The doors of the Obsidian Spire stood open.
Darkness waited inside.
Souro stared at the entrance, feeling the crescent mark on his wrist pulse in slow, deliberate beats. Each throb felt like a countdown.
Selene stood beside him, silent, her fracture mark faintly glowing beneath her sleeve.
"This feels wrong," she whispered.
"It's meant to," Souro replied.
The air around the tower was different from the rest of the silver fields. Heavier. Still. As if sound itself hesitated to enter.
They took a step forward—
"Interesting."
The voice came from behind them.
Calm. Clear. Amused.
Souro turned instantly.
A boy stood several meters away, hands resting casually in his pockets. He didn't look exhausted. He didn't look confused. He didn't look like someone who had been thrown into a fractured world beneath a broken moon.
He looked composed.
Dark hair neatly brushed back. Sharp eyes that reflected the moonlight without fear.
He studied Souro and Selene with open curiosity.
"So there are others," the boy said lightly. "I was beginning to think this trial was selective."
Selene stiffened.
"Who are you?"
The boy tilted his head slightly, as if surprised the question needed asking.
"Albert Wilson."
He said it without hesitation.
As if his name still carried weight here.
Souro's crescent mark burned.
Selene inhaled sharply.
Something was reacting.
Albert's gaze shifted briefly to Souro's wrist.
Then to Selene's shoulder.
Recognition flickered across his face.
"Ah," he murmured. "Irregular classifications."
Souro stepped subtly in front of Selene.
"What do you mean by that?"
Albert didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled one hand from his pocket.
A faint glow shone beneath his sleeve.
Gold.
Not silver.
Not fractured.
Gold.
For the briefest second, Souro's vision flickered.
A system window appeared—distorted, incomplete.
[Hidden Class Detected]
[Host: Albert Wilson]
[Class: ———]
[Access Denied]
The message vanished before it could fully load.
Souro's jaw tightened.
Hidden.
Like him.
Albert noticed the shift in his expression.
"You saw it, didn't you?" he asked calmly.
Selene's fracture mark pulsed once.
"You're like him," she said quietly. "A Hidden Class."
Albert's lips curved slightly.
"Like him?" he repeated.
The tower behind them vibrated softly.
The sound was not mechanical.
It was alive.
A new notification appeared before all three of them.
[Participants Registered]
[Total Candidates: 3]
[First Trial Initiating]
The number lingered in the air.
Three.
Albert glanced at the tower entrance.
"Perfect timing," he said.
Without waiting for agreement, he began walking toward the open doors.
His steps were measured. Confident.
He did not hesitate at the threshold.
As he crossed into the darkness—
The air bent slightly around him.
Just for a moment.
As if the tower itself was adjusting.
Or acknowledging him.
Souro felt it.
Selene did too.
"That wasn't normal," she whispered.
"No," Souro agreed.
It wasn't.
Albert paused just inside the entrance and looked back at them.
"You should come," he said evenly. "Standing outside won't delay what's already begun."
His gold light flickered once beneath his sleeve.
Controlled.
Stable.
Unlike Souro's burning crescent.
Unlike Selene's unstable fracture.
Souro met his eyes.
Albert did not look hostile.
But he did not look lost either.
He looked like someone who understood the rules of this place—
Better than he should.
The broken moon pulsed overhead.
Souro stepped forward.
Selene followed.
And as the three of them crossed into the Obsidian Spire—
The doors slowly began to close behind them.
Sealing the first trial.
High above, within the tower's highest chamber—
Nova watched three lights enter the structure.
Silver.
Fractured.
Gold.
His star-shaped mark glowed faintly.
"Three anomalies," he murmured.
For the first time—
The system did not display a survival percentage.
And that intrigued him.