The crowd buzzed in stunned silence, the shattered Spirit Gate still flickering with fragments of ethereal light.
Kaelan stood calmly amidst the chaos, his eyes half-lidded, not even winded.
The instructor narrowed his eyes and tapped the crystal tablet again. Runes bloomed in midair, casting a faint glow across Kaelan's face.
Name: Kaelan Ashborne
Affiliation: Ashborne Clan
Status: Qualified
Classification: Unranked
Resonance Type: Echo Overload
The tablet trembled for a brief second before glitching—lines of data trying and failing to stabilize.
The instructor frowned.
"Tch… not even the diagnostic crystal can quantify it."
He tapped the crystal again, forcing it to stabilize.
"Most students show spiritual resonance that fits into expected patterns—calm flow, static burst, arc-type, maybe echo-tier for prodigies. But you…"
He looked up, eyes sharp.
"Your echo didn't just resonate. It ruptured the threshold and sent out a feedback loop. We're calling it an Echo Overload. That doesn't mean power. It means… something else."
Kaelan tilted his head slightly. "Then what does it mean?"
The instructor exhaled slowly.
"It means your soul has seen something... it shouldn't have. Or maybe, something the rest of us can't."
The crowd buzzed again.
"Ashborne's monster heir…" "He didn't even flinch…" "Echo Overload? Is that even safe?"
But Kaelan ignored it all.
He simply moved toward the next courtyard, calm, collected — a shadow falling over him as the banners of the Apex Clans rippled overhead.
Far above, in the Council Tower, Vice Principal Ryzen Ironheart narrowed his eyes.
"Valen... did you see that?"
The Ashborne Principal, seated beside him with arms folded, let out a rare chuckle.
"The wolf awakens."
---
Meanwhile, in a different chamber...
In a darkened room filled with floating mirrors, Vice Principal Selaira Vael adjusted her illusion lens. One of the mirrors glitched—showing Kaelan's spirit beast for a split second.
"Six wings… runes from the old tongue. That beast shouldn't exist," she whispered.
"Unless... no. That would mean…"
She froze.
Then dismissed the mirror.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
---
As Kaelan stepped into the next phase, his shadow lingered longer than his feet — stretched unnaturally — flickering like it didn't belong to him.
Far away, in the North, something stirred.
A whisper, cold and soft.
"My son… has stepped into the world."
---
To be continued…