“Are you kidding me?! What am I supposed to do with this?” Ethan said, his closed fist crashing upon a nearby tree.

  Frustration and anger dripped from his words as the impact of this strike propagated upwards, prompting detached leaves to fall from the branches. A calm wind blew, creating a slight upward draft that carried the leaves a short distance away.

  Ethan pressed his forehead against the trunk, gazing deeply into the stone. His jaw was held tight, feeling the hopelessness of it all, but he sighed soon after. He took a deep breath, letting bitterness flow out of him, flooding his peaceful surroundings.

  No point thinking about what could have been... I can only make the most of it. Still... Lux. I couldn’t have received a worse spirit.

  Lux was, by all measures, considered the worst. As a light spirit of the lowest order, its only ability was to produce light, and even then it struggled to do that much. Even with all the mana Ethan could muster at the moment—which was not that much—the best it could do would be to glow like a firefly. It couldn't even compete with the moonlight shining on Ethan at this very moment.

  Surely, there must be something I can do? Some way to utilize this spirit...

  No matter how Ethan racked his brains, he could find no such means. Lux’s very nature contradicted what Ethan needed from it. The Empire valued offensive capability above all else, yet Lux possessed none. Its only use was as a lantern, but it even failed at that. As such, it was looked down upon as the worst spirit imaginable. Ethan had even heard rumours of people committing suicide as a result of contracting one.

  Still, from what Ethan knew of it, Lux was more than it seemed, but only under specific conditions. Lux was highly similar to fireflies. In fact, its concept may very well originate from them, or maybe vice-versa.

  Lux's concept was light itself, which meant strength in numbers. On the other side of the Veil, they usually congregated with each other, creating something like a miniature sun. The more there was, the stronger they became. However, the contract stone could only house one spirit at a time, making Lux utterly useless.

  These stones were far from common, distributed only to those about to undergo the Awakening Ceremony. Ethan went to great lengths to acquire this one, bribing many officials with the earnings of his meagre salary. Unfortunately, each stone could only be used once, and trying his luck a second time was unrealistic. He could only make do with the hand he was dealt.

  After a long pause and a sigh, Ethan pushed himself off the tree trunk, unwrapping his fingers from the stone and exposing it to the moonlight. He saw a minuscule point of light swim within the stone, barely perceivable from the outside. There weren't even any signs of chains binding it, almost as if the stone exterior was enough to cage it within itself.

  Ethan reached behind his back, firmly gripping the knife hidden in his clothes before slicing open his opposing palm. Red blood began to pool in his hand as he pressed the dull stone into it, bathing it in his own blood. He stood there momentarily, waiting for the contract to be completed, yet to his surprise, nothing happened.

  Is the blood lacking? It shouldn’t be...

  Just to be safe, Ethan raised his wounded hand as he held the stone in the other one, letting his blood drain right on top of it. The dull grey stone had turned completely red, yet the expected response had still yet to happen. He only stood, mouth slightly agape as his blood was slowly leaving him.

  Why isn’t it working? I did exactly as the ceremony entailed. Once the spirit lie within the contract stone, my blood laced with mana should have sealed the deal. Did the way I acquired mana somehow change the contract?

  With a frown, Ethan plunged the bloodied stone into the nearby clear pond. He felt his hand sting as water reached the wound, yet he couldn't care less. All his attention was firmly upon the contract stone as he washed the blood away.

  The pond had turned slightly pink as the blood-free stone finally emerged, yet Ethan couldn't help but frown. Despite spilling all this blood, using up all the previous mana contained within, nothing much had changed with the stone. If anything, it became even duller, almost as if the spirit within was slowly dying.

  Why isn’t working?!

  Ethan's frustration grew. He wished for nothing more than to throw this useless stone to the bottom of the pond, only to be forgotten by the world. Not only was he plagued with a useless spirit, he couldn't even make a contract with it. Was he doomed to be forever unable to acquire magic?

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  Just as despair began to wash over him, Ethan heard some noise in the distance. His body tensed, his gaze fixed onto the slight pink water, but also his blood smeared onto the fallen leaves at his feet.

  Damn... There’s no time!

  Without wasting another second, Ethan retrieved a piece of cloth from his clothes and wrapped it around the wound, staunching the bleeding. He then jumped in the air and grabbed a sturdy branch. He swung his feet forward, creating a large arc until he gracefully flipped onto said branch. He didn't even pause before continuing his ascent, only to blend in the darkness of the tree's foliage, silently looking down onto the world below.

  “You must have imagined it. Who could possibly be here at this hour? I know you’re just trying to avoid the topic!”

  A masculine voice cut through as footsteps slowly grew louder. Only the dim light of the moon illuminated the forest, yet Ethan could see clearly from his vantage point, hidden in the darkness, and his eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

  Two individuals approached the pond, one of whom he recognized. It was the cold young woman he had noticed within the Academy some day prior, the one who seemed like a blizzard on a cold winter night. Even now, she seemed to be made of frost, looking disinterestedly forward and completely ignoring the man chasing after her.

  She wore a long white robe, completely unsuited for this dirty and humid environment, yet it remained impeccable as if nothing could mar its surface. With every step, the world seemed to freeze around her. The lush leaves froze and then shattered like shards of glass, adding to the frosted ground below her feet, allowing her passage.

  On the other hand, the man was like a fiery blaze, sporting striking red robes. His red hair seemed aflame, dancing in the slight wind, illuminating his surroundings like a lighthouse in the darkness. Ethan knew not who this man was, yet he felt strangely familiar. Somehow, he resembled the young man with the salamander he had seen some days prior. Their arrogance was similar.

  “Don’t you dare ignore me!” the man said, gripping the woman’s arm.

  He tugged on it, forcing her to turn to face him, yet her gaze was colder than ever; no hint of emotion distorted her perfect feature. Ethan felt the temperature drop even from his hidden place high above them. He could only curl up in a ball to fight the cold while the man took the full brunt.

  Frost crept up his skin, freezing him to the bone. Yet, Ethan saw a flame arose in his eyes. His red hair burned with ever-increasing force, struggling against the cold. On one side, the air seemed to freeze, while on the other, it boiled. Yet, the two met in the middle, creating a strange equilibrium.

  A wall was created between the two—a wall neither could breach without exerting their full power. However, Ethan knew the forest wouldn't be able to sustain itself were they to truly fight. Even now, the surrounding trees cried in their helplessness—half frozen while the other half aflame.

  “Enough,” the man added, retracting the flame.

  Still, his expression was one of reluctance, yet the woman only scoffed silently as she, too, stopped the frost from spreading. She turned and slowly walked to the small pond before crouching and observing closely.

  For the first time, her expression changed as she noticed the unusual colour and the lingering scent of iron. She placed a single finger in the water, freezing a small part of it before raising it to eye level and extracting an orb of ice from the pond.

  The orb was perfectly spherical but also translucent, allowing her to see through it and the blood frozen within. Although minute, Ethan's blood had congregated toward the centre, allowing her a clear picture. Yet she merely let the orb of ice fall back into the pond as she rose to her full height.

  "Was that it?" the man said, arms crossed as he stood behind her. "You interrupted our talk for this?"

  "There is nothing to talk about," the woman said, her gaze landing on him for the first time. Even as their powers struck each other, Ethan had seen no intent coming from her, almost as if the man's existence wasn't reflected in her eyes, but now—now she seemed to respond.

  “Of course, there is!" the man snapped, growing slightly louder, only for him to close his eyes soon after, taking a long deep breath. When he reopened them, they were calm and peaceful, almost as if his earlier outburst hadn't happened. "I am bound to graduate this year, and when I do, our wedding is sure to follow, but it seems you still haven't accepted it."

  “This is something our families have decided. It has nothing to do with me,” she said, her tone emotionless.

  “Are you still clinging to the past?" he said, eyes slightly narrowed, yet a sneer soon appeared. "Forget about him. Although his family is powerful, so is mine. Furthermore, he is just a cripple. How can he ever be worthy of you?"

  "He is irrelevant," she said, yet despite her lack of emotion, Ethan felt her tone grow slightly colder. "If you wish to talk about worth, then you too aren't worthy. You cling to your family's past achievements but forget to hone yourself as an individual. Do you think me stupid enough not to know about your various lovers?"

  A slight trace of mockery spilled from her words and couldn't help but wound the young man's pride. His expression twisted in a mix of anger and frustration, yet to Ethan's surprise, there was not a single hint of shame, as if he thought this was only to be expected.

  “Why didn’t you...” he began, yet the end of the sentence was left unsaid.

  "Confront you about this?" she added. "I saw no need. What are you to me? What do your little escapades have to do with me? These are all inconsequential."

  "You are mine!" the man said, yet his tone was like that of a wounded beast. It was as if he said those words more to convince himself than her. "Whether you like it or not, you cannot escape this union."

  “The future has yet to be decided,” she rebutted. “Whether you like it or not, I possess my own will, and it will not remain ignored.”

  "We shall see..." the man replied, venom spilling from his words, yet he turned around and walked away, leaving the woman alone in the forest's depths. She remained still until no trace of him remained but the forest's silence.

  For but a brief moment, Ethan felt as if he saw a hint of weakness in her. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, letting all the tension drain from her shoulders and small fists, only to raise her gaze, peering deep into the darkness.

  Cold sweat drained from Ethan's back as he felt their eyes lock despite being hidden by a thick curtain of shadow. However, for the first time, Ethan saw a hint of a smile on her perfect face as she spoke.

  “How long do you plan to hide and spy on me?”