Morning came with a quiet hum.
Kaelus stood by the dorm window, staring at the rising sun.
But his expression wasn't its usual playful calm.
Something inside him had shifted.
Eryndor noticed immediately.
"You good?"
Kaelus inhaled deeply… then nodded with rare seriousness.
"I made my decision," he said.
"No more holding back. No more doubt. If Azure Tempest chose me… then I'll choose him back."
Darius, half-asleep and brushing his hair, blinked.
"So you're officially a God Candidate now?"
Kaelus exhaled like he'd been waiting to say it.
"Yes."
Eryndor smirked. "Took you long enough."
Kaelus rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
The mood lifted.
The three got ready for class—
—but instead of heading there, Eryndor stopped.
"Library."
Darius raised a brow.
"You? Library? For what?"
"I need answers," Eryndor said. "About the Black Sun… about everything."
Kaelus nodded.
"Good. Because I need to understand what Azure Tempest actually is."
Darius stretched.
"And I need to know why darkness freaked out when I touched the Black Sun aura."
With that, the trio headed to the Library of Celestia God Academy.
The doors opened silently, as if the building itself recognized them.
The inside was massive.
Floating platforms.
Books older than continents.
Tomestones that pulsed like hearts.
Scrolls drifting in gravity that didn't obey the rules of the world.
Kaelus whistled. "Man… one wrong sneeze in here and you might summon a dead god."
Darius elbowed him.
"You sneeze loud enough, the shadows will probably clap back at you."
Kaelus shoved him. "Try me."
"Both of you shut up," Eryndor muttered.
One book caught his attention.
Not because it glowed.
Not because it floated.
Not because it radiated energy.
It didn't.
It was silent.
Still.
Black leather.
Gold lettering across the spine:
THE ELEMENTAL LADDER
Eryndor pulled it free. The weight felt ancient.
Kaelus and Darius leaned in as he opened the first page.
The text was written in perfect silver ink:
From the First Beginning came Arcane.
From the First Ending came Ether.
Together, these two birthed everything that breathes, burns, storms, freezes, shines, and shadows.
Eryndor whispered the next part:
Arcane Energy — the untouched raw essence.
Ether — the final breath of collapsing creation.
Their union forms the Elements.
Kaelus blinked.
"So arcane is like… the raw blueprint of the universe?"
Darius nodded slowly.
"And ether is the energy that fills the blueprint."
Eryndor kept reading.
From the union of Arcane and Ether emerged the First Three:
— Azure Tempest, God of Wind
— The Black Sun, God of Storms
— Umbrahel, God of Shadows
Kaelus froze. "…That's my guy."
Darius sighed. "And mine, apparently."
Eryndor read further.
From Azure Tempest came gods of navigation, space, sound, and sky.
From The Black Sun came gods of lightning, charge, storm, and momentum — including Tharos, the Lightning God.
From Umbrahel came gods of night, silence, concealment, and voided matter.
Kaelus tapped the page.
"Bro… your dad god literally made Tharos. The lightning guy every historian drools over."
Darius jabbed Eryndor's shoulder.
"And your Storm lineage basically sits above half the elemental hierarchy."
Eryndor didn't respond.
His eyes remained locked on the page.
Then the book shifted into cosmology:
The Universe of Nohr is divided into Nine Planes.
Mortal Plane.
Outer Layer Realms.
Celestial Realms.
Spirit Planes.
Star Courts.
Elemental Thrones.
High Divinity Fields.
Noxis Realm — the Trial Plane of Higher Gods.
And Beyond Them — the Unreachable Zenith.
Kaelus swallowed.
"There's more above Noxis…?"
Darius rubbed his temples.
"Why do these books always start normal and end with 'and then the impossible begins'?"
Eryndor flipped to the last page—
—and frowned.
"It's blank."
Kaelus leaned closer.
"Maybe it only reacts to—"
A sharp pain pricked Eryndor's thumb.
"…What the—?"
A microscopic needle had emerged from the page.
A single drop of blood fell—
—and the page absorbed it instantly.
Words began carving themselves into the paper like a burning pen writing in slow motion.
The ink was red.
Eryndor's eyes widened as he read:
To face Noxis, a mortal must ascend.
To ascend, a mortal must become a God Candidate.
To surpass Noxis, even the First Three were forced to kneel.
Kaelus whispered, "…What does that mean?"
Eryndor turned pale.
"It means the prophecy…"
He swallowed hard.
"—doesn't end in Nohr."
Darius leaned in.
"Then where does it end?"
Eryndor read the final line.
He who bears the Black Sun must climb the Ladder…
…through Noxis…
…and into the Higher Realms…
…or this universe will meet its Second Ending.
His breath hitched.
The page closed itself.
Eryndor stared forward—shocked, rattled, mind racing.
Because now he finally understood something terrifying:
Going to Noxis wasn't the end.
It was only the first requirement.
The real war was above it.
And to even take the first step…
He had to ascend.
To Noxis.
Then beyond.
Eryndor started gripping the book tightly as Kaelus and Darius stare at him—realizing the world they knew had just become much, much bigger.