"We will now begin."
Silence fell heavily over the inner courtyard.
"This test will assess your basic skills," Leos declared. "You will need at least minimal control over internal essence."
Shock rippled through the students. None of them had expected to be tested on the very first day.
"My test will evaluate your ability to endure external Essence," Leos continued without emotion. "A trial of resistance."
His tone remained flat.
"Be aware of this: if you fail, you are expelled. If you cannot pass, you do not even deserve to be a low-ranked legionary."
More than half the students went pale. They had believed they would at least be assigned to a house first. This meant that anyone without prior training had no chance at all.
Aerys felt his stomach twist. He was stunned as well. Anyone without mastery over internal essence flow would fail.
It's too early. Far too early.
Does he even have the right to do this?
A sense of dread settled in his chest. The premonition he had tried to ignore was becoming real.
Is this test meant to get rid of me?
Leos stepped forward. The air vibrated imperceptibly. When he raised his hand, a wave of heat swept across the courtyard.
"Those who endure the flame wave for one minute will pass," he announced.
"Without minimal discipline, you do not deserve to remain here."
Then, with a crooked smile, he added, half-mocking:
"Try your best to survive… no, actually, don't try too hard. We still need people to supervise farms and mines. If you fail, that's where you'll go."
He laughed lightly, as if joking.
Aerys felt no amusement.
Rage simmered beneath his skin. He had hoped the Academy would not openly set traps for him. Yet an internal essence test on the first day felt far too deliberate to be coincidence.
Is this why they never allowed me to train?
Now he understood. If he were expelled here, he would fall permanently into the lowest caste of the Empire. From there, they could kill him whenever they wished.
Hmph.
Nearby, Niklaus Aurelyon—the prince of the Nimeryus family—watched with satisfaction.
I was planning to kill him myself, Niklaus thought. But this is even better. Whoever arranged this is a genius.
"Well then," Leos said, amusement lacing his voice, "you children won't withstand my Flame Energy Wave. Don't worry—I'll restrain it for you weaklings. With luck, some of you might endure it even without internal flow."
His gaze flicked briefly toward the back of the courtyard.
Toward Aerys.
Aerys bit his lip.
Damn it.
Pressure slammed into him like a vice. It was heat—pure heat—born of Leos's essence, resonating with his compatible element: fire. But something else accompanied it. A foreign force pressed inward, trying to provoke a response from Aerys body, to force his Essence to react.
Despite himself, Aerys was fascinated.
So much power… with a single gesture.
Around him, the first candidates collapsed. Dozens fell to the ground, foam bubbling from their mouths. Some screamed. Others bled from their noses or lips. Enduring such a wave required full mastery of internal essence circulation. Outside the heirs of the four ducal families and the highest nobility, almost no one possessed that level of control.
Niklaus grinned.
Your ears should be ringing by now. You should be on the ground already.
Then—
"Huh?"
Leos's flame weave accelerated. Surprise flickered across his face.
Someone—someone who should have had no mastery over Essence—was still standing.
Even as the flames intensified.
The Essence in the air vibrated, invisible yet crushing. For the first time since the test began, a crack appeared in Leos's confidence.
He was no longer watching the crowd.
He was watching a single boy.
Why?
Why isn't he falling?
Aerys should have collapsed. He had received no formal training. No master. No right to learn essence circulation. His Nexus should have been dormant—silent, incapable of responding to an imperial wave designed to crush the weak.
And yet… he endured.
Frustration and anger can be catalysts, Odigos murmured within him. But here, they would betray you.
Odigos kept Aerys's Essence completely inert—locked deep within him, like a frozen sea beneath ice. His Nexus remained silent. No circulation. No measurable response.
The Wards of Severance, Odigos activated.
He knew Aerys, who had only just begun his path, could not endure this pressure unaided.
The flame wave intensified once more.
Aerys feared the test—but with Odigos, he passed through the danger effortlessly.
More than half the students had already fainted. Some suffered internal damage, blood staining the ground. Even those still standing struggled. Leos continued to increase the intensity, driven by curiosity.
The princes—those with strong mastery over internal flow—endured, though strain showed on their faces. They sensed Leos's gaze and grew uneasy.
Niklaus couldn't restrain himself. He turned.
"What?!"
Shock nearly made him choke.
How is he still standing?
Aerys stood as if untouched. Even Niklaus, strengthened by training and elixirs, felt pain burning in his ears—yet Aerys showed no reaction.
T-that bastard… He learned essence circulation!
A body collapsed behind them.
"Who is it?" Corlys Aurelyon murmured without turning his head.
Niklaus focused his perception.
"No detectable flow… strange."
Deronus followed Leos's gaze. He spotted the boy. Then he understood.
"Him."
Silence fell among them.
Jhanor clenched his fist.
"The bastard."
They had all learned to ignore his existence. A child without a recognized mother, without a house, without formal training—an imperial mistake tolerated, but never accepted.
"He shouldn't be able to last this long," Corlys snapped.
"And that's the problem," Deronus replied coldly.
They all understood the Academy's logic.
A weakling who collapses is eliminated. A strong one who shines is watched. But someone who should not endure—who does so without leaving a trace of Essence—
"That's impossible," Jhanor whispered.
"He's just too stupid to die quickly," Corlys scoffed.
Deronus said nothing.
His gaze remained fixed on the back of the courtyard.
"If he stays," he said at last, "he will become a problem."
Aerys felt their hostility without needing to analyze it.
They think I never learned anything, he realized. But me enduring this is provoking them.
If this wasn't resolved, passing the test would only worsen things.
He had sworn not to learn Essence before entering the Academy.
Odigos… can you injure me internally?
Damage your organs?
"Yes. Can you do it or not?"
It is possible.
"Then do it once the test ends. Make me vomit blood."
A mouth hemorrhage?
"Yes."
Very well.
Even the heirs of the four families began to falter. Jhanor coughed violently as internal damage accumulated.
Leos stiffened.
This is dangerous. I've gone too far.
He halted the wave.
Those barely standing collapsed to their knees. Had it continued any longer, the test would have ended in disaster.
Leos was embarrassed—and more curious than ever.
Then—
Aerys's face flushed, then drained of color.
His knees shook. His vision blurred. Something gave way inside him—a tear deliberately left open.
Blood surged up his throat.
He spat violently, crimson spraying across the ground.
Shock rippled through the courtyard.
"He's injured!"
"He took the wave head-on!"
Aerys collapsed to his knees, gasping, the stone beneath him stained red.
Perfect.
The Essence settled. The trial was over.
Leos rushed forward. If the emperor's son died during his test, the blame would be his alone.
"Hey, kid! Are you alright?!"
Aerys swayed, dizziness overtaking him, but Leos caught him.
"You could have given up," Leos muttered.
He checked again.
No trace of willful Essence circulation.
How…?
That meant Aerys had endured purely through will—and paid the price.
This one is insane.
Leos had heard rumors about the fifth prince. But who would have thought a servant's child possessed such resolve?
"No flow. No awakening. Raw will," Leos told the staff.
"Take him to the infirmary."
As Aerys was carried away, he whispered inwardly:
Heal me. Now.
On the edge of his consciousness, Odigos observed in silence.
They thought they had broken you, he reflected.
They only proved that you can survive without revealing yourself.