Elder Hakar let the noise burn itself out... He stood there with his staff grounded against the stone, the hieroglyphs along his arms dim but watchful, until the courtyard slowly remembered where it was and who stood before it. One by one, voices died, breaths steadied, and eyes lifted to look at him.
Only then did he speak.
"Silence."
The word landed like a seal.
"You have all witnessed the ranking," Elder Hakar said evenly. "But rankings alone do not determine one's future in the Shadow Fang Sect."
He raised his staff hand, and the projection above then shifted, names sliding aside, forming new columns marked with ancient sigils.
"Because of the outstanding performance of this batch," he continued, "the Elders have reached a rare consensus."
A ripple of tension moved through the participants.
