Page 252 of Axis of Fire

Moirz remained calm.

But Aars let out an amused chuckle as he floated closer to me.

His eyes swept over the bracelet, and the dragon cat only seemed more delighted with every passing second.

“Well, Fireling, looks like they blocked your magic.”

He rubbed his tiny paws together.

“Seems like we missed the most interesting part.”

“The bracelets will stay on until preparation for the Selection begins,” Eugene stated.

“And how exactly am I supposed to study like this?” Joelle asked.

Or rather—

Hissed.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for you to work on your communication skills,” Eugene replied.

My eyes met Moirz’s.

And, surprisingly, he immediately understood what I wanted to know.

“Joelle Fokas is a descendant of Arachne’s bloodline.”

“Try explaining it in simpler terms.”

Aars grumbled.

“She might not even know what an arachnid is.”

I pointedly ignored him and looked at Luis instead.

“Her magic and essence originate from Mataarus.”

“One of its oldest bloodlines,” the spirit explained.

“Can you imagine how badly your hidden ability complicated things for Eugene and Shiford?”

Aars seemed entertained by every increasingly depressing detail.

“They’re responsible for assigning students to their rooms.”

“Unfortunately, he’s right,” Moirz said.

“Students’ powers are supposed to be distributed so their sources don’t oppose one another.”

“And they shouldn’t be identical either,” Luis added.

“A single source of power competes with itself more than anything else,” Moirz began.

But my attention snapped toward the loudly closing door through which Mr. Shiford and Eugene had just disappeared.

Looks like I missed the rest of the conversation.

The red-haired stranger attempted a polite smile.