Chapter 3

The hallway outside the First-Year Basic Magic classroom smelled like chalk and nervous sweat.

Professor Alden walked beside Seraphina. He kept his voice low, adopting the tone of a grief counselor.

"You need time away from the advanced curriculum," Alden said, patting her shoulder. "I'm assigning you here as a teaching assistant. Your only job is to sit in, relax, and perhaps help struggling students like Elara. No pressure."

Seraphina's heart did a happy leap in her chest. A basic class meant nap time.

She kept her face blank. She lowered her chin and nodded slowly, acting as if the demotion was a heavy cross to bear. "I understand, Professor. I'll try not to be a burden."

Alden gave her a sad smile and walked away.

Seraphina pushed open the back door of the lecture hall.

The loud chatter inside died instantly. Fifty first-year students turned their heads. Their eyes widened with awe and fear. Seraphina Vanguard, the prodigy, the untouchable genius, was standing in their classroom.

Seraphina didn't walk to the front podium. She dragged her feet up the stairs to the very last row, pulled out a chair in the darkest corner, and slumped into it. She sprawled her legs out and rested her chin on her palm.

Down in the front row, Elara turned around. Her eyes narrowed.

Elara tapped the side of her leg, secretly activating a System Item: Aura of Pity. A faint, colorless ripple of psychological suggestion slithered across the floorboards, snaking its way up the back stairs toward Seraphina's chair. It was designed to subconsciously influence everyone in the room, making them perceive the target's aura as repressed, pathetic, and utterly broken, thereby triggering a wave of condescending sympathy. Seraphina felt the cold, invasive tickle of the mental manipulation brushing against her consciousness. It felt like a slimy bug trying to crawl into her mind.

She didn't summon a shield. She didn't fight back. Instead, she inhaled deeply, pulling every single drop of her mana inward, compressing it into the dense, heavy void of Chaos. To the outside world, she became a black hole.

The System's invisible tentacles of influence hit her absolute void and found absolutely nothing to latch onto.

Elara's blue panel flashed violently. Target Mana Level: 0. Logic Error. Target is a null.

Elara gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She actually believed it. She thought Seraphina's breakdown had shattered her magical core.

Seraphina smirked behind her hand. She laid her head flat on the cool wooden desk and closed her eyes.

A chubby first-year boy sitting at the desk next to her nervously slid a wrapped peppermint candy across the wood.

"F-for you, Senior," he stuttered, his face bright red.

Seraphina opened one eye. She grabbed the candy, unwrapped it with one hand, and popped it into her mouth. "Thanks, kid," she mumbled around the mint.

The boy looked like he was going to pass out from joy. The other students exchanged confused glances. The Ice Queen was eating cheap candy and slouching.

The front doors banged open. Senior Professor Silas Vane marched in. He was a tall, severe man with eyes like chipped flint. He was the head of the Healing Faction, known for failing students who breathed too loudly.

Silas scanned the room. His eyes locked onto Seraphina slouched in the back row. A muscle feathered in his jaw, but he didn't call her out.

"Today," Silas barked, "we cover the absolute foundation of water manipulation. Condensing moisture from the air into a single, perfect sphere."

He hadn't even finished the sentence before Elara thrust her hand out.

A beautiful, spinning lotus flower made entirely of crystal-clear water bloomed in her palm. The first-years gasped in admiration.

Elara smiled modestly and turned her head, making sure Seraphina saw it. She wanted to spark jealousy.

Seraphina didn't even look up. She was busy using her fingernail to carve a smiley face into the wooden desk.

Elara's system panel remained dead. Jealousy: 0.

Elara gritted her teeth. She raised her hand. "Professor Silas?" she asked, her voice dripping with fake innocence. "If someone's magical core is... damaged... how would they perform this basic task?"

She looked directly at the back row.

Every single head in the classroom turned to stare at Seraphina. The silence was thick and suffocating.

Silas frowned deeply. He looked at Seraphina. "Assistant Seraphina. Since you are here, why don't you demonstrate the standard condensation method for the class?"

Seraphina sighed. She pushed herself up from the desk. Her joints popped loudly in the quiet room.

She held out her right hand. She squeezed her eyes shut. She held her breath until her face turned a splotchy, dark red. She made her hands shake violently, as if she were trying to lift a boulder.

She muttered a string of completely nonsensical words.

A tiny, muddy, brown drop of water materialized at the tip of her index finger.

It hung there for a second. Then, it dropped onto the desk with a pathetic splat.

The classroom was dead silent.

Silas's face turned the color of a bruised plum.

Seraphina opened her eyes, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and gave Silas a bright, stupid thumbs-up. "Nailed it."