The second test concluded quickly. After everyone was tested, an instructor announced that all candidates would rest for the night. The final test would be held tomorrow.

  After the test, Malek was called to Aael’s office.

  Malek arrived at Aael's office and knocked once.

  "Come in."

  He opened the door and stepped inside.

  The office was modest in size. One work table covered with documents. Aael sat behind it in a wooden chair. Bookshelves lined one wall. There was no window. Nor any visible light source, but the room was bright with yellowish light that seemed to come from nowhere.

  Malek closed the door and greeted her. "Instructor."

  Aael didn't look up. She continued writing on a piece of paper with a quill made from bird feathers.

  Malek waited without speaking.

  His impression of Instructor Aael was good. She wasn't someone he knew well, but he could tell she didn't have any negative attitude toward his class. That mattered. It was one reason he'd tried the vapor infusion during the first test. Something risky that might or might not work. He'd wanted to leave an impression on her.

  Aael finished writing and set the quill down. She looked at Malek, then stood and walked to one of the bookshelves near her desk.

  She reached for a book. Instead of sliding out normally, the book pulled back into the shelf. Then the entire bookshelf moved to the right side of the wall.

  A hidden compartment appeared behind it.

  Aael reached inside and removed a wrapped object about the size of a football. The bookshelf slid back into place. The hidden compartment disappeared as if it had never been there.

  Malek was surprised but stayed quiet.

  Aael placed the wrapped object on the desk and sat back down.

  "Do you know how spiritual affinity is tested?" she asked.

  Malek thought for a moment. He had some theories, but saying something stupid was worse than admitting ignorance. "No. I don't. Forgive me for not having that knowledge."

  "That's understandable. You're young and from a rural area. There's no reason you would know." Aael unwrapped the object slowly. "Long ago, there was a mage who encountered a magical beast. This beast hunted down other beasts that possessed spiritual affinity and the mage was fascinated by that."

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  She paused and looked at him. "What do you think fascinated the mage?"

  "The beast's ability to hunt spiritual beasts," Malek said.

  "That's a reasonable assumption. Beasts with spiritual affinity are very strong, so hunting them successfully is impressive. But no. That's not what fascinated him."

  She finished unwrapping the object. Inside was a smooth sphere made of dark glass or crystal. Faint lines ran through it like veins.

  "What fascinated the mage," Aael continued, "was how the beast could identify which creatures had spiritual affinity and which didn't. It could sense something invisible. Something most mages couldn't detect at all."

  Malek nodded slowly. That made sense. If a beast could identify spiritual affinity without any tools or spells, that was remarkable.

  "Do you know what the mage did when he couldn't find the answer to his question?" Aael asked.

  Malek thought for a moment. "He killed the beast."

  Aael raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think that?"

  "I don't know much about magic, Instructor Aael. But if I was in his situation, that would be the most logical option."

  "Explain."

  Malek organized his thoughts before answering. "If I couldn't find the reason behind the beast's ability from observing it externally, then I might find the answer in the beast's internal structure. But this assumption only works if the mage had the right class for the task."

  Aael leaned forward slightly. "How can you say that?"

  Malek hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should continue, but he'd already started. "If a person with a combat class looked at the beast's insides, they would only see meat and muscle. But if someone with a class that specializes in beasts or anatomy looked inside, they would notice far more. Small details that others would miss. That's why I assume the mage had the right class. That's why he decided to kill the beast."

  Aael smiled faintly. "You have a sharp mind, Malek. Despite your age, your thinking and ability to grasp concepts are good. Which is very necessary for someone with your class."

  She placed one hand on the dark sphere. "You're right. He killed the beast. No one really knows what he found inside it. But he discovered a method. And that method resulted in this."

  She gestured to the sphere. "This measures spiritual affinity in any being. The crystal you broke during the test was a lesser version of this orb. Much weaker. Much simpler. There are only two reasons that crystal breaks. One, the person has negative spiritual affinity. That's the most common occurrence. Two, the person has too much spiritual affinity. That's extremely rare."

  She pushed the sphere toward Malek. "Place your hand on it."

  Malek stepped closer and placed his right hand on the sphere.

  The moment his palm touched the surface, everything stopped.

  Everything.

  Aael froze mid-breath. The faint movement of air in the room ceased. The yellowish light stopped flickering.

  Time had stopped.

  Goosebumps erupted across Malek's entire body. A deep terror formed in his gut. His breathing became heavy and loud in the absolute silence.

  Then the room tore apart.

  The walls split open like fabric being ripped. The ceiling peeled away in jagged pieces. Aael's body was torn apart in a grotesque, bloody manner. Her chair shattered. The desk collapsed.

  Malek could see outside. The town. The road. Buildings in the distance.

  The fear became overwhelming. His eyes started to bleed. Warm liquid ran down his cheeks. He tried to close his eyes but couldn't. They stayed open, forced to see everything.

  His left hand—the one touching the sphere—started to burn. Like he'd placed his hand on hot coals. The pain shot up his arm and into his chest.

  He couldn't pull his hand away.

  He couldn't move at all.

  Then, against every instinct screaming at him not to, he looked up at the sky.

  The sky was wrong.

  It wasn't blue or black or any color he recognized. It was fractured. Broken into pieces that didn't fit together. And beyond the fractures was something else. Something vast. Something that looked back at him and blinked.

  His head exploded.