Morning breaks over Greylune, but the light feels thin, like it hesitates before touching the stone walls of Uberhoul Academy of Divine. The long night has not loosened its grip fully; the corridors still hold a taste of darkness.
Kresor wakes with a violent gasp. His eyes snap open as if pulled from underwater. Sweat clings to his forehead. His chest heaves. The dream no, the memory still burns behind his eyelids: the carpenter's wooden room, the echo of a belt hitting the table, that suffocating smell of dust and blood… and his younger self hiding under a broken chair.
A whimper slips out before he can stop it. Seren sits on the opposite bed, already tightening the straps of his training armor. He looks up instantly. "Hey… you good?" Seren asks gently. "Just a dream. Only a dream." Kresor forces a nod, though his breath still stutters. "Yeah… I think." "Nightmares always hit hardest right before something big," Seren says, pulling his gloves on. "Your body knows before your mind does."
Kresor sits up slowly. The hostel room is quiet, clean, compact built for students who barely sleep anyway. The metallic pipes hum lightly under the walls, pumping steam and heat. Morning light leaks through the frosted window.
He looks around. "Where's Clausiy?" "Changing," Seren answers. "She—" Before he finishes, the door swings open. Clausiy steps out.
Her armor gleams in the faint sunlight sleek, fitted, plated in silver-gray with faint azure linings tracing the joints. A short dagger hangs at her hip, thin and elegant like a needle forged from moonlight. Her hair is tied back, her cheeks flushed from rushing.
She narrows her eyes at Kresor. "You're awake? Good. Because you're not ready." Kresor blinks. "Not ready… for what?" Clausiy stops mid-step. "You don't know…?" she asks, stunned. "The entrance exam is today." Kresor freezes. "What? Kael he didn't tell me when" Seren stands up instantly. "He didn't? He always leaves things out… that idiot."
Clausiy crosses her arms, tapping her dagger hilt. "You're lucky you woke up early. Otherwise we'd be dragging you to the exam hall in your sleeping clothes."
Seren grabs a wooden helmet from his locker and hands it to Kresor. Kresor stares at it. "This… is wood. Will it even protect me?" Seren smiles faintly. "If you have faith, it'll protect you better than steel. Your mind is the real armor." Clausiy huffs. "Put it on before I smack you with it."
Kresor adjusts the helmet. It creaks softly, smelling faintly of oak. A strange warmth sits inside the wood, like someone carved hope into it. Seren pats both of them on the shoulder. "Good luck. I'll be in the audience. Give me something to brag about." Clausiy brightens instantly. "You're coming? Really?" "Of course," Seren grins. "Someone has to cheer for my little siblings."
Kresor smiles. Clausey gleams. Together, he and Clausiy step out of the hostel building toward the Entrance Grounds.
By the time they reach the giant arena hall, the sun has fully risen and the scale of the examination hits Kresor like a tidal wave. The grounds are massive. One thousand candidates gather, all ages between twelve and seventeen. Every kingdom, every lineage, every province Greylune has never felt so small compared to this tidal wave of talent and ambition. It was very huge ground and Both of them had Goosebumps when they entered the ground due to immense purity aura of the candidates Metal banners rattle against iron poles. Steam lifts from layered engine-chambers beneath the stage. Officials, teachers, nobles, and foreign observers fill the stands.
Clausiy exhales softly. "So many." Kresor nods. His stomach feels like collapsing stone. Then Someone steps right between them.
A boy slightly taller than Kresor. with Blood-Red hairs and Eyes of Iron-black colour, A masculine Body sculpted like he trained inside a battlefield, not a house. "Yo!" the boy says brightly. "You two look weak. Want to form a team?" Clausiy frowns. "Who are you?"
The boy puffs his chest proudly. "I am Barcius Norphis! Norphis is my name. Barcius is my surname. My foible is Foible-F Barcian War-Sovereign. And I'm going to become the strongest Aetherion ever born." He says it like it's an obvious fact.
Kresor and Clausiy exchange confused glances. "You're forming a team with… us?" Kresor asks. "Why?" Norphis grins. "Because you both look like you don't even know the exam pattern. Which means you're either idiots… or gems."
Clausiy bristles. "We're not" Norphis raises a finger. "Also because the others look boring. Potential matters more than muscles." Kresor laughs nervously. "So you want to join our team… because you think we look interesting?"
"Yep!" Norphis chirps. "Plus, you two feel… different. Like the wind shifts around you." Clausiy tilts her head. "You can sense that?" "Of course," he replies, flipping his red hair. "War-Sovereign instinct."
They talk for almost an hour about where they came from, what they want, whether they like sweets, how nervous they are. Norphis treats them like he's known them for years, bouncing between childish excitement and arrogant confidence. Kresor slowly realizes:
He feels Norphis as a good friend for him. He feels real. Alive.Not cold like the Order.
Norphis finally claps his hands. "Alright! Let's destroy the exam!"
Suddenly, A harsh whistle cuts through the air. A commentator's voice booms across the hall. "Candidates! Attention! The judges and esteemed guests are entering!" A wave of silence falls. Steam hisses from the great brass doors as they open.
First enters Kael Black-brownish coat, expression unreadable, leaning on his cane. The entire crowd shifts, whispering in awe. Then the 74th Great President of Uberhoul Academy, Halusius the Ivory-Quilled, steps forward an old man with silver hair and sharp hawk-like eyes. His robes trail gold fibers that glow faintly.
Other officials follow. Elders, professors, masters of the Catena system, and dignitaries from four kingdoms. Kael stands beside Halusius, arms behind his back.
The commentator announces: "Chief Guest: Kael of the Silent Grace!"The crowd erupts in applause.
Clausiy lights up. "He really came…" Kresor watches him quietly. Kael's eyes flicker toward the candidates but Kresor can't tell if they land on him.
Finally, President Halusius steps forward. His voice is thin but cuts like a blade through cloth. "Candidates. Welcome to your first judgment."
Silence.
He continues: "The entrance exam will test three things your survival, your adaptability, and your courage, and most important are you worthy to become one of The Aetherion. the exam is divided into two sections: Team-Based and Individual-Based."
Every student stands frozen. Halusius lifts a finger. "The first section begins now. Team-Based. Groups of three."
Norphis immediately slaps both their shoulders. "We're team, right? Right?!" Clausiy nods. "Yes." Kresor smiles. "Of course." As if sensing their decision, glowing light circles around their feet. A name forms above their heads: PACK OF DIVINE
The crowd murmurs in curiosity. Norphis beams."We sound AWESOME!"
Again Whistle sounds and Halusius raises his staff and draws a circle in the air. A holographic projection forms an enormous, horrifying landscape. Dark sky. Ash clouds. Cracked earth. Ruins burning like dying candles.
"The Colossal Realm," Halusius begins, "a sealed artificial world where demons, creatures, and dark entities of Catena Levels 5 to 3 reside." Many candidates pale. Halusius continues:
"You will be sent into this realm for three hours. Your objective is simple: Survive. Kill.Earn points." The projection shows points glowing above phantom monsters.
"These points can be used inside the exam to buy potions, tools, buffs, or weapon enhancements." He scans the candidates. "Teams will consist of three roles: Supporter, Attacker, Defender. Choose them wisely."
Norphis raises his hand proudly. "I'm attacker!" Clausiy steps forward. "I'll be defender." Their eyes shift to Kresor. He hesitates. The helmet feels heavier suddenly. "I… I'll be Supporter," he says quietly. Norphis squints. "Why? You don't look like a healer." "I'm weak," Kresor admits. "And afraid… most of the time. So support is the only thing I can do." Clausiy looks at him, softer now. "It's okay. We'll make it work."
Commentator Shouts again, All teams line up. Steam rises beneath their feet.Vibrations shake the arena floor. The commentator shouts:
"PREPARE FOR ENTRY!" Kresor grips his helmet. Clausiy grabs his wrist.Norphis grins like this is a carnival.
Then A humming sound. A glow. A circle of shifting sigils forms beneath every team. Kresor whispers, "What's happening" And the floor beneath them opens. Not cracks. Not doors.
A black portal blooms beneath their feet bottomless, silent, hungry. No warning. No mercy. The floor simply ceases to exist, and a thousand candidates plunge into the abyss together, swallowed like grains of sand scattered into a storm Kresor has only a heartbeat to scream before the world twists inside-out. Shadows coil around him, devouring every scrap of light. The air vanishes from his lungs as he tumbles endlessly… then darkness swallows his consciousness whole.
Clausiy shrieks as gravity rips her downward, but beside her, Norphis is smiling — as if this descent into oblivion were nothing more than a morning jog. The three fall deeper. Clausiy's voice trembles through the void. "How long… how long does this take?" Norphis answers with maddening calm."About fifteen minutes. Plenty of time to prepare."
And so, they fall. The abyss stretches around them like the inside of a dead god's lungs vast, silent, endless. Norphis floats through the descent as though suspended in water, stretching his arms, rolling his shoulders, doing warm-ups mid-air.Arrogant. Unbothered. Unshaken.A mantra flows from his lips between each motion:
"I am the best.I am the best.I am the best."
Beside him, Clausiy clasps her hands together, eyes squeezed shut, whispering prayers to whatever higher force might still listen at the edge of creation. But above her… Kresor is falling like a man broken from reality. His head droops. His body drifts limp. His lips part, muttering fragments that slip like cracks in glass: "Resonance… Echo… Vibrant…" Clausiy's eyes snap open. Norphis stops mid-stretch. "Kresor," Norphis mutters, his voice suddenly sharp.Then louder a shout that tears through the void."Clausiy! Wake him up! If he sinks any deeper, he'll burn through all his purity!" Clausiy propels herself upward, slicing through the air as if swimming through black water. She reaches him, grabs his face And slaps him hard.
Her voice splits the silence. "It is not the time to fall apart, Kresor! Wake up!" His eyes tear open. Breath surges back into his chest. Reality returns. He stares at her shaken, pale, grateful. "Thank you," he whispers. "For pulling me out." Below them, Norphis bursts into laughter. "What a team I've been assigned." "Shut up, Norphis," Clausiy snaps. "He's dealing with things you don't understand."
Norphis lifts his hands, apologizing with a crooked grin. "Maybe so. But compared to what's waiting for us down there… these problems are nothing." He glances at Kresor. Kresor meets his gaze not in anger, not in fear, but with a quiet, growing resolve. Something unspoken passes between them.
Minutes bleed away. Then a distant siren roars through the void metallic, cold, final.Norphis cracks his neck and exhales. "Gear up, team. We're almost there." Clausiy tightens her dagger holster and adjusts her armor straps. Kresor slides his helmet into place, the visor sealing with a faint click. Norphis shakes out his arms again, energy rising off him like invisible heat.
The abyss spits them out. They crash down onto a cliff made entirely of bones a bleached landscape of shattered ribs and broken skulls stretching into the dark like an ocean of the dead. For a moment, the three stand together in silence. Then they exchange a single nod. Norphis steps forward, eyes gleaming with reckless thrill. His voice rolls through the graveyard like a war cry:
"Pack of Divine…Let's dive into the darkness."