The next morning, the Twins awoke under the ever-watchful eye of Morgranna. They washed, dressed, and groomed themselves, with their hair brushed and styled as usual, before heading downstairs for a hearty breakfast and coffee on the balcony. It was a familiar, grounding routine—one both the Twins and Morgranna cherished.
After finishing their coffee, the Twins took the carriage to the training grounds. They seemed the same, yet different—more determined, filled with steely resolve and grim determination. Upon arrival, they headed to the same rooms as the previous day, spending the time waiting for their Teachers by setting up their armoury crates, and donned their gauntlets and shin guards.
When the Teachers arrived, the Twins were ready for instruction and eager to begin training. Observing from a distance, Teachers and students alike—who had been filming the Twins since they entered—noticed something different about them but couldn't quite identify it.
The Teachers explained which weapon they'd be starting with, then directed the Twins into the Grav Chambers. After the doors closed and they were counted in, the Twins began their training. It quickly became clear that something had changed. The Twins mastered the weapons in real time—needing no more than two repetitions to perfect the basic drills. Upon moving to the advanced drills, they once again mastered them in only two attempts.
During the free-form drills, the Teachers observed the Twins improving even faster than before—the time required was half that of the previous day. Eyebrows were raised, but the Twins were allowed to continue at their own pace. Only when it was time to switch weapons did they receive new instructions, powering through the armoury as if they were seasoned veterans rediscovering old skills, rather than newcomers learning for the first time.
By lunchtime, the Twins had mastered half the remaining weapons. The Teachers expected them to learn the rest by day's end; the acceleration everyone anticipated had arrived, raising enough questions for a review meeting about what was happening.
After lunch, the Twins tore through the other half of the weapons, mastering them in record time and breaking every Academy benchmark. Other students, amazed by this, filmed snippets that were quickly uploaded to Conclave, sparking floods of comments as everyone wondered what had caused the Twins' already astonishing pace to accelerate further.
By the end of the day, as predicted, the Twins had mastered every weapon in their armoury, including free-form fighting styles. As usual, they thanked their Teachers before heading home. In the carriage, they began to discuss what had happened.
"Brother, is it me, or does it feel like we already knew how to use the weapons today?" Er asked Yi.
Yi nodded. "Yeah. Did you have the same dream as I did last night?"
"You mean, dreaming about actually fighting with all the weapons?" Er replied.
Yi nodded again. "That's the one. If both of us had the same dream, does that mean someone or something is helping us master these skills and become stronger?" he mused.
"Could it be Tian Dao?" Er wondered aloud.
Yi nodded in agreement. "That's what I thought. Did you also come to the same resolution as I did yesterday? To become strong enough to face any danger and serve as guardians and protectors of Tian Dao, the Heavenly Clans, and our Mate, for as long as we live?"
Er nodded. "Yeah, I did. Do you think Tian Dao resonated with us because of that, and decided to help?"
Yi nodded once more. "Cool!" Er exclaimed. Yi nodded in reply.
As the Twins headed home, Armorum and Peritus made their way to the office and convened an emergency meeting. Holo-images flickered to life around them as the others joined, clamouring for the reason behind the urgent call.
Armorum: "The acceleration we spoke about yesterday has happened. The Twins just finished mastering everything in their armoury, including free-forms."
Soleil: "Wait, what? What in the heavens is going on?"
Peritus: "I've shared the data and video feed with you. See for yourself!"
The others watched the data and video feed in amazement, seeing the Twins master everything in real time, as if they were merely rusty rather than beginners.
Nocturne: "Wait, I've just reviewed their neural data readings from last night, and there's a huge anomaly!"
Morgranna: "Explain." Her tone and expression were steely, resolved to protect her charges from whatever threat she perceived.
Nocturne: "It appears they resonated with Tian Dao after training yesterday. In their sleep, Tian Dao initiated a neural link with them and... helped them master the Knowledge they hadn't learned yet. Their cultivation has also risen from eighty-five percent back up to ninety-five percent!"
Soleil: "Have you been able to determine how and why they resonated with Tian Dao?"
Nocturne: "I contacted Tian Dao and just received a reply. The Twins made a resolution that resonated, and Tian Dao decided to assist them in fulfilling it."
Caine: "What on earth is their resolution that caused this?"
Nocturne: "Apparently, their resolution is to become the protectors and guardians of Tian Dao, the Heavenly Clans, and their Mate—and to become strong enough to ignore all threats against them."
"Fuck!" everyone else responded in unison.
Lucius: "That's not just a resolution, that's more like an Oath—and Tian Dao resonated with them on it! Oh, hells, we're in for a wild ride with these two and their Mate. You know Tian Dao will do the same for their Mate! We need to contact those in charge of Bane right now! They need to know what to expect!"
The others nodded in agreement, with some beginning to message the ones in charge of Bane, including his Mammy Morgana, Morgranna's sister.
Armorum: "So, what do we do now about their training?"
Soleil: "Give them a day off tomorrow to relax, then throw everything you have at them until they start struggling. That's the only way forward now!" He wiped his hands over his face in exasperation.
The others nodded and logged off after saying their goodbyes, ending the meeting.
While the adults were worrying about the Twins, online, a fervent storm was blowing as every student had turned into a detective, sniffing out every clue they could find and sharing them online under a post that detailed what had happened with the Twins that day.
[Conclave - Trending Post]
Topic: What happened with the Twins today?!
MysteryWielder: Did anyone else just watch the vids of Er and Yi from today's training? They were INSANE – honestly looked like pros. How do you go from newbie to expert overnight???
BladeRunner13: Right?! They barely needed any instruction. Two reps for basic AND advanced drills? Wtf even is that??
StormHeart: I was there. Teachers looked so confused lol. Something changed in those two. Yesterday they struggled a bit, today they're untouchable.
TechieDove: Did anyone check the Conclave data feed? Their numbers literally broke every Academy record. There's no way this is just regular training.
MysteryWielder: My cousin in tech says neural readings spiked last night. Anyone know what that's about?
JadeFox: Rumour is, something called "Tian Dao" helped them. Like… a spirit or celestial power? Is that even possible?
RuneCaster: I heard they both dreamed about fighting with all the weapons, and woke up already knowing how. That's freaky but also so cool!
StormHeart: This is like the legends. People saying they took some sort of Oath to protect the Clans – and Tian Dao resonated. Is that why they levelled up?
BladeRunner13: If that's true, what happens to Bane? Someone said the Teachers are messaging his guardians now. Are we gonna see another breakthrough?
Firebrand: They were so focused, too. Not cocky, just determined. Like they KNEW this was going to happen.
MysteryWielder: Anyone else think the Teachers are panicking more than we are? Elder Soleil looked ready to explode when they called that emergency meeting!
TechieDove: Guess we'll find out the day after tomorrow – rumour is the Twins get a day off, then... all the hells break loose in training!
JadeFox: Place your bets: Will the Twins be unbeatable by next week, or will the Teachers finally find something to challenge them?
StormHeart: Either way, I'm not missing a single training session again. This is wild.
By this time, the Twins had reached their Dorm and were greeted by Morgranna, who looked ready to go on a warpath. The Twins gulped, uncertain what to say or how to act, and absolutely determined not to accidentally trigger her into a rampage—those were scary. Really scary.
They stood there, waiting and sweating, until Morgranna finally spoke: "Upstairs, wash and bathe, then come downstairs. We need to talk urgently!"
They complied—because when Morgranna was like this, you obeyed without question.
They washed and bathed in record time, grooming and brushing their hair as quickly as possible before heading downstairs in their robes, their feet feeling heavy as if they had done something wrong and were about to be punished.
When they got downstairs, they sat quietly on a sofa, demure and awaiting chastisement. Morgranna sat on another couch, looked at them, and sighed. "I'm not angry at you two. I'm worried about you. You know you resonated with Tian Dao yesterday, right?" Both Twins nodded.
"What you don't know is that this doesn't happen easily. It usually only happens when an Awakened member of the heavenly Clans makes an Oath to Tian Dao, and it accepts. It never happens to the Unawakened—never, until now!"
"You made a resolution yesterday that so closely resembles an Oath that Tian Dao recognised and accepted it. But here's the kicker: you did this without your Mate's knowledge or consent, and now he'll be affected by the very Oath you made."
"You have to remember, you and your Mate are a package deal. Once Bonded, you live and die together. The only thing I can think of is for you to contact Bane, discuss this with him, and agree on how to proceed."
"If he agrees to the Oath, then get ready—your training will shift from currently heavy, but manageable, to a level of hell you can't even imagine. You've been given tomorrow off to relax before they start training you at Abyss-level difficulty. No holds barred—they are going to throw everything at you, and you'd better pray you can keep up!"
The Twins nodded, relieved they weren't going to be chewed out, and proceeded to look up Bane's contact number and dialled a holo call. After a few rings, Bane's holo-image flickered into view.
"Hello? What's the reason you're contacting me?" Bane asked, confused by why the now-infamous Chaos Twins were calling.
"Hi, Bane, we're Chaos Yi and Chaos Er. We're contacting you at the advice of our Mammy Morgranna. It's about something that might affect you, so we need to discuss it," Chaos Yi responded, hesitant.
"Hmm?" Bane looked puzzled.
"Well, during our orientation, the Nursery Elders ran some data projections, and the prediction was that you would be our Mate in the future. That's why what we need to discuss might affect you," Chaos Yi clarified.
"Oh? So what is it that might affect me?" Bane took the news in stride.
"Well, apparently, we made an Oath to Tian Dao yesterday, and it was accepted," Chaos Yi told Bane bluntly.
"Okay. What kind of Oath?"
"An Oath to become strong enough to be the guardians and protectors of Tian Dao, the Heavenly Clans, and our Mate for as long as we live," Chaos Er blurted out, still ogling Bane's holo-image.
"WOW. Now, that is a worthy Oath!" Bane exclaimed.
"So you're not angry?" Chaos Er asked hesitantly, now nervous about speaking to their future Mate.
"Why would I be angry that my future Mate made such a worthy and honourable Oath? Especially one that lets me help them?" Bane asked, head tilted in confusion.
The Twins grinned in sync, happy their Mate wasn't angry. "That's good. We didn't know it was an Oath at the time and were worried you might be upset," Er fidgeted.
"So cute!" Bane squealed in delight.
Both Twins blushed bright red at his remark, not knowing how to respond.
"Thank you for letting me know so I can prepare. We'll talk again soon." Bane bade them goodbye and logged off the call.
Morgranna watched the Twins, who were still bright red and utterly lost, and shook her head in amusement. She contacted the others to inform them that the Twins had spoken to Bane, who was happy with the Oath and was preparing.
She then bustled about, cooking up a storm, while the Twins sat frozen on the sofa, their faces and ears still bright red. Eventually, the aromas managed to pull them back to their senses.
"Brother, our Slayer is really great!" Er sighed, to which Yi nodded emphatically in agreement.
Their musings were interrupted by Morgranna calling them to dinner, which they ate leisurely, feeling content and looking forward to the future—Oath, Mate, and all.