Wanuy returned to the dormitory before dusk.
Arata was already there. The classes were finished for the day.
"That was quick" Arata said.
Wanuy nodded. "Yeah. They didn't keep me long."
Arata studied him. "Did it hurt?"
Wanuy considered the question. "No, it did not." He said looking as if he had the experience of a lifetime there. "It honestly helped."
Arata's stomach tightened. "What did they do to you?"
Wanuy looked up, genuinely puzzled. He was stumped, "I don't really remember" he replied, "Whatever it was.... it lightened me. No more tense thoughts, no more stress of trials."
He lay back and closed his eyes. Within minutes, his breathing evened out. Wanuy had fell asleep.
Arata stared at the ceiling long after the lights dimmed.
Somewhere beneath the Academy, the Veins pulsed steadily. Something had been taken. And no one, least of all Wanuy...seemed to miss it.
...
Next day, it was only Arata who was left. He was called last.
There was no priest who came to call him. A black slate was sent to him during Neil's class.
On it in big white letters was written:
CADET ARATA — HARMONIC EVALUATIONLOCATION: LOWER RESONANCE CHAMBERIMMEDIATE COMPLIANCE REQUIRED
He stared at it for a long time. Then he stood, wrapped his bandages tighter, and left.
The Academy had several chambers. Resonance chamber's were reserved for Wyrmbounds who had understood the concepts of their bloodlines. They helped them to channel true power of Dragon blood.
Why was Arata being called there? Nobody knew.
"Why are they asking for you in a resonance chambers." Lyra said in confusion.
It wasn't a question to Arata, it was general confusion spoke aloud.
"Do you think they know?" Arata asked.
"No likely. But they might have suspicions, because you are the only one left." Lyra said as she handed him the black slate back. "You should go, the more late you become, the more they will convict in their minds."
"Wish me luck" Arata said as he turned around to leave.
"Good luck. Be careful, not to say anything stupid."
"Good bye, oh dear professor of mine." Arata said as he left the room.
...
No polished stone. No sigils meant for instruction. The walls here bore marks that had been worn smooth by time rather than design. The Vein ran close, they were too close and its pulse audible, like a heart pressed against the earth.
Five evaluators waited inside. But it was different from the recollections of Flint, Sieraa and anyone else. no one was wearing masks.
Their faces were calm. They were observant and curious.
"State your name" one of them said.
"Arata"
"Do you consent to harmonic evaluation?"
Silence is not obedience, but it can be mistaken for it.
Arata paused but finally said, "Yes"
The crystal apparatus descended again it was different from the recollection of other cadets. It was not a single rod, but a lattice of thin filaments that hovered around him without touching. They hummed softly, searching and looking for something.
"Remove the bandages." One of the five priests sad.
Now Arata hesitated. He had shown his palm only to one person that was Lyra.
"Any issues Cadet Arata?"
"I am unable to remove bandages at this point due to the injuries on my hand. I would prefer if I could keep it bandaged."
The evaluators exchanged glances. there was no irritation no suspicion in the environment. But Arata's denial had sparked Interest within the five priests.
"Injuries do not exempt you from evaluation procedure." One of them said calmly.
Another tilted his head, studying Arata's wrapped hand. "The apparatus does not require contact. Removal is… customary."
"If it's customary, that means it's not part of the evaluation." Arata said flatly.
The filaments paused mid-air. That was new.
A third evaluator stepped forward, closer now. "You are aware that noncompliance will be recorded."
"Yes" Arata replied evenly. "I am also aware that this chamber exists to observe resonance, bandages won't interfere with that."
There was silence in the chamber.
"Proceed" one of them said at last. "you can keep the hand bandaged. Adjust parameters."
The lattice shifted immediately, filaments rearranging themselves into a wider configuration. Their hum deepened, losing its searching tone and taking on something more deliberate.
"Please stand still."
The resonance field activated a soon as Arata seized any moments. At first, there was nothing, no pressure, no pull. The filaments hovered, waiting for the Vein to assert itself.
The vein did not respond. The hum stuttered.
One of the evaluators frowned. "Increase sensitivity."
The filaments moved closer, stopping just short of Arata's skin. The air around him thickened, as if reality itself were bracing.
"Breathe with the rhythm. Resonate with the flame."
Arata inhaled.
Exhaled.
The Vein's pulse reached him... and slid past, like water meeting oil. The hum fractured, reformed, fractured again.
"That's unusual" one evaluator murmured.
"Check emotional state" another said.
"Tired" Arata answered before they could ask.
The hum dipped lower.
"Do you submit to the Flame?" an evaluator asked. Arata glanced down at his bandaged hand.
"I don't believe submission is being requested" he said carefully. "I believe alignment is assumed."
The lattice recoiled slightly. The Vein pulsed again, harder this time making filaments shudder.
"Contradiction detected" one evaluator said.
Another shook his head slowly. "No opposing waveform present."
"Then explain the interference withe rhythm."
The resonance field intensified.
Arata felt pressure build around his body. Like he was in a deep water tank.
"Do you hear the Flame?" an evaluator asked.
Arata remembered the time when he talked to something in the veins. When talked to something through Flora. He wasn't sure if it was the Flame.
"I hear something" he said.
The lattice went dark. Simply… disengaged, as if Arata's answers overwhelmed the machine.
The chamber fell silent.
One evaluator checked his instrument. Then another.
Nothing responded.
"This is not misalignment" someone said quietly. "And not resistance."
A pause.
"Classification pending" another voice said, slower now.
The evaluators looked at Arata but not as a cadet, not as a subject, but as a variable.
"Evaluation inconclusive" the lead evaluator finally said. "You are dismissed."
Arata waited for more.
Nothing came.
He turned and walked out on his own.
Behind him, the Vein pulsed once more. And for the first time since the Academy was founded, the Flame had no answer ready.
...
That night, Arata stood alone at the edge of the courtyard.
The Vein pulsed beneath him—steady, patient and unchanged as always.For the first time since the chapel, it did not try to pull him back into rhythm.
And Arata understood the truth at last:
He was not aligned.He was not heretical.He was not corrected.
He was unclassifiable.
And in a world built entirely on classification, that made him the most dangerous thing of all. An element outside of a set system. Something new and chaotic in the structure of the world.