Isla attempted to wiggle her leg, but her foot was completely froze in a block of ice, and panic rushed through her—she wasn't able to move. The massive rock was falling rapidly, and going straight down towards Leon. Finn and Fanny were too far away to rescue him.
But the rock just kept going.
It was going to squash him.
"No..." she whispered, wide-eyed.
At that moment, she shut her eyes tight, preparing for the impact.
But... nothing happened.
Isla slowly opened her eyes. The rock had stopped—mid-air—just inches above her. It sat in suspended animation, shimmering with an unfamiliar purple haze. She barely breathed. What...?
She tilted her head.
There was Leon, several feet from her, arm up and shaking. Blood was dripping from his wrist—he had cut his hand bad. His face was distorted with effort.
He was holding the rock back with his power.
"Leon..." she breathed.
Fanny was sprinting towards her now, flames popping at her fingertips. With a flick of her hand, she melted the ice that had been holding Isla's foot. Leon emitted a slight groan as the effort overwhelmed him at last. He released his hold.
The rock slammed against the wall behind Isla with a resounding crash that tore through part of it. Dust erupted into the air.
Fanny, Finn, and Leon turned slowly as their eyes focused on the two brothers into the distance. Their expressions were unreadable, and their postures were tense. Out of all of them, Fanny was aflame with rage.
Isla was her best friend, and those two idiots had tried to hurt her.
Fanny's aura blossomed around her. There were flames licking up her arms, shimmering in the heat, and she took a step forward. Then another.
The twins moved backwards instinctively, their eyes lighting momentarily with infection of fear.
"H-Hey! You have no evidence that we did anything!" one of them gasped. "If you do anything, you will be expelled!",
They kept talking, their voices pitched, but Fanny wasn't hearing it. Her eyes were aflame, locked on them. Heat was emanating from her body. Students around were starting to sweat. Some took a step back as they whispered.
Fanny keep walking.
And suddenly—she lifted her fist, flames curling around it, to strike.[
But just before the punch had a chance, a large, muscled hand intercepted her wrist midair.
Fanny's head whipped around. Her eyes were wide open.
It was Edric Sir.
Fanny saw her teacher and immediately froze. Her flame dimmed and she stared at the ground.
"Sorry sir," she bit out. "But they tried to hurt Isla. On purpose."
The twins immediately jumped in, faking blustery conviction in their voices.
"She's lying, sir! They've been bullying us! We didn't do anything - there's no proof!"
Fanny waited to respond as she clenched her fists again, jaw tight. Just before she lost control on a fact, Leon slapped his palm on her shoulder.
"Let it go," he said quietly. "Not here. We will deal with them later."
Sir Edric took a look and scanned the room - the wall that had been damaged, shards of ice all over the floor and at least a small puddle of glacier cold water sparkling faintly in the floor. The squint in his eye deepened.
Clearly something had happened.
And, of course, it couldn't have just been an accident.
He sighed. His expression mattered very little to the twins on trial now.
The twins' family was rich. Very rich. Contributions to the academy from their family covered a good part of what the academy spends in operational costs. If he punished them, it might come back to hurt him.
Sir Edric looked back at the group, "This time," he said coldly, "I won't say what I saw. But next time — I will."
Fanny's eyes blazed again, her fists shaking at her sides. But Leon stepped in front of her and blocked her view of the twins.
The brothers smirked, clutching one last smug look at the group and turned their back.
"They will pay for this," Fanny mumbled and stomped back towards the training field.
Finn followed Fanny and cast one last look at the wall they damaged.
Leon walked over to Isla. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine." Her voice was soft, the shock still trembling.
They walked back to training — but everyone was still buzzing from the last few minutes.
Fanny did not talk to anyone. She walked straight to the boulder — the massive one that no student had managed to touch since the morning.
She planted her feet, glared at the boulder, and put both her hands on the boulder.
Then pushed.
Her aura flared again — not fire again, just raw energy. Her hair fluttered. The ground trembled.
Everyone froze. Students dropped their training weapons and turned to watch.
Even Leon, Isla and Finn gawked with mouths agape.
Fanny wasn't working in element. She was pushing the rock with pure aura — raw force inside her body.
The rock groaned as it began to shift. An inch. Then another.
Gasping spread out across the field.
It took usually three strong students to just get it to move. But Fanny...
Pushes it ten meters.
Then — with a roar — she punches the boulder with one, flaming fist.
The rock banned into pieces.
Silence.
Absoltue silence.
Finn's jaw unhinged. "Leon's right. I am never messing with her again."
Leon nodded slowly. "You made the right decision."
Fanny turned once, deadly glare at the twins, then walked away — without a word.
Isla let out a shaky breath. "You guys did notice that aura, right?"
Leon and Finn nodded.
"She didn't even use her power," Isla said, whispering. "Just like we learned in our first training — how to channel our aura to enhance our body's strength."
Leon nodded his head again, his eyes bulging. "We have been trying for hours and didn't move the rock a millimeter. Maybe… that's the trick."
"We need to figure out how to push it the right way," Isla said.
They walked back to the training field. Isla closed her eyes concentrating.
Within seconds a soft glow enveloped her. Her aura — peaceful, but strong.
She opened her eyes — and started to push.
The rock moved.
Not easily, but it moved.
Leon watched with awe. Then he closed his eyes too, trying to concentrate, trying to feel his own aura.
But in the darkness behind his eyes… something moved.
A shape.
A shadow.
It whispered to him again.
Kill them all.
Leon opened his eyes. He was sweating. His heart was pounding.
Something was terribly wrong.