Belle stood before the class, her long black hair brushing against the golden trim of her uniform as she turned slightly toward the board. Her presence alone was enough to quiet the whispers.

She didn't even need to raise her voice, it carried effortlessly, smooth and sure, like the tone of someone who already knew no one in this room could match her.

"There are," she began, "three fundamental levels of energy manipulation, each one defining not just how strong you are, but what you are capable of becoming."

A flick of her wrist, and thin lines of energy flared into the air three separate orbs hovering before her: one blue, one murky green, and one pitch-black that seemed to devour the light around it.

"The first is the Mercury Stage," she said, gesturing toward the glowing blue sphere. It pulsed softly, like a calm heartbeat. "This is where every novice begins, the stage of pure mana."

Her tone was almost nostalgic, but her smirk ruined the sentiment. "It's weak, unstable, and inefficient. Mana is the base energy of the world, easy to use, but lacking depth. The average person will spend their whole life here, flinging glowing balls of light and pretending it's impressive. All of you here are also at this stage."

A ripple of uneasy laughter passed through the room. I leaned back in my seat, watching her idly. She wasn't wrong.

"When one reaches C-rank," she continued, " gathering mana alone isn't enough. To advance, you must achieve enlightenment. A personal revelation, something that connects your will to the flow of the world itself. Only then can you ascend to the Gemini Stage."

Belle's hand drifted toward the green orb. It pulsed brighter, shimmering with intertwining streams of darker and lighter hues, almost like two rivers fighting for control.

"At that point, you can wield Dualflow energy."

The way she said it made it sound like an art form. "Dualflow," she explained, "is the harmony between two inner currents, mana and life essence. Together, they create a volatile, hybrid power. It's roughly a hundred times stronger than mana."

Murmurs rippled through the students. Most of them looked both inspired and horrified.

"This," Belle went on, "is why a C-rank can never defeat a B-rank. It's not about skill. It's not about courage. It's physics. You can't expect a flickering candle to outshine a wildfire."

She let that sink in for a moment before turning her gaze toward the black orb, the last one.

"And then," she said softly, "there's the final form. The pinnacle of all energy control."

The air in the classroom seemed to darken around her, shadows bending toward that pitch-black light hovering above her hand. It wasn't glowing it was absorbing. Pure darkness, moving like smoke made of ink, yet radiating power so dense it felt heavy in the air.

"This," she said, her voice almost reverent, "is Vespera."

A few students leaned forward in awe. One audibly gasped.

"Vespera," Belle continued, "isn't just energy. It's the embodiment of dominion, the power to command the very essence of existence itself.

To use it, two things are required: first, you must ascend to SS-rank; and second, you must experience an enlightenment deeper and more personal than anything before. A moment of absolute truth that changes the way your soul perceives reality."

Her tone dropped lower, silk and steel blending. "Without that, you can't even perceive Vespera, and even if you can and try to wield Vespera… it will consume you. Tear apart your soul, cell by cell, until nothing is left but dust."

The orb pulsed once, then vanished with a faint hum.

I'd seen that same black energy before the day I first trained under Belle. The day she split the giant colosseum itself apart with a flick of her hand. Vespera was her signature, her crown.

And as the class stared at her now, all wide-eyed and silent, I couldn't help but smirk. Yeah, I've seen that trick before.

Belle clasped her hands behind her back, smiling, smug, elegant, and just the right amount of terrifying. "To put things into perspective," she said lightly, "Vespera is a hundred times stronger than Dualflow… and about ten thousand times stronger than ordinary mana."

The silence that followed was complete. No one even dared to breathe too loudly.

Then, with the casual air of someone mentioning what she had for breakfast, Belle added, "Of course, I awakened my enlightenment about eight months ago."

Half the class collectively froze.

A low whistle came from somewhere near the back. Someone whispered, "Eight months…?"

I sighed quietly, rubbing my temples. Of course she did.

Typical Belle humble as ever.

Belle glanced at the clock mounted above the board, then clapped her hands once, a sharp, clean sound that broke the awed silence still hanging in the room.

"Well," she said, tone suddenly bright and professional, "that concludes our theory lesson for the morning."

A few students blinked, as if waking from a trance.

"Your next class," Belle continued, "will be Combat Application. It's held south of the main building in the Colosseum." Her eyes swept over the students, lingering for half a second longer on Sebastian before she added, "I expect all of you there in ten minutes. Try not to embarrass yourselves."

Before anyone could ask what she meant by Colosseum, Belle took a step forward. The air around her shimmered like heat haze at first, then bent sharply, folding in on itself with a soundless ripple. Space twisted, reality seemed to flicker for half a second… and she was gone.

No flash, no spell circle, no theatrics. Just gone.

The students erupted into hushed chatter, half in awe, half in panic, chairs scraping and books shuffling as they began to pack up.

Sebastian, however, didn't move right away. He exhaled quietly through his nose, rubbing the back of his neck as if he'd seen this sort of thing one too many times before.

"Of course, she warped out again," he muttered under his breath. "Can't even use the door like a normal person."

He pushed his chair back with a low scrape, stood up, and gave one last glance at the blackboard where faint traces of energy still hung in the air like smoke that refused to fade.

Then he sighed, hands sliding into his pockets as he started toward the classroom door. "Colosseum, huh?" he said softly, almost to himself. "Guess we're doing this already."

The chatter faded behind him as he stepped out, the echo of his boots trailing down the empty hall.

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