The Anomaly's Path

Chapter 241: The True Face of the Flame

A sharp clap echoed through the training hall, breaking the heavy weight that had settled over the room.

"Alright, alright! That is enough living in the past," Seren said, a bright, easy smile returning to her face as if the grim tale of the Frozen Cross had never passed her lips. She set her empty coffee cup aside and stretched her arms over her head.

"We came here to work, not to turn you into a depressing block of ice, little bird."

Beside her, Morgana let out a rough snort, the tension leaving her shoulders as she leaned back on the bench, her relaxed posture returning. The heavy history was put away as fast as it had come out.

Seren rested her hands on her hips, looking down at me. "Anyway, the point of all that history is simple. We owe your grandfather our lives. Since he is not around to teach you, you will just have to settle for learning from another powerhouse. Aren’t you lucky?"

Then she paused. She tilted her head, resting her chin between her thumb and finger as her violet eyes narrowed, studying me with intense curiosity.

"Though seriously... what the hell are you?" Seren murmured, her voice a mix of genuine confusion and amusement.

"When Morgana told me you possessed three affinities, I thought she was finally losing her mind from too much drinking. I saw the clips from your Aegis entrance exams, and I knew you were reckless. But I didn’t think you were crazy enough to almost erase your own existence."

I shot a sharp glance toward Morgana. How much did she spill to this woman?

Morgana just shrugged, completely unbothered by my silent glare.

Seren was right, though.

My track record over the past month was a mess of pushing past my limits, but nothing compared to what happened during the Gate tournament. Faced with a Master High monster I could not beat normally, I had pushed my Soul Flame to its limit, forcing it to eat the monster while draining the Gate’s frozen energy to power the attack.

It worked, but the cost had almost killed me.

The flames had turned inward, eating away at my memories, my life, and my very existence. My bloodline had fought back hard, trying to rebuild my body as fast as the flames were destroying it — a horrible, painful war inside my own flesh.

When I knew I was losing control and about to kill everyone in the Gate, I had told Seris to stab me. It was not panic. It was a cold, smart gamble.

Seris hadn’t hesitated.

She drove her blade through my chest, using her Lunar power to freeze the wild flames from the inside out, steadying my core. It was crazy, desperate, and completely suicidal — but it was the only way I could have survived.

"Don’t worry, I am not going to kidnap you and experiment on you just because you have three affinities," Seren laughed, waving a hand dismissively at my guarded expression. "And I won’t tell anyone else either. Though, let’s be honest, it’s not like you are trying very hard to hide it anyway."

She stepped forward, her mood shifting from playful curiosity to focused professionalism.

"Let’s get down to business," Seren said.

"I can give you the theory on how to control your Space and Lightning affinities, but I can’t help you master them. For Space manipulation, your academy already has Principal Vega, who is an absolute monster with that element. As for Lightning... well, you already know your grandfather, and nobody alive does it better than him."

Her eyes flashed with a sudden, brilliant light.

"But the flames? The flames I can teach you. There are plenty of strong fire users out there, but I happen to be one of the best. The problem is we only have three days here, so I can’t teach you everything."

I frowned slightly at that, shifting my stance. "What about the other students? Are Roan and the rest just sitting around while we do this?"

Morgana waved her hand, leaning back with a smirk.

"Do not worry about them, kid. The academy has good teachers handling their training right now. They are learning what they need. But you? You are a special mess, and you need focused help. I brought you here so you would not miss a chance to grow. While you are here, I will also teach you whatever I can to improve your body and reflexes. Do not forget why you are here — to learn."

Seren frowned slightly, an expression of genuine regret crossing her face. "If you really want to learn everything I have to offer, you should just become my disciple. Leave the academy, join my academy, and I will teach you every single day—"

"Shut up, you old hag!" Morgana barked, slamming a hand onto the bench. "Didn’t I specifically tell you to stop trying to steal my student? Just teach the kid what he needs to know and stop marketing your academy!"

Seren clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. You’re no fun."

She turned her full attention back to me. "Since you are only here for three days, you don’t have to call me master. Just listen, watch, and learn. Because most people think they understand fire, but they are completely blind to what it actually is."

Seren held up her right hand, palm facing skyward.

"Fire affinity is not just about burning things, Leo. If you only think about throwing flames and making walls of fire, you are wasting your potential," she said, her voice dropping into a steady, calm rhythm.

"Fire is not an element. It is a process. It is heat, energy, movement, and change. It is the act of turning matter into energy — breaking things down and releasing what is stored inside."

As she spoke, she didn’t just explain, she showed me.

Suddenly, a bright white flame burst over Seren’s palm. It was not red, orange, or yellow. It was a pure, blinding white fire that gave off a strong, intense heat that warped the space around her hand. Unlike normal fire, this white flame did not flicker wildly.

It hummed with steady control, dancing with smooth, precise movements.

I watched closely. I held out my hand and let a small spark of my Soul Flame appear. A thin, pitch-black flame danced on my fingertips.

My body had adapted to the black flame by now — there were no whispers in my mind, no wild backlash trying to pull me under. I could hold it, but I still could not control its fine movements or master its true power.

It just sat there, a still pool of absolute erasure.

"You see that difference?" Seren said, looking at the black spark on my hand.

"You are not controlling the energy. You are just letting it exist. Fire is movement. It flows, dances, and spreads. If you understand its nature, you can make your flames move like they are alive — curling around obstacles, finding targets, or forming solid barriers."

To show me, she flicked her wrist. The bright white fire did not shoot out like a ball. Instead, it moved like water, flowing down her fingers and wrapping around her arm in a smooth, spinning spiral.

With a sudden burst, she thrust two fingers forward, and the heat formed a thin, sharp spike of light that stopped just short of my nose.

The force of it made me take a half-step back.

"That is a simple compression trick," Seren said smoothly, the white spike dissolving back into gentle warmth.

"By changing the heat and pressure, you can change the shape of the flame. It can be a liquid shield, a solid blade, or a trap that stops an enemy’s spell before it forms. You have to stop thinking of your mana as fuel for an explosion. Think of it as a flow you can shape."

She snapped her fingers, and her white flame turned into a soft warmth that spread through the cold room, chasing away the chill.

"It is also about pressure, force, and cleansing," Seren said, looking deep into my eyes.

"It can create shockwaves to push you, create openings to throw enemies off balance, or burn away poisons and curses by raising your own body heat. But fire needs strong willpower. It does not respond to doubt. If your focus wavers, the fire dies. If you lose control, the fire eats you first."

She walked closer, stopping just a few feet away from me.

"You are treating your flame like a blunt weapon, Leo. You just throw it out and hope it hits. Over the next three days, I am going to teach you how to direct that power properly. We are going to fix your basic control from the ground up."