Students clustered in groups, all in various shades of high-quality robes, laughter and excited chatter filling the air like an electric storm.
None of them noticed at first. I stood awkwardly at the edge, not sure where I was supposed to go until Valeen gave a slight push forward and then strode off without explanation. I caught glimpses of the other recruiters dispersing too—so joining the teachers on the upper balconies, others vanishing through illusionary walls.
A loud chi echoed through the space, and a woman in flowing robes that trailed sparks stood at the podium near the front.
"Welco to the Resonance Trials," she said, voice amplified by unseen magic. "Today, you will each be tested for the depth and type of your essence. These results will place you within the appropriate arcane, alchemical, and martial paths."
I didn’t move. I felt like I was shrinking under the weight of a hundred expectations I hadn’t asked for. The boy with a braid of silver hair glanced at , then whispered sothing to a girl beside him. They both laughed.
I looked away.
One by one, nas were called. Students walked to the central dais where a large obsidian structure humd with layered energy. It looked like a hybrid between a crystal harp and a monolith. Runes floated above it in gentle spirals.
"The Resonance Gauge," soone behind whispered. "It reads what kind of magic is inside you and how strong."
When my na was finally called—Athena—the hall quieted. I stepped forward slowly, trying to breathe.
"Why bother?" soone muttered as I passed.
I ignored it.
The woman at the podium nodded once. "Place both hands on the gauge."
I did.
For a second, nothing happened again. Then, a low hum thrumd through the air. Lines of light sparked to life, tracing their way through the device. I braced for sothing—anything. I knew I had power. Deep, wild, dangerous power that had once shattered shadows.
But nothing else happened.
The light dimd. The Gauge let out a flat, tallic tone.
Confused murmurs rippled through the crowd. Soone chuckled. The woman near the podium raised an eyebrow.
"No asurable affinity," she said.
"What?" I whispered.
"No imdiate essence detected. You are... null."
That word hit like a slap.
"Wait—no. That’s not right. Try again." I reached for the Gauge, but she raised a hand and snapped her fingers.
The light shut off. The device turned dark again.
"The Gauge does not lie," she said crisply. "Next."
I turned to see the students staring at . With pity.
And mockery.
"She’s a null?"
"How’d she get in?"
"Did the recruiters go blind this year?"
I walked away stiffly, swallowing hard. The girl beside smirked as she brushed past. "I guess so of us were just ant to sweep floors."
I kept walking, heart pounding. Why didn’t it work? I had used uncontrollable powers just days ago, and earlier, I’d clearly been asured. I knew there was power inside .
So what is happening now?
The next phase of the test involved elental attunent. Students stood before shimring pools of air, water, fla, and stone, drawing from the energy to shape it.
I stepped up when called, tried to draw fla and the fire went out.
Tried water—and it turned to mist.
Tried stone—and the rock beneath my hand crumbled.
By the ti I reached the air pillar, I knew what would happen. Still, I raised my hand and whispered the invocation I’d overheard others use.
Nothing.
I turned to see a row of judges scribbling notes.
Another wave of laughter from behind .
I really couldn’t feel the power anymore. It was like soone had shut a door inside and thrown away the key.
I was so confused.
After the third round—sigil reading—I was given a scroll I couldn’t even unlock. The judge sighed and waved away. "Perhaps you’ll be placed in redial runes."
I didn’t argue.
I sat near the edge of the hall, arms folded tight, biting my tongue to keep from losing control. My muscles still ached from the escape, my mind haunted by the dream of the silver-haired woman with my face screaming Die die die as she tried to tear out my throat.
And now I am failing.
The worst part wasn’t the embarrassnt.
It was the fear.
What if this world was draining ?
What if being here, in this realm built on magic and gods and ancient hierarchies, was stripping away the one thing I had left?
My wolf.
My power.
My identity.
A girl with pale horns and luminous eyes sat beside . "You’re not from here," she said after a mont.
I stiffened.
"I an—not from anywhere near here. I can feel it. Your blood is wrong."
I didn’t respond.
She tilted her head. "They’ll mock you now. But the ones who laugh loudest usually scream the hardest when the real tests begin."
I t her gaze. "You think this is just the beginning?"
"Oh, definitely." She smiled faintly. "Half the people in this room won’t last the year."
That should’ve made feel better. It didn’t.
Not when I still couldn’t feel my power.
I clenched my fists.
One way or another, I’d find out what was blocking .
The next test involved unravelling another basic sigil puzzle. Everyone received a scroll. All you had to do was channel a drop of energy into it to unlock the pattern.
I stared at the blank parchnt in my hands. Whispered a word. Tried to call anything up.
Nothing.
The scroll stayed closed. The examiner gave a glance of polite disdain and moved on.
"Redial," she said to soone beside her.
I sat down at the edge of the testing circle, ears burning. My chest felt like it was being crushed by sothing invisible. I couldn’t even tell if it was fury or sha anymore. Maybe both.
Has it all been so kind of fluke?
"Rough first day?"
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