Emery's completion of Level Five in the Spirit Path fulfilled the formal requirement for the Nephilim Trial of Distinction. By law, that achievement stripped the prosecution of its strongest weapon—he could no longer be compelled to undergo the Test of Faith.
Yet the court had not issued its final ruling.
The days that followed were tense and strangely quiet. Though no chains bound him now, he remained under captivity, awaiting judgment.
During that time, Grand Magus Delbrand visited frequently, not as a politician, but as a teacher.
What Emery lacked, Delbrand explained, was not talent, nor courage, nor even raw power.
It was the Law of Origin.
"There is a law beneath all laws," Delbrand said during one such visit, "When a grand magus truly walks the path of the cosmos, there comes a point where all fragmented comprehension begins to converge. Light, darkness, space, time—these are branches. Origin is the root."
