The door shut with a dry, final sound.
Vex stood alone in a circular room. The walls were smooth and bare.No windows, no lamps—yet the chamber was perfectly lit by a white light without any visible source.
The air didn't move.There was no cold, no heat.It was like standing inside the eye of a storm frozen in time.
At the center of the room stood a single object:A mirror. Enormous. Towering.Framed by a structure of polished dark stone.A surface without reflection. Without shine.
The Inverse Mirror.
Vex walked forward, his steps clumsy. The soles of his boots echoed against the white stone floor.He didn't know what he was supposed to do—no one had explained it clearly.They had only said: "Do what needs to be done."
"I wish Jeremy were here. He'd probably make some dumb joke to break the tension.""What's Mom doing right now...? I hope she's not worried."
Vex swallowed hard.The pressure in his chest grew the closer he got to the mirror.Part of him wanted to step back.But another part… couldn't stop moving forward.
Since ancient times, humans have both feared and revered mirrors.They saw them as reflections… and as thresholds.As truth… and as traps.
Some believed mirrors were doors to other worlds.Others thought they revealed what we refused to see.
And here, in the Chamber of the Inverse Mirror...
…the mirror does not show who you are.It shows what the world is not ready to see in you.
Standing before it, Vex felt the ground grow heavier.The air thickened.
Then, without anyone speaking…
A voice entered his mind directly.
It wasn't in any language he knew—but somehow, he understood every word.
"Vether'kai lun A'sil... ka'reth doran tu Cahl.""Dahra'ken vel saur ethiar... mael'os kael tu Orun."
You are not ready.Your echo has not found its source.Your shadow still doesn't know what casts it.
The words wrapped around him like wind.
The mirror began to vibrate—softly.Not with sound, but with a frequency he could feel deep inside his chest.
And then, in his mind…
flashes.
Dancing shadows in an empty space.Figures moving like echoes of old memories.Symbols glowing and fading.The feeling of falling—forever.A scream without voice.
And then… nothing.Just a hum.
His breath failed.His body didn't respond.Vex collapsed to the ground.
He didn't know how long he had been unconscious.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on a medical cot in a white, empty room.No windows. No sounds.Just a faint ringing in his ears.
"Nothing… Nothing happened. No flames, no visions. Just that strange voice…"
He sat up slowly. No one came to explain.But he didn't need them to.
"I guess that means I failed."
And strangely, it didn't feel like a defeat.He'd expected this from the beginning.
"I was here. I saw this place. That's more than many people ever dream of."
He sighed.
Then, the door opened softly.
A figure entered.A man dressed in black. No visible symbols.A calm face, but eyes that weighed heavy.Vex didn't recognize him.
The man approached and looked at him for a few seconds.
— "Vex Lugulband."— "...Yes?"— "You have passed the trial."
Vex blinked, confused.
— "What? But… nothing happened. I didn't—"
Before he could finish, two examiners stepped in through the rear entrance, having overheard.
— "Excuse me, sir," one said."There was no reaction. The mirror recorded no manifestation."
— "The session was completely silent," added the other."No signs of awakening or contact. Why confirm him as passed?"
The man turned to them slowly.His tone shifted—without raising his voice.
— "Do not question it," he said."He passed. That is all you need to know."
The examiners exchanged a quick glance. They didn't press further.
— "He'll be assigned identification and placed in class like any other student," the man added.
Without waiting for more questions, he turned and left.
Vex watched him go, still not understanding.
"Who… was that?"
Minutes after the man in black left, Vex still sat at the edge of the cot, staring down, trying to process what had just happened.
The door opened again—this time, less formally.
It was Aric.
He entered like always: steady steps, calm energy, that air of someone who's already seen too much.
— "Ah, still alive. That's a good sign," he said with a light smile.
Vex looked at him, unsure what to say.
— "I… passed?"
— "That's what they're saying," Aric replied, pausing. "And that's what matters."
He stepped forward and gave Vex a light pat on the shoulder.
— "Come on, kid. Let's get your ID sorted before some bureaucrat changes their mind."
Then, with a smirk and a dramatic pause, he added:
— "It's not like you can sneak into the same academy twice by accident.Believe me—someone already tried."
Silence.