(Dream Trial: Tristan, Day 1–30)
Location: Dream realm — Abyss of Still Waters
The cold hit like a punch to the soul.
Tristan landed in silence, standing ankledeep in obsidian water that stretched forever. No sky. No sound. Only an endless horizon of frozen black ocean—waves unmoving, wind absent.
He breathed.
The vapor froze in front of him.
"Alright… cool intro. Bit cliché. I've had worse first dates."
His voice echoed—and then vanished like mist.
That's when he noticed it: his reflection wasn't his own. It stared back at him with lifeless eyes and cracked skin.
Day 2: The Voice Beneath
"Why do you charm?" a voice rumbled from under the water.
He glanced around, trying to play it cool. "Because I'm pretty, and it works?"
No laughter. Only stillness.
"You joke to distract. From fear. From guilt."
"What guilt?" he snapped.
The reflection in the water shifted—showing his younger self, crying while being taken away from the others. Being chosen for isolation. "You always ran from being forgotten," the voice said. "You smiled so they'd never stop looking at you."
Tristan's jaw tightened.
"...That's not fear. That's survival."
Day 10: The Mirror Trial
Frozen waves cracked.
Out stepped seven versions of Tristan, each wearing a different mask—Love, Pride, Envy, Fear, Regret, Anger… and Apathy.
He had to fight them one by one.
He beat them all—until Apathy refused to raise its blade. It stood, looked at him, and whispered:
"When the Court comes, will you even care enough to stand?"
That hit harder than the sword.
Day 16: The Awakening Deep
He dove into the water—ice slicing through his skin like razors.
In the abyss, he found her.
A creature of scale and grace, twice the size of any leviathan he'd ever imagined. Coiling endlessly, wings folded over a sea of stars.
Naytheris, the Frostbinder Queen.
"You think you are a prince of charm," she whispered. "But you are the heir to silence. To patience. To calculation."
"Then teach me," Tristan said, teeth clenched.
"Very well. Let us make your heart still."
Day 25–30: The Still Sea Storm
His training became an inner voyage—controlling tides of emotion. He learned to freeze enemies without harming them, manipulate the battlefield with precision, and even command lesser aquatic beings through aura alone.
His ice grew quieter. More precise. His water, heavier. More royal.
He emerged on Day 30—
Hair shimmering silverblue. A thin, cold mist always curled off his fingers. His heart no longer panicked in silence. He ruled it.
Low Flare Tier — Frost Sovereign.
Outside, his body exhaled a breath of frost—mist blanketing the air as his fingers twitched. Ayesha, beside him, whispered in her sleep: "Show off."