The next morning came with tension rippling through the academy.
Students gathered in hushed clusters beneath banners fluttering in the breeze. The announcement board in the Grand Hall now bore one chilling notice:
> "All Second and Third-Year Combat Units: Prepare for the Trial of the Bound Flame."
–Headmaster Veylan
Kaela's ears twitched. "They're doing that again? Isn't it early in the year?"
Riku blinked. "What's the 'Trial'?"
She looked at him, serious. "It's not just a test. It's a blood rite. A real battle in a controlled arena against summoned beasts. Normally third-years only. But now…"
"They're including second-years," Elrin's voice cut in as he approached from behind them, his silver robes silent as the wind.
Kaela stiffened.
Riku narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
Elrin studied him with those unreadable eyes. "Because something is coming. And the academy wants to know who'll survive."
---
Inside the Warroom Arena, the air was heavy with spell residue and the scent of scorched stone.
Students stood in formation, grouped into teams of three. At the far end, a gateway pulsed with unstable energy, faint screams echoing from its crimson core.
Kaela crossed her arms. "That's not a normal summoning gate."
Riku gulped. "I was hoping it was just dramatic lighting."
"Of course not," said their third teammate, Nero, a sarcastic lightning mage with a silver streak in his hair and a habit of chewing obsidian gum. "They say last year's gate swallowed a guy whole. Spat out his boots a week later."
Riku winced. "...Good boots?"
"Immaculate."
---
As the trial began, teams entered the arena one by one. Magical illusions broadcast the battles overhead like glowing holograms. A group of seniors took down a flame drake. Another barely escaped a bone serpent.
Then: "Team 17, step forward."
That was them.
---
They entered.
Immediately, the gate exploded open. Fire raged outward—but it wasn't a beast that emerged.
It was a wraithhound, skeletal and stitched with molten chains, snarling through layers of fire magic. Its eyes glowed with infernal runes.
Kaela hissed. "That's a demon-bound familiar. That's illegal."
Riku readied his blade. "Welcome to Arcanum."
---
The battle was chaos.
Kaela dashed in first, leaping over the creature's sweeping claws. Her daggers found gaps between bone and flame, but even her strikes only slowed it.
Nero hurled lightning arcs, temporarily destabilizing the creature's form. "I'm hitting it but it's just absorbing mana! That's not fair!"
The hound lunged—straight for Riku.
The mark on his arm flared.
Time bent.
Suddenly, he was the flame. He understood it. He commanded it.
> "Burn," he whispered.
The flames around the hound recoiled. Riku's blade—now wreathed in ghostly fire—slashed across the beast's chest. It roared, staggered, then fell, consumed in blue-white blaze.
---
Silence.
Then: thunderous applause from the audience stands.
But Riku didn't hear it.
His mark was glowing again. And this time, he felt memories—but they weren't his.
> A throne made of teeth. A kingdom on fire. A crown he didn't want.
And a name: Raelion the Bound Flame.
---
Outside the arena, Veylan turned to Elrin.
"It's happening again."
Elrin's jaw tightened. "But this time… he's not alone."