The Central courtyard, contrary to how it sounds was not in the centre of the academy, neither was it a courtyard for that matter. It used to be where the mountain stood, that was cut and carved to make the Academy.
Twenty cadets stood assembled there, along with several seniors and professors. They were arranged into four columns of five, each column representing a dormitory. Discipline varied visibly from line to line.
Fora was standing besides Arata. She was asleep on her feet.
Her head dipped slightly with each breath, knees threatening to buckle before instinct corrected her posture. Just as she began to tip forward again, the sirens blared.
As she was falling asleep, an announcement happened on the sirens.
"Cadets will now undergo the First Trial. Please proceed to the Depths at once. The seniors and professors will guide all of you to the venue."
"They are starting with a test without even teaching anything?" The prideful Noble kid from Arata's dorm complained again.
"I think it's more of a test to see if we will survive the curriculum here." The calculating and disciplined one replied.
"Oh, then it will be fine. I have the most potential anyways."
"Well, all will be fine." The hopefull cadet said finally.
The sleepy kid was quite all the time , with a little fear in him, could be seen by anyone observant.
Flora was jolted awake by someone in her Dormitory.
"Wha..What??" The aloof girl looked around and saw Arata moving besides her. "Hello Arata, Good morning."
"Morning, Miss Rathore." The soldier replied as if she were his superior. These were the manners instilled into him by The military.
That reply brought a smile on the sleepy girl's face. "You can call me Flora, no need to be Formal. We are going to be soldier in Arms anyways"
"Alright, Flora it is then."
"Yeah. So how was the first night in the Academy?" The girl asked
"It was alright, I guess, didn't get much sleep though." Arata replied.
Before Flora could reply, they were stopped in front of a set of stairs going under the central courtyard. The Depths lay beneath the central courtyard they were cut straight into the mountain's black belly. Veins glowed in the stairwells, bleeding red light over the cadets' faces as they descended. The farther they went, the heavier the air became, thick with the tang of iron and ozone.
When they emerged into the chamber, Arata understood that this place was more than just underground basement.
The hall was circular, perfectly smooth, the walls veined with living light. Ten circles were carved into the floor, each one a cage of shifting runes. At the centre stood a man in a gray coat and mirrored mask it should be the Evaluator.
"Cadets" the voice rang out, distorted, hollow. "You will undergo Resonance Measurement. The Divine Engine must know how much of Terra's Flame your bodies can bear. The higher the score the better."
Flora flinched beside Arata. Even in his own dormitory, two of the four boys when they looked at the evaluation setup had goosebumps. The other two were either too prideful, and too calm to feel anything."
The Evaluator turned slowly, mirrored mask reflecting the runic light of the chamber.
"To ensure clarity" the distorted voice said, "a senior will demonstrate the procedure."
A pause. "Nebula."
A ripple passed through the seniors. From the far edge of the chamber, a figure stepped forward.
Nebula moved with deliberate calm, dark hair tied back, uniform marked with faint wear that spoke of experience rather than neglect. Her expression was neutral, but when her eyes passed over the runic circles, her fingers twitched once, betraying her posture and revealing momentary hesitation.
Only a moment though. She stepped into one of the circles.
The runes ignited instantly.
Light surged upward like liquid fire, wrapping around her legs, then her torso. The hum deepened into something sharper, more focused. Nebula inhaled sharply as the energy climbed, her shoulders tensing, jaw tightening as the pressure built.
For a fraction of a second, she flinched. The light spiked making several cadets gasp. Then it stabilised.
Nebula stood still, breathing controlled, eyes locked forward as the veins in the walls responded to her presence. The runes pulsed faster, then slower, adjusting and measuring.
A tone rang out. Clear. Final.
The light withdrew, fading back into the stone. Nebula staggered half a step, caught herself, then straightened. Above the circle, a projection of red light formed—numbers assembling themselves in the air.
95%
A murmur spread through the chamber. Een from where the seniors and Professors were standing there were murmurs.
The Evaluator inclined his head. "Improvement detected" he said. "Your previous resonance was recorded at ninety percent. This growth is… acceptable."
Nebula allowed herself a small exhale, then stepped out of the circle. As she passed the cadets, her gaze briefly met Arata's.
There was no triumph in her eyes.
"Cadets" he said, turning back toward them. "Step forward."
The Evaluator raised one hand. "The trial will proceed in sequence," he said. "Failure will be… fatal."
The first cadet was called.
He stepped into the circle with rehearsed confidence. The runes flared. The hum rose and then broke.
The light surged violently, snapping upward like a whip. The cadet screamed once before collapsing, smoke curling from his chest as the runes went dark.
No number appeared.
Two seniors came to the altar and dragged the body away without ceremony.
"Next."
The second lasted longer. Too long. His score flickered erratically from thirty, to forty then twenty, just before the light inverted. His bones bent the wrong way. The sound echoed longer than the scream.
By the third death, no one spoke. By the fifth, no one breathed properly.
...
From Arata's dormitory, Wanyu was called early. The sincere one.
He stepped forward with clenched fists, eyes steady—not brave, not confident. Determined.
The runes ignited.
Wanyu screamed but somehow did not break.
The light battered him, forcing blood from his nose, veins standing out along his neck. His knees buckled, but he stayed upright, teeth clenched so hard Arata heard the crack.
The tone rang.
41%
Low but barely viable.
The runes released him violently. Wanyu collapsed to the floor, shaking, alive.
"Accepted" the Evaluator said flatly.
Arata exhaled without realising he had been holding his breath. Wanuy was the only one out of the four of his Dorm-mates who survived.
Others followed.
Some burned out instantly. Some lasted seconds.
One begged.
Ten circles didn't seem needed.
By the time Flora stepped forward, the chamber reeked of scorched stone and iron. The cheerful girl was now shaking.
She hesitated as she stepped in, but as she did, she seemed to have accepted fate.
The reaction was immediate and brutal.
The light surged erratically, flaring far beyond what her frame should have endured. Flora cried out, blood spilling from her mouth as her knees hit the stone. The runes screamed in response, overloading, calibrating.
The crying made Arata move two steps forward towards the Altar to save the poor girl involuntarily.
The chamber shook.
The tone rang again weak and distorted.
52%
The light cut out violently. Flora collapsed and was not moving.
For a moment, no one spoke, no one took a breath. Then her chest rose.
"Accepted" the Evaluator passed the judgement.
Two seniors rushed forward, lifting her carefully. She was alive but only by a thread.
Flint went next. He endured in silence. No scream. No collapse.
88%, Controlled and Stable.
Serra followed. Her resonance was sharp, efficient almost dangerously so.
91%, She smiled when it ended.
That smile unsettled Arata more than the deaths.
"Arata" the Evaluator called. At last it was his turn.
The moment he crossed the boundary, the sigils ignited on their own, skipping every calibration rune. The Evaluator hesitated. "Premature activation… proceed cautiously."
Arata exhaled once, grounding himself. The light erupted.
Pain tore through him—not heat, not electricity, but memory. Images detonated behind his eyes: the old ritual, the dragon's maw, Monica's voice crying warnings drowned by thunder. His body arched; the world fractured into sound.
You still carry us.
The voice was inside his chest, crawling up his spine.
Runes warped, twisting into shapes that didn't belong in human geometry. The Evaluator shouted orders; containment sigils flared, failed, and flared again.
They steal our lifeblood and call it faith. They use us not knowing our wrath, or perhaps forgotten.
Blood filled his mouth. His pulse merged with the floor's.
He saw through the walls through the stone, down into the dark to where something enormous shifted in its sleep. A ripple of molten light rolled through the abyss.
He realised what the resonance truly measured.
The capability to carry the world's memories.
You are what remains of our time.
He roared out and the array shattered.
A wave of pressure slammed through the chamber. The runes imploded; glass burst; the mirrored mask split down the middle. When the smoke cleared, Arata lay on the cracked sigil, eyes open, still breathing.
Final Score : 97%