---
Two Days Later
The Academy grounds had mostly been repaired, but the scars beneath the surface remained.
Class schedules resumed. Professors pretended the incident was an anomaly. But among the elite, there was a shift—a quiet tension threading through each corridor.
Everyone sensed it.
Something had changed.
And at the heart of that change was Harvey.
---
Harvey's Dorm – The Silent Strategy
Harvey sat alone in his room, walls covered with floating rune-screens—each glowing with system data, historical records, and soulprints of key figures within the Academy and beyond.
The system spoke in a hushed tone.
> [Spell-Mimicry Upgrade Complete.]
[You can now store and evolve up to 5 spells beyond your affinity type.]
He didn't smile. He rarely did.
Instead, he tapped a symbol at the edge of the projection.
A face appeared: Zane Helbrecht, the upcoming Student Council Vice-President. Charismatic. Dangerous. Closely tied to the Tower Guilds.
> "We'll start with him," Harvey said.
> "Are you certain?" the system asked. "He's backed by the Gilded Council."
> "Which makes him a perfect piece to break."
---
Sylvia's Decision
Sylvia hadn't spoken to Harvey since the fight.
Her body still ached, but it wasn't pain that kept her away. It was doubt.
His words kept replaying in her head:
> "I needed to see if you'd break like she did."
Elowen.
She'd researched the name.
What she found was fragmented—a myth, a bloodline, a woman burned by betrayal and erased from official history.
> "So I'm part of something ancient… something hunted."
She stood in front of Harvey's dorm.
Knocked once.
He opened the door.
Eyes met. Silence lingered.
> "I want in," she said.
> "You're sure?" he asked.
> "No," she admitted. "But if I walk away now… I'll never forgive myself."
> "Then come in. We have work to do."
---
The Chains You Choose
Harvey handed her a glowing shard—silver-blue, with strange runes embedded in the core.
> "What is this?" Sylvia asked.
> "A contract. Not magical. Not legal. But binding, in a way you'll understand soon."
> "I'm not selling my soul, am I?"
> "Only staking it."
She took it.
The system chimed softly:
> [Sylvia Alowen has joined your Command Tree.]
[New synergy path unlocked: Blade & Strategist.]
Harvey looked at her.
For a moment—just one—his expression softened.
> "I never planned to fight this war with anyone at my side," he said. "But maybe I was wrong."
> "Or maybe," Sylvia replied, "you're just tired of pretending to be alone."
---
The Council Watches
Far above the mortal world, inside a floating cathedral lit by ever-burning starlight, seven thrones stood.
Only four were filled.
One, a shadowed woman with crimson eyes.
One, a boy no older than seventeen, dressed in white with eyes like void.
One, a withered man clutching a crystal heart.
And the last… an empty suit of armor that moved when no one watched.
A mirror before them shimmered—showing Harvey.
> "He's moving," the crimson-eyed woman said.
> "The Spellbreaker lives again," whispered the boy.
> "Let him climb," the armored one said. "Let him suffer first."
---