Alfonsi: Chronicle of the Seven Realms

**WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS MILD GORE**

Mana made up everything on Lyria.

If Azra didn't want to kill Stephan he had to differentiate between his mana and the mana of the fire. It would be like peeling the shell without damaging the egg beneath. Azra wasn't experienced enough to do that in one go.

The only way to make it easier for himself was to get closer.

Facing the continuously growing flames was harsh, the fire roared on and it was so dense Azra couldn't see through it to Stephan. There was no time, every second wasted was depleting him of oxygen and mana.

Gritting his teeth Azra shoved his hand into the mess of fire, physically coming in contact with the crazed mana.

"He's burning, Professor help!"

"Azra!"

Commotion seemed to break out as others began to notice the situation. Azra could hear none of it, he didn't notice anything outside what he was focused on.

He could feel it moving frantically around him, if left alone it could burn down the entire area without loosing steam. Beyond the wall he could make out the flickering mana that was Stephan, he was suffocating.

Azra sweat as he worked to calm the heated mana, if infusing and removing mana from plants was level one then he was jumping straight to level fifteen without so much as a guide or beginners handbook.

The circular wall slowly dulled from a large roar to a tamed flicker as it calmed back into a stable form with the help of Azra's guidance.

The remainder of the flames left in a puff of smoke as if it had never been there and if it weren't for the cold sweat the coated the entirety of Azra's body he would have thought he had just experienced the most realistic hallucination of his life.

Pushing past the discomfort he felt Azra rushed to where Stephan was passed out on the ground. His hair was singed and there were varying degrees of burns littered all over him, the skin ranging from an angry shade of red to black and oozing dark blood. Azra gagged as he inhaled the stench of burned flesh when he propped the man onto his lap.

He let out a cry of relief as the faint flutter of his chest gave away his status as still living.

Azra looked up, realizing that all eyes were trained on him as if he had grown a second head. At the front was Callum's confused gaze as he was being held back by Clara. The adrenaline still rushing through his veins refused to let him cower or fidget under their watch, instead his heightened emotions began to boil over.

"What are you all doing just standing there? Someone call a healer!"

His purple eyes sharp and demanding in a way no commoner's had a right to be. They remained stock still and just as Azra fixed himself to yell at them further a chilled voice interrupted. 

"Give him to me."

Nile looked over the two test takers, he recognized the one with purple hair. Despite his brain telling him to interrogate he pushed it to the side. There would be another time for that. With a touch he had Stephan levitating beside him.

Giving Clara a meaningful glance, he began to walk only to stop when he realized the other boy was still on the ground in a daze.

"You."

Azra looked up blinking his eyes in hope it would clear the fuzziness blurring the border of his vision. His head was pounding and the longer he sat still the more clearly he could hear the harsh wheezes coming and going as his breath.

That doesn't sound good.

"Me?"

"You need medical attention. It looks like you burned off a few layers from your hand. Can you walk?"

Azra looked down and his stomach began to churn at the sight. With the adrenaline taking him down from his high all the pain was rising from a dull throb to a sharp constant roar.

His hand was much smaller, the fire having eaten through skin and flesh. He wasn't even sure how long he left it in the flames but his nerves were damaged, he could see some of his larger veins. Black burnt blood doing nothing to disguise the white hint of bone peaking out in place of where his pinky finger was.

The grotesque sight had Azra's eyes rolling back in his head as he fainted where he sat.

- - -

Nile sat before the two beds in the public clinic of a pharmacy. The entrance exams were still underway with another professor taking his place with the help of Clara. To his knowledge everything was running smoothly.

The real pain in the ass was Callum, the pink haired kid refused to do anything until he got to see his friend. He stood over June's unconscious body as if it were the worst possible outcome… and in a way it was. There was significant risk in every entrance exam, but the boy seemed particularly anxious, as if it was his neck on the chopping block.

"His father really isn't going to be happy about this."

That muttered sentence kept repeating in the back of his mind. This kid, there was something about him that made Nile's brain itch.

He interrogated Callum for information about him but while the kid was a terrible liar he was stubborn about keeping his lips zipped.

Shopkeeper's son my ass.

Stephan's entire body was bandaged to protect the new sensitive skin the healer running the pharmacy worked hard to repair. He'd probably remain in a coma for a few days while he regained his strength.

June on the other hand, seemed a bit more delicate. The healer took one look at him, healed his hand and then suggested that he be taken to someone of much higher caliber.

"T-this kid's heart… It's seriously damaged, I'm no expert healer but even I can tell that much."

Nile focused on the sleeping kid, unfortunately he never had the talent for healing magic so he would just have to take the man's word for it.

June began to wake, groaning as he rapidly blinked his eyes. Nile pushed a floating cup of water toward him.

"You're dehydrated, drink."

He reached for it with both hands only to flinch when he saw one was bandaged heavily. His grip shook as he brought the cup to his mouth.

"Where's Callum?"

"He left school grounds not long ago but rest assured he did tell me he would be back."

June grimaced as if this was not what he wanted to hear.

"First I should apologize. I responded to the situation as a researcher, not a professor. If I had done my job properly you wouldn't have gotten hurt at all. For that I am sincerely sorry but I still have to know...who are you?"

Nile was never one to skirt around topics. He always preferred to get to the root of the situation quickly.

"Or should I be asking what are you?"

Azra's shoulder's curled in as if it would help him hide away from the question. Truthfully he had thought about it. If a normal Lyrian person were born with such a condition, they wouldn't make it a few months past birth even with the best healers in the world. How was he still alive?

Nile hated repeating himself, he wouldn't ask again. He was annoyed not at June for helping nor Stephan for causing an accident but himself. He was the professor, it was his entrance exam, he even specialized in water magic for All Father's sake. Yet all he could do was stand there. Watching the mesmerizing impossible sight as June quelled the flames.

"I like rationality, so explain to me what happened and how you were able to do what you did."

Azra hesitated, this was not how things were supposed to go. Both his ability and his identity were about to be exposed. He was sloppy, he understood that but glancing at the sleeping man bandaged in the opposite bed he wasn't able to bring himself to regret it.

Perhaps he was never meant to hide who he was, besides he was bound to get exposed sooner or later.

"My real name is-"

"Where is he!"

The door to the backroom swung open and a disheveled out of breath Callum was hot on the heels of his father. The older man was dressed casually as to not draw attention but it did nothing to take away from the noble aura that surrounded him.

He ignored everything else and ran towards the purple haired boy.

"Azra! Are you alright?"

"Scott, y-you shouldn't be here."

The gray eyed man let out an indignant huff as he scanned the prince's body.

"It was either me or the King himself show up to ensure his son's safety and I'm sure you don't want that."

Azra felt a drop of sweat run down his temple as Nile's gaze drilled holes into the side of his face.

"The King… is that so?"

Both Scott and Callum turned their heads simultaneously as if just noticing the man's presence.

"Fuck."

"Cal, what did I say about cursing?!"