Renzo stood stock-still in the center of a circur chamber, his hands opening and closing at his sides. It had been nearly two minutes, and none of the figures seated above him spoke. He gnced at each of them in turn, feeling the heat creeping up his cheeks. He knew it would be showing in his face, but he didn’t care - he had no time for patience or decorum. Why weren’t they saying anything?

  Soft beams of light drifted down from the ceiling of the chamber, forming a perfect spotlight for each of the figures, though they were sitting back, cast further into shadow so that he couldn’t make out any of their features. They simply sat silently, as if weighing him in their minds and sharing none of their insights.

  A shuffling noise behind him made him turn. The man who’d opened the door for him was leafing through a stack of papers and gnced up at him, offering a small smile. Renzo turned back to face the council. If they weren’t going to speak, he figured he might as well.

  “Uhh… hello,” he said, wincing as his voice echoed louder than expected. “Why am I here exactly?”

  Finally, that caused some response among the silent figures. One of them leaned forward, revealing a dark face. Not just dark, Renzo thought. Pitch-bck, like charcoal. The eyes were dull orange beacons in the dark face, and he could see lines the color of fme etched into the face like veins. “Better self-control than I expected for a fire affinity.”

  “If he is a fire affinity,” one of the other figures said, also leaning forward. It was a woman in light blue silk robes. She would have looked like a Valen if it weren’t for the mottling of blue and green on her skin and the hair that almost seemed to be soaking wet, as if she’d just finished swimming. But the ultimate sign that she was Viren was the lines along her neck that resembled gills. Renzo was familiar with the Viren, living on the coast as he did. He wondered if, like most of her people, she had a natural affinity for water.

  “Of course he is!” Said the first figure. Renzo guessed he was Skarathi, one of the fme-born who lived near volcanoes and va beds. Perhaps he knew about the story of the penguin and the dragon, he thought, a small fre of humor interrupting his frustration and trepidation. “Our scout said he saw a stove fre up when he passed!”

  The Skarathi was clearly a passionate man, Renzo thought. It was also obvious that he hoped Renzo would have fire affinity. Privately, he was sure that fire was one of his natural affinities. He just… wasn’t sure about the second.

  “That remains to be seen.” A third voice, and a new face. This one was a woman with long, thin lines, and hair that seemed to be transparent. Saanari. “I sense tent winds inside him. But only the test is reliable.”

  “Indeed. He is calm and focused, like a stone. He could be of Earth.” A fourth voice, slow and stern, and a face to match - square, strong, short hair and stubbly beard.

  “What is clear,” the Saanari woman said, her patient delivery taking the forefront, “is that he is undeniably attuned. Thus, we shall begin with the awakening.”

  Behind him, the man who had led him in stood, setting his papers aside. At the same time, the members of the council rose, and the Saanari woman addressed him directly. “We are going to channel our elements before you, Renzo. All six of us have an affinity with a different element. As your core awakens, you will feel a connection. Tell us which. In the event you feel a connection to only one, then it is clear that your secondary element is of Shadow.”

  Renzo nodded, his throat too tight to speak. He wanted to ask what awakening felt like and how they would achieve it. He’d heard tales of the first cultivators, who’d awoken the natural way - meditation, self-reflection, training of their bodies and minds. He knew he was about to undergo the more modern method, which was quicker, but he knew very little about it. Even Jorath had refused to enlighten him - one of the few times he didn’t speak at length about a subject.

  The secretary - or whatever his official title was - stepped closer to him, and put a hand on his back, between his shoulder bdes. The man’s hand was burning hot, he thought, and he resisted the urge to flinch away. He could feel the man’s breath, though it made no noise. Then his hand was ice-cold, sending a chill through Renzo’s body and making him gasp in surprise. And then he was aware of a faint pulse. It made no sound, but he felt it in his chest… in his core. There was a slight lull, and then the pulse came again. The secretary’s heartbeat? No, he thought, as another pulse rang out. It was far too slow to be that.

  Lifting his head, he looked at the six figures standing under their spotlights. He felt an almost immediate connection to the Skarathi man. Each time that pulse rippled through him, he felt a simir pulse emit from the fme he was holding. Hotter, more powerful. So he did have an affinity for fire, as he’d expected. He scanned his eyes along the line, looking for the second. match. With the next pulse, the air swirling around the Saanari woman resonated back. With each pulse, the elements sang back out to him. Fire, hot and vibrant. Air, cooling and serene.

  “F-Fire,” he said, stumbling over his words slightly as the pulse rippled through his body again. Even as the secretary withdrew his hand and stepped back, he still felt the pulse. It slowed even further now, from once every two seconds to once every five. “Fire and Air.”

  He pointed to the Skarathi and Saanari, then lowered his arms, his breathing heavy and his legs a little wobbly. Awakening hadn’t been as violent as he might have expected, but it hadn’t been… normal. That ever-present pulse continued to thump slowly against his senses, distracting him. “Can you stop that, please?”

  The secretary’s eyebrows rose slightly in query. “What do you mean?”

  “That thumping,” Renzo said, feeling a bit of the frustration returning. “Can you stop? It’s distracting.”

  The man raised his hands to either side and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the Saanari woman interrupted. “Takan isn’t causing that, Renzo. What you’re hearing - or should I say feeling - is your core.”

  “Huh?” He took a second to absorb the woman’s voice. An inconveniently timed pulse had drowned out most of her words, and he had to parse them out in his mind. “That’s my core?”

  It was only then that he noticed. The pulse wasn’t ripping through him, but from him. It seemed to originate from his chest, towards the back of his ribs. And each pulse alerted him to three other pieces of him that he’d never noticed. They were like little pools of water - one in his stomach, his chest, and his head.

  “You should also be feeling your Aspects,” the Skarathi man expined, his face splitting in a grin. “They are the three parts of your core that you can feel and interact with.”

  “We call them pools, and they hold the energy that is associated with those Aspects. First is the Body. It is fueled and molded by your Ki - that’s the one in your stomach. In your head, that’s your pool of mana. It is tied to your Mind. The third, in your chest, is your pool of aura. You can guess which Aspect that lines up with.”

  Renzo nodded. “My Soul.”

  His mana and aura were subdued, lying still like undisturbed ponds, but his ki flowed constantly, trickling out of his pool and throughout his body, and then back into the pool in little drops. He saw now why they called them pools. The energies felt like liquids in him, resonating with power now that he could properly sense them. The extra energy empowered him. They’d always been there, he knew, but now that he was aware of them, they seemed to give him a rush of alertness. It was dizzying, and made his head spin slightly at the revetion.

  “Congratutions on your awakening, Renzo,” The Saanari woman said. “I look forward to your growth. Takan, please show him to his room.”

  As Takan moved forward once again, the Skarathi man offered one final piece. “Rest as much as you can, Renzo. Awakening is an exhaustive process, and you will feel drained for some days. But focus on your pools, and become familiar with them. They are quite literally your lifeblood now.”

  Renzo felt a rush of gratitude flood over him now that it was over, and he nodded - almost bowed - in the direction of the council members. “Thank you.”

  He was burning with questions, of course. There was so much he wanted to know about his awakening. What did it mean to be linked to fire and air? Could he change his elements if something suited him better? What was his life going to be like now? But he allowed Takan to lead him out of the circur chamber and into the empty hall beyond. He couldn’t even track the many turns, doors, and staircases that they took, his head too full. He only became properly aware when Takan stopped outside a simple wooden door and opened it.

  “Here we are,” the man said politely, stepping back. “This will be your room for the rest of your time at the Academy. Until you become an Adept, this will be your home.”

  Renzo stepped into the room, taking careful note of its few amenities. A small but comfortable-looking bed, beside which y the rucksack that he’d brought from home. He hadn’t even realized until that moment that he’d neglected to grab it. The only other furniture in the room was a small desk facing a circur window overlooking the countryside, though that view was still obscured by heavy rain.

  “There are certain rules and expectations you will be required to follow,” Takan said. “Most of it you will learn as you become accustomed, but there are still a few I should inform you of. First, you are required to remain presentable at all times. That extends not just to your appearance, but also to this room. Your bed must be made when you leave in the morning, and all lights are to be extinguished by the final bell. It is the one that rings nine times. Furthermore, Reflection Hour - that’s the period between your final lecture and dinner - is a time of absolute quiet. Causing a ruckus in this time period will result in harsh punishment.”

  Takan finished his rather stern lecture with a slight smile. “They’re very simple rules, but the administrators insist that we make them clear. We want you to be comfortable here. Remember, your first priority is to grow, but you must do what you can to enjoy your time at the Academy. Do you have any questions?”

  More than ever, Renzo thought, though he shook his head. Takan nodded his understanding. “Very well. Please, enjoy your rest. When you wake, you may bathe and clean yourself at the shared baths on the first floor. Our facilities are some of the best, so I am sure you will enjoy them.”

  Takan left him then, turning smartly on his heel before making his way down the corridor. Renzo closed his door and stood still, listening to his surroundings. There was only the rain hammering against his window. His window, he thought. A room to himself. That was a first.

  He tugged off his thick cloak and outer tunic, letting the damp cloth spill onto the cold stone floor. A small firepce sat in a corner he hadn’t seen from the entrance, a fire crackling merrily inside. For the first time since arriving, warmth reached him—not just heat, but a sense of privacy. Stillness. His own space.

  Beside the fire, a small pile of logs sat with a folded note resting on top. Enjoy this warm welcome. From now on, you are expected to procure your own firewood.

  He snorted quietly, then picked the wet clothes off the floor and draped them near the fire. They blocked much of the heat, but at least they’d be dry by morning.

  Finally, he y on the bed, drawing the scratchy bnket up to his chin and staring up at the dark ceiling. Light from the fire flickered strange patterns and distorted shadows upon the wooden pnks. Strangers lulling him to sleep. Everyone is a stranger now. Even I’m a stranger.

  He wasn’t sure exactly when he finally slipped off into his dreams. The swirl of confusing things could have easily shifted seamlessly between states. He thought of his mother, who had taught him to fight. Of his vilge, where he’d met his friends. He dreamt of the fish markets, where he bought a fresh catch each day, and of Berrigan, who was probably even now tending to his father’s forge, banking the fmes before bed, only to start again the next day. And finally, he dreamt of his core. Of the dual sensations of heat and cool, fire and air, energy and calm.