In the blink of an eye, a monstrous wave surged up from the depths of Lake Celestara, crashing violently against the shore. A deafening roar echoed as the icy curtain of water swallowed all three figures whole.

Shhh—shhh—

The water slowly receded, leaving only the soaked, uneven sands behind. Felix braced himself against the damp gravel, coughing as he sat up. His expression was dazed. His gaze was blank as he stared toward the heart of the lake.

A moment ago, death had been inches away—but instinctively, at the very last second, he’d unleashed his water manipulation spell. That towering wave that saved his life… was exactly the same as the one he kept seeing in his dreams.

Felix exhaled a deep breath. The taste of lake water still lingered in his throat. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet.

Fine wisps of mist rose from his body, vanishing into the cool, quiet night. Within moments, his clothes had dried completely, as if untouched by water.

The lakeside was empty and silent once more.

After lingering there a while longer, Felix finally turned and walked away, alone.

It didn’t take long before he made it back to his dormitory.

He quietly shut the door behind him, pulled off his cloak, and reached into his pocket. After fumbling around for a moment, he took out a small potion bottle, uncorked it, and downed the contents in one gulp.

As the potion slid down his throat, Felix’s features began to shift. His crimson eyes gradually faded, replaced by a deep, ocean-like blue.

***

“Breaking news! Massive news! Someone drowned in Lake Celestara last night! Have you heard?!”

“What?! No way! What happened?”

“I saw it myself this morning! A bunch of teachers were gathered by the lakeshore—there were two people lying there! One of them was already dead, the other barely hanging on!”

“I know about this! I squeezed through the crowd just in time to hear the survivor screaming, ‘The red-eyed devil! The red-eyed devil!’ He looked completely out of his mind, like he’d gone insane. Scared the hell out of me!”

Early in the morning, Loewen stepped into the cafeteria and was immediately greeted by the buzzing chatter of students. Everyone seemed to be worked up over something. After listening in for a bit, he gathered that there’d been some kind of accident the night before.

At Charles Academy, news like this never died down quickly. And sure enough, even when the bell rang for class, the whispers hadn’t stopped—students kept craning their necks and exchanging gossip, unable to focus.

Ms. Rossi swept her wand through the air, and the classroom instantly fell silent. The talkative students’ voices were snuffed out as if by magic—quite literally.

“Today, we will be learning the basics of wind element control,” she announced calmly.

Loewen gripped his wand tightly, his eyes fixed on the feather lying on the desk, staring so intently it looked like he was trying to bore a hole through it.

Half the class had already gone by. He’d chanted the spell so many times his tongue felt raw, but the feather remained stubbornly still.

Defeated, Loewen rested his chin on the edge of the desk like a sulking puppy. Bored, he blew a light breath at the feather.

To his surprise, the feather fluttered up into the air, buoyed by the faint breeze. It lifted off the desk and drifted lazily toward the front of the classroom—but halfway there, it suddenly folded back, wobbling straight toward his nose.

Before he could dodge, the feather brushed his face, making him sneeze uncontrollably.

The feather danced away, spinning in midair like it had a mind of its own, then came swooping back toward him again.

Loewen reached out to catch it, but the mischievous feather darted away once more, just out of reach.

Only then did Loewen realize something was off. He glanced sideways, sharp as a blade—and sure enough, caught sight of Felix wearing that unmistakably mischievous grin.

The feather, after a few elegant twirls in the air, finally fluttered down and landed squarely on top of Loewen’s head.

Loewen narrowed his eyes. “Having fun?”

Felix shrugged, smile widening. “Quite a lot.”

Without waiting for a response, Felix leaned forward, reaching out to pluck the feather from Loewen’s head. His fingers brushed lightly through Loewen’s smooth, silken hair. For some reason, a strange itch flickered in his chest — as if the feather had tickled him instead.

Loewen rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with the troublemaker.

Felix tilted his head, chin resting on his arms as he carefully peeked over. “Miss Flenqi, are you mad at me?”

Loewen didn’t reply.

“Miss Flenqi, I’m sorry. Don’t be angry with me.” Felix poked Loewen’s arm gently with the tip of his wand.

“Stop fussing,” Loewen suddenly raised his hand and placed it on Felix’s head, rubbing it twice. The gesture was entirely subconscious, just like how he used to comfort his mischievous cat back in his previous life.

Felix froze for half a second, holding his breath as if afraid to scare something away. Then he slowly let out a breath. A soft, warm feeling quietly spread in his chest.

Loewen, oblivious to the subtle shift in Felix’s mood, furrowed his brow and fell back into thought.

There was no doubt about it. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t master elemental control—not to mention the other, far more complex spells that lay ahead.

Was he really going to stand there during the year-end evaluation and watch himself score zero across the board?

Loewen refused to accept that.

He needed another way…

The bell rang, marking the end of class. The session on wind element control had finally come to a close.

Most of the students had already filed out of the classroom, but Qixiu was still sitting frozen at her desk, staring blankly at the feather before her.

Loewen slung his books under one arm and walked past her row, casually glancing over. “Why’re you still here?”

Qixiu lifted her head at his voice, her eyes dim and expression heavy.

Loewen immediately slowed his steps, sensing something was wrong. “What’s up?”

Qixiu lowered her gaze again. She slumped like a wilted flower. “Nothing…”

“Tell me. What’s bothering you?”

She hesitated for a long moment, then finally mumbled, “It’s just… this spell is too hard. I don’t think I can do it.”

Loewen let out a soft chuckle. “That’s no big deal. You’ll get better with practice.”

Qixiu lowered her head even further. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Actually… when I stood before the Sacred Spring, my reflection was blurry. My magic aptitude isn’t very good.”

Loewen’s eyes softened slightly. He said, “Well, don’t worry. No matter how bad you are, I’ll always be worse.”

As he spoke, he reached out and gently patted her head.

“T-Thank you, Miss Flenqi… for comforting me,” Qixiu murmured shyly, her voice so soft it almost vanished into the air. “I’ll try harder. And… you won’t be at the bottom.”

Standing right next to them, Felix’s face darkened visibly. His chest felt stuffy, like something was wedged there.

So… does Miss Flenqi pat everyone’s head like that?

“We should go,” he suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Loewen’s arm without warning, and started dragging him toward the door.

“Hey! What the heck?” Loewen stumbled from the force of it. He wasn’t strong enough to break free and had no choice but to hurry along, half-running to keep up.

“We’re going to be late for the next class!”

“I know! Let go of me!”

Felix slowed down a little bit, but still didn’t lose his grip. “Professor Prins is too strict. I really don’t want to be punished by him.”