Ace stood in the practice hall with her hands curled into fists. The instructor had just announced partner assignments, and she'd watched three students turn away when her name was called. No one wanted to work with a Lorenz. Not because they knew her. Because they thought they did. The instructor paired her with a senior who didn't bother hiding his irritation. He conjured a barrier spell between them, golden threads weaving into a shimmering wall. It was meant to be a simple exercise in control. She was supposed to press against it, test its strength. Instead, something sharp woke inside her chest. Her hand moved without thought, fingers slicing downward through empty air. Light erupted from her palm and formed into a halberd, radiant and impossibly thin at the edge. The blade cut through the barrier like it was nothing. The golden threads unraveled, fell away, ceased to exist. The senior stared. The instructor went silent. Ace looked down at the weapon in her grip, its glow already fading. For the first time since she'd arrived at this academy, no one was seeing House Lorenz. They were seeing her. Word spread before the class ended. By evening, Ace found herself standing alone near the old monument at the edge of campus, the crumbled column where older students practiced destructive spells. Vines twisted through broken stone, and dew caught the last light. Someone had tried to ward the area earlier that week. She could see the remnants, protective threads still clinging to the rubble. She raised her hand. The halberd formed again, easier this time, like her body remembered the shape. She swung it through the wards and they split apart, dissolving into nothing. The column seemed smaller now, just stone and moss. The magic that had clung to it was gone. She stood there until dark, holding the weapon, feeling the weight of what she'd done. Not what House Lorenz could do. What she could do. The difference mattered. The next morning, she walked to the old waymarker at the northern edge of campus. The stone stood taller than her, split down the middle with fire still burning in the crack. Students avoided it. The spell trapped inside had been there for years, a warning left by someone whose name no one remembered. Ace had heard the stories. Don't touch it. Don't disturb it. Don't try to break it. She called the halberd to her hand. The blade appeared, bright and certain. She drove it into the stone. The spell inside screamed, then went silent. The fire died. The stone cracked further and fell into two clean halves. She let the weapon fade and walked back toward the dormitory. Behind her, the waymarker lay broken and cold. The name Lorenz hadn't done that. She had.