"I believe you were a Clairvoyant."

It's a statement; not a question.

Lena's heart races at the sudden interruption, but she tells herself it's all right. It will be fine. This is expected—she has been waiting for this.

It just never occurred to her that it will be Viktas' voice floating through the system now, speaking to her.

"Yes," she answers, not as boldly and as confident as she'd liked, but still.

"So what is this?"

"It's a variation of my abilities I've discovered," Lena recites. "I see things through glass surfaces... but I recently discovered that I can transverse through them, using them as a medium."

Silence on the other end. Lena's previous reply's echoes are the only accompaniment in this cold, empty room.

It's the final day of the trials. She's gotten this far; she'll just have to get through this last day. Only then she will once again feel safe without the authorities roaming their academy grounds.

Today, she has two matching wireless electrodes over her head, connected to the detector flying over her that reports her every status.

The last stage of the trials is just another individual-based test. After this, her ability class and whatever rankings will be determined. It's also pre-made for every individual, based on their own unique abilities.

Which is why Lena is standing surrounded by glass panes today. Five prism-shaped glass builds encase her in a pentagram, and the white of the artificial light shines over her from the opening at the top. Over the last 10 minutes, they have been reading the signals from her brain as her eyes take in the visions formed on the five-sided glass surface. That's all she's been doing—passively allowing her abilities to take shape—while the technology take in the data and compute whatever the government wants to read or tabulate.

And because of the random images and swirling visions from every angle, Lena is beginning to have a migraine.

But when the automaton hovering over her flashed a signal earlier, a woman's voice over the comms system told her to activate her abilities.

So she did.

A clairvoyant isn't supposed to be able to alter their visions; the occurrences just come to them, giving them foresight. So if Lena triggers the activation of her abilities like how she did before in previous stages—willing the visions to show something she wants or a time and place she desires—it's going to raise questions about her fundamental abilities.

She may have passed the previous stages by doing so before, but she can't do that now. This is a highly monitored individual-based final test, and she knows the authorities are watching behind mere technology.

And hence the only way she can display activating her abilities is through the trick Caelus and her agreed on: her phasing through glass surfaces.

She's allowed herself to display the barest of minimum, phasing from one prism to the next.

Which brings Viktas' question as they speak.

"It does say in the registry that her abilities include being able to phase through glass mediums," a voice says, rather softly over the communications, and Lena believes they are discussing about her.

She pretends not to hear anything as another replies, "Yes, it matches with the records of Arcane Academy."

Lena paces as she waits out the void over the other end.

It'll be exactly as Caelus predicted: They learn about the development in her abilities. They are keen about it, more so about the fact of ability development than what she can actually do. They will match it with the records Arcana had falsified. And then they will let her go.

The only thing unaccounted for was the passive nature of these visions Lena sees. And even that went well the other day, after the little 'chat' with Viktas. At least, she hopes so.

Reciting this, Lena's palms loosen each time she repeats this sequence in her head. She lets her palms rest from the half-moon cuts her fingernails always give them when she's nervous, trying not to let her emotions show on her face. There are people watching her, she reminds herself. Her mind drifts then, wondering how Caelus came to be so impassive, because that's certainly no small feet—she's struggling to keep it cool as it is. A powerful student known throughout the City of Leatia, he's a mask of mysteries to be read, and yet his frustrations do show from his impatient tones; and every time he does that thing when he doesn't finish his sentence...

The thought of him under this pressure somehow still manages to pull the edges of her lips into a small smile. Enough so that she doesn't realise the door to the room sliding open.

"Lena, I apologise if I kept you waiting."

She swirls her head to the source, finding Viktas through the space between the glass prisms. The man's hands are folded neatly behind his back, and the door closing after his entrance. He strides elegantly toward the centre of the room, approaching her.

He makes to enter the space of glass, tucking himself neatly through the small opening and finally settling himself beside Lena, facing the glass surfaces.

Lena doesn't know what to say, so she is silent and still. She never expected another 'talk' with Viktas—if that's what he's here for.

Viktas begins, "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Miss Lena."

Cringing at the pleasantries, Lena shrugs, trying for casual. She doesn't need to be tense. "Likewise."

"Your abilities have developed," he points out.

Lena waits for him to go on but frustratingly, he doesn't. Tapping her fingers awkwardly against her thigh, she takes quick glances through the corner of her eyes at Viktas, trying to figure out what he's staring at. She looks from him, then to the glass surfaces impatiently. Viktas doesn't have her abilities and he never will by standing there and observing the glass prisms beside her, so what is the man doing?

He apologised for keeping her waiting, but he's continuing to do that.

Finally, after a long stretch of silence with Lena's patience running on the edge, Viktas says, "You're also new here, I noticed. Azure Dragon. Year 2. Clairvoyant... and a straight transfer second-year to Arcane Academy—an unordinary case. You lived on the other side for all your life, attended school with average grades but swimming and gymnastics. Lived with your mom on average income, who used to be a professional psychologist but is now helping out as a counsellor in grade school."

When Viktas finally turns his one good grey eye on Lena, she tenses, all feeling of annoyance washed away and replaced with apprehension.

He'd—they'd—been doing some background check on her. Which shouldn't be the case; she should be an unnoticeable, average student.

Lena tries to tell herself that they are required to do surface research to assess her. Besides, these are recorded in the Arcane Academy system—which means Arcana's got her covered.

"Yes," she replies plainly, lifting her head slightly to meet his gaze.

Viktas nods, then turns back to the glass surfaces, placing his palm against the cool surface. "I notice that your abilities are generally passive in nature. The visions you see—am I correct?"

"I think so," Lena responds. "They just appear, and show me random images sometimes."

"Random how?"

"A City; places. Some people walking around, some people eating. Children playing. Those kinds of random."

"And these people and places... they are not people you recognise, or places actually real, am I correct? It's purely fictional?"

Lena gives a sincere thought about this, turning back to her visions and taking care not to think about the City of Leatia or anything familiar to her in case she accidentally activates her abilities unconsciously. "No. They aren't real."

"Good." Viktas nods, then proceeds to comment, "The previous few stages of trials have accurately measured and catalogued your abilities—so far classifying and describing them well enough for our records. What you can do also matches the Academy's system." He turns to her again, and Lena faces him. "Do you know what the trials are for, Lena?"

Surprised at the sudden question which is completely unrelated to her abilities, she takes a moment to answer. "It's, um, a set of assessments to determine our abilities' strengths and weaknesses, and our potentials."

"All for the City's development," Viktas provides. "Abilities are the core reason for the City of Leatia's advancements, so we study young talents and seek potential into our ranks. The government believes that every ability out there is unique—at least in strength and capacity if not variant—and researchers are keen on studying trends and variety of manifesting abilities for applicable technology in this world. It's all about advancements, and growth.

"It's your first trials, Lena—being new to the City and all. I'm here taking time to explain the necessity of this annual assessment screening. It is vital for young talents like you to understand our vision."

Thanks? Lena nearly blurts out, but instead she manages, "But why tell me this? I mean"—she corrects herself, not wanting to sound rude—"we know about this City's values, the culture, and the competitiveness of our talents. So why tell me this here and now? Do you do this for every single student in this final stage of the trials?"

A low chuckle escapes from the man. "Youngsters, always so full of questions and challenge. This is exactly why I'm talking to you now." This earns a frown from Lena, but Viktas treads on, "Imagine us teaching something and communicating a message at large. At best, there will be some attention, and only perhaps thirty percent of the information remembered by less than half of the audience.

"On the other hand, imagine if I make it sound important. For each and every student that goes through the last stage of the trials, I reiterate the importance of upholding our systems. So to answer your question, Lena, I do try to make this statement to all students, even if it does take time. However, I only spend more than two intricate minutes for the talented."

Lena tenses. "I'm new here—"

"And you're already showing signs of ability development from when you first enrolled, barely two months or so ago," Viktas reiterates. "Promising. Would you care to show me?"

"I—uh—sure," Lena stutters. This man clearly does what he wants, whenever he wants to. He demands things easily and is used to commanding others, too.

Stepping forward, Lena presses a single palm flat against the cool glass surface before her. She closes her eyes and just trust the process. The moment she enters into the void, she can feel a slow vibration over her temples. Her abilities are activated, and she's sure the bot indicated as such back in the centre of the space. She phases through the mirroring glass pane of the one she entered, stepping out onto solid ground. Viktas turns a full hundred eighty degrees before facing her once more.

"Excellent," Viktas commends. "A medium walker."

Lena cringes at the name. Because that 'walker' half is true... only, she can travel much more than just through a simple medium.

Viktas eyes the holographic screen produced by the automaton floating beside him. "And indeed, your abilities are activated when you phase through these glass surfaces. Not merely a clairvoyant."

"The visions are passive," says Lena.

The man ponders this, deep in thought. "Then tell me, Lena, when does your clairvoyance activate?"

Lena stills herself, fighting the nervousness. She'd had a previous conversation with Viktas days ago during the passive abilities trials but there's no harm in reiterating her point. He meets many students each day and fleetingly so anyway, thus might not even remember their exchange. "It activates on the battlefield, serving as a director of where I should go. The visions will shape themselves into areas I should go to, or things that I should do, to avoid certain outcomes."

Viktas nods, reading off from the screen reports. "Indeed you've shown ability activation on Day 5, where we had a room of unknowns just to test students' physical and ability (if applicable) reaction speeds—which yours is, by the way, one of a true clairvoyant. It is just slightly lower than the average human reaction without abilities. This will complement your profile and possibly your rank and ability class."

All those obstacle runs did pay off. Lena sighs contentedly, relaxing.

"Your abilities can therefore be activated in two ways: one when you're engaged in a fight; or two when you are purposely travelling through glass surfaces, transposing yourself," Viktas concludes, more to himself and to understand the abilities. Lena wonders if passion on manifesting abilities is one of the criteria to be an authoritative member of the government. "Meanwhile, the visions are all passive work."

He turns to her. "I suppose you know that passive ability users are rare."

"I've heard," Lena affirms uncertainly. "But my passive skill is just random images."

"It's not about the type of passive talent, it's about the fact that you do manifest such a latent talent," Viktas explains. "Students with passive abilities usually have a more expansive core capacity than the average ability user, meaning your raw power is generally stronger. Consider this: the strongest mind readers—like your classmate Fai—do not have to activate anything to read minds. Their abilities only activate, for example, when they are intending to search for a specific memory—and this also depends on the strength of the ability user, on whether or not they have the capacity to do such extensive application of the ability in the first place."

Caelus was right. They are more interested in the development of an ability than how Lena actually performs, because all abilities variate—the authorities care for what students can potentially do because they are keen on talents that will serve as the building blocks of this world. This entire last stage of the trials, Lena barely performed a phase-through, and she is getting praises and words from the head of the authorities team sent here to Arcane Academy himself.

She doesn't understand why Viktas finds her 'medium walking' so fascinating, but she doesn't bother, as long as her secret is kept safe.

"There are teleportation abilities, too," Lena offers. "Mine is nothing special if I need to hold on to a glass piece all the time to do so."

"Yes, but your set of skills are unique, Viktas insists. "You have various uses of an average ability—and that is exactly what this City needs. Have you given thought of what kind of future you want yourself to have? A Catalyst, perhaps?"

Future? Lena has never thought about that. Roen and Neesha have been telling her that while most of the top ranking and highly competitive students tend to become professional Catalysts, there are some that prefer other types of career such as research and development or the support network—Roen himself doesn't seem to keen on being on the front lines.

Lena never really had a chance to ponder her situation. Everything that has happened, unfolded so quickly that she had been focusing on the present all this time. It's not such a bad thing to be occupied with the current moment and give it her all, but now that she's been thrown the question about what she can do about the future... she doesn't have an answer at all.

She came into this academy because she was lost, and was trying to find herself. And, throughout it all, Lena faced competitive students and threatening duels, demon attacks, and a mysterious group of strong ability users. And she finally thinks she belongs in this world of supernatural talents—only to find out later that she doesn't at all, because she is this world's master, pulling the strings of this universe. But why had she done it in the first place?

Ignoring the painful thoughts this truth always brings her, Lena focuses on the experiences she's had thus far. She may not know why or how she's come to shape this world this way and end up being part of her own game, but she knows that she is here now. This is the present, the reality, and any other worlds are but fantasies. There is no need to think about the multiverse, because what matters is that she exists in this space here and now, at this very time.

Viktas is still waiting for an answer. So Lena says, "I find myself enjoying the thrills of battle. Adrenaline courses through me naturally when I'm engaged in a fight." This part is true, she confesses. She enjoys this part of Arcane Academy, and the City of Leatia. It feels like she belongs when she commits herself to battle because she feels alive using her abilities, but this is the tricky part: she isn't sure what entity she's trying to go against, or what she's fighting for. Ultimately, she settles for a half-truth that's believable: "I see myself fighting demons."

"A Catalyst, then?" There's a sort of triumph in Viktas good eye, laced with a shuttered emotion Lena can't read.

"Perhaps."

"You do have talent, so I'd hope to see you again sometime. When opportunity presents itself"—Viktas flicks a few commands over the holographic screen—"and if you are eventually clear on your decided path, do not hesitate to take up my offer."

"What offer?" Lena asks, confused.

"You will see." Viktas extends a hand, and Lena shakes it hesitantly. "Thank you, Lena. With this we conclude the end of the trials for you."