The sterile chill of the Academy intake hall vanished in a whirlwind of coarse sackcloth and jarring force. One moment Kael was processing Proctor Thorne's warning; the next, darkness swallowed him, the sharp *hiss-thud* of a suppression injector biting his neck. **SYSTEM ALERT! UNKNOWN CHEMICAL AGENT DETECTED. NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKADE. COUNTERMEASURES ENGAGED… INSUFFICIENT ENERGY/LEVEL. REPEL FAILURE. HOST PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OVERRIDDEN. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT.**
Panic flared, instantly smothered by the drug's icy flood. Muffled voices confirmed the brutal procedure: "...section secure... enroute to teleportation." The last coherent thought was grim acceptance before oblivion claimed him. The Crucible raged silently against the forced impotence.
***
Consciousness returned with the rough removal of the sack and the jarring solidity of an unfamiliar floor. Bright, harsh light stabbed his eyes. He was on his knees beside a sleek black transport pod, identical to dozens disgorging groggy teenagers onto a vast, metallic platform. The air was thin, cold, carrying a sharp ozone bite. Above, a shimmering energy dome revealed a sky choked with swirling nebulae and two fierce blue moons. They were far from the city.
"On your feet! Form line Alpha! Move!" Barked voices belonged to figures in grey Academy fatigues, radiating controlled power. Kael stumbled up, joining the dazed flow into Line Alpha. His **Energy Sense (Lv.1)**, sluggish from the drugs, picked up a low thrum of nervous power signatures. His own reserves: **ENG: 80/120**. The Crucible confirmed: **CHEMICAL AGENT METABOLIZED. FULL MOTOR FUNCTION RESTORED. VIGILANCE RECOMMENDED.**
They were marched towards a colossal humming archway – the teleporter – and beyond, the Crucible Proving Fields: a segmented nightmare under alien skies.
1. **The Gauntlet:** Winding obstacle course – rock spires, energy barriers, mud pits, pendulum blades. Agility and endurance.
2. **The Storm Dome:** Vast open circle ringed by kinetic cannons. Pure evasion.
3. **The Apex Plaza:** Raised white platform with a crystalline console. Registration.
A senior Proctor boomed, "Welcome to Ascendancy Orbital Campus Alpha. Perform or be Removed. First: Registration at the Apex Plaza. Declare your *primary* Ability and Mastery Grade. Scanners verify. Deception equals disqualification. Proceed through Gauntlet and Storm Dome to reach the Plaza. Begin!"
A chime sounded. Lines surged towards the Gauntlet. Kael's mind raced. *Three Abilities. Lightning, Space, Time. But I can only show one. Lightning is known. Space and Time… too strange.* The Crucible reinforced his decision: **DECLARE LIGHTNING (GRADE 1). RISK: SCANNER MAY DETECT ANOMALOUS ENERGY SIGNATURES. PRIMARY MANIFESTATION MUST BE LIGHTNING.**
He pushed down the fear. Survive first. Hide the rest.
**The Gauntlet:**
Kael entered the winding chaos. Pressure plates triggered jets of scalding steam. *No Foresight.* He relied on **PER 15**, spotting triggers a split-second early, darting aside. A closing energy barrier – *No Blink.* He vaulted it using **AGI 14**, scraping his shin on the humming edge. Mud pits sucked at him; he used strength (**STR 10**) and agility to claw across slick logs. Pendulum blades swung; he ducked, rolled, and twisted with preternatural reflexes honed in Warrens alleys, relying purely on enhanced physique. He emerged gasping, mud-slicked, bruised, but unharmed, conserving precious Energy. **ENG: 110/120**. He was solidly in the middle of the pack.
**The Storm Dome:**
Stepping onto the marked zone triggered a chime. **SYSTEM INTEGRATION: CANNON TARGETING PARAMETERS. THREAT ASSESSMENT ACTIVE.** The cannons hummed. A projectile *cracked* past where he'd stood. *No Foresight. No Blink.* Pure instinct and enhanced senses took over.
He became a blur of desperate motion. He jinked, rolled, weaved, never moving predictably. Projectiles screamed past, cratering the floor where he *almost* was. The cannons sped up, patterns complex, adding ricochets. Kael pushed his **AGI 14** and **VIT 17** to the limit, muscles screaming, lungs burning. He saw a ricochet path – too late to dodge conventionally. *No Blink!* He threw himself sideways in a desperate dive. The projectile grazed his shoulder, tearing fabric and scraping skin raw. **MINOR DAMAGE DETECTED.**
The difficulty spiked. Multiple projectiles. Nets crackling amidst the kinetic hail. Kael gritted his teeth. He couldn't use Space. He couldn't cheat Time. He had to *be* faster. He had to *see* clearer. He pushed his natural Perception harder, reading the subtle shifts in cannon barrels, the glint of incoming rounds. He became a shadow dancing through lethal rain. Ten minutes stretched into agony. Finally, the chime. Cannons powered down. Kael stood, trembling violently, sweat-drenched, his shoulder bleeding, but alive. **ENG: 85/120**. He'd survived on grit and Grade 1 physicality alone. He was among the last quarter.
**The Apex Plaza:**
He climbed the steps, heart pounding. The queue snaked before the crystal console. Declarations echoed:
"Fire. Grade 1."
"Water. Grade 1."
"Earth. Grade 1."
"Lightning. Grade 1." (A nervous boy ahead of Kael).
"Kinetic Armor. Grade 1."
Kael watched the scanner plate glow blue, confirming each. The line dwindled. Ember, Spark, and Brick stood nearby, scanned already, eyes locked on him with predatory glee. Proctor Thorne observed from a walkway, expression unreadable.
His turn. The cool scanner plate awaited. He focused *only* on the crackling storm within his Lightning core, burying the spatial hum and temporal ripple deep, deep down. *Just Lightning. Only Lightning.*
He placed his hand on the plate. "Lightning," Kael stated, voice rough but clear. "Grade 1."
The scanner plate flared with intense white light. Then, it didn't settle into the steady blue confirmation. It *flickered* violently. Jagged lines of blue-white energy – pure, crackling Lightning – surged visibly *within* the crystal. But alongside them, impossible to fully suppress for the hyper-sensitive scanner, were ghostly echoes: faint silver traceries that *warped* the light around them, and an almost imperceptible *shimmering* in the air above the plate, like heat haze moving in reverse.
A low, resonant *hum* filled the Plaza, deeper than before. The console Proctor frowned, tapping frantically. The flickering intensified. The Lightning signature blazed bright and clear, Grade 1... but the background noise was undeniable. The Crucible screamed: **SCANNER OVERLOAD! ANOMALOUS ENERGY RESONANCE DETECTED BEYOND PRIMARY MANIFESTATION! CONTAINMENT BORDERLINE!**
The Proctor's head snapped up. His eyes weren't angry, but wide with profound confusion and disbelief as he stared at the chaotic light show beneath Kael's hand. He looked from the erratic display to Kael's face, then slowly, deliberately, turned his gaze upwards to Proctor Thorne.
Thorne's carefully composed neutrality was gone. Her grey eyes, sharp as flint, were fixed on Kael with an intensity that felt like a physical blow – shock warring with dawning, chilling comprehension. She didn't just see a scanner malfunction; she saw the *impossible* bleeding through.
Silence crashed down, heavy and thick, broken only by the frantic, unstable hum of the scanner and the angry crackle of Lightning energy Kael couldn't fully contain. Every eye on the Plaza fixed on him – the boy who made the scanner scream.
The console Proctor finally choked out, his voice strained and echoing in the sudden void: "Lightning... Grade 1... *confirmed*. But... Proctor Thorne... the ancillary readings...?"
Thorne didn't look away from Kael. Her voice, when it came, was cold, precise, and carried absolute authority. "Register the primary ability as declared: Lightning, Grade One. Log the scanner anomaly... for *my* review. Proceed to holding." Her eyes held Kael's for a fraction longer, a silent message: *I see you. I know.* Then she turned away, her posture rigid.
The scanner plate's light finally stabilized into a shaky blue. Kael removed his hand, his own Lightning core buzzing with nervous energy. He'd passed registration. Officially, he was just a Lightning-wielder. But the secret was out, at least to one terrifyingly observant Proctor. And Ember's crew had seen it all, their smirks replaced by calculating, hungry stares. The real trials hadn't even begun, and Kael James was already marked.
**<<< STATUS SNAPSHOT >>>** (Post-Storm Dome)
**HOST:** Kael James
**LEVEL:** 10
**EXP:** 70/1100
**ENG:** 85/120 *(Regen inhibited by stress)*
**GRADE 2 PROGRESS:** 73%
**ABILITIES:**
* **Lightning:** Manifested (Declared: Grade 1) **<<< OFFICIAL RECORD**
* **Space:** Manifested **(DETECTED ANOMALY)**
* **Time:** Manifested **(DETECTED ANOMALY)**
**OBJECTIVES:**
* **Survive Registration:** **COMPLETE (With Anomaly Detected)**
* **Academy Trials:** **Phase 1 Complete. Phase 2 Pending.**
* **Survive Ember's Crew:** Threat Level: **EXTREME** (Anomaly Witnessed)
* **Maintain Secrecy:** **COMPROMISED (Proctor Thorne)**
* **Achieve Grade 2:** (Level 15) (73%)
* **Unlock System Origin:** (Grade 3) (33%)