Morning fog rolled over the training district, thick enough to swallow sound.
The loudspeakers crackled to life.
"All first-year cadets report to Arena C for the Trial of Control. Attendance mandatory."
Mira groaned from her bunk. "Already? We barely survived sword practice."
Renn was lacing his boots before she finished. "Better than cleaning reactor pipes."
Taro only muttered, "Better than being tested again."
Xander said nothing. He kept thinking of Serin's words—You're not fighting your elements; you're teaching them to share a vessel.
Arena C
The arena looked less like a classroom and more like a military experiment: half forest, half urban ruin under a glass dome.
Instructor Valen Harrow waited with a squad of armored observers. His voice echoed through speakers hidden in the walls.
"The Trial of Control measures composure under pressure. You'll face illusions, shifting terrain, and live drones.
Panic, and you fail.
Lose control, and you're restrained."
A gate hissed open. Twenty cadets stepped inside. Doors sealed behind them with a final metallic thunk.
Phase One — Illusions
Mist thickened until the world vanished. Figures moved inside it—copies of the cadets, distorted and whispering.
Mira's voice trembled. "They look like us."
Valen's voice: "They are you. Fear projections."
One illusion lunged. Renn slammed his fists into the ground; stone spiked upward, shattering the image.
Xander swung his training sword through another; water and electricity flashed, scattering the illusion—but the discharge singed his arm.
His heart pounded.
He forced slow breaths. Focus. Balance the charge. Don't let one override the other.
The illusions faded. The mist lifted to reveal half the class still conscious.
Phase Two — The Drones
Ceiling panels slid open.
Black spheres dropped down, blades unfolding with a mechanical hiss.
"Live drones?" Mira shouted. "They said non-lethal!"
Taro braced himself, earth-steel bracers locking in place. "Welcome to Hero training."
The drones attacked.
Lightning bolts, water jets, smoke grenades—chaos.
Xander paired with Renn. He deflected a drone's strike, water coating his blade, then channeled a spark through it. The combination sliced the drone clean in two. Steam hissed.
Serin watched from the control booth, eyes narrowing. "He's adapting faster than predicted."
Valen didn't look up from his monitor. "Or he's losing stability."
Phase Three — Instability Trigger
Without warning, the floor panels retracted.
A faint gas hissed through vents—colorless, odorless, and chilling.
Students coughed, stumbled.
Xander's pulse spiked; his resonance surged wildly.
Lightning arced from his fingertips; water followed, spiraling uncontrollably. Steam filled the dome. The drones short-circuited, exploding one after another.
"Valen, stop the test!" Serin shouted.
He hesitated. "Observation protocol—"
"Stop it!"
Inside, Xander fell to one knee, the world spinning. He could hear the two elements screaming through him, pushing for dominance.
Mira's voice cut through the noise. "Xander! Focus on one—pick one!"
He tried. Lightning dimmed… water stabilized… then merged.
For a moment, everything stilled. The air bent around him. A low hum vibrated the arena floor.
Then silence.
Aftermath
When the emergency lights came on, the arena was wrecked. Drones melted. Concrete scorched. Every cadet down except a handful.
Med-techs rushed in.
Valen barked orders. "Restrain the Valois boy before—"
Serin stepped between them. "He stabilized it himself."
Valen's expression hardened. "Barely. He's a risk."
Serin met his gaze. "He's proof that dual resonance can be controlled."
Valen looked past her at Xander—unconscious, faint arcs of lightning tracing across a film of water over his skin.
"Or proof that it can't."
Infirmary
Hours later, Xander woke in the medical wing.
Mira sat beside his bed, her arm bandaged. "You blacked out halfway through your hero moment."
He winced. "I lost control."
"You found control," she said. "Just… almost too late."
Serin entered quietly, a tablet in her hand.
"You passed," she said. "Technically."
Renn poked his head through the door. "We're the only group that finished alive. I'd call that passing."
Serin set the tablet down. "You'll be monitored for resonance spikes. No more uncontrolled merges without supervision."
Xander nodded weakly. "What was that gas?"
Serin hesitated. "An old stimulant—meant to push cadets to their limit. It wasn't supposed to be active."
"Accident?"
Her eyes shifted away. "Maybe."
Night
Later, when the wing was quiet, Xander stared at the ceiling.
He could still feel the hum beneath his skin, a pulse not entirely his own.
From the hall outside came Valen's low voice, speaking into a comm link:
"Subject 1179 reached first-stage resonance overlap.
Increase observation level to red.
The Director will want to know."