The Teachers' Council

“Who taught you that word?” Holt's question remained in the room as though I had spoken something that did not belong to me. The healer beside him closed the door. The older teacher moved his hand away from the blank sheet but kept it close.

Elias“Someone in my class. He heard it from a third-year student.”

Older Teacher“Name?”

Elias“I do not know. He only said that after the impact, somebody had claimed I behaved like one of the old Guardians.”

The older teacher looked at Holt. The healer breathed out slowly through her nose. None of them seemed surprised that Guardians had existed. They seemed surprised that we knew.

Healer“The term has not appeared in a textbook for twelve years.”

Older Teacher“A word does not disappear because you remove it from books.”

Darian Holt“But it does not spread without a source either.”

Elias“Is it forbidden?”

Older Teacher“It was meant to be forgotten.”

Holt gathered my records and went through a narrow side door. I thought the questioning was over, but the healer motioned for me to follow. The teachers' room lay beyond it. Six people sat around a long table, and their faces told me that they already knew why I was there.

No one offered me a seat. Holt placed the reports in the middle, and a discussion began at once about whether I was unsuitable, too young, or simply dangerous. They did not speak quietly. They only spoke as though I were an object that did not need a say.

Elias“If this role no longer exists, why are you so afraid of it?”

Several of them looked at me. The older teacher remained seated, but his voice changed.

Older Teacher“Because the last Guardian was the headmaster of this school.”

He did not explain it like a story, but like a report he had read too many times. The headmaster at the time had reached level sixty. He could hold protective fields while fighting, pull the wounded from a room, and make an entire group move in the same second.

Healer“His partner accompanied a beginner group into the first dungeon. A training exercise. Low danger, clear paths, teachers nearby.”

A spell had struck a damaged wall and been thrown back. A ricochet, she called it. His partner died before the headmaster reached her.

Elias“And then he went on a rampage.”

Older Teacher“Not immediately. That would have been easier to understand.”

First, he had searched for the person responsible. Then for those who had authorised the exercise. After that, for everyone who could have closed the dungeon. In the end, anyone who opposed him became guilty. He sealed the exits, attacked teachers, and forced students to remain wherever he believed they were safe.

Darian Holt“He never wanted to lose anyone again. So he took away everyone else's right to decide.”

That was the part that stayed in the room. Not his strength, and not his level. The thought that protection and violence could come from the same place.

Elias“That does not make the role evil.”

Healer“No. It makes the role dependent on the person carrying it.”

She pulled back a chair. Only then was I allowed to sit. The nearly blank sheet lay before me. My name stood at the top, with three terms beneath it: Bearing, Bond, Influence.

Healer“A mage changes the world around him. A Guardian changes the people in it first. His fear makes others cautious. His certainty makes them follow. His anger can become courage or permission.”

Older Teacher“That is why we do not test only a Guardian's power. We test what his feelings make of other people.”

The healer asked about the boy who had mocked me for having no parents. I did not know how she had heard. Perhaps Holt had seen it. Perhaps more was reported in this school than the students noticed.

Healer“What did you feel?”

Elias“Anger. And something else.”

Healer“Grief?”

Elias“Perhaps. I cannot miss people I do not remember.”

Older Teacher“What did you want to do?”

Elias“Make him stop.”

Older Teacher“That is not an action.”

Elias“Bren was already standing. I held him back.”

Healer“Without looking at him. He listened to you anyway.”

I looked at the three words. Influence. This was not only about whether I controlled my anger. They wanted to know where it moved inside a room.

Darian Holt“At the impact, you wanted to go to the crater.”

Elias“Yes.”

Darian Holt“Why did you go to the wounded?”

Elias“Because they were still alive.”

Darian Holt“Would you make the same decision again?”

Elias“I do not know.”

The older teacher shook his head. The healer wrote something on the sheet. Holt did nothing. He waited until I understood the silence not as a test, but as room for a more honest answer.

Elias“I would try. But if I claim I know for certain, I am lying.”

For the first time, the teachers' room became truly quiet.

Older Teacher“And if one student endangers the entire group?”

Elias“Then I remove him from the task.”

Older Teacher“Even if he hates you afterwards?”

Elias“Then he hates me.”

Healer“And if you have to break him to protect the others?”

The question was too clean. It allowed only an answer that made me seem hard or cowardly.

Elias“Then I first want to know who decided there was no third option.”

The older teacher leaned back. “He gives answers that sound good.” Holt continued to watch me. “No. He takes too long over simple answers. That is different.”

Darian Holt“You are not receiving a title today. Nor will you be declared a Guardian simply because your class found a word.”

Elias“But you are not refusing.”

Darian Holt“Not yet.”

The next argument began behind me as soon as I left the teachers' room. It was not about my answers. It was about who had told the students about the old role. No one had an explanation. I walked down the corridor thinking that my room, my timetable, and now even a forbidden direction had arrived before I did.

Perhaps I had not chosen the Guardian. Perhaps someone had merely waited long enough for me to speak the name myself.