Chapter 5: The Second

Chapter 5: The Second Awakening

Ashton’s eyes snapped open.

He inhaled sharply, his lungs filling as though he had

just surfaced from deep water.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Didn’t think.

His vision was blurry, his mind clouded with fragments of crimson eyes and suffocating darkness.

Then the sounds around him slowly sharpened.

Whispers.

Murmurs.

The faint hum of magical energy.

And when his eyes focused—

His entire body went rigid.

He was back in the Resonance Chamber.

The crystal pedestal stood at the center of the room,

glowing softly.

The thirty-one students were gathered exactly where they had been before.

And standing near the front—

Fiona had just stepped away from the crystal, golden traces of Light Magic still fading into the air.

Ashton’s heart nearly stopped.

No.

His breathing quickened.

His eyes darted around the room.

Milvore was still standing near the wall.

The instructors were in the same positions.

The students were reacting exactly as they had moments before.

This was the precise moment before he had secretly slipped away into the forest.

His mind raced.

What is this?

Did I dream everything?

No…

His hand instinctively clenched.

The memory was too vivid.

The pressure.

The shadow.

The crimson eyes.

And that name—

Elsinore.

Even now, just recalling it sent a chill through his body.

Then another thought hit him.

The shadow’s final words.

“The seal is breaking…”

Ashton swallowed hard.

This was real.

Whatever had happened in that forest—

Whatever that creature was—

It had happened.

And somehow…

He had been sent back.

Before he could process it further, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Ashton Zephyr .”

Darius stood beside the crystal, watching him.

“It’s your turn.”

The room turned toward him.

Dozens of eyes stared his way.

Ashton stiffened.

For a second, he considered refusing.

But that would only attract suspicion.

He exhaled slowly and forced himself to move.

Step by step, he approached the pedestal.

The crystal pulsed faintly as if reacting to his presence.

A strange unease crawled down his spine.

The moment he reached out—

His fingers hesitated.

Then he placed his hand on the crystal.

Instantly, a powerful current surged through his body.

It felt like plunging into freezing water and burning fire at the same time.

Magic.

Raw.

Ancient.

Wild.

It rushed through his veins, flooding every part of him.

His vision darkened.

And then—

A voice echoed inside his mind.

Low.

Familiar.

The same layered voice from the forest.

“Suppress it.”

Ashton’s eyes widened.

What?

“Do not reveal your true potential.”

The voice was calm, commanding.

“Let only a fragment of your mana flow.”

His heart pounded.

It was that thing.

The shadow.

“Do as I say.”

Confusion swirled inside him.

Why should he listen?

Who was this voice?

Yet deep within—

Some instinct urged him to obey.

As though his body trusted it even if his mind did not.

“Focus.”

The voice sharpened.

“Channel only the smallest thread of mana into the crystal.”

Ashton hesitated.

Then, despite every question screaming in his head—

He obeyed.

He forced himself to restrain the overwhelming torrent of power surging inside him.

Compressed it.

Buried it.

Allowed only a tiny fraction to escape through his palm.

The crystal reacted instantly.

A beam of light shot upward.

The chamber gasped.

But unlike Fiona’s radiant gold or Milvore’s blazing

scarlet—

This light was different.

It shimmered between silver and black.

Like moonlight drowning in shadow.

The beam twisted unnaturally, flickering as though struggling to decide its form.

The crystal began trembling violently.

Cracks spread across its surface.

Seraphine’s eyes widened.

Darius stepped back in alarm.

“What is this—?”

The room fell deathly silent.

Then—

Above Ashton’s head, stars slowly formed.

One.

Two.

And then they stopped.

A dark symbol appeared beneath them.

The chamber erupted into whispers.

Seraphine stared in disbelief.

“Impossible…”

Darius looked pale.

He read the crystal’s result aloud, his voice uncertain.

“Dual Affinity…”

He swallowed hard.

“Two-Star…”

The room held its breath.

Then he finished.

“Light and Black Magic.”

Silence.

Utter silence.

The words hit the chamber like thunder.

Then chaos exploded.

“WHAT?!”

“Both?!”

“That’s even possible?!”

“No way!”

Students stared at Ashton as if seeing him for the first time.

Some looked amazed.

Others horrified.

Fiona’s eyes widened with disbelief.

Milvore narrowed his gaze.

Even Seraphine, who had remained composed through everything, looked shaken.

Dual affinity alone was extraordinarily rare.

But Light and Black Magic—

Two fundamentally opposing forces—

Existing within one person?

It defied everything they knew.

Ashton stood frozen.

Inside his mind, the shadow’s voice whispered once more.

“Good.”

A cold chill ran down his spine.

“Now let the game begin.”

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