Elias stood in front of his workshop door, arms crossed, a scowl etched firmly onto his face. Nearly a month at the academy, and he felt no closer to figuring out the secret behind his workshop. The orb, shimmering softly in the middle of the empty space, seemed to mock him. He could mold, shape, and alter his surroundings with ease, crafting entire landscapes in moments—forests, deserts, raging volcanic fields—but at the end of every session, he was left with nothing but hollow scenery.
Frustration gnawed at him. He knew creativity was key, but creativity meant little without substance. What good was changing the stage if there were no actors, no tools, no real magic at work besides his own flames? The orb could alter everything physical, yet he was always left alone in a beautiful but empty shell.
Lost in his thoughts, Elias barely noticed Kiran approaching, flanked closely by Martice and Kaelen.
"You still haven't gone in?" Kiran asked with his usual easygoing smile, noticing Elias's hesitation. "Knowing you, you've probably been staring at that door for a solid five minutes."
Elias sighed, uncrossing his arms and pointing at the door to his workshop. More specifically, the sigil carved into it. "Feels pointless. Like nothing I do can get it to work."
Martice perked up at this, his eyes gleaming with interest. "Actually, we might have something that'll help you out. I've made some progress figuring out that strange sigil on our doors."
Elias's interest piqued instantly. He glanced at his own workshop door, noticing once again the intricate carving. "Oh? You mean this thing?"
Kaelen nodded slowly, stepping forward. "Yeah, he's been working nonstop since orientation."
Martice adjusted his posture, a little embarrassed by the attention but clearly excited. "Well, the sigil functions as a sort of...lock, I suppose. Not quite a lock in the traditional sense, more like a barrier or a limiter."
"A barrier?" Elias frowned, running a finger across the carved lines. "Why put a barrier on our doors?"
Kiran shrugged lightly. "To protect whatever's inside? Or maybe to prevent something from getting out?"
"Close," Martice said, excitement creeping into his voice. "I think the sigil serves to separate each workshop from the academy itself. Think of each workshop as its own self-contained space. The sigil locks your workshop into a different plane—or dimension—entirely."
Kaelen shifted uncomfortably. "Isn't that a bit…extreme?"
Martice shook his head firmly. "Not at all. It actually makes sense. If our final exams involve shaping and creating within our own personalized spaces, it would stand to reason they'd isolate each workshop to prevent contamination. Your experiments won't interfere with someone else's."
Elias considered this, the implications quickly settling in. "That would mean everything I've been doing has been contained to its own separate reality?"
"Exactly," Martice said. "Every change you make stays confined there, safely separated from everything else."
"But that still doesn't explain why I can't populate it," Elias countered, irritation creeping back into his voice. "It's just…empty. Changing the scenery doesn't matter if there's nothing else."
Martice tilted his head thoughtfully. "Maybe you're trying to add the wrong things? Or perhaps the orb itself isn't meant to populate your workshop, but something else is."
Elias's brow furrowed in confusion. "What else could there be?"
Martice opened his mouth to respond, then hesitated, glancing back at his friends before finally speaking. "Honestly, I don't know yet. But now that we understand the purpose of the sigil, maybe we can find out."
Kaelen chuckled lightly. "Martice has been eager to show off his workshop to someone else. Apparently, he's made some kind of breakthrough."
Kiran nodded enthusiastically. "It's pretty impressive. Definitely worth seeing."
Elias glanced back at his own disappointing door one more time, curiosity now outweighing his frustration. "Alright. I want to see it."
Martice beamed. "Then let's go."
As the four of them walked away from Elias's workshop, he couldn't help but feel a spark of hope. Martice had an answer for the sigil—perhaps soon he'd have an answer for his own workshop as well.
Their casual chatter came to an abrupt halt when Martice stopped suddenly and announced with a hint of pride, "We're here."
Elias and Kiran glanced ahead, eyes immediately drawn to the door of Martice's workshop. Unlike the uniform, dimly etched sigils adorning almost every other workshop door in the hallway, the sigil on Martice's was glowing brightly, pulsing gently with a rhythmic, inviting light.
Martice, wearing a satisfied grin, crossed his arms confidently. "Go ahead," he prompted, stepping aside. "I invite any of you to try and enter."
Elias exchanged a skeptical glance with Kiran, who simply shrugged and approached first. Reaching out, Kiran hesitated slightly, his fingers just an inch away from the glowing sigil. He took a breath, then pressed forward—and was immediately met with a barrier, invisible yet completely solid. He pushed harder, confusion creasing his brows, but it refused to yield.
"Woah," Elias murmured, stepping closer to examine the barrier himself. "It's like there's an actual wall here."
Kiran stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief. "What did you do?"
Martice's grin widened further, eyes glinting with pride. "I've been experimenting with the basic sigil everyone got," he explained casually, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "Turns out, with a few minor adjustments, you can reinforce the basic defensive enchantment already placed on it. Think of it like a magical lock, tuned specifically to my mana signature. As long as I don't want you in, you're not getting past it."
Elias chuckled softly, visibly impressed. "Cool. How did you figure it out?"
Martice shrugged modestly, though he couldn't hide the pleased twinkle in his eyes. "Sigils speak to me," he said simply, "they just told me their secrets."
The group laughed lightly, appreciating Martice's cleverness as the glowing sigil continued its gentle rhythm, silently affirming the boy's early mastery.
Martice shook his head with a grin, excitement bubbling up as he gestured towards Kaelen. "That's not even the coolest part," he said, eyes glinting. "I think the sigil on our doors is set to form a barrier by default, but it can be fine-tuned to react differently depending on how you channel your mana into it."
Kaelen stepped forward, a more reserved excitement in his expression. "Yeah," he agreed. "Martice's earth magic triggered a protective barrier, probably a default for most elemental types. But when I channeled my time magic into it..."
He trailed off, letting the implication linger.
Kiran's curiosity was instantly piqued. "Wait, you mean you got something entirely different?"
Kaelen gave a cryptic smile. "It's easier to just show you. Come by my workshop—I promise it's worth seeing."
The workshop in question was only three doors down, marked with another glowing sigil—similar yet subtly different, pulsing gently with a faint, golden hue. Unlike the others, Kaelen's sigil radiated a distinct sense of stillness, of time waiting patiently, undisturbed.
Not wasting any time, Kaelen gestured for the others to enter his workshop. Kiran stepped forward first, somewhat cautious after their previous encounter. He reached out slowly, fully expecting the familiar resistance of a protective barrier. Instead, his fingers touched cold brass—the doorknob itself, unobstructed.
He paused, confusion flickering across his face. Almost instantly, his expression shifted to one of relaxed familiarity. Turning around, he faced Kaelen, a broad grin spreading across his face.
"Wow, Kaelen," Kiran said, clearly impressed. "You've made some serious progress on your workshop! I didn't think you'd already added so much detail."
Elias blinked, exchanging a bewildered glance with Martice. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Elias asked, visibly confused. "We haven't even gone inside yet."
Martice chuckled softly, clearly amused by Elias's reaction. "That's the trick of Kaelen's workshop," he explained casually. "The moment you touch the door, your mind gets flooded with condensed time. In other words, you've already experienced entering, touring, and even leaving his workshop, all within the split-second it took you to grab the doorknob."
Kaelen rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed but unable to hide his satisfied smile. "Martice's right. Technically, Kiran did enter and explore. It just happened so quickly—within the tiny fraction of time between touching and releasing the handle."
Elias stared, his confusion gradually shifting into astonishment. "You're saying he just...experienced everything instantly?"
Kiran, still grinning broadly, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, and it was pretty incredible."
Kaelen laughed softly, stepping closer to the door. "It'll make more sense once you experience it yourself, Elias. Go ahead, give it a try."
With hesitant curiosity, Elias reached out to the doorknob, touching it gently. In an instant, a cascade of images and sensations filled his mind—the interior of Kaelen's workshop, its neatly arranged shelves lined with clocks and hourglasses, intricate sigils adorning the walls that pulsed rhythmically, and a workstation at the center where delicate mechanisms ticked steadily. He felt as if he had walked the entire room, studied every detail, and then stepped back outside—all in the space of a heartbeat.
Elias lifted his hand away, eyes wide in awe. "Whoa... that's incredible."
Kaelen shrugged modestly. "It's just how I like to do things."
Martice grinned knowingly. "Welcome to the weird side of time magic."
Kiran's eyes went wide with excitement as he turned toward Kaelen. "That was amazing! How did you even do that?"
Kaelen chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, it's a bit complicated, but… let's just say my Chrono-Logic class is already paying off."
"Chrono-Logic?" Elias repeated, curiosity piqued. "What kind of stuff are you doing in there?"
Kaelen opened his mouth to answer, then paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
"it's kind of a long story." He said.