Among the first-year students of Transformation Arts was a girl who rarely drew attention.
Slender, pale-skinned, with silver‑white hair… She was Darlene Arkwright, moving quietly through the academy halls.
She rarely spoke to other students. She kept to herself and never sought recognition. To most, she was simply another student.
But in truth, she carried a secret no one else knew.
Darlene was also Vale's disciple.
Coiled around her wrist or resting across her shoulders was Seven, the Black Serpent.
To the academy, Seven appeared to be an arcane beast companion. Yet Darlene knew the serpent was far more than that.
He's a Spirit Beast, and Vale had brought Seven from the Shadow Realm itself, assigning the ancient creature to guide her in Transformation Arts.
This was their pact.
"Do not concern yourself with the three," Seven reminded one evening with its voice echoing in her mind.
"Focus on your own path. Even if Vale decides not to let you participate in the competition, it matters little. Your journey is different."
Darlene smiled faintly. She trusted the serpent's words.
***
Her mornings followed the sa rhythm as the other students. She attended Arcane History, sitting silently in the back row, absorbing every detail of the wars between realms and the rise of the twelve Paths.
She never asked questions aloud, but Seven whispered comntary in her thoughts, correcting the professors when they didn't explain things properly.
In Magic Language Class, she excelled without fanfare. While others struggled to master Oardic and Ievada language, Darlene's parchnt was filled with flawless writings. Seven guided her hand, teaching her subtleties of language that even the instructors did not know.
Fundantals of Magic Zone was more difficult. Her personal zone wasn't going to increase so easily even with Seven's help.
As a matter of fact, controlling Magic Zone was harder to stabilize to those with higher Spirit Strands. Nonetheless, Seven would also teach her so tricks to make it wider. She would do so daily training like tightening and loosening the zone with rhythm.
Slowly, she expanded it without collapse, her zone becoming a silent domain that made her spells easier to cast.
Still, in Transformation Harmonization, she perford the exercises with ease.
While classmates strained to align beast forms with their human selves, Darlene's serpent blood flowed naturally. She had obtained this from Seven, and of course, Vale approved of it.
There were other classes as well, each shaping the foundation of her path.
In Basic Usage of Mystical Artifacts, she handled charms, talismans, and enchanted tools according to Seven's teachings. Her classmates fumbled with unstable artifacts while Darlene was guided by Seven...
She learned how to channel energy through rings and pendants, how to awaken dormant relics without shattering them, and how to bind her own arcane energy into simple tools.
In Elentary Spirit Law, she studied the principles that governed contracts between mortals and spirits.
There was also the Transformation Path Class, which was perhaps the most important. Here, the three foundational spells were taught...
Most students struggled to grasp even one, but Darlene had already mastered them.
Then, there was also the Mystical Geography that taught the landscapes of the continent.
It was an interesting class, allowing them to know more about the world.
Lastly, the Arcane Ethics… It lectured them on restraint, responsibility, and the dangers of corruption. Darlene listened quietly, though she knew her own path was already far beyond the boundaries of ordinary morality.
Together, these lessons shaped her days.
***
In the afternoons, Darlene joined the Herbal Studies Club. It was a small, overlooked group dedicated to brewing salves, teas, and tinctures from mystical plants.
She enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. Surrounded by herbs and incense, she could work in peace.
Her pale fingers crushed leaves, mixed powders, and stirred concoctions with ease. She rarely spoke, but her results were always perfect.
"Miss Arkwright," the club leader once said, astonished, "your tinctures stabilize Arcane Energy better than anyone's. How do you do it?"
Darlene only smiled faintly. She never revealed that Seven gave recipes from the Shadow Realm, teaching her herbs unknown to human apothecaries.
The Herbal Studies Club beca her sanctuary.
While Amaya found calm in tea, Vin in crafting, and Brannic in writing, Darlene found solace in the quiet art of healing.
***
Evenings were different for her. While the three prodigies entered the Animus Haven, Darlene trained alone with Seven.
The serpent coiled around her...
"Focus," it hissed. "The Ancient Snake's blood within you is not like Demon Saint essence. It is older, deeper. You must learn to wield it."
Darlene obeyed.
She practiced Transformation Spells, but hers were unique…
She also learned the Serpent's Veil Spell that cloaked her body in shadow, making her movents silent and unseen.
Molting Renewal Spell followed. It was also a healing transformation, shedding corrupted essence like a serpent's skin, restoring balance!
Finally, there was the Fang Manifestation Spell. It summoned spectral serpent fangs to strike at enemies…
Seven insisted she learn other spells too…
"Support spells will keep you alive," the serpent whispered.
Although she didn't record them yet in her Spell Light, she already learned the Spell Models of other Spirit Arts!
Indeed! These Spirit Arts were two movent spells, and an enhancing spell!
These were not taught in the academy. They were personal spells of Seven, passed from serpent to disciple!
Night after night, she practiced until sweat drenched her pale skin.
Seven corrected her posture, her incantations, her breathing.
"Again," it hissed whenever she made any form of mistake.
"Again!" She never complained!
Though she lived quietly, Darlene was not weak. In truth, she may have been stronger than Amaya, Vin, and Brannic.
Demon Saint blood was powerful, but it was foreign and corruptive. Shadow Realm's Ancient Snake blood was different... it was pure, with divinity, and perfectly attuned to her.
Soon, her pupils changed, resembling the slit eyes of a serpent. She did not sprout horns or wings, but her spells advanced steadily, reaching the interdiate level, though she was only twelve.
Yet she never boasted. She never revealed her strength...
Even as the competition got closer, to the students and professors of Marshall Academy, she was simply another quiet student.
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