The arena was silent long after the glyphs faded.
Karl stood in the center, chest heaving, the aftershocks of fire still tingling at the tips of his fingers. The second glyph ring had vanished, but its presence—its threat—remained like smoke on stone.
Raiven crouched beside him, half-manifested, fur bristling, eyes burning.
Across the sparring circle, Aeris Valea's stag Soulbind—Thalorien—stood firm, antlers aglow. The noble creature's voice had gone quiet, but his gaze lingered on Karl not with fear, but calculation.
Even Aeris's expression was unreadable.
Karl lowered his head.
Not again… I can't lose control like this again.
Instructor Masek broke the silence with a gesture, and the outer ward shimmered, sealing off the platform from view.
"Training dismissed."
The rest of the students filtered out in murmurs and hushed glances. Kael hesitated, then gave Karl a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Don't overthink it. At least you didn't incinerate the instructor."
Nyra chuckled as she followed, whispering, "Yet."
Aeris didn't speak. She simply followed her stag and left without a word, her long coat trailing like a whisper behind her.
Only Raiven remained by Karl's side.
"They'll want answers now," Raiven said calmly.
Karl clenched his fists.
"Do I even have any?"
"Not yet. But you're about to."
The voice didn't come from Raiven.
It came from behind.
Two robed figures approached—black cloaks marked with silver embroidery along the edges, runes that shimmered only when the sun touched them.
Academy Seers.
The taller one spoke first, her voice smooth but unreadable.
"Karl Valen. You are to report to the Arcanum Depth."
"For what?"
"Soul integrity evaluation."
Raiven growled faintly under his breath.
Karl looked between them, jaw tight.
"And if I refuse?"
The shorter Seer finally lifted his head. His eyes glowed faintly beneath his hood.
"Then the dragon inside you will awaken… alone."
The Arcanum Depth was a part of the Academy only whispered about in rumors—an underground sanctum used to test unstable mana, cursed relics, and occasionally… students with dangerous potential.
Karl followed the Seers through rune-sealed passageways and crystal staircases, far below the foundations of Valdros.
The temperature dropped the deeper they went, but the walls pulsed with stored heat—as if the stones themselves were trying to contain something inside.
At last, they stopped before a vault carved from black marble and sealed with thirteen rings of interwoven glyphs.
The older Seer touched the center rune.
"Enter alone."
Karl hesitated.
Raiven appeared beside him.
"I will remain close. Even in the Inner Realm, you will not be alone."
Karl nodded once… and stepped inside.
The chamber was vast and circular. Smooth walls. A raised platform in the center with a carved sigil—similar to his own mark, but older. Deeper.
Floating above the center was a thin orb of light.
No doors.
No windows.
No time.
Just space.
And presence.
The moment Karl stepped into the circle, the glyph beneath his feet lit up. A voice echoed—not from speakers, but from inside his mind.
"Soul Trial Initiated."
"Target: Dual Soulbind Detected."
"Stability Rating: Incomplete."
"Primary Beast: Verified."
"Secondary Beast: Unnamed Entity. Classified: Unbound."
Then—light exploded.
The world shifted.
And Karl fell.
He landed on solid ground.
But not stone.
Not crystal.
Memory.
Around him rose the remnants of a battlefield—ghosts of flame, sky-split storms, shattered mountains.
The air smelled of blood and ash.
And in the distance…
A shadow moved.
No. Not moved. Uncoiled.
Raiven stood beside him, fully formed now, eyes narrowed.
"This is your soul. This is where your true bonds live."
Karl took a step forward, feeling the pull of the dragon in his chest.
"Where is it?"
"It's watching. And it will test you now."
"Test me?"
"Yes," Raiven said. "It doesn't want to share you."
The world trembled.
A roar cut across the sky—thick, guttural, ancient.
Karl turned, and from the smoke emerged a shape that bent the clouds.
Massive wings. Scales of ember and obsidian. Eyes like dying stars.
The dragon.
Not fully real.
Not yet.
But real enough to burn.
"You're inside me," Karl whispered.
The dragon's voice echoed not in sound, but in fire.
"And you are inside me, Vessel."
"You marked me without permission."
"I chose you because no other body could carry me and live."
Karl stepped forward, defiance rising.
"I'm not your puppet."
The dragon's teeth curled in a grin of flame.
"Then prove it."
The world shifted again.
And the trial began.
The ground cracked beneath Karl's feet. Lava poured like veins through memory-soaked soil.
Phantom beasts made of his own fear surged toward him—shadows wearing his own face, mimicking Raiven, Kael, even Nyra.
He fought them all.
With frost.
With shadow.
With fury.
And with resolve.
Raiven fought beside him, claws tearing through illusions.
But the real challenge came when the dragon appeared again—this time as a mirror.
A Karl with burning eyes. Wings of flame.
No control.
Just destruction.
"This is what you are if I win," the dragon echoed.
"This is the price of power untamed."
Karl raised his hand. The Veil mark flared.
"I'm not your prisoner."
He surged forward, frost and flame spiraling into one.
Raiven followed, howling.
The battle was short.
But within it… Karl finally saw it.
Not just the dragon's power—
But his pain.
Its echo.
Its memory of being bound.
It didn't just want to destroy.
It wanted to be known.
As the final echo faded, Karl stood at the center of the burning plain.
Raiven at his side.
And behind him, the dragon's voice spoke one last time.
"You are not ready to wield me."
"Then help me be ready," Karl said.
Silence.
Then—
"Very well… Vessel."
And the dragon coiled back into flame.
The world collapsed—
And Karl awoke.
He gasped as he stood, back inside the vault.
The Seers stood watching from beyond the circle.
The glyph beneath his feet dimmed.
A voice echoed from the wall:
"Soul Trial Complete."
"Status: Dual Compatibility – Confirmed."
"Entity Class: Mythic."
The Seers nodded.
Then one spoke.
"You are no longer a danger… but you are not safe."
Karl raised his head.
"What now?"
"Now," the other replied, "you train. Because the next time that dragon stirs… it won't wait for permission."