After Mira welcomed the fifty successful candidates, the instructors began to move, and everyone followed them.
They crossed a white-stone bridge over a stream so clear Eiden could see silver fish moving under the surface. They passed training fields divided by transparent barriers, where older students were already throwing spells at targets, each other, and in one case what looked like a metal statue that was hitting back. They walked by a long glass-roofed hall where dozens of students sat at desks, surrounded by floating papers and glowing diagrams. They passed a library whose doors were taller than village houses, a dining hall large enough to host Greenhollow inside it, and a tower that hummed so strongly Eiden felt the silver badge on his chest answer with a tiny pulse.
He remembered maybe half of the names Mira gave them.
The Arcane Hall. The West Practice Wing. The Lower Gardens. The Mana Bath? No, that could not be right. Maybe Mana Path. Or Mana Vault. Something with mana.
By the time they reached the dormitory building, Eiden’s brain had given up taking notes and had started summarizing everything as too big, too shiny, probably expensive.
The dormitory was not a dormitory. It was a mansion. White walls, silver railings, tall windows, polished floors, and corridors wide enough for ten people to walk side by side. Eiden stood in front of the entrance for a moment and stared at the chandelier hanging inside the main hall.
It was made of crystal.
Of course it was.
“Does every building here look like it costs more than a village?” he muttered.
A blond boy walking nearby glanced at him, and Eiden immediately decided that the boy looked exactly like the kind of person who had never once worried about the price of bread. His golden hair was neatly brushed back, both ears had a tiny pearl earring shaped like a pale dot, and an irritating grin sat on his face so naturally that it might have been born there.
“Probably,” the boy said. “Honestly, if a place this famous wasn’t expensive, I’d be disappointed.”
Eiden stared at him. “You sound like someone who has never checked the price of anything before buying it.”
The blond boy’s grin widened, which made it worse. “Cassian Rook,” he said, as if the name itself was supposed to mean something.
Eiden looked him up and down. “Sup.”
Cassian blinked once, then laughed under his breath and walked ahead, still wearing that same annoying rich-boy smile.
The room assignment process was mercifully simple. Their badges were pressed to a panel near the entrance, the panel glowed, and a number appeared.
Eiden’s badge displayed: Dormitory C — Room 3-17.
His room was on the third floor, and it was clearly meant for four people. There were four beds, four desks, four chairs, and four wardrobes arranged with almost suspicious symmetry, along with a washbasin with running water and a wide window facing part of the campus gardens. For now, though, the room was empty. No bags, no roommates claiming the best bed before he could. Just Eiden, standing there with his pack in hand and wondering how long that peace would last. The beds looked clean. The desks looked solid.
Eiden set his pack down beside the best bed, closed the door, and stood there for a moment.
The Swarm.
The thought landed in his stomach like a stone.
He had been distracted by the travel, the exam. All of it had been huge and loud and new.
But none of it changed the countdown.
Eiden sat on the edge of the bed.
“How many hours are left until the next Wave?”
For a second, the room was silent.
Then the familiar panel appeared before his eyes.
[Time remaining until the next Wave: 210 hours.]
Eiden stared at the number.
Two hundred hours was not nothing.
It was eight days and a little more.
Eight days until the thing that destroyed his world started reaching into this one.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Okay.” he said. “No. No sleeping.”
He stood up, then immediately sat down again. He pointed at the air. “I need information. Actual information. Not mysterious nonsense. How is the Swarm going to appear?”
No answer.
Eiden narrowed his eyes. “Don’t do that. I know you can hear me.”
The panel remained empty.
“How to survive the next Wave,” he said.
A new panel appeared.
[The next Wave will originate near your current position.]
[Initial emergence scale: unknown.]
[Projected growth rate: extreme.]
[Recommendation: avoid dense civilian areas during The Wave.]
“Near my current position,” he repeated. “What exactly does ‘near’ mean? In the room? In the campus? In the city?”
[Exact emergence point cannot be determined at this time. The Swarm curse is anchored to your soul. Initial manifestations are expected to appear within a variable radius around you.]
Eiden slowly stood up.
“So it follows me.”
[Correct.]
“And if I stay in Valdenmoor?”
[High population density increases projected casualties.]
Eiden looked out the window.
The campus gardens were bright and peaceful. Students walked along polished paths, some laughing, some carrying books, some trailing tiny magic lights behind them like pets. Beyond the campus walls, Valdenmoor stretched huge and alive, full of people who had no idea that a disaster might be tied to one man standing in a dorm room.
He swallowed.
“How many creatures come first?”
[Unknown.]
“Ten?”
[Unknown.]
“A hundred?”
[Unknown.]
“A thousand?”
[Stop guessing.]
“That is a really bad word to keep using.”
[Early Waves may begin small. However, Swarm-type entities reproduce and multiply rapidly once the first wave starts.]
Eiden felt his mouth go dry.
“So if even a few survive, will they become a bigger problem later on?”
[Correct.]
“How long do these Waves keep happening?” he asked. “When does it end?”
[There is no defined end to the Waves. The Swarm event chain does not conclude on its own. You can endure each Wave. But endurance alone will not stop what is coming.]
[Recommended approach: survive while actively pursuing a method to put an end to The Swarm.]
[We will find a way. You should also search for your own answer.]
“And your advice is?”
[Be far from civilians when the Wave begins. Prepare enough destructive capacity to eliminate the first Wave completely. Do not allow survivors to escape.]
It was strange. He had been joking all morning. But now there was no joke waiting in his mouth.
The Swarm was coming because of him.
Maybe not his fault. Maybe not something he chose. But the result was the same.
If he stayed here and did nothing, people would die.
If he wanted any chance of changing that, he needed power.
Now.
Eiden grabbed his badge, stepped out of the room, and started walking.
He had paid almost no attention during the tour, which became a problem immediately.
The dormitory corridor split three ways.
He looked left.
Then right.
Then at the stairs.
“Where is the magic practice room?”
He walked for ten minutes and found a laundry room, a quiet reading room, a door labeled No Entry Without Supervision, and a balcony overlooking the gardens. The balcony was beautiful.
Eventually he found a girl carrying a stack of folded towels and asked her where the practice rooms were.
She pointed down the corridor without saying anything.
The West Practice Wing was not quiet even though morning had barely begun. Eiden expected a few overmotivated students.
Instead, there were dozens of people.
The hall was enormous, divided into training rooms by transparent barriers. Each room had reinforced stone floors, target dummies, measurement crystals, spell circles, and warning signs. Fire flashed behind one barrier. A spear of ice shattered against a wall behind another. Someone was practicing wind blades. In the far corner, two older students were repeatedly launching Earth spikes at a moving metal target that dodged better than most people.
Eiden stopped at the entrance.
“Why are there this many people awake?” he asked.
A passing student answered without stopping. “Because the people who sleep lose.”
“That is the worst thing anyone has said to me today.” Eiden replied.
He walked deeper into the hall. Some rooms were full. Some had groups practicing together. Some people stood alone, repeating one spell over and over with the kind of dead-eyed focus Eiden associated with people who had either great discipline or no hobbies.
He found an empty corner practice room after five minutes. The room was small compared to the others, but still larger than Selia’s whole cottage. It had three stone targets, a glowing mana gauge on the wall, and a barrier panel beside the door.
Eiden pressed his badge to the panel.
The barrier door opened.
“Fancy,” he muttered, stepping inside.
A message appeared on the wall.
Practice Room C-14
Current User: Eiden Flareheart
Barrier Strength: Standard
Damage Limit: Moderate
Emergency Suppression: Active
Eiden read the last line and nodded. “Emergency suppression. Good. Finally, someone designed a room with me in mind.”
He stood in the center and raised his right hand.
A Fire Bolt formed in one second.
That part had become easy. It still felt satisfying every time, the warmth gathering in his palm, the fire spinning into shape like it belonged there.
He threw it at the closest target.
The Fire Bolt hit the center mark and exploded with a sharp crack. The stone target flashed red, and numbers appeared above it.
Impact: 10
Accuracy: 82%
Cast Time: 1.1 seconds
Eiden smiled. “Not bad.”
He threw another.
Impact: 10
Accuracy: 79%
Cast Time: 1.0 seconds
Another.
Impact: 10
Accuracy: 86%
Cast Time: 1.0 seconds
“Okay,” he said. “Normal Fire Bolt is fine. Fast enough, decent aim. But normal Fire Bolt will not stop a Swarm.”
He brought both hands together.
Big Fire Bolt.
The familiar process began. Two currents of fire gathered, one in each palm. They wanted to merge, but not cleanly. The moment the two sparks touched, the fire resisted, wobbling between his hands like a stubborn animal.
Eiden took a deep breath.
“Stable. Together. Don’t explode in my face. Very simple instruction.”
The fire grew.
Ten seconds.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
A proper Big Fire Bolt formed between his hands, bright and heavy.
[-10 Mana]
He threw it.
The Big Fire Bolt slammed into the middle target. The explosion shook the barrier, and orange light filled the room.
Impact: 42
Accuracy: 61%
Cast Time: 22.4 seconds
Area Stability: Poor
Eiden stared at the numbers.
“Poor? It exploded exactly where I wanted.”
A small note appeared beneath the numbers.
Output spread exceeded controlled radius.
Eiden pointed at the wall. “That is called area damage. That is my whole thing.”
No response.
He looked up. “Woman in my head. How do I make Big Fire Bolt faster?”
[Big Fire Bolt currently requires manual dual-current formation.]
[Recommended training: reduce separation between Fire Bolt creation and current merging.]
“Explain that like I am tired and annoyed.”
[You create two Fire Bolts, then combine them.]
[This is slow.]
[Instead, create one larger fire structure from the beginning.]
Eiden stared.
Then he slowly lowered his hands.
“So I’ve been making two little fireballs and forcing them to hold hands.”
[Correct.]
“And I could just make one big fireball?”
[Potentially.]
He closed his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
[You did not ask.]
Eiden opened his eyes. “I hate you.”
He tried again.
This time, instead of creating fire in both palms separately, he imagined the spark forming between his hands from the beginning. A single center. Raw mana flowing out from his body and converting into Fire-aspected mana as it gathered in the space between his palms.
The fire appeared.
It was smaller than he expected, but more stable.
“Okay,” he whispered.
He fed it more mana.
The sphere grew. It tried to wobble, but less than before. The shape was cleaner, and the heat spread evenly instead of fighting itself.
Fifteen seconds.
A Big Fire Bolt formed.
[-10 Mana]
Eiden threw it.
The blast hit the target hard.
Impact: 39
Accuracy: 76%
Cast Time: 15.8 seconds
Area Stability: Moderate
Eiden’s eyes widened.
“That worked.”
He laughed once, not loudly, but with real excitement.
“That actually worked. I shaved off almost seven seconds.”
He tried again.
This time it took sixteen seconds. Then fifteen. Then fourteen point nine.
By the fifth attempt, his head felt light and his arms were shaking. Mana depletion crept in like a cold hand behind his ribs.
He stopped and checked himself.
“How much mana do I have left?”
[Current Mana: 10/60]
He sat cross-legged on the floor and started the meditation technique he had discovered in the swamp. Slow breaths. Mana from the air, from the ground, from the world. Blue waves entering him with each inhale.
The mana around him moved through the room in slow currents.
He reached toward it carefully, not grabbing, just aligning his breathing with the flow.
A minute passed.
Then another.
The sensation inside him shifted.
[Current Mana: 12/60]
Eiden opened one eye.
“Oh.”
He kept going.
Five minutes later, he checked again.
[Current Mana: 20/60]
“That is much faster than before.”
[Ambient mana density in The Open Gate campus is significantly higher than the swamp environment.]
Eiden looked around the room.
“So this whole school is basically a rich mana pond.”
[Crude but acceptable description.]
“Good.”
He stood up again. His mana was not full, but he did not need full. He needed progress.
Next: control.
He raised one hand and formed a Fire Bolt. Instead of throwing it, he held it in place.
The fire spun above his palm.
“Okay,” he said. “Shrink.”
The Fire Bolt wobbled.
“Shrink without going out.”
It shrank a little.
Then it collapsed into sparks.
Eiden frowned.
Again.
Fire Bolt formed.
Shrink.
Collapse.
Again.
Form. Shrink. Collapse.
Again.
After the tenth try, the fire finally shrank to half size and stayed there for two seconds.
He threw it.
It flew slower than normal but struck the target with less explosion.
Impact: 4
Accuracy: 88%
Cast Time: 1.3 seconds
Output Control: Improved
He practiced smaller Fire Bolts until his fingers cramped.
Then he practiced stopping the spell before release. That was harder. Once fire formed, it wanted to do something. Holding it was easy. Throwing it was easy. Letting it fade without becoming sparks was not easy.
He was about to try again when someone outside the barrier said, “Um… excuse me.”
Eiden turned.
A boy stood outside the practice room, hugging a worn notebook to his chest. He had messy brown hair, thin shoulders, and fingers wrapped in cloth at the tips.
Eiden recognized him immediately.
Because this was the boy whose exam preparation papers he had stolen. The boy was also the same one Eiden had seen biting his nails before the written exam.
“You passed?”
The boy flinched. “I… yes?”
Eiden opened the barrier door.
The boy immediately took half a step back.
Eiden looked at his wrapped fingers.
“I’m Neris,” he said. “Neris Vale.”
Eiden pointed into the room. “You here to practice?”
Neris hesitated. “I was. But all the other rooms are full, and when I tried to join one, they told me to go somewhere else because they were working.”
“Were they working?”
“Yes.”
Eiden sighed. He had many problems right now.
But Eiden needed useful people.
Also, he had stolen this boy’s papers, which probably counted as fate or debt depending on who was judging.
“Come in,” Eiden said.
Neris blinked. “What?”
“Come in. Practice here.”
“With you?”
“No, with the target. I am not the room.”
Neris stepped in carefully/
“What element?” Eiden asked.
“Ice.”
Eiden looked at him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
Neris immediately looked worried. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because I love meeting people with useful elements.”
Neris clutched his notebook tighter. “I’m not that good. I only passed because I studied a lot. The examiner said my control was acceptable, but my output is weak, my hands shake when people watch, and I’m pretty sure I almost failed twice. And someone stole my prep papers.”
Eiden stared at him.
Neris stopped talking.
“Why are you staring…”
“You speak very fast when terrified,” Eiden said.
“Sorry…”
Eiden stepped aside and pointed to the nearest target. “Show me.”
Neris swallowed, raised one shaking hand, and took a breath. Frost gathered around his fingers in a thin blue-white mist. It formed slowly, carefully, almost beautifully, becoming a narrow shard of ice about the length of a knife.
Then Neris threw it.
The shard struck the target slightly off-center and shattered.
Impact: 6
Accuracy: 64%
Cast Time: 4.8 seconds
Output Control: High
Eiden stared at the shattered ice on the floor. “That was actually really cool.”
Neris froze. “What?”
“I mean it,” Eiden said. “You made a knife out of ice and threw it across the room. That is objectively cool. The aim was a little off, sure, but it still hit the target.”
Neris’ ears turned red. He looked down at his notebook. “It’s not that impressive. It’s just an Ice Knife. Pretty basic spell.”
Neris made a small sound that might have been a laugh, but he immediately tried to hide it by coughing.
Eiden pointed at the target. “Do you have anything with area damage? Something that hits more than one target at once?”
Neris shook his head quickly. “No. I only know Ice Knife and a few similar spells. I can slow things down if it gets close, but I don’t have any area spells.”
Eiden nodded, already sorting that information into the useful part of his brain.
For the next hour, they trained in the same room.
Eiden worked on shrinking Fire Bolts, speeding up Big Fire Bolt formation, and feeling mana currents in the room. Neris practiced forming ice shards faster and throwing them.. Neither of them said much at first, which was fine. The room filled with firelight and frost mist, bursts of heat and cold alternating until the barrier glass fogged at the edges.
At some point, Eiden noticed something with Mana Sense.
Every time Neris cast, the air near the target changed. The temperature drop was obvious, but beneath that, there was a thinning sensation. Ice mana did not just create cold. It stole heat from the space around it.
Eiden stopped mid-cast.
“Neris.”
The boy flinched and nearly dropped his notebook. “What?”
“Cast again.”
“Why?”
“Because I noticed something.”
Neris cast another ice shard. Eiden focused with Mana Sense, ignoring the visible spell and feeling the movement behind it. Raw mana converted, condensed, pulled heat inward, then released as structured Ice.
It was different from Fire.
Fire pushed outward.
Ice pulled inward.
Eiden stared at his own palm.
“What if control is not just making fire smaller,” he muttered. “What if I need to pull heat back instead of only pushing it out?”
Neris blinked. “That’s… basic thermal regulation theory.”
Eiden slowly turned to him.
Neris shrank. “Sorry.”
“No,” Eiden said. “Say that again, but pretend I am stupid.”
Neris hesitated. “Fire spells don’t only create heat. Good Fire control includes deciding where heat doesn’t go. If you can’t contain thermal spread, your spell leaks power into the air and becomes unstable.”
Eiden stared.
Then he pointed at him. “You are useful.”
Neris looked deeply uncomfortable with the compliment.
Eiden formed a Fire Bolt again. This time, instead of simply making it smaller, he imagined the heat pulling inward, toward the core of the flame. Not less fire. Tighter fire.
The Fire Bolt shrank.
But it did not collapse.
It became a smaller, brighter ball, orange with a thin white center.
Eiden held it.
One second.
Two.
Three.
He threw it.
It hit the target and punched a tighter mark into the stone, with almost no outward blast.
Impact: 8
Accuracy: 91%
Output Control: Good
Thermal Leakage: Reduced
Eiden smiled slowly.
“Oh, that is very nice.”
Neris looked surprised. “You understood it that fast?”
“I’m a fast learner.” Eiden said.
Eiden tried again. Then again. The smaller, compressed Fire Bolts were harder to form, but each one felt cleaner. Less waste.
After twenty minutes, his Big Fire Bolt training improved too. Instead of letting the large sphere roar outward, he pulled the heat toward the core during formation. It resisted, but not as much as before.
The cast time dropped to thirteen seconds.
Then twelve point six.
The impact stayed strong, but the radius became cleaner.
Impact: 40
Accuracy: 79%
Cast Time: 12.6 seconds
Area Stability: Improved
Hours passed in pieces. Training. Resting. Mana meditation. System questions. Fire control. Ice theory. Neris panicking whenever someone outside glanced into the room.
When Eiden finally stood again, his body felt heavy. His fire was calmer. His Mana Sense was clearer. He could feel Neris’ ice before it formed now, a cold tightening in the air. He could feel people moving in rooms nearby as faint pressure changes. He could feel the academy’s mana flowing beneath the floor like a slow river.
He checked his progress with a thought.
[Training Summary]
Fire Bolt Output Control: Improved
Big Fire Bolt Cast Time: 22.4s → 12.6s
Big Fire Bolt Area Stability: Improved
Mana Sense Sensitivity: Improved
Mana Recovery Method: Improved in high-density mana environment
Eiden stared at the panel.
“That is a lot of improvement.”
Then another panel appeared.
New Quest: [Before the Wave]
The next Swarm Wave will emerge near you in approximately 203 hours.
You are not ready.
Current survival chance: 2%
Objectives:
Reach Big Fire Bolt cast time under 5 seconds. 0/1
Improve Fire Bolt output control to Stable. 0/1
Raise Mana Sense to Basic II. 0/1
Find a remote location suitable for first Wave containment. 0/1
Recruit at least one capable ally willing to follow you outside the city. 0/1
Reward:
+2 Skill Upgrade Points
Max Mana +20
Spell Forge Access Unlocked
Fire Affinity Stage I Unlocked: Ember Core
Failure Penalty: Unknown
Eiden looked at Neris.
Neris looked back at him, already nervous.
Eiden smiled.
Neris went pale. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Eiden put one hand on his shoulder.
“Neris,” he said very seriously, “how do you feel about saving the world in approximately eight days?”