inscription."

"It is difficult not to see something carved into the floor."

"Did you understand it?"

"Yes."

The woman’s grip tightened around her sword.

Noah leaned toward Ethan.

"Should I be worried?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

"The woman is afraid."

Noah glanced at her.

She was.

Not of Ethan.

Of the name beneath his feet.

The woman stepped backward.

"Move away from the array."

"Why?"

"Because the ruins are not safe."

"That does not answer the question."

Her eyes flashed with irritation.

"Do you know what lies beneath Eldoria?"

"An ancient structure."

"Not just that."

She lowered her sword slightly.

"The academy was built over the remains of the Black Citadel."

Ethan felt his damaged Mana Core tighten.

He knew the name.

The Black Citadel had once been his fortress.

It had been destroyed during the final battle.

Or so he had believed.

The woman continued:

"Azeroth Veyr built it before the War of Ashen Crowns. The citadel was destroyed, but its foundations remained beneath the earth."

Ethan said nothing.

Noah looked between them.

"Who is Azeroth Veyr?"

The woman stared at him.

"You do not know?"

"He does not read much," Ethan said.

"I read."

"Poorly."

Noah frowned.

"I read extremely well."

The woman ignored them.

"The Black Sovereign’s fortress contained nine sealed chambers. Each one held a fragment of his authority."

Ethan’s eyes became colder.

"Authority?"

The woman’s attention snapped toward him.

"You know the term."

"I have heard it."

"Where?"

"Books."

"What books?"

"Old ones."

The woman took another step back.

The mercenaries exchanged uncertain glances.

Ethan could hear the distant sound of bells from the capital.

Eldoria Arcane Academy stood beyond the valley.

Its towers pierced the clouds.

Somewhere beneath those towers, an ancient seal was breaking.

The woman lowered her sword completely.

"What is your name?"

"Ethan Vale."

"No. Your real name."

The air became heavy.

Noah looked at him.

The woman’s expression had become pale and tense.

Ethan remembered Veyron’s warning.

Do not trust the academy.

He also remembered the inscription.

The first key remains asleep.

Perhaps the woman knew what it meant.

Perhaps she was one of the people who had been waiting for him.

Or perhaps she was simply another enemy.

Ethan stepped off the transportation array.

The magical symbols beneath his feet dimmed.

"I have only one name."

The woman studied him for a long moment.

Then she sheathed her sword.

"My name is **Elena Frost**."

Noah blinked.

"Frost? As in House Frost?"

Elena’s eyes moved toward him.

"You know my family?"

"Everyone knows your family. They own half the northern provinces, three crystal mines, and the largest magical library in the kingdom."

Elena’s expression remained cold.

"They own more than that."

Noah swallowed.

Ethan looked at her.

"Why are you here?"

Elena glanced at the inscription.

"We were sent to investigate the awakening beneath the forest."

"By whom?"

"The academy."

Ethan’s gaze sharpened.

"Then why are you afraid of the name?"

Elena did not answer.

The first bell of the academy rang in the distance.

A deep sound rolled across the valley.

One bell.

Then a second.

Then a third.

The ruins began to tremble.

The inscription beneath the transportation array filled with black light.

A crack appeared in the stone.

Noah stepped away.

"What is happening?"

Elena drew her sword again.

"Something is waking up."

The ground split open.

A wave of dark mana burst from beneath the ruins and rushed toward the capital.

Far away, the towers of Eldoria Arcane Academy lit up one by one.

Every magical barrier around the academy activated.

Every ward turned toward the valley.

And beneath the central tower, a sealed door opened for the first time in a thousand years.

A voice echoed through the kingdom.

It did not come from the sky.

It did not come from the earth.

It came from every magical mirror, crystal, and communication device in the capital.

"Welcome, Azeroth Veyr."

The voice was calm.

Almost gentle.

"Your academy awaits you."

Ethan stared at the distant towers.

Elena turned toward him in shock.

Noah slowly pointed at Ethan.

"You told me you only had one name."

Ethan watched the black light crawl across his hand.

For the first time, he understood the truth.

His second life had not begun when he awakened in Greymoor.

It had begun long before that.

Someone had prepared a place for him.

Someone had watched his soul return.

And someone inside Eldoria Arcane Academy had just announced his arrival to the entire world.

Ethan smiled faintly.

"Apparently," he said, "I have been enrolled already."

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