Chapter 16: A Month Passed, but Frost isn’t Melted

Arthur woke before the first bell, the way he had been doing every morning for the past month. The Eros Codex rested warm against his ribs like a second heartbeat. Talia’s breeding pact still felt new, but he had already grown used to waking up to the quiet promise of her tail curled around his waist whenever he needed her. He pulled on his training uniform and slipped the black book into his coat.

Mimi appeared on the foot of the bed, rubbing her eyes with small fists. Her pale rose hair was a mess, the obsidian orchid petals of her skirt slightly crooked. She looked exactly like the sleepy little consciousness she claimed to be.

"Why are we going to the training ground so early?" she grumbled. "I was having a nice dream about eating sweets on the ceiling."

Arthur ignored her and headed for the exit. "I want to test something."

The training platform was empty except for the faint glow of runes. Arthur stopped in the center and closed his eyes. The second page of the Eros Codex glowed softly. The timer read 178 days remaining. Mimi read the number over his shoulder.

"Tier 6 Grimoire," she said, suddenly serious. "Heavenfall Cyclone. Master Magic. You’re not supposed to use anything above tier 5 yet. This is still a temporary print."

Arthur didn’t answer. He pushed the large mana pool inside him to its limit and let the ability answer.

The sky above the platform darkened. A vortex of black and gold energy formed around him, howling like a storm. Arthur felt every particle of mana being ripped from his body, drawn into the cyclone at terrifying speed. His vision blurred. His limbs became weightless. He was spun upward, tumbling through the air as the ground dropped away.

Mimi’s voice rang out from the side, bright with laughter.

"I told you not to do it! You’re going to—"

The cyclone slammed into the edge of the floating platform. Arthur flew backward in a spinning spiral, crashing through the academy’s outer barrier and into open sky. Wind howled past his ears. He was helpless, spinning faster and faster, mana drained so completely that his Mana Skin could not even form.

A distant giggle echoed.

Arthur’s body tumbled through clouds. The academy was long gone. He was falling, fast, toward a distant forest below. The ground rushed up.

Mimi’s voice cut through the roar.

"Master! Mana Skin! You still have some left!"

But he couldn’t. His pool was empty. His arms hung limp. He was going to die—

A soft pink-gold layer formed around his body. The vortex loosened its grip. Arthur felt himself gently lowered to the forest floor, feet touching grass. He opened his eyes and stared up at the sky, still stunned.

Mimi hovered above him, wings beating, looking smug.

"You can use Eros mana? Since when?"

"Since now," she said proudly. "You’ll learn it too, but it’ll take a lot longer. For now, enjoy the fact that I saved your useless life."

Arthur stood, legs shaky, and looked back toward the distant academy spires. The black book in his coat pulsed once, as if agreeing with Mimi’s teasing.

A month had passed since that morning.

Core Mana Mechanics, Sensory Synesthesia, and Frequency Tuning now filled his schedule. The first two were still theory-heavy. The third, Frequency Tuning, was the one that actually mattered. Every mage vibrated at their own unique magical frequency. Mixing two different frequencies usually caused explosive backlash. The academy taught students how to change their personal wavelength to match someone else’s so they could combine spells without destroying everything around them.

Both classes were taught by young male instructors who looked like they belonged on the cover of academy pamphlets. One had silver hair and a calm voice. The other had short black hair and a perpetual smirk.

Arthur had formed a tight group of his own.

Milo Sterling, the easy-going Royal Knight Grimoire holder who never bragged but always finished first in spars.

Iris Blackthorn, the princess who still kept her noble mask around everyone except the three of them. With them she let her shoulders drop, her posture soften, and her smile slip out for real. She still refused to be called by her first name in public, but in private she was just Iris.

Arthur’s relationship with Selene Frost had grown even closer. He visited her office almost every afternoon now, asking about compression theory, density principles, and the hidden rules of mana flow. She never complained. She simply taught him more than the class ever did.

Today was another such afternoon.

Arthur sat in the front row of Selene’s office, notebook open, listening as she explained the latest breakthrough in inward pressure control.

Selene’s voice suddenly cut off mid-sentence. Her face drained of color. The ice-blue eyes widened in alarm. She looked toward the door like she had seen a ghost.

"Vance. Out. Now."

"What happened? Are you okay?" He face was going pale.

Selene moved fast. She reached into her robe, pulled out a small violet stone, and crushed it between her fingers.

The air in the room shattered.

A swirling violet portal ripped open right beside the desk.

From Inside came the silver-haired little girl from the sorting ceremony. She was sitting on the desk, legs swinging, a half-eaten candy still in her mouth. Her red eyes flicked from Selene to Arthur and back.

The little girl snapped her fingers.

Arthur felt the world fold around him.

One moment he was in the office. The next he was standing outside the Dawn dormitory, the academy spires long gone behind him. The floating bridges, the training grounds, everything vanished. He was back on the lower street where the academy had once been.

The black book in his coat pulsed sharply.

Mimi’s voice suddenly filled his mind, no longer teasing, no longer playful.

"Master... that little girl is really dangerous."

"How strong is she?" I asked, curious.

"Her? She can defeat every other instructors of the academy together in one shot."

Arthur looked around at the familiar rooftops and cold stone streets, the sense of wrongness thick in the air, and felt a chill he hadn’t felt since the first Choosing.