The first signs were almost imperceptible.
A flickering torch that sputtered in a hallway with no draft. A shadow that stretched the wrong way beneath the midday sun. Words on a scroll that shimmered when Kael looked back a second time, as if they were not quite the same.
No one else seemed to notice.
Outside the Academy walls, things had grown tense. The Storm hadn't yet arrived — not fully — but something stirred in the air, like the weight of thunder held just beyond the veil of reality. Reports came in of System anomalies. Whole regions where Paths failed to activate. Cities where people awakened strange, undocumented abilities.
The High Council dismissed it as "background instability." The Ashwin estate called it "an expected surge."
Kael called it the beginning.
In the week since the crystal lecture, he'd noticed more of the strange reflections — not just in glass or water, but in polished steel, in his dreams, in the edge of his vision. The reflections didn't mirror him. They watched him.
He kept it to himself.
The Ashwin family, despite its power, walked a careful line. Politically neutral. Observers, not meddlers. His uncle, Lord Eran Fell Ashwin, had once explained it like this:
"We are not kings, Kael. We are architects. Others war over stones. We design the cities beneath."
He understood now what that meant.
It was on the seventh day that the call came.
All third-years were summoned to the Trials Pavilion — a towering spire of obsidian and silver, where the Academy tested candidate progress. Normally, the Trials were staggered. This time, they were all called together.
That alone was strange.
Even stranger was the silence in the air.
As Kael approached the Pavilion steps, he fell into step beside Vale Teshen, who gave him a sideways look. "You hear the rumors?"
"About the Trial?" Kael asked.
Vale shook his head. "About the System. It's fragmenting."
Kael glanced at him.
"I know a guy in Central Evaluation," Vale continued. "He says they're seeing inconsistencies. Weird classifications. People failing to awaken or awakening something else. No clean Paths. Like the System's forgotten its rules."
"And they're still putting us through Trials?" Kael said.
Vale grinned without humor. "Best time to sort the useful from the corpses."
They passed through the Pavilion gates into a vast chamber lit by silver braziers. The walls pulsed faintly with arcane circuitry. High above, dozens of floating crystalline lenses hovered silently — Watchers, or so it was whispered. Not just recording data. Analyzing. Judging.
Kael felt their attention the moment he entered.
Not like eyes.
Like pressure.
In the center of the chamber, the Grand Adjudicator — a skeletal man in black robes lined with red thread — raised his hands.
"The Trials will proceed. All candidates will undergo classification, affinity resonance, and the first Gatewalk."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Gatewalk?
That wasn't supposed to happen until the fourth year. And even then, only for those selected.
Kael didn't react, but his mind reeled.
They were rushing it. Pushing things ahead of schedule. Why?
A hand touched his arm. He turned and saw Renira.
She didn't speak, but she held his gaze.
There was fear in her eyes. Not confusion. Not uncertainty.
Fear.
He nodded once. A silent understanding passed between them.
They were being tested — but not by the instructors.
By the System itself.
When it came time for classification, Kael stepped into the silver circle at the center of the chamber. A single lens hovered above him, humming softly.
"Name," the adjudicator said.
"Kael Fell Ashwin."
The lens pulsed.
A low chime echoed through the hall.
"Known bloodline: Ashwin. Classification: Noble Tier Two. System inheritance confirmed."
Kael kept his expression neutral. That wasn't unusual.
But then the lens flickered.
"...Analyzing aspect affinity…"
The chime turned sharp.
"...Deviation detected."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Affinity: Obfuscation… secondary traces of Manipulation… anomaly present."
"Specify," the adjudicator said flatly.
The lens didn't respond immediately.
Then, slowly, words formed in the projection.
[Fragmented Path Detected]
Classification: Unbound – Prototype Node
Status: Locked. Observation Protocol Engaged.
The adjudicator's expression barely shifted, but Kael caught the faintest hesitation.
"You are approved for Gatewalk Trial."
Kael stepped back from the circle as whispers exploded behind him.
Unbound?
Prototype?
What in the Void was that?
He caught Vale's glance. The other boy looked intrigued.
Lysara Vayne's eyes gleamed with something closer to hunger.
Renira was already gone from the crowd.
Kael exhaled slowly.
Something had changed.
Not just in the System.
Inside him.
A veil had thinned — and beyond it, something stirred.
[System Update]
Node Awakening Sequence Initiated.
Observation Flag: "Kael Fell Ashwin"
Status: Unstable. Monitoring...