The light from the crystal above dimmed, plunging the hall into a half-gloom that silenced every murmur. Overseer Kael stood unmoving at the center, his presence alone enough to steady the restless crowd of novices. His cloak seemed almost too heavy for a man to wear, its folds dragging across the floor like a shadow with a will of its own.
"Novices," he said, his voice low yet resonant, carrying without effort across the hall, "the path of Ascendants is not walked by the weak of body, nor the wavering of spirit. Today, you begin your Trials. The first will measure instinct, adaptability, and the strength to survive when all reason collapses."
The pause after the word survive made Kairen's stomach tighten. He had prepared himself to hear something ominous, but not this soon, not with such finality.
Beside him, Lira leaned in just enough for him to hear her whisper. "He makes it sound like we're about to be tossed into a pit with wolves."
"Wolves would be merciful," came a quiet murmur behind them. It was one of the twins, Kairen thought it was Elric, though their mirrored faces made certainty impossible. His tone was calm, detached, as if speaking of the weather. "The Ascendant Trials don't believe in mercy."
The other twin, Elyra, gave the faintest smile. Not warm, not mocking—simply… there. A smile without a reason.
Kairen resisted the urge to turn and look at them. The twins unsettled him enough already.
With a small flick of his hand, Kael summoned the floor itself to move. Massive stone tiles groaned and shifted, sliding apart in concentric circles. The ground sank in spirals, revealing a wide staircase lit by an unnatural glow. Cold air rose from the depths, carrying with it the faint scent of earth and steel.
"This way," Kael ordered. No one dared to hesitate.
They descended together, hundreds of feet beneath the Hall, into a cavern that seemed to stretch endlessly. The walls shimmered faintly, etched with runes that pulsed as though alive. At the chamber's center stood a coliseum, not of polished marble or grandeur, but of raw stone, its floor uneven and scattered with jagged shards and strange moss that glowed faintly when brushed by the air. Overseers ringed the arena on raised stone benches, their expressions sharp and unreadable, eyes that weighed each novice as if stripping them bare.
"Sit," Kael commanded. "Observe. Learn. When your name is called, you will step into the arena."
The novices obeyed, their footsteps echoing softly against the benches. Kairen sank down beside Lira, his palms clammy, his heart unsteady. He had known this was coming, but not before he had even learned how to control the strange thing stirring inside him. Not before he was ready.
Kael produced a slab of stone inscribed with shifting runes. His voice carried, steady and final. "First: Erisa Veylan."
A girl rose. Small, her copper hair tied back, her eyes far too wide for someone about to fight for her life. She descended the steps, stiff with fear, and crossed into the arena. Kael made a simple gesture, and shadows gathered. The air rippled, then tore, and from that rent stepped something that should not exist.
It was sleek, low to the ground, the shape of a feline stretched wrong, skin like wet glass that shimmered with each movement. Its eyes glowed a deep amber, unblinking, fixed entirely on its prey.
The girl froze.
The Codex stirred to life, not for her, but for every novice watching.
Echo Beast Manifested: Glassfang Serpent-Cat.Difficulty: Initiate Tier.Objective: Survive until the bell tolls.
The beast lunged.
Erisa's scream tore through the silence as she stumbled aside, the creature's claws carving sparks from stone. She scrambled to her feet, swinging her training dagger wildly. Each strike glanced harmlessly off its slick hide. The serpent-cat hissed, coiling, tail whipping, then lunged again. The fight was desperate, messy, filled with nothing but instinct and terror.
Time stretched unbearably, but then the sound came—a deep, echoing gong that shook the chamber. The serpent-cat hissed once more, then dissolved into mist, leaving behind only the echo of its roar.
Erisa collapsed, shaking so violently her dagger clattered from her hands. Kael's face betrayed nothing. "Survival acknowledged. Sit."
She staggered back to her place, pale as death but alive.
More names were called. One by one, novices entered the arena. One by one, beasts emerged from shadow. Each fight was different—some against smaller things, some against hulking forms, some ending swiftly, some dragging on until the novice seemed ready to break. The gong always came, but never at the same moment. Its unpredictability was its cruelty.
Kairen's jaw tightened as he watched. He memorized movements, weaknesses, tiny moments when the beasts faltered. He noticed how fear seemed to draw them, how the glow in their eyes burned brighter the more frantic the novice became. But observation was no substitute for survival. His turn would come.
And then it did.
"Next: Kairen Veyr."
The name landed like a thunderclap. His body froze before forcing itself to move. Lira's hand brushed against his arm, just a flicker of contact, quick and uncertain. "Don't die," she said under her breath, and though she tried to make it sound like a joke, her eyes betrayed her.
He tried to smile but felt nothing. His legs carried him down the steps, each one heavier than the last, until the raw stone floor stretched wide beneath him. The Overseers watched. Kael lifted his hand.
The shadows coalesced again, denser this time. A figure emerged—taller, heavier, disturbingly human-shaped. Its torso was carved from jagged stone, arms ending in blades, and where its face should have been was a smooth surface that flickered with shifting, half-formed features.
Echo Beast Manifested: Faceless Shardborn.Difficulty: Variant Initiate Tier.Objective: Survive until the bell tolls.
Kairen's throat went dry.
The thing tilted its head at him in jerks, then charged. The blade-arm swept where his chest had been, cutting deep into stone instead. Kairen dove, rolled, scrambled to his feet, clutching the dagger like a lifeline. His swings glanced uselessly off its jagged hide. The Overseers did not move.
The Shardborn's next strike came faster, too fast. Kairen raised his arm out of desperation.
And something answered.
The air shivered, a ripple distorting reality just enough. The creature's blade veered, grazing his shoulder instead of skewering his chest. Pain burst, hot and searing, but he was still breathing.
The Codex flared.
Instinctive Resonance Activated.Skill Unlocked: [Echo Disruption I]Effect: Minor distortion of hostile trajectory.
Gasps rippled through the benches.
Kairen's heart pounded. He had no idea what he had just done, only that something within him had awoken. The Shardborn twisted, faceless head flickering with shifting expressions, then came again. Kairen moved with the ripple this time, not against it, ducking under the swing, dagger slicing—not to harm, but to create distance.
Every second was agony. Every heartbeat, a cliff.
Then the gong struck.
The sound filled his bones, reverberated in the stone, and the Shardborn dissolved into mist. Kairen dropped to his knees, chest heaving, blood running hot down his arm.
"Survival acknowledged," Kael said, his voice unchanged, but his eyes, for the briefest instant, narrowed. Watching. Measuring.
Kairen staggered back to the benches, every step trembling. Lira exhaled sharply when he sat beside her. Her lips were pressed thin, but her relief was plain in her eyes. The twins were watching too, their identical smiles sharp as knives.
The Trials continued. More names, more fights, more gongs. But Kairen barely heard them. His shoulder burned, his thoughts spiraled, circling back to the ripple that had saved him. He had no control, no training, nothing but instinct—and yet, something inside him had answered.
Something the Overseers had noticed.
Something the twins had smiled at.
And though the gong rang again and again for others, for Kairen, the echo of his first Trial had only just begun.