The sun rose slowly over Helios Academy, gilding the marble spires in molten gold. Morning bells echoed across the vast campus, signaling the start of another day — but for some, it wasn't just another day.
Today was Evaluation Day — the final phase of the entrance exams. The moment that would decide a student's divine rank and class tier.
Aiden stood in his dorm room, pulling on his training uniform: black fabric reinforced with divine-thread, the crest of the academy stitched in gold across his shoulder. His reflection in the mirror looked calm, but his hands told a different story — they were wrapped in new bandages, the faint shimmer of bruises still glowing from yesterday's confrontation with Darius.
He flexed his fingers once. The pain was dull now, just enough to remind him that he was still human.
Lyra's voice buzzed through his comm crystal.
"Aiden, you up? The Evaluations start in twenty. Don't be late again."
He smirked faintly, clipping the crystal to his collar.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way."
Outside, the training fields were alive with energy. Students lined up across the Arena of Ascendance, a massive circular platform etched with divine sigils that pulsed with light. Around it, teachers and spectators filled the upper terraces, waiting to see who would ascend — and who would fail.
Each student's aura flared with their inherited Mythos, their godly echoes manifesting faintly behind them: fiery wings, spectral beasts, golden armor — all radiating divine heritage.
And then there was Aiden.
He stood at the far end of the field, calm but unreadable. No divine echo shimmered behind him. No aura burned around him.
To most watching, he looked like a powerless outlier in a crowd of demigods.
Darius Vane was nearby, his ocean-blue aura rising like a tide. He caught Aiden's eye and smirked, his pride clearly still bruised.
"Try not to embarrass yourself today, Chainbreaker," Darius called, loud enough for nearby students to hear.
A few chuckles rippled through the line. Aiden didn't respond. He just rolled his shoulders and looked ahead as Headmaster Orion Vale stepped into the center of the arena.
The murmurs died instantly.
Orion's presence alone demanded silence — tall, composed, the faint glimmer of divine runes etched across his coat. His Mythos of Zeus radiated authority, his voice rumbling like distant thunder when he spoke.
"Today," he began, "you will demonstrate not your lineage… but your control."
He extended his hand. The sigils beneath the arena flared to life, forming a massive glowing circle.
"Each of you will step forward and face the Echo Resonance Test. This test measures how deeply your spirit can connect to divine power. Fail to resonate, and you remain in the Initiate class. Pass… and your potential will be unshackled."
Aiden's pulse quickened. Unshackled…
The word hit him harder than he expected.
Student after student stepped into the circle, summoning their divine energy — flames, waves, light, storms — each one lighting up the sigils in brilliant hues.
Then it was Aiden's turn.
He walked to the center slowly. The crowd whispered — some curious, most doubtful.
"That's the kid who beat the Titan?"
"He doesn't even have an Echo."
"Probably just got lucky…"
Aiden ignored it all. He stopped in the center of the arena, exhaled once, and placed his hand over the glowing circle.
At first, nothing happened.
The sigils flickered weakly, responding to his touch — but then dimmed again. The whispers grew louder.
Darius chuckled from the sidelines. "Guess the chain finally snapped."
Aiden's jaw tightened. He closed his eyes.
In that silence, he heard it again — the faint clinking sound deep within his soul.
The chains.
The same ones he broke during the trial.
Only now… there were more. Dozens, maybe hundreds, rattling just beyond reach.
You are not weak, a voice echoed faintly in his mind — the same deep, godlike timbre he had heard during the Titan battle.
You are bound.
Aiden's eyes shot open — glowing gold.
The sigils erupted in light.
The arena trembled violently as golden cracks spread outward beneath his feet. The air grew dense, heavy, vibrating with raw divine energy.
Students stumbled back, shielding their faces from the wind. Orion's eyes widened, his usual calm cracking for the first time.
"That resonance… impossible…"
Aiden gritted his teeth as the invisible chains inside him began to snap one by one — each break sending a pulse of light into the air.
Chain II: Hydra's Wrath — Unsealed.
A surge of golden energy burst from Aiden's body, forming a phantom behind him — a colossal, multi-headed serpent made of flame and starlight. The Hydra roared, its voice shaking the arena.
Darius fell backward, eyes wide with disbelief.
"What the hell is that—?!"
When the light finally dimmed, Aiden was on one knee, steam rising from his body. His breathing was rough, but his eyes still glowed faintly gold.
The circle beneath him pulsed once — and then carved itself with a single glowing word:
ASCENDED.
Orion stepped forward slowly, his tone quiet but heavy with meaning.
"You've done the impossible twice now, Mr. Thorne."
Aiden stood, his expression calm despite the faint tremor in his hands.
"Feels like I'm just getting started."
The crowd erupted — some in awe, others in fear.
Far above, dark clouds swirled briefly over Helios Academy. Thunder rumbled faintly — as if the gods themselves were watching.
The thunder above Helios Academy faded, leaving behind an electric silence that buzzed across the arena. Students whispered, their voices trembling with awe and fear. The golden sigils that had flared from Aiden's awakening still glowed faintly beneath his feet, humming with divine energy.
Aiden stood there, shoulders heaving, sweat and steam rising from his skin. His body felt heavier than stone — his veins burned like molten metal. He could feel the Hydra's power pulsing deep inside, its strength wild, chaotic… alive.
"Aiden Cross," Headmaster Orion said solemnly, stepping forward through the haze. "You may step down."
Aiden nodded once, swallowing hard. He turned to leave the arena, each step echoing louder than the last — not from the sound, but from the weight pressing against his soul.
Too much… he thought. I pushed too far.
The crowd's murmurs blurred together, fading to white noise. His vision started to tunnel — faces smearing into streaks of light. The edges of his sight turned gold, then black.
His knees buckled.
"Aiden!" Lyra's voice broke through the noise.
He tried to look up, to reassure her — but the world tilted sideways. The last thing he saw was her running toward him, her silver hair catching the light…
Then everything went dark.
The world around him was… wrong.
No sound. No color. Just a vast, empty expanse stretching in all directions — a void lit by faint golden chains floating in the air. They hung like constellations, each link pulsing softly with light.
Aiden floated among them, weightless, staring in silent awe.
"So… this is what's inside me?" he murmured, his voice echoing endlessly through the emptiness.
From the darkness ahead, something moved.
A tall shadowed figure emerged — half-shrouded in smoke, half-glowing with light. His outline was powerful, broad-shouldered, cloaked in the faint aura of a lion and serpent entwined.
Two piercing eyes — like burning suns — locked onto Aiden.
"You've done well, boy," the figure said, his voice deep and thunderous, yet strangely calm. "Few mortals could endure breaking even a single chain."
Aiden stiffened, his instinct screaming that this wasn't human. "Who are you?"
The shadow didn't answer immediately. He stepped closer, the air trembling with every movement.
"You wield strength that once tore mountains apart," he said. "Yet you hesitate to use it. Why?"
Aiden frowned. "Because I'm not trying to be a monster."
That earned a low rumble — almost a laugh.
"A monster?" the figure repeated. "Tell me, Aiden Cross — do you think Hercules conquered his Labors by being merciful? Strength without conviction is weakness. Conviction without control is chaos. You must learn the balance… before the Chains consume you."
Aiden clenched his fists. "The Chains… are they yours?"
The figure paused. The space around him rippled — faint flashes of Hercules' Twelve Labors flickering in the void: the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, the Golden Stag, the Erymanthian Boar… all woven into light and shadow.
"They are ours," the voice said at last. "Each one a test of will. Each one a step closer to what you were meant to become."
The figure began to fade, his light dimming into smoke.
Aiden reached out, his voice cracking. "Wait! Tell me who you are!"
The figure turned slightly, his eyes still glowing.
"When the Third Chain breaks… you'll know my name."
A flash of golden light swallowed everything.
Aiden jolted awake — gasping, drenched in sweat. His chest heaved like he'd just run a marathon.
White walls surrounded him. The scent of antiseptic filled the air. He was in the academy infirmary, sunlight pouring through the window beside his bed.
Bandages covered his arms and chest, faint golden marks still glowing beneath them.
Lyra was sitting in a chair nearby, asleep with her head on her folded arms. When Aiden stirred, she snapped awake instantly.
"You're finally up," she said, relief breaking through her voice before she quickly masked it. "You were out for two days."
"Two… days?" Aiden's throat was dry, his voice hoarse. "What happened to the evaluation?"
"You passed," she said simply, smirking faintly. "Actually, you didn't just pass — you broke the system. They had to rewrite the ranking board because of you."
Aiden managed a tired grin. "Guess that's… something."
But even as she spoke, his thoughts drifted back to the void. To that voice that still echoed in his mind.
"When the Third Chain breaks…"
He looked down at his trembling hands. The marks of the Hydra still glimmered faintly beneath the skin.
He had power now — but it came with something else. A presence. A weight.
And somewhere deep inside, he could still hear faint chains rattling… waiting to break again.