The tall woman led Evan through halls lined with carvings of glowing runes. Their shine pulsed rhythmically like a heartbeat. Robed students stepped aside when they saw her and bowed respectfully. She clearly held authority in this place.

“What is your name” Evan asked quietly “I should know who is pulling me through a magic building”

“Serin Vaelor” she replied “Vice commander of the Royal Arcane Guard and senior instructor at the academy And you Evan Hartley the man who can change the world with vowel length”

Evan grimaced at the way she said it like she was reciting prophecy. “I really do not think I did anything world changing I just fixed sloppy articulation The boy was using backward tongue posture his airflow collapsed halfway through the second syllable”

Serin looked at him with disbelief “Our academy has argued for decades about why spells fail We studied mana density emotional balance lung capacity intent and posture but never the mouth itself You saw the truth instantly”

They reached a large set of wooden doors carved with symbols that hummed like insects. Serin pressed her palm against a circle and the doors opened inward revealing a vast chamber filled with scrolls crystals maps and floating spheres of rotating runes. At the center stood a man with silver hair and deep blue robes. His presence felt heavy not threatening but immense like he carried an entire library inside his mind.

“Master Arilon” Serin said bowing “We have a visitor”

The man turned his eyes sharp yet warm “You are the one who altered the fire spell of apprentice Dalen”

“I did not alter the spell” Evan said calmly “I adjusted how he spoke it”

Arilon stroked his beard “Explain”

Evan felt his instincts kick in. Teaching was his comfort zone. He raised a hand pointing to his mouth.

“Magic is spoken here right The spell structure requires specific sounds If the consonants are unclear the spell loses its shape If the vowels are too short the airflow collapses If the rhythm is off the mana pacing falls apart”

Arilon stared at him long and slow “You speak of spell structure like a master linguist not a foreign wanderer”

“I am a speech therapist” Evan repeated “I teach articulation tone control and voice structure This is literally what I do”

Arilon stepped closer “And you believe magic depends on these things”

“I do not believe it” Evan said “I just watched it happen You saw the explosion outside That was not magic That was good pronunciation”

The room fell silent even the floating runes dimmed as if listening.

Arilon finally exhaled “Show me Demonstrate your theory”

He gestured to a floating crystal that projected a training dummy across the room.

“Serin Use a basic Gale Burst spell”

Serin nodded raised her hand and spoke “Vel saro thall”

A gust of wind shot out but weak scattered like a tired sigh.

Arilon turned to Evan “Improve it”

Evan stepped closer studying her lips. “Your first consonant is too soft your tongue is sitting far back and you are shortening the vowel again Keep it forward Keep the airflow steady Try again Hold the middle vowel longer”

Serin lifted her hand again focusing hard

“Vel saaaaro thall”

The chamber howled with violent wind A blast tore across the room slamming the dummy into the wall and detonating it into fragments.

Arilon flinched
Serin staggered
Evan stood still because he had been expecting it

Arilon whispered “You increased the spell by over one hundred percent”

Evan felt heat crawl into his cheeks “That is not me Serin did the work I only corrected her articulation”

Arilon stepped back as if the ground beneath him had shifted “You must join the academy Your knowledge is beyond any magic instructor we have Your insight could rewrite the core spell curriculum”

Evan raised his hands “Hold on I do not even know where I am I do not know how I arrived here I do not know your laws or customs or anything and now you want me to teach magic articulation to an entire school”

Serin spoke softly “Evan you may not understand yet but what you know is priceless Mages here rely on instinct and tradition but your voice carries the logic none of our teachers developed”

Arilon nodded “We will give you a place to live a role in the academy and protection You will not be forced to teach but I will beg you to consider it Because one thing is certain your skills do not belong to chance They belong to destiny”

Evan rubbed his forehead the weight of everything pressing down on him but behind the panic a small spark of confidence flickered because teaching was the one thing he always knew how to do The only thing he believed he was truly good at

He looked at Arilon “If I teach I want access to your spell archives I want to study your incantations their structures their pacing their phonetics If I do this I need to understand your entire language system”

Arilon smiled for the first time “Then we are aligned For the first time in centuries someone speaks of magic like it is a language not a mystery”

Serin placed a hand on Evan’s shoulder “Welcome to the academy Evan Hartley or maybe I should say welcome to the place you are about to change forever”

Evan exhaled slowly as the weight settled into something almost solid This was not his world and not his job and not his plan but it was a place where his skills meant more than they ever had back home

Maybe he could help
Maybe he could teach
Maybe he could rebuild the way magic was spoken

And maybe just maybe he could survive here long enough to understand why he had arrived in the first place