Morning broke across the floating citadel like the slow unfurling of light through mist. The sky shimmered with hues of violet and silver, the remnants of the hunt's energy still lingering in the air. The heirs had rested — some barely, others not at all — and now gathered once more at the central arena.
A vast platform of crystal steel floated at the heart of the citadel, its surface engraved with ancient sigils that pulsed faintly underfoot. The Patriarchs and Elders sat above in the observation ring, their presences veiled behind a translucent barrier of energy, their eyes sharp and unblinking.
Below, the young generation lined up — faces tense, expressions carved between confidence and fear.
The voice that broke the silence belonged to Elder Maerin Solvik, his tone smooth but carrying authority like the edge of a blade.
"For this phase," he said, stepping forward, "you will be tested in two ways — your elemental affinity and your physical martial resonance."
He gestured, and two large constructs appeared from beneath the arena floor — a massive crystal sphere etched with runes, and a monolithic stone pillar that seemed to breathe faint traces of aura as if alive.
"The sphere," he continued, "will measure your elemental depth — your capacity to channel, merge, and harmonize mana through your veins. The stone will test your martial focus — not raw strength, but how well you convert intent into impact."
He turned his gaze to the heirs, pausing.
"Remember, this is not a duel. It is revelation."
The words hung heavy in the air.
One by one, the heirs stepped forward. Each placed a palm upon the glowing sphere, their mana channeling into it as colors flared across its surface.
The first heir, a youth from the Velkar family, gritted his teeth. Blue light flared, bright and clean, but only reached halfway up the sphere's height. Murmurs followed.
"Mid-tier water affinity."
"Respectable."
"Expected for Velkar blood."
The next was a girl from the Solvik branch — scarlet hair, fierce eyes. She pressed her hand down, and immediately the sphere erupted into crimson flames that reached the top, then fractured the air with heat. The crowd gasped.
"High-tier fire affinity!"
"Impressive…"
She turned, pride flickering in her eyes — until she saw Eryndor, silent, waiting at the back of the line.
When his turn came, the air changed.
He stepped forward, hands tucked into his coat until he reached the sphere. Without a word, he lifted his hand and placed it against the cool surface.
The sphere didn't glow.
Not at first.
Then suddenly, it shuddered.
A deep hum reverberated across the arena — low and resonant, like the heartbeat of the world itself. Light burst forth not as one color but many — streaks of blue, violet, silver, and a faint trace of white spiraling into one another. The sphere trembled violently, cracks of light spreading along its edges as runes flared and twisted.
The Elders leaned forward, eyes wide.
"Multiple affinities?"
"No — it's… fluctuating—"
"Impossible. It's stabilizing into equilibrium—!"
The sphere finally steadied — shining with a colorless brilliance, pure and silent.
Then it dimmed slowly, as if the light itself bowed before him.
Eryndor removed his hand and looked up calmly.
The whispers behind him rose like a tide.
"What the hell was that…?"
"It absorbed the mana instead of repelling it…"
"His elemental reading—there's no scale for that!"
Even Zephyr Nasarik's expression hardened slightly.
"That boy…" he murmured. "His mana harmony is beyond rank classification."
Elder Maerin snapped his fingers, and the stone pillar came alive with faint pulses of light.
"Now," he said, "strike."
The heirs lined up again, the stone resetting after each hit. The arena filled with thunderous impacts — fists, palms, and kicks meeting stone. The pillar glowed briefly after each blow, displaying the impact resonance level.
Some heirs made faint cracks; a few sent shockwaves through the air.
Then came the prodigies.
Caelis Nasarik stepped forward, aura flickering with silver lightning. He took a stance, focused his breath, and struck.
BOOM!
The stone shattered halfway before stitching itself back together, runes glowing red-hot.
"Eighty-one resonance," someone whispered.
"That's near peak for the Main Branch!"
Cheers followed. Caelis turned, smirking faintly — until his eyes caught Eryndor's.
"Your turn, cousin," he said quietly.
Eryndor walked up, expression unreadable. He rolled his shoulders once, exhaling slowly. No visible aura flared from his body, only the subtle pressure of silence around him.
He clenched his right hand — fingers curling like slow thunder.
Then he struck.
It wasn't loud.
No shockwave. No crack of lightning.
Just one clean, pure sound.
A deep, single note — like glass fracturing in another dimension.
The entire pillar imploded, the fragments freezing midair before reassembling and then shattering again, unable to maintain form.
When it finally stabilized, the rune indicator flared—
[Resonance: 100+]
Silence.
No one breathed.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Caelis's smile faded into something else — not envy, but wariness.
And high above, Zephyr leaned back in his seat, his fingers interlaced.
"A hundred…" he murmured.
"And the pillar couldn't recover instantly. That means his strike harmonized with its core. The boy's intent transcended the material threshold."
Aldric said nothing. He just smiled faintly, eyes flicking toward his son.
Down below, Eryndor looked at the fractured stone, dust swirling faintly in the air, and said quietly—
"Guess I hit too hard."
The crowd erupted — some in awe, others in disbelief.
The young heirs whispered his name as if it burned to say it aloud.
But amidst all the noise, the Third Branch sat silent, their expressions unreadable.
Only one word passed between them, whispered under a breath—
"Unnatural."
And as the sun set over the citadel, the Elders gathered their notes. The next trial would not be a test of measurement, but of confrontation.
The first two trials revealed potential.
The third would reveal dominance.