The Azure Dawn training hall was unlike anything they had seen before—vast arcs of stone carved with runes, ceilings high enough to swallow echoes, and a faint hum in the air as if the place itself remembered centuries of power.
For the first time, the four stood not as scattered students but as recognized initiates.
Ellisar's voice carried evenly across the chamber.
"Today, you will not master your Pathways. That is impossible. But you will learn to listen to them. To survive the next storm, you must stop fearing what is within you."
Nelly glanced at his hand. The shadows that sometimes curled there like smoke now coiled restlessly, eager. He clenched his fist, willing them still.
Nathan's palms itched with light, flickering faintly like fireflies that refused to sleep.
Divine sat cross-legged, his gaze oddly calm, as though his heartbeat had already slowed beyond theirs.
Courage… Courage only smiled faintly, his fists wrapped in bandages, the weight of his resolve heavier than the stone beneath his feet.
⸻
"Begin," Ellisar commanded.
The hall shifted. Runes lit along the floor, summoning phantoms—illusory figures meant not to kill, but to test.
A shadow-laden phantom lunged at Nelly. He froze for half a heartbeat, then felt the instinctive pull. The darkness welled, bursting outward in a jagged arc. The phantom dissolved with a hiss. His chest heaved, the victory sour. The whisper in his mind was louder now, seductive.
Nathan stepped forward next. His opponent: a phantom of fractured light, all blades and brightness. For a moment, Nathan faltered—then he raised his palm. Radiance burst, uncontrolled, throwing him back as much as his foe. The phantom shattered, but his hand shook violently.
"Control," Ellisar reminded firmly. "The difference between salvation and destruction lies in restraint."
⸻
Divine's turn. His phantom was a looping chain, seeking to bind. But Divine did not fight as the others did. He closed his eyes, whispering words too soft to catch. The phantom slowed… as though time itself hesitated. Its movement fractured, became clumsy. Divine struck once, and it was gone.
Ellisar's eyes lingered on him. Concern flickered, then disappeared.
⸻
Finally, Courage stood. His phantom towered, armored and unrelenting. Courage did not summon light, nor shadow, nor eternity. He simply braced, fists tightening. The phantom's strike fell like an avalanche—he caught it, staggered, yet held his ground. His bandaged knuckles bled, but his stance never broke.
When the phantom faded, Courage spat blood, grinning despite himself. "Guess it takes more than a ghost to break me."
⸻
The exercise ended with silence heavy over them. None had mastery, but each had touched something raw.
"You see now," Ellisar said, voice solemn, "your Pathways are not gifts alone. They demand discipline. If you cannot shape them, they will shape you."
Nelly swallowed hard. He could still hear the whisper. Nathan flexed his hands, still trembling. Divine sat in silence, eyes distant. Courage simply tightened his bandages, as though daring the world to try again.
Outside the training hall, the sun was setting. Shadows stretched long across the courtyard. For a moment, the four stood together, worn and silent. The path ahead loomed vast, but they were not walking it alone anymore.