The city was alive.
Even from miles away, Arcanum Academy didn't look like a school — it looked like a miracle someone had built out of willpower and forgotten gods. Spires of crystal and silver rose into a sky stitched with floating glyphs. Airships glided between towers. Every sound — bells, voices, wind — carried a faint hum, like music only the soul could hear.
By the time I reached the outer gate, I was already drenched in sweat and awe.
A crowd had gathered — hundreds of students, each wearing some version of nervous excitement. Nobles in embroidered cloaks. Peasants in borrowed armor. Even a few who glowed faintly, as if the magic itself recognized them.
I didn't glow. I barely even had shoes.
[Host Resonance Level: 0.3][Warning: Emotional core unstable.][Recommendation: Establish emotional link before performance evaluation.]
"Yeah, sure," I muttered under my breath. "I'll just… emotionally link with someone before a life-or-death test. Easy."
A guard in ornate silver armor barked for attention. "All applicants — line up for soul attunement! The Trials begin in one hour!"
A faint ripple of tension passed through the crowd.I felt it — literally.It hit like static in my veins, the air vibrating with hundreds of overlapping feelings: excitement, fear, ambition. My vision flickered, and suddenly I could see threads of light connecting people — invisible lines of emotion weaving a network that pulsed with color and sound.
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Empathic Perception.][Resonance detected: Collective Anxiety — 72%. Synchronizing?]
I clutched my chest. "No, no, don't—!"
Too late.
The world breathed me in.Every emotion in range hit my body like a storm — laughter, pride, envy, hope — and I felt myself dissolving into it.It was… overwhelming. Too much. Too loud.
Then a hand touched my shoulder.
"Hey. Breathe."
Her voice was calm — low, steady, like music written to quiet chaos.I turned, and for a moment the noise dimmed.
She was tall — probably my age, but carried herself like she'd already seen too many lifetimes. Midnight hair braided with faintly glowing threads, eyes the color of broken starlight. Her uniform wasn't the ornate kind the nobles wore — simple, functional, but edged with faint sigils that pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
And her resonance… was pure.Calm. Steady. Real.
[Potential Link Candidate Detected.][Emotional Frequency: Serenity, Determination.][Resonance Compatibility: 87%.]
I blinked. "Who are you?"
"Luna," she said simply. "You're… leaking emotions. You'll pass out if you keep syncing with everyone around you."
She raised a hand and traced a glowing sigil in the air — a circle intersected by three lines. Instantly, the noise inside me softened, as if someone had adjusted the world's volume knob.
"How did you—"
"Control," she said. "Something you clearly don't have yet."
She stepped back, studying me with quiet curiosity. "You're new to this world, aren't you?"
That question froze me. "…You could tell?"
Her lips curved faintly. "You look like someone who hasn't learned which sky to look at yet."
Before I could reply, a bell tolled across the city — low, resonant, and ancient. The crowd stirred.
"The Trials are starting," Luna said. "If you survive, maybe I'll teach you the rest."
And just like that, she walked away — silver grass brushing her boots, the faint glow of her aura trailing behind her like moonlight.
[Link Candidate Registered: Luna Vael.][Quest Updated: Pass the Entrance Trial.][Bonus Objective: Establish First Resonance Bond.]
I stared after her, heart still thundering. The system pulsed again, a soft echo of her emotional frequency resonating in my chest.
And for the first time since dying…I didn't feel alone.