The day's chaos had finally subsided, leaving behind a silence so profound it felt heavy. Elias lay in his four-poster bed, the ornate hangings of Blackwood Keep doing little to block out the oppressive darkness of the night. The scent of woodsmoke and beeswax hung in the air, a familiar comfort that now felt like a fragile barrier against the unforgiving world his father had described. The Rite of Passage, the two years of brutal training, the month alone in the Iron Forest—it all played on a loop in his mind. He was just a small boy, and the world was so… unfair.
He raised his left hand and studied the ring on his pinky finger for a moment then turned over and reached for the gifts on his bedside table with a muffled groan, his hand brushing over the velvet of the book. His fingers closed around the Jade Fang, the dagger Aina had given him. He picked it up and looked at it for a moment before pulling it from its sheath, the blade making a soft, hissing whisper as it emerged. In the gloom, its white glossy surface reflecting the light in his dark room. Aina's words echoed in his memory:
"Its purpose is unique: it has characteristics that cause a wound that continuously drains Flow from the afflicted target."
Elias activated his Flow Perception, and the world around him shifted into different colors. The air, which had seemed empty, now thrummed with a vibrant, intricate energy. He could see the faint, invisible streams of Flow and Anti-Flow, the fundamental forces of growth,progression, deceleration and regression, that wove through the very fabric of existence. The books, the bed, the stones of the keep—all had a faint energy signature. It was like looking at a kaleidoscope of colors. He turned his attention to the artifact in his hand.
The dagger was different. It radiated a powerful, energy that flowed backward in an anticlockwise motion around the blade. This was the energy of deceleration and regression,Anti-Flow, the inverse of Flow. It was a fundamental truth of this world that Flow and Anti-Flow existed in a perfect, hand-in-hand duality. While Flow built and nurtured, Anti-Flow drained and broke down and rebirthed. It was this perfect balance that allowed for both creation and destruction in a cycle of expansion. It was the Ying and Yang of all things.
As he looked closer, using his enhanced senses to peer into the dagger's core, he saw more than just Anti-Flow. He saw its Characteristic.
All artifacts, he knew, had a symbolic signature that revealed what the weapons could do or their function under a specific, Trait Class as such their Flow became engraved with this signature to show what they could do. These signatures were a unique symbol that showed what class a characteristic fell under.
The Cosmic Class, tied to the fundamental laws of the universe, was represented by a circle with an arc bisecting it, like appearing like black hole.
The Cognitive Class, which manipulated the mind and perception, was marked by a pupi-less eye.
The Existential Class, which affected a being's very existence and reality, was symbolized by a three-armed spiral.
And the Soulfire Class, which wielded raw, spiritual energy and life force was represented by a four-pointed star.
Elias focused his Flow Perception on the dagger's hilt, where the Anti-Flow was most concentrated. As he watched, the Anti-Flow energy coalesced into a distinct, pulsating form: a perfect, three-armed spiral. As Aina had said, the Siler Fang was indeed a Grade 5 Existential artifact.
This profound understanding led him to reconsider the grading system. In his lessons with Aina,she had mentioned the Gradient scale of artifacts from Grade 7 to Grade 1 scale,but what did it truly mean?
It was a simple, yet brutal, measure of an artifact's attack potency, its raw ability to inflict harm or perform whatever function was dictated by its characteristics.The grades were directly tied to the seven stages of the Ladder of Ascension. A being's body and Spirit Domain could only withstand the strain of an artifact up to their current stage. Using those of a grade higher than your own could be done with certain precautions but even then there were risks.
A 'Grade 7' artifact, for instance, was a common item with minimal power, usable by anyone regardless of their Flow stage. A Grade 6 was slightly more potent but still a basic tool for new Flow users.
A 'Grade 5' was a master's tool, requiring a developed Spirit Domain to wield without danger.
Then came the higher grades.
A 'Grade 4' artifact, was a tool meant for people who'd reached the Saint stage, requiring a moderate mastery of Flow in order to use. The Silver Fang, as a Grade 4 artifact, was a tool for this stage of ascension.
'Can I even be considered an Acolyte at this time?'
Elias knew that his current stage was far too low and this was an artifact that a child like him should, by all accounts, should be unable to touch without being consumed by its Anti-Flow. The energy required,the strain to simply hold it and not have his own Flow drained would be immense. But that didn't seem to be happening. It seemed Aina had set conditions on the dagger to prevent him from passing out upon contact with it's stronger energy. Which meant he had to be on at least the same level in order to fully utilize its Characteristics.
'Who even gives a kid a knife in the first place?'
The thought of two year training and a month in a literal death zone made him sombre. He put the dagger down at his side and looked up at the ceiling.
'The Iron Forest huh? Why, are the trees made of metal or is the name simply metaphorical?' he thought trying to distract himself but he still felt anxious. This wasn't like his old life where he had been the seemingly overlooked middle child. Here he was the first born of a great Noble House and as such had a lot of expectations placed on him.But then, he remembered his father's words:
"If even I who had no Flow at the time was able to pass this test then you should have no problem." Alaric has told him with a reassuring smile.
A chill of understanding, both exhilarating and terrifying, went through him. His father, a man without Flow for a long time, had passed a trial meant for Flow users. Now, he, a boy with an anomaly for a Trait, was being given a Grade 5 artifact to start his training. It was a tool that could kill him faster than any awakened beast if he wasn't careful. He was being set up to succeed—or to fail spectacularly. The world was so... unforgiving.
But it was also so full of possibility.