The tension of the trial's conclusion lingered heavily in the air.
Ardyn Vale stepped forward, his expression stern.
"You have three days to prepare," he announced. "Gather your supplies, settle your affairs. In three days' time, we march to the Capital City Academy. The journey will not be easy—it is long and dangerous. Travel lightly but wisely."
The survivors nodded, some with visible relief, others still too dazed from their ordeals to react.
As the crowd began to disperse, families rushed forward.
Some were scenes of joy: parents and siblings embracing their battered but victorious children. Tears of pride and relief flowed freely.
Others were scenes of devastation. Families wept over empty spaces, over sons and daughters who had not returned from the Verdant Wilds.
Eryon, Kael, and Ryn soon found themselves swept into warm embraces. Their parents, who had once walked similar paths but never reached such heights, beamed with pride.
"You've done what we could not," Daren Solaris said, clapping Eryon on the shoulder with a rare tear glistening in his eye. "Whatever happens next, know we are behind you."
Kael's mother hugged him fiercely, while Ryn's father, Captain Veylor himself, nodded with solemn approval.
Amidst the celebrations, some of the children who had abdicated the trial—having fired their flares—walked with heads bowed, shame written across their faces. Their families' reactions varied, from understanding to quiet disappointment.
As the sun set, the atmosphere slowly shifted from mourning and celebration to solemn preparation.
Meanwhile, in a quiet stone chamber reserved for the academy's representatives, Ardyn sat across from Alice Dawnmere.
The girl's face was calm, but a faint tension in her jaw betrayed her irritation.
"You achieved your goal," Ardyn said lightly. "First place."
Alice's lips tightened.
"But not alone," she muttered. "I didn't leave the Academy, travel to a distant backwater village, and endure all of this just to tie with a nobody."
Her hands curled into fists at her sides.
Ardyn studied her carefully, remembering the boy—Eryon Solaris. Remembering the anomalous reaction during the elemental affinity test.
Perhaps he is not a nobody after all, Ardyn mused.
Alice's voice was sharper now, the irritation she held barely contained.
"In the Capital's Academy City," she said, "I would have never won. Not against him."
Ardyn nodded slowly, understanding.
The "him" she referred to was clear—the undisputed genius of the Capital Academy, a monstrous talent who had already eclipsed countless prodigies despite his young age.
"That's why you came so far," Ardyn said. "To claim a first place you couldn't win in the Academy City itself."
Alice turned away slightly, arms crossed.
"The Academy will honor the full rewards," Ardyn continued. "The cost of the tie will be absorbed. You will receive all the privileges promised."
Alice gave a small, reluctant nod.
But in her heart, a fire had been lit—not of satisfaction, but of something sharper.
She would not be content until she understood—and surpassed—the boy who had dared to stand on equal ground with her.