Eldryn Academy Of Elementals

Chapter 63: Mentor and stabilizer

The torches lining the stone corridors of the Grandmasters' wing flickered gently as Ashen Vail walked in silence, his long coat sweeping behind him like a trailing ember. The meeting had left him contemplative, the burden of secrets heavy on his shoulders. He wasn't just a Grandmaster anymore; he was becoming something far more intimate in Mira's journey-a stabilizer, a mentor, perhaps even a mirror.

His boots echoed softly against the polished stone until he reached his private chambers. The door closed behind him with a muted click, shutting out the hum of the Academy. Inside, the warmth of his fire elemental hearth glowed dimly, casting orange-gold light across the shelves stacked with scrolls, tomes, and relics from every corner of the elemental world.

He had about an hour before lessons for the day will start. His mind whirled back to his own surges. The fire had come first, uncontrollable and wild, bursting through him with so much force he was certain he'd combust. He hadn't even known he had multiple affinities then-no one in his family had. The air came next, feeding the flames, turning his room into a whirlwind of destructive combustion. He had cried, screamed, clawed at his skin, thinking his body would rupture from within. The pain hadn't just been physical-it had been metaphysical, a burning of the soul.

Not many knew of it. His grandfather had made sure of that.

Grand Healer Eloreth Vail, well known not only for his unmatched skill but for his discretion. With whispered chants and runes stitched in gold thread, he had stabilized Ashen's surges in secret, locking them in specialized healing chambers built to withstand primal outbursts. Ashen had once blasted through even those-burning down an entire chamber during his sixteenth birthday. The elemental stabilizers, crafted from pure obsidian and infused with calming currents, had cracked into nothing but powder.

Ashen's hand flexed unconsciously as if still feeling the heat from that night.

And now, only a decade later, the cycle was repeating.

Mira. Another quad. Another surge. But this-this wasn't just genetics or affinity. Most quad-elemental students experienced a mild increase in elemental energy on their birthdays, sometimes with a bit of fever or a transient elemental leak. What Mira is going through can only rival his own experience.

What he had gone through had been different too. It wasn't the affinity count. It was something deeper-more ancient. The raw volatility and exponential magnitude of power, as if their bodies were forced to evolve too fast to contain the energy of four elements at once.

Ashen's fingers brushed the hilt of his blade, one of the rare relics forged from his own surge-born energy. He remembered what his grandfather once told him during one of his worst episodes:

"You're not just gifted, Ashen. You're rooted in something old. A convergence. Elemental bloodlines don't just collide in you-they harmonize, and in harmony there is both creation and chaos. Learn to walk its edge, or it will walk you to ruin."

And he had learned. Through great pain.

His final surge came at twenty-one. It was the one that changed everything. He collapsed in the sacred springs of Vireen's Hollow during a mission. When he awoke, he found he could step into the shadows and emerge through others-Shadow Walking. A few weeks later, during meditation, he slipped into a pocket between realms. Time had passed differently there. When he returned, his hair had streaks of silver. That was when the whispers began: Realm Walker.

He never spoke of it outside the Grandmasters' circle.

Now, Mira stood at that threshold. Unrefined. Unaware. Unprotected.

And he would not fail her.

---

The day went ahead with busy lessons and training sessions. Ashen initially thought to visit Mira again during the lunch break. But that was not as easy as he thought. There was a commotion, because a group of too excited students thought that it was a good idea to get close to already bonded elemental creatures when no one else was around.