Chapter 7
Three days after their combat evaluations, the announcement came.
All first-year dorms would be competing in the House Trials, a series of team-based challenges designed to push not only strength—but unity, strategy, and survival.
Dorm D was summoned to the briefing hall, where an arcane projection floated in the air: a sprawling forest terrain, peppered with ruins, cliffs, and simulated beasts.
Instructor Vireon stood before them.
"You will be deployed into the Obscural Arena. There, your task is simple: retrieve the Ember Crest from the central temple and return it to the starting point. But you're not alone—other dorms will be after it too."
Murmurs echoed through the room.
"Stealing is allowed. So is combat. Death is not."
Rylen grinned. "Sounds like fun."
Aeris only nodded. "Sounds like war."
Astern listened quietly. The others were already discussing plans. Kaela looked equal parts excited and nervous, while Lunaria was sketching possible routes through the terrain with a stylus onto her tablet.
Each dorm would be given a set of limited-use tools: barrier scrolls, healing crystals, aura flares. But beyond that—they would rely on their own abilities.
When the day arrived, Astern stood with Kaela, Lunaria, and two others—Zirak, a lanky summoner from the desert town of Thurne, and Yareen, a defensive-type angel known for her resilience.
Vireon raised his hand. "Begin."
The arena shifted around them, runes flickering as they were transported.
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They landed in a dense, misty forest. The air was humid, thick with the scent of blooming mana-flowers and distant ash. The moment their boots hit the ground, Astern's senses expanded. Every shadow was a warning. Every breeze, a whisper.
Lunaria pointed north. "Temple's five clicks that way. We move fast, avoid contact."
Kaela adjusted her grip on her twin blades. "And if we do find trouble?"
Astern answered, "We handle it clean."
They moved.
Along the way, they avoided two Dorm C teams by climbing over a ridge cloaked in fog. Lunaria used frost constructs to freeze loose soil for footing, while Kaela scouted ahead on wind-enhanced jumps.
Halfway to the temple, they were ambushed.
Three students from Dorm B leapt from the trees—one wielding thunder whips, another with earthen gauntlets, and the last a bow of light. Kaela engaged the whip user instantly, blades flashing in rhythmic parries.
Zirak summoned a second-class spirit beast, a winged wolf with burning eyes, to shield Yareen, who planted an aura shield wall.
Astern met the archer.
Arrows rained like falling stars. He didn't dodge—he flowed.
Shadowstep. Slide. Reappear.
A quick swipe of his hand sent a wave of compressed force, knocking the archer into a tree. Unconscious.
Minutes later, the team pushed forward again.
They reached the temple—an obsidian structure half-submerged in the earth, its spires choked with vines. Dorm A was already there.
Rylen's voice came through the comms crystal: "Need support? We're nearby."
"No," Astern replied. "We'll take them."
The final clash began.
Dorm A had stronger gear and better enchantments, but Dorm D had grit—and unpredictability.
Kaela danced through enemies like a storm.
Lunaria froze time in five-second bursts, predicting moves before they happened.
Astern? He moved in silence.
A blur. A strike. Gone again.
Within minutes, the crest was theirs.
Yareen collapsed from exhaustion. Zirak limped, but smiled. Kaela gave a thumbs-up, bruised but glowing.
They returned to the teleport point, crest in hand.
Dorm D… had won.
Back at the academy, Instructor Vireon announced the results. "Dorm D takes first place in the House Trials."
Gasps. Then cheers. Then stunned silence.
For the first time in academy history, a dorm from the outer towns had bested all noble teams.
But as the celebrations erupted, Astern noticed Principal Seraphon watching him from afar.
Not surprised. Not angry.
Just… expectant.
And far above, in a silent chamber near the Aether Spire, a voice whispered through a crystal lens:
"He's beginning to wake."