In the hidden magical town of Heartwood, nestled beyond the veil between worlds, Heartwood Academy stands as a beacon for young mages seeking to master the ancient arts of spellcraft and potion-making. For centuries, it has trained generations of magic users—until students began vanishing without a trace.
Ember Shadewood, a shy and observant 15-year-old with an unexpected gift for Nature Magic, arrives for her first year unaware that her arrival coincides with the third disappearance of the sem
The Secret of Heartwood Academy - Beyond the Curtain, Verdant Gold——On the Day of Enrollment, the Forest Whispers
Passing Through the Veil
Ember Shadewood took a deep breath and extended her hand toward the pale purple membrane spreading before her. It looked like a wall, yet also like liquid. It was warm.
"Is this your first time?"
A staff member from the Root Keepers spoke gently. Silver leaf ornaments adorned their uniform, glowing faintly.
"Yes. I'm nervous..."
Ember answered in a small voice. For some reason, it felt wrong to speak loudly in this place.
"It's alright. Once you pass through, everything will change."
The staff member smiled. Their smile was genuinely kind. Ember nodded and touched the membrane.
There was no resistance. Just a sensation of her body being gently drawn in. Light enveloped her. Her vision turned white, and then——
Color returned.
When Ember opened her eyes, another Root Keeper stood before her, holding a measuring device. Older than her, with a frown line between their brows.
"I'll record this. Your name?"
"Ember Shadewood. I'm fifteen."
The device glowed. Warmth flowed through Ember's right hand. As she felt that flow, her heart quickened slightly.
The Root Keeper stared at the measuring device. Stared and stared. Eventually, their brow furrowed.
"Ah..."
They started to say something, then checked the needle on the device repeatedly. Over and over. Again and again.
Ember grew anxious. Had something gone wrong? Was her magical power abnormal?
"Is it broken?" Ember asked seriously, and the Root Keeper finally looked up from the device. A moment of silence.
"No. The equipment is functioning normally."
After answering, they added:
"You're just... slightly outside standard specifications."
Ember couldn't fully comprehend what she'd been told. Outside standard specifications. Was that bad or good?
The Root Keeper gave a wry smile and stamped the paper with a decisive thud. A sheet was cut away.
"Well, since you passed through safely, there's no problem. Welcome to Heartwood."
With those words, Ember finally moved forward. Beyond the veil.
***
The town of Heartwood was nothing like what Ember had imagined.
Stone-paved roads were illuminated by a pale golden-green light. The light source was lamps installed throughout the town. Root-vein lamps. Lights that burned with living magic, unique to this city. Ember had read about them in textbooks, but this was her first time seeing them in person.
The real thing was far more beautiful than she'd imagined.
The light was neither cold nor warm, simply enveloping the town gently. Living ivy crawled up the walls of buildings. That too was likely maintained by magic. The ivy leaves reflected the light, shimmering in pale green.
Looking up at the sky, small particles of light flitted about. Message butterflies. Magical light insects. They traced paths of light as they danced above the city.
She held her breath.
That was all. Ember stood in the center of Briar Lane, gazing at the surrounding scenery.
Citizens passed by her without a glance. Everyone used magic as naturally as breathing. A vegetable merchant kept their goods floating in the air using levitation magic. Children played drawing pictures with fire magic. Particles of light formed beautiful shapes in the air, lasting only a moment.
"Will this really become my place?"
Ember murmured. Not aloud. Only in her heart.
Anxiety tightened her chest. Could she become a person of this world? Would her nature magic be ordinary here? Or would it become something different?
But at the same time, another emotion welled up.
"It's beautiful..."
It was a beautiful world. The truly beautiful world she had been seeking.
Ember began to walk.
***
The assembly hall of Heartwood Academy was large. The ceiling was high, capable of holding three hundred people. There were approximately one hundred twenty new students. Other upper-year students attended for observation and guidance.
Ember sat at the edge. While the other new students buzzed with excitement, she alone quietly observed the entire venue.
It was a habit of observation. Wherever she went, she first surveyed her surroundings. Were there dangers? Where were the exits? What kind of people were present?
As she scanned the hall, Ember noticed something odd.
Five empty seats in a row in the second row.
Empty seats among the new students' seating. That was normally impossible. Everyone should be present. Especially at the opening ceremony.
Ember looked at the other new students around her. No one seemed to mind. They naturally avoided those seats. Their eyes didn't even turn toward them.
"Unnatural..."
Ember murmured.
At that moment, Headmaster Cedric Hailewood took the podium. A gentle smile. Long white hair. An imposing posture. Exactly as shown in the textbook photograph.
But Ember sensed something hidden behind that smile.
The headmaster began his welcoming address. Welcome to Heartwood. The path of magic is harsh but beautiful. All of you have been chosen to become bearers of that path.
Bland words. But——
Ember turned her gaze to the faculty section.
Two spell-weavers were saying something to each other, smiles plastered on their faces. Only their lips moved. She couldn't hear the words. But they were clearly communicating about something.
And one of them quickly glanced toward the forest.
Silverwood Forest. The ancient primeval forest spreading southeast of the Academy.
Then immediately returned their gaze forward. As if nothing had happened.
"No. They're hiding something."
Ember was certain. They were concealing something. It was related to this ceremony. And probably related to those five empty seats.
In the latter half of the ceremony, someone interrupted Ember's thoughts.
The male new student sitting next to her whispered softly.
"Those chairs over there, you think they're moldy or something? Nobody goes near them."
Ember responded reflexively.
"I think it's for a different reason."
But her words didn't seem to reach him. He immediately turned to speak with another friend, and Ember's comment dissolved into the air.
"..."
Ember continued her observation.
***
As the ceremony ended and new students filed out of the hall, Ember stopped in her tracks.
In a corner of the corridor leading to Greenbough Dormitory, a bulletin board was posted.
"Seeking Information on Missing Student"
Ember's gaze was drawn to the notice.
There was a photograph. A boy's smiling face. The name was Rowan Weathergrass. Seventeen years old.
Ember read the notice. The disappearance occurred at the beginning of this term. Anyone with information should report to the headmaster's office. A reward was being offered.
But what caught Ember's attention wasn't the text—it was the background.
Behind the boy in the photograph was the Academy's training grounds. An outdoor open space. A place surrounded by protective barriers.
Why was a photograph of a missing student taken at the training grounds?
Why were there no other students visible in the background of that photograph?
Why was the boy's smile so unnaturally bright?
Ember stumbled as she was jostled by the crowd.
"Whoa, you alright?"
A hand steadied her back. An upper-year student. Male, with gray eyes. A kind expression. A gentle tone.
"Oh, thank you very much."
Ember thanked them.
But she saw the upper-year student's expression change.
Their gaze had followed Ember's——to the bulletin board.
For just an instant, their expression froze. As if remembering something. Or confirming something. That momentary change in expression lasted only a second before vanishing.
"Do your best."
The upper-year student said, then walked away.
Ember watched their retreating back while replaying that instant of expression change in her mind.
What was that expression? Did they know something? Were they aware of something?
***
In her private room at Greenbough Dormitory, Ember took a deep breath.
The room was larger than expected. A bed, a desk, a closet. Everything was wooden, and living ivy crawled up the walls. That much was ordinary.
But this room had one major feature.
A large window on the east side. And it faced Silverwood Forest.
Ember unpacked her belongings while repeatedly glancing at that window.
Dusk was approaching. The scenery visible through the window gradually darkened.
And then the forest began to glow.
Silver-bark trees. Their bark began to emit a faint light. Night mode. A characteristic of Silverwood Forest described in the Academy textbooks.
The light was pale blue-white. One might call it eerie. Yet simultaneously beautiful.
Ember sat on her bed, gazing at the sight.
The entire forest seemed to breathe slowly. The light growing stronger, then weaker.
Ember looked at her own right hand.
Between her thumb and index finger lay the rune mark of nature magic. That faintly glowing mark was proof that Ember was a nature magic user.
"..."
Ember stared at that rune mark.
Then warmth rose from beneath her feet.
Ember looked down.
A single thin vine extended silently from the gap in the floorboards beneath the bed.
Ember hadn't used any magic. She'd done nothing. She hadn't even been conscious of it.
The vine gently touched Ember's wrist.
Warmth flowed through her. A sensation of familiarity. A sensation of being called.
The vine quickly retracted, disappearing back into the gap in the floorboards.
"...What?"
Ember murmured.
In that instant, something reached her from the direction of the forest.
Not wind. Not sound. Not words. Not images.
Just one sensation——
"We know you."
That alone resonated through Ember's mind.
Ember approached the window. She reached to close the curtains, but her hand stopped.
"..."
Fear. Real fear. Her nature magic was reacting to something. Something unknown. Something she couldn't control.
But at the same time, Ember didn't want to look away.
Ember left the curtains open.
From the nighttime forest, only the light of the silver-bark trees was visible. As if something was hidden within that light. As if something was waiting.
Ember remained enveloped in that sensation, waiting for night to fall.
***
The next morning.
When Ember stepped into the corridor, the bulletin board where she'd seen the notice yesterday was empty.
The missing student announcement had vanished without a trace. Even the adhesive residue had been carefully wiped away.
"Looking for something?"
Another new student called out to her.
"Oh, I was just checking the bulletin board..."
"The dining hall menu hasn't been posted yet."
Ember thought to herself that she hadn't been asking about the menu.
"That's not what I was looking for..."
Ember muttered a small complaint while staring intently at where the paper had been posted.
There was no trace whatsoever. As if nothing had ever been there.
They were hiding it. Someone was deliberately concealing it.
Ember was certain of that.
***
The first night at the Academy.
Ember sat at her desk with an open notebook before her, unable to write anything.
A schedule book. Distributed on the first day. She was supposed to write tomorrow's plans in it.
But Ember's hand wouldn't move.
Instead, she gazed out the window.
Silverwood Forest's light was stronger tonight than last night. The silver-bark trees' glow was clearly visible. Blue-white light.
Ember slowly rose from her desk.
And approached the window.
Beyond the glass, the forest spread out. What lay deeper within?
Ember looked at her own right hand.
A pale green mark like a bruise remained on her wrist. Where the vine had touched her last night.
It didn't hurt. Rather, it was warm.
"What am I being called toward?"
Ember thought without speaking.
At that moment.
Whirr.
A small creature landed on the window glass.
A luminescent moth. The faintly glowing insect stopped, as if gazing at Ember. Its compound eyes aligned with hers.
A moment of silence.
Then the moth flew away.
The direction it flew——
Deep into Silverwood Forest.
Ember watched it depart.
The view from the wi
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