The Anomaly's Path

The rhythmic shake of my watch did not stop. I stared at the blinking screen, my forehead tight with a frown.

Morgana.

”What does that lazy woman want at this hour?” I said, a wave of irritation cutting through my tiredness.

She had been dumping her paperwork on me for the past few days, and now she was calling me in the middle of the night. Accepting my fate with a sharp click of my tongue, I tapped the watch to connect the channel.

Before I could even open my mouth to complain, her voice cut through the static, completely flat and utterly demanding.

”Where are you?”

”Near the dorms,” I replied, my tone dry and sarcastic. ”Where normal people are when the sun is not up.”

”Do not play games with me, Leo. I know you are in the Magic Tower City. Tell me exactly where you are right now.”

”I just told you—”

”Training hall. The auxiliary sector on the east side of the Arcane Academy grounds,” she cut in, leaving no room for argument. ”Get here. Now.”

”Wait, hold on, which training hall—”

”Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Click.

The line went dead.

I stared at the blank screen, a vein near my temple throbbing. ”That crazy woman,” I growled into the empty hall, throwing my hands up. ”She did not even send the map! Am I supposed to find the place by magic?!”

_

It took me nearly twenty minutes of wandering through the winding paths of the east side to find the building. By the time I stood before the heavy iron doors, my patience was gone. I stopped outside, taking a deep breath to calm down.

Leo, calm down, I told myself. You are not going to murder your instructor tonight. Not that you actually have the power to do it anyway.

[A very realistic thought, Host,] Nova’s voice chimed in. [Though I like the ambition.]

One day, I thought with a dark promise. One day I will bury that woman in paperwork. And I will make Roan pay for it too, just for fun.

Pushing past my useless thoughts, I grabbed the heavy handle and shoved the door open, stepping into the big, high-ceilinged room.

Then, my feet stopped moving against the smooth floor. My jaw dropped a little, my brain completely freezing as my eyes tried to process the scene unfolding in the center of the brightly lit arena.

”Hey, Nova...” I muttered, my voice completely hollow. ”Am I looking at a hallucination right now, or have I actually lost my mind from lack of sleep?”

[You lost your mind a long time ago, Host,] Nova replied, his voice full of amusement. [But what you are seeing is real.]

In the center of the training grounds, two of the most powerful Transcendents I knew were rolled into a messy heap on the floor.

It was not a clash of powerful spells or strong martial moves.

Both Morgana and Lady Seren had stripped down to their training clothes and were completely tangled in a messy brawl. Their silver-blonde and dark hair flew everywhere as they pulled and dragged each other across the stone floor.

”Let go of my hair, you lazy fool!” Seren screamed, her pale violet eyes flashing with anger as she planted a bare foot on Morgana’s ribs, trying to break free.

”You bit me first, you arrogant academy hag!” Morgana roared back, her fingers locked tightly around Seren’s silver hair, her jaw clamped shut as they rolled over again, slamming into a row of wooden training weapons.

I stood by the entrance, my face completely blank.

The sight was so absurd it was hard to believe. These were low-rank Transcendents — beings who could destroy city blocks with a flick of their wrists, and they were trading childish insults while trying to gouge each other’s eyes out on the cold stone floor.

Should I just turn around and leave? I thought, my hand instinctively twitching back toward the door handle. They are Transcendents. There’s no way they did not sense my mana signature opening the door.

I let out a tired sigh, knowing escape was not an option. I cleared my throat loudly and stepped forward, knocking my knuckles on the iron frame.

”You called for me, Instructor?” I called out, my voice flat and completely devoid of emotion.

The two women instantly froze in place. Morgana slowly turned her head, her face covered with dust and her long dark hair entirely tangled, while Seren glared up from beneath her, her silver-blonde hair looking like a bird’s nest.

For a second, they did not move. Then, they clicked their tongues at the same time and let go with identical huffs of annoyance.

”Hmph. Ruined the match,” Morgana muttered, rolling backward onto her feet and grabbing a jacket from a nearby bench. She threw it over her shoulders, leaving the front completely unzipped and loose as she stretched her arms.

Lady Seren stood up smoothly, dusting off her shorts before shaking out her messy silver-blonde hair. She did not look embarrassed at all, instead, she gave Morgana a sharp, mocking grin. ”I’m leaving to grab some coffee for myself. My energy is completely wasted dealing with a brute.”

”Hey, bring one for me too,” Morgana barked, dropping heavily onto a nearby bench.

”Get it yourself, you parasite,” Seren shot back, her violet eyes crinkling with petty satisfaction. ”Or better yet, tell your star student to fetch it for you. He looks like he actually understands basic manners, unlike his teacher.”

Morgana muttered curses under her breath as Seren gave a small, victorious laugh and swept out of the hall, the doors clicking shut behind her.

The room fell quiet.

Morgana leaned her head back against the wall, her chest still heaving. After a moment, she turned her sharp gaze to me and gestured to the empty spot beside her.

”Sit down, kid,” she said.

I walked over, keeping my movements deliberate as I sat down at the edge of the bench. ”What was that about, Instructor?”

”Nothing you need to worry about,” she replied smoothly. She turned to face me, her bored look gone, replaced by something serious. ”Do you know why I chose this academy for the exchange trip, Leo?”

I frowned slightly, matching her gaze. ”To build relations between the institutions, I assume.”

Morgana let out a short, dry laugh. ”Aegis had other offers. Better places, richer areas. But I chose the Arcane Academy because of you.”

”Because of me?”

”You lack elemental control,” she said bluntly, her eyes narrowing at my chest.

”During the Gate tournament, you almost blew your own mana paths apart trying to handle that strange... flame of yours. You are reckless, Leo, but your main problem is not your attitude — it is your precision. You do not control your affinities well, and that will kill you before the enemies do.”

She leaned in closer, her dark eyes locked on mine.

”I have watched your fights. I know how strong you are. I have seen your raw power when you push yourself. But you are a mess. Look at the other top students — they have far better control. There are some exceptions, like Roan, who never uses his affinity but is strong enough to rip monsters apart without it. But you are not him. You rely on your affinities, yet you never use them properly.”

”...”

”Your process is slow. Every time you try to combine your Lightning or Space affinity, you have to force them to work together. That delay is a big weakness. Do you know how long you can survive like that? In a real war, that split second of poor control is when a blade cuts your throat.”

I stayed quiet, my jaw tightening as her words hit home. She was not wrong. The Soul Flame was a hungry, unstable force.

Sure, my control over my affinities was much better than before — Nova had told me my body had adapted to the Soul Flame after the tournament, and my mana paths had stretched to jump me from Expert Low to Expert High.

But that did not mean I could fully control it.

It just meant I could survive it. The flame was still dangerous.

If I could master this power, I could fold space, teleport, and burn without nearly destroying myself every time.

But I was not there yet.

I still had to check my stats and the new skills Nova had mentioned before I could understand what I was truly capable of. My Lightning was easier to control because it came from my bloodline. My Space affinity was getting better with practice.

But the Soul Flame?

That was a different beast entirely. It did not obey like the others. It had to be fought, wrestled, and contained every single day.

”That woman who just left — Seren,” Morgana went on, her voice carrying a rare trace of respect.

”She is annoying, but her control over fire is the best in the world. She is a mage through and through. I can teach you how to break a man’s skull in twelve ways, but my affinity is War. It is about conflict, violence, and battle — not control or precision. I cannot teach you how to tame a wild core or balance unstable elements. That is not what I do. But she can. She can help you improve your control over your affinities and teach you how to manage the chaos inside your core in ways I never could.”

I blinked. War affinity? That is a Conceptual Affinity. One of the rarest types. No wonder she is so strong. And no wonder she cannot teach me control.

But then another thought came. She does not do things for free. She is not the type to waste time on students she does not care about. So why is she doing this?

”I appreciate the thought, Instructor,” I said, my brow furrowing as I looked at her. ”But what do you get out of this? You do not do anything without a reason. Why go through all this trouble just to fix my control?”

Morgana stared at me for a long beat, before leaning her head back against the wooden frame. ”I’m not doing this out of charity, kid. And it’s not just about you.”

”Then what is it?”

”Your grandfather,” she said flatly.

The name hit the quiet room like a weight. Zephyr von Celestial.

”Do you really think that old man does not know about every reckless thing you do?” Morgana asked, a faint smile on her lips.

”He knows how close you came to dying. And besides... I owe him a debt. A lot of people owe their lives to your grandfather’s sword. I am one of them. This is my way of paying it back.”

I sat in silence, my mind turning. I knew the old man was a Sovereign, a legend from the Great Gate Incursion twelve years ago.

But I had always seen him as a dangerous lunatic who almost killed me during our spar. To hear Morgana — a Transcendent who looked down on almost everyone, speak of him with such heavy respect was strange.

”Is that old man really that great?” I muttered aloud, the question slipping out before I could stop it.

Before Morgana could answer, the heavy doors swung open again.

Seren stepped back into the hall, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She took a slow sip, her hair still messy but her posture regal once more. Her eyes moved down to me, a knowing smile spreading across her lips as she heard my words.

”You really have no idea how scary your grandfather actually is, do you, little bird?” Seren said smoothly, her voice echoing through the quiet hall.