A Month Passed
The courtyard did not change.
Not in form. Not in stone. Not in shadow.
And yet—
It was no longer the same place.
The obsidian pedestals bore faint scuff marks now.
The shards had grown quieter.
Not docile—just discerning.
The instructors spoke less.
The wind listened more.
And the initiates…
Began to move differently.
Not stronger. Not faster.
But with weight.
With intention.
Some days passed like pages.
Others like hours etched in iron.
The stones didn't rise on command.
The echoes didn't part easily.
But across the silence, something shifted.
Rhythm settled in bones.
Pulse stitched itself into breath.
Marks began to form.
Sayan stopped forcing his shard to rise.
He no longer clenched his fists or braced his breath.
He waited.
Listened.
And one morning, it simply lifted—calmly, steadily, held by the rhythm he'd begun to understand.
Not power. Not force.
But precision.
Sometimes it fractured. Sometimes it didn't.
But Sayan no longer feared the cracks.
He began tracing lines with it—tiny geometric arcs, like early glyphs drawn in the air.
Aleric never praised him.
But one morning, after Sayan's shard split again, the Sentry handed him a new one before he could ask.
That was enough.
Zavian's mind changed faster than his technique.
He stopped chasing control and began listening—to distortions, to echoes, to the way other memories hummed like fractured mirrors.
In the Hall of Echoes, he stopped recoiling from the veil.
He leaned in.
Sometimes, it leaned back.
Pulse no longer frightened him. It unsettled him, yes. But it also sharpened him.
And yet, when he stepped into the veil meant for himself, it was still silent. Still void.
A fog that refused to lift.
He wondered if it was hiding, or if he was the one who couldn't see.
But Nyla noticed something.
When Zavian stood still, the echoes shifted around him—subtle, bending.
Not out of fear.
But something close to recognition.
Kaelen moved without wasted breath.
His control deepened each day.
What began as smooth spirals became more refined: tight directional shifts, curved velocity arcs, and split-point transitions mid-flight.
He never faltered. He recalibrated.
He didn't perform—he executed.
And the others began to notice.
Not with envy.
But caution.
He never spoke of his progress. Never commented on others.
But when Aleric made the exercises more complex, Kaelen adapted before anyone else even grasped the change.
It wasn't raw talent.
It was clarity in motion.
Elyria's path was slower.
Less visible.
Her shard never danced. It wavered. Shivered. Dropped.
But she returned to the courtyard each night after the others left.
Stood there. Waited.
Until it rose again.
Not high. Not for long. But it rose.
She began noticing things others didn't.
Flickers in the way Kaelen's wrist twitched before his shard turned.
The tension in Sayan's shoulders before he lost focus.
Nyla once mentioned it—called it early resonance.
The beginnings of Pulse.
An awareness not of power, but of people.
Elyria said nothing.
But the next night, she left the hall with snow melting on her gloves and a faint smile she didn't realize she wore.
Riven never changed loudly.
But he changed.
His Flow was minimal. Subtle.
Barely noticeable.
But Pulse began to show in strange ways.
He lingered longer near others.
Not watching—feeling.
Zavian caught it once—
A flicker of a memory that wasn't his, blooming in the air between them for less than a breath.
Riven stepped into veils he hadn't been assigned.
Glanced at people like he was reading the last lines of a page they hadn't written yet.
He wasn't just practicing.
He was looking for something.
Or someone.
By the end of the month, no one needed to be told the phase was over.
They could feel it.
In the way the air shifted when they entered the courtyard.
In how the shards responded—not like tools, but like echoes to a call.
The instructors stopped correcting.
They started watching.
Flow had begun to settle.
Pulse had begun to awaken.
And the Mark…
The Mark was waiting.
What came next would not be routine.
It would not be repetition.
It would be something else.
A test.
A threshold.
A calling.
And only those who had listened long enough would understand when it arrived.
The auditorium of the Stronghold trembled.
For the first time since the Trine Awakening, All the initiates gathered together in a place.
In front of the gathered Initiates stood, The Five Sentry Instructors along with Steward Vire and Vanguard Dravara.
At the far end of the auditorium Watchlord Marshal was observing quietly.
Steward Vire spoke,
"You have completed the first phase.
You have touched the edge of flow. Began to understand it, to control it, to connect with it.
But that is not mastery. Flow is only one aspect."
"A true guardian, - "Vanguard Dravara continued. "-aspires to master the entirety of Trine."
"But to strengthen yourself, firstly you must become aware of your weaknesses."
Vanguard Dravara steps forward toward the altar in the center of the auditorium.
Then she shot out a pulse of Ether at altar, creating a controlled zone of chaotic Ether.
"Initiates will enter this zone briefly. The part of their Trine that is weakest will fail to stabilize.
She took a pause then continued,
"This will cause:
Memory or Vision Distortions- If weak in Pulse.
Inability to act or respond- If weak in Flow.
Slight radiance in Ethermark- If weak in Mark.
After emerging, each of you will be told about your weakness by Watchlord Marshal."
"Subsequently, each of you will be given nine days to work on your strengths, Weaknesses and dormant abilities.
This is called the Trine Tempering."
"When these nine days are over, you will be assigned to your Path Mentor."
"Let the Ether remember you."
The test commenced. Each initiate would enter the Ether Zone briefly. Then after exiting, they approached Watchlord Marshal and became aware of their vulnerabilities.
Sayan was now able to command his Flow precisely and stunningly. But, without a mastered Pulse he moves through space without complete perception. His weak Mark leaves his inefficient and unanchored.
Zavian perceived intent with deep instinct and a potent Pulse. But his Flow lacks conviction and his intent weren't fully realized yet. His Mark remains unveiled.
Kaelen commands Flow with grim power, accuracy and reflex, but his weak Pulse leaves him deaf to connection.
Riven senses motion and tension through brilliant Pulse, but his Flow is erratic and untamed.
Elyria's Flow was Flawless in form, but her Pulse remained feeble- leaving her reactive but not intuitive, and her unmastered mark reflects a strength built from legacy more than the self.
After the test concludes, each initiate is given one full day to reflect and work alone on the Trine aspect they're weakest in.
The trainees return to their rooms and the isolation begins.
While returning, Sayan gives Zavian a nod and they both enter their respective rooms.
Sayan sits at the meditation altar in his room. He thinks about his unmastered pulse and dormant mark.
He realises that, when a guardian experiences The Trine awakening; It is the first time they have all the three aspects of Trine in a conscious state.
This indicates that the three days of awakening, each representing a stage of Trine; are the foundation to awakening and realizing Mark, Pulse and Flow.
Sayan sits silently and recalls the happenings of the second day of Trine awakening, to acquire clues regarding the mastery of pulse and the re-awakening his guardian vision.
He also recalls the first day and the events that led to the formation of his mark and his initiation towards his Etherpath and becoming a Guardian.
Zavian stands in the center of his room. His eyes closed. His breathing stable and rhythmic. He clasps his fingers together, such as he was forming a vault between them.
Then he focuses on his mark on his right forearm and visualize the Infinity etched into space with words depicting boundless knowledge.
The Cognivault activates.
Then he slowly opens his eyes and observes his surrounding brimming with information. He starts using Flow and observe the stir in the information around him.
He repeats this process, observes and accumulate the information obtained from the changes occurring in himself, his surroundings and the Ether inside him to understand the mechanism of flow better and realizing better ways to mobilize his intention with precise direction and control.
Kaelen lays on his bed. His eyes wide awake. His mind wandering. He raises his hands in front of his eyes and noticed the scars. He begins to think about Duskwell Bastion (near Mournhollow Ridge). Recalls the pain and misery associated with that place. His emotions stirred. His eyes grew darker and deeper. He started growing numb.
His mark rippled with dark black and red hue. He started getting aware of the dread, belonging to him and the room.
Elyria sits on her bed. Concentrating on her Flow and sensing the presence of Ether surging beneath her.
She concentrated on her senses, augmenting her focus with impeccably stable Flow. The surroundings get colder.
Elyria understands that what she lacks in perception can be augmented and improved with intent.
Riven lays on the floor of his room, staring at the ceiling above him and the stars outside the window. Riven creates a veil and obscures a memory beneath it using the Memory Shard given to him by Sentry Nyla.
The veil he created depicted the awakening of his flow during The Trine Awakening. He was standing in his chamber and light coalesced beath his feet.
His Mark shimmered faintly- a compass of light etched in constellations across his skin. Still forming. Still uncertain.
Then he uncovered the veil and came across the memory concealed behind it.
The memory he obscured depicted his first meeting with Zavian. He wanted to understand, how Zavian was able to shatter the veil of an Astraveld.
He saw with great attention and noticed that before Zavian shatters the veil, his vision transformed. Not just in appearance. But in depth, foundation, quality and ability.
He realised that Zavian had re-awakened his Guardian vision. And that vision was not something he could have deceived.