"A dream is a game without rules. Logic, a cage without windows."
The Sovereign Plateau had never been so silent.
The obsidian statues at its corners seemed to hold their breath. The sky above the arena was a heavy gray, suffocating, as if suspended between two storms.
The stands were packed. Students, professors, mage-masters—all seated, all silent. The tournament was no longer an academic event. It had become symbolic.
And that day, two titans with opposite minds were about to clash:
— Elwin Telar, Keralith. The lucid dreamer, the child of illusions, the guest of chaos.
— Elaris Varn, Silhaen. The glacial architect, the priestess of logic, the queen of symmetry.
Two worlds.
Two visions.
And only one spot in the final.
Caelen watched from above.
He had never felt the weight of silence so intensely.
He knew Elaris. He even feared her a little. She never made mistakes.
And yet, he knew the real danger... was Elwin.
Because an unpredictable mind has no limits.
The two players took their places on either side of the Plateau.
The referee's voice echoed:
— Semifinal number one. Elwin Telar versus Elaris Varn. Invoke your zones at will. Forfeit prohibited before the 30th move.
There was a beat.
Then the pieces appeared. Sculpted in crystal for Elaris's white, in blackened wood for Elwin's pieces.
1. e4 – Elaris's classic opening. Solid. Pure.
1...d6 – Elwin's strange reply. Cautious. Twisted.
The battle had begun.
The first moves were oddly balanced. No brilliance, no daring captures. Like two dancers circling one another, not daring to touch.
Then, on move 15, Elaris broke the silence.
She raised her hand, expressionless.
— Mental Zone: Hall of Pure Geometry.
The Plateau transformed instantly.
The squares hardened. Transparent walls rose between the diagonals. Each line of play became a defined path. Each piece floated in perfect geometry, in constant rotation.
Concentric circles formed beneath their feet.
A world where everything had an angle. A cause. A consequence.
— It's no longer a game, whispered a student behind Caelen. It's a living equation.
Elaris had melded into her zone. She was now following a celestial logic, a mechanical intelligence. The pieces moved almost on their own, obeying her cold and flawless vision.
Elwin, meanwhile, lowered his head slightly.
One might have thought he was asleep.
But his index finger brushed the wood of a piece.
— Mental Zone: Forest of the Fragmented Dream.
And the Plateau became... a nightmare.
The corner walls began to collapse. The lines vanished. The grid melted into a shifting, moiré mist. Shadows passed between the squares. Laughter, weeping. Living trees replaced rooks. Rocks dreamed of being knights.
The two zones coexisted.
And repelled each other.
Interference zones appeared with every move. Unstable squares, where reality bent. Some pieces floated. Others shrank.
Elaris frowned. For the first time... she doubted.
Her perfect world was being parasitized by a dream without logic.
— You manipulate the board like a child toppling a game, she said.
Elwin murmured:
— And you want everything to stay frozen. But the world changes.
Move 28.
Advantage to Elaris.
But slight.
Her pieces had carved a path through the chaos. She had managed to isolate a weakness on Elwin's right flank.
A pawn to defend.
A trap to set.
But Elwin... smiled.
And moved a bishop.
— No! shouted a student in the crowd. He's giving up the central pawn!
Caelen slightly stood up, eyes wide.
It wasn't a mistake.
It was bait.
On move 30, Elaris took the pawn.
And at that moment... everything shifted.
Three moves later, her knight was trapped.
Four moves after, her queen was caught in an unstable square.
The Plateau laughed.
Distant cries could be heard. Dreamlike trees danced. The Hall of Pure Geometry cracked.
Elaris stiffened.
— This is not rational...
— No, said Elwin. It's real.
Move 36.
Elaris activated a focus spell. She tried to recalculate, to rebuild her world.
But the dream had gained ground.
And dreams... cannot be corrected.
Caelen smiled inwardly.
He recognized the beauty of the moment.
A perfect mind... sinking into a world without logic.
Move 38.
Checkmate.
Total silence.
The Hall of Pure Geometry disintegrated.
The dream slowly faded.
Elwin stood, bowed, and left the Plateau without a word.
Elaris remained frozen, eyes wide open. She had lost.
Not against a superior strategy.
But against the unpredictable.
After the match, Caelen crossed paths with Elwin in a hallway.
— You never looked at the board, he said.
— I didn't need to.
— You knew you'd break her.
— I don't play to break. I play to open doors.
He stopped.
— And you, Caelen? What do you play for?
A long silence.
— To no longer be a piece.
Elwin smiled.
— Then you're more dangerous than all of us.
Current ranking:
• Finalist 1: Elwin Telar (Keralith)
• Finalist 2: To be determined – Caelen vs Théon match in the next chapter.
The Sovereign Plateau awaits.
And this time... Caelen may no longer be able to hold back.