One o'clock in the afternoon. Sevar Rock.
I was wandering along the edge of the Sevar cliffs, staring up at the clouds like they might answer the questions I hadn't even asked yet. The wind tugged at my sleeves, but I didn't care.
Voices echoed from below.
"Azarⱬum is weird. Always acting like he's better than the rest of us—like he's the Azarⱬum Sevar," said Shamil with a smirk.
"He walks around like he came from some other world," someone else chimed in. "Always alone, always silent…"
I crouched behind a jagged rock, hidden from sight. But then Shamil turned his head, eyes narrowing.
"Gvanƣi, what are you doing up there?"
No use hiding now. I leapt down, landing softly on the gravel path.
"Thinking," I replied plainly.
Shamil raised an eyebrow.
"You and Azarⱬum—both of you always act like you're above it all. One won't talk, the other disappears into the cliffs like a ghost."
I opened my mouth to answer, but footsteps cut through the silence. From around the bend, Azarⱬum appeared.
His steps were steady, like he walked to a rhythm only he could hear. He glanced at us—not arrogantly, but with a calm that somehow said he already understood everything.
No one spoke. Even Shamil went quiet.
The teacher found them all. After that, they were all in the exam.
The examination took place in the center of Yasonia, an open space surrounded by towering trees. Four elders, dressed in flowing robes, perched around an intricate device. A glowing energy core rested at the center, pulsing with an ethereal light.
I stood with my classmates, watching as each one was called forward, tested for their potential. Azarⱬum was called last.
Azarⱬum stepped forward, his gaze never wavering from the elders' faces. Without a word, he stretched forth a hand, fingers outstretched toward the energy core.
The device hummed softly, as if it responded to his touch. The energy core flared brighter, then pulsed once, twice. And then the hum faded, replaced by an eerie silence.
The elders exchanged glances, whispering amongst themselves. They seemed puzzled, their faces betraying confusion. Azarⱬum simply stood there, the faintest look of curiosity passing across his pale face.
Murmurs rose from the watching crowd. No one had seen a response to the core like this before. A single pulse, then nothing. It defied all expectations.
One of the elders finally spoke. "Azarⱬum Sevar, do you know the meaning of what just happened?"
Azarⱬum shifted his gaze from the core to the elder. He didn't answer right away.
Finally, he spoke. "The core did not accept my energy."
His voice was flat, detached. The murmur among the villagers grew louder.
"The core did not accept your nexus" One of the elders corrected him.
Azarⱬum nodded once, acknowledging the correction. "Yes....., it did not accept my Nexus."
The elders exchanged another glance. This was unprecedented. Nexus, the very essence of power within each villager, was what the core was supposed to identify. But from Azarⱬum, there was nothing.
"What is a Nexus? Nurichu, answer us all," the teacher says to me.
I step forward, the attention of the crowd suddenly upon me. I felt my face heat up from the unexpected spotlight.
"Nexus," I begin, trying to keep my voice steady, "is the source of our strength. It's the energy each of us possesses, unique to us."
"Really? And what is the meaning of the nexus? Is he useful in any way?" The teacher clearly wants to humiliate me.
Under the stares of my classmates and the villagers, my cheeks burned even hotter.
"The Nexus is more than just a source of strength," I explain, trying to hide my embarrassment behind words. "It's a connection, a... bond."
The teacher sneers. "A bond? With what?"
"with body and mind. Simply put, pure thoughts are tense muscles," Azarⱬum said, looking at the teacher with obvious indifference.
"the answer could have been better. But I asked Nurich the question," continuing to communicate with me.
I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. The teacher's condescension was like needles pricking me, making it even harder to find the right words.
"Nexus is like…a bridge," I said at last. "It connects us to our potential, our hidden abilities. When the core accepts us, it... shows that we are worthy."
"worthy of what?" the teacher asked, waiting for an answer.
Azarⱬum just clicked his tongue in displeasure at the teacher's words
The question hung in the air, unanswered. I hesitated. Even though Nexus was a fundamental part of our lives, we rarely pondered the "why" of it all. It just was.
The teacher sneered, noticing my hesitation. "Can't answer? What a shame, the smartest student in class can't tell us the purpose of Nexus."
I bit back a sharp retort. The teacher's tone was clearly meant to belittle me, and the eyes of my classmates made it worse. Even Azarⱬum's gaze was on me, his usual indifference replaced by something I couldn't quite place.
He whispered to me. "for the battle."
I turned, catching Azarⱬum's whispered words. "For the battle?" I echoed softly, my brow furrowing in confusion. We were just kids. The only battles we knew were childish squabbles.
"What did you say to Nurich?" The teacher heard you
Azarⱬum's gaze flicked over to the teacher for a moment before he answered. "I just reminded him that Nexus is for battle." A hint of sarcasm colored his voice, but his face remained as stoic as ever.
The teacher looked between us, eyebrows raised. "Battle? And exactly what kind of battle do you expect to be fighting, children?"
But Azarⱬum spoke up, his voice as calm as ever. "I was just discussing the possibility of Nexus being useful in battle."
The teacher scoffed. "Battle? You two are children, not soldiers. What would you know about battle?"
The elder stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"An intriguing notion," he mused. The other two elders whispered between themselves, their expressions unreadable.
The teacher seemed to be losing control of the situation. He glanced from the elders to me and back, his face reddening with frustration.
"The trial consists of two elimination rounds. In the first, twenty participants are paired in single combat, leaving ten winners. The second round reduces them to five." The elder announced the rules on the spot.
The crowd's murmurs grew louder. Single combat, elimination rounds. It sounded more like a gladiatorial contest than any test I'd ever heard of.
Even the teacher seemed taken aback by the elder's impromptu decision.
"No way! No, and no again! Do you just hear yourself? These are children! What battles they're not even fifteen years old for! Just because you're bored doesn't mean it's time for blood." The teacher fiercely threatened the elders.
Azarⱬum, standing beside me, watched the altercation with detached curiosity.
The elders, however, were unfazed by the teacher's outburst.
"The traditional exams have been less revealing as of late," one of them said, a hint of disdain in his voice. "Perhaps it's time to try something new. Or, as a rule, the old methods"
The teacher bristled, his face turning a deeper shade of scarlet. He wanted to argue, to protest, but the elders had the final say. He huffed, glaring at Azarⱬum and me as if all this was our fault.
"Without preparation, without warning, we will start the exam right here and right now," the elder said, and then sat back down in his seat
The teacher, realizing his protests were useless, threw his hands up in resignation. The crowd stirred with whispers and murmurs. Some seemed intrigued, others worried.
Azarⱬum, ever stoic, stood with his hands in his pockets, watching the scene unfold.
A soldier has now descended onto the battlefield. He will be the judge, apparently. The teacher reluctantly handed him an examination sheet with the names of his students.
"Well, I'm done. There are twenty of you, divided into two. Azarⱬum Sevar's first match against haruko."
The teacher went to the audience. The judge, a soldier, soon joined him.
"What's going on here, why is all this, Ⱬa-ⱬa?" the teacher asked.
"the dragon hunting season is starting, Muⱨalim"