Introduction to magic

Aria’s POV:

The walk through Ebonveil feels endless. Every hallway looks older than the last, carved from stone that seems to swallow the light instead of reflect it. Massive arched windows line the corridors, but the gray sky outside barely reaches in. Everything here feels heavy. Alive. Like the academy itself is watching me.

“You’ll get used to the staring eventually,” Elara says without looking at me.

“I doubt it.”

A group of students passes us, their voices lowering the second they notice me. Some look curious. While others look cautious.

A few even outright afraid. I hate that one the most.

“What exactly did they tell people about me?” I mutter.

Elara shrugs. “Enough.”

We descend another staircase, deeper into the academy. The air grows warmer here, carrying the faint scent of smoke and something metallic underneath it. Magic. At least, that’s the only word my brain can come up with.

“Are you in the same classes as me?” I ask.

Elara glances over. “No.”

“Then why are you escorting me?”

“Because Headmaster Vale asked me to.”

The answer feels incomplete. Before I can ask anything else, she stops outside a pair of enormous doors marked with silver symbols twisting across the wood.

“Introduction to Magic,” she says.

I stare at her.

“You’re putting me in a magic class?”

Her mouth twitches slightly, almost amused. “Where else would we put you?”

Fair point I guess. The second the doors open, conversation dies. The room becomes completely silent. Dozens of eyes swing toward me. Well isn’t this just fantastic. I’m already the outcast.

The classroom is enormous, shaped almost like an amphitheater with curved rows circling a lower center floor. Strange glowing crystals float near the ceiling, casting silver-blue light across the room. It’s beautiful. The atmosphere buzzes. Not socially. Literally. Magic hums through the air so thickly I can almost taste it. My skin prickles instantly.

“You’re late,” the professor says from the center of the room.

He is tall and severe looking, wearing a long silver robe. His eyes linger on me a second too long.

“Take a seat.”

Right. Because blending in is definitely still an option. I move down the steps carefully, hyperaware of every stare following me.

Most seats are occupied already. Except for one near the middle where a girl with short dark curly hair waves enthusiastically.

“Here!” she whispers loudly.

I blink. Well she seems very friendly. That’s unexpected. Cautiously, I slide into the seat beside her.

“Hi,” she says immediately. “You’re the new girl everybody’s freaking out about.”

I stare at her.

She grins.

“I’m Crystal.”

“…Aria.”

“I know.”

Of course she does. Unlike everyone else, Crystal doesn’t look nervous around me. If anything, she looks excited.

“You’re in Veilbound tier, right?” she asks.

I stiffen slightly. “Apparently.”

“Ouch.”

“That bad?”

Her expression says absolutely. Great. Before I can ask more, the professor claps his hands once.

“Welcome,” he says smoothly, pacing across the center floor. “Introduction to Magic is mandatory for all first-years regardless of lineage. Here, you will learn control, history, discipline, and survival.”

His gaze flicks briefly to me on the last word. He is subtle at all.

“Now,” Crystal whispers beside me, leaning closer, “before class starts, I should probably explain the social suicide maze you just got dropped into.”

I glance at her cautiously. “Please do.”

She lights up immediately.

“Okay, so the academy is separated into tiers.”

I already hate where this is going.

“The highest is the Sovereign Tier,” she says. “Basically royalty. Untouchable. Everyone worships the ground they walk on.”

Her tone makes it clear she finds that ridiculous.

“Who’s in it?”

Crystal blinks at me.

“You seriously don’t know?”

“I got kidnapped like twelve hours ago, Crystal.”

“Right. Fair.”

She leans in slightly anyway, lowering her voice dramatically.

“Lucien Blackwell. Vampire heir.”

The name settles strangely in my chest.

“Jasper Ashwyck. Fae heir.”

Another strange flicker.

“We all hate him because he’s beautiful and knows it.”

I snort before I can stop myself.

“And Archer Nightblade. Werewolf heir.”

Something twists low in my stomach at the name. The feeling is sharp and immediate. Crystal doesn’t notice thankfully.

“And then there’s Lorie Hawthorne.”

Her voice changes slightly at that one.

More careful.

“She’s witch royalty. Comes from the Hawthorne Coven.”

Even I’ve heard of them. The strongest witch bloodline in existence.

“She’s terrifying,” Crystal continues. “And completely obsessed with the Sovereign boys.”

“Boys?”

“They’re all insanely powerful, insanely attractive, and basically academy legends.” She pauses. “Which unfortunately made them impossible to humble.”

I glance around. “People actually worship them?”

Crystal gives me a look.

“You’ll see.”

That somehow isn’t reassuring.

“The tier below them is Ascendant,” she continues. “The social climbers. Rich families, strong bloodlines, future political alliances. Most of them spend their lives trying to impress Sovereigns.”

“And Standard?”

“The majority of us.” She gestures between herself and the room. “Normal supernatural students.”

Then her expression shifts slightly.

“And then…”

“Veilbound,” I finish quietly.

Crystal nods.

“It’s… complicated.”

“That sounds bad.”

“It means the academy considers you dangerous enough to monitor closely.”

Wonderful.

“And the Veilbound students?” I ask.

“Usually unstable abilities. Forbidden magic. Violent histories. Unknown bloodlines.” She hesitates. “Things people fear.”

My chest tightens slightly.

Right.

That tracks.

“Miss Veyne,” the professor suddenly says sharply.

I blink. Ohhh crap. He’s talking to me. Every eye shifts toward me again.

“You seem distracted already. Perhaps you’d like to explain the first principle of magic?”

I stare at him blankly.

“I’ve been here for less than an hour.”

A few students laugh quietly.

The professor does not.

“The first principle,” he says coldly, “is control. Without it, power becomes destruction.”

His gaze lingers meaningfully on me. Tension coils instantly in my stomach.

Right. He is definitely talking about me.

“Magic,” he continues, turning away, “is not emotion. It is not instinct. It is discipline.”

Something about those words feels wrong.

Deeply wrong. Because whatever happened to me…It felt exactly like instinct. The glowing crystals overhead flicker slightly. Just once. No one else notices. But I do. And suddenly that pressure returns. Awakening in my veins. My fingers tighten against the desk. Not now. Please not now.

Crystal glances at me. “You okay?”

I force a nod. The magic in the room hums louder against my skin. And somewhere deep inside me keeps growing stronger and stronger.