He opened the door, expecting the training room to be super elaborate—maybe packed with complicated machines custom-made for Awakened. But to his surprise, it wasn't like that at all.
The room was pretty simple. Honestly, it looked a lot like a regular gym. Still, there were a few things that set it apart. For one, the materials were completely different. Instead of padded floors and soft walls, everything was made of cold, hard steel. The floor was freezing under his feet.
Since the room was meant for personalized training, a few combat dummies stood off to the side—basic-looking, but clearly built to take a beating.
"Let's get started."
He walked to the center of the room and stood still for a few seconds.
"Please don't kill me this time," he muttered, already dreading what was about to happen.
Closing his eyes, he placed a hand over the dark brand on his chest and summoned the essence into his core. The rush of power was... actually kind of exhilarating. He felt strong—unstoppable, even.
As soon as his core filled, he gave the command: summon a nightmare.
The lights in the room flickered. And when they came back on, Fin was no longer alone.
He opened his eyes, blinked, then took a quick step back. A few feet in front of him stood a massive spider. Now that he wasn't trapped inside the nightmare, he could actually get a good look at her. The creature was pitch black, so dark it looked like it had been carved from solid ebony.
She was smaller than before—probably about five feet tall now. Fin figured he wasn't strong enough yet to summon the full version. But she was still terrifying. Eight thick, hairy legs ended in sharp, spear-like tips, and eight soulless eyes stared directly at him.
As if reading his thoughts, the spider blinked—and started walking toward him.
"Stop!" Fin shouted, instantly.
The spider froze on command.
He let out a shaky laugh. "Ha... ha, it listens to me."
"Let's try thinking it this time."
He sent a mental command: jump. The spider jumped. Side-step. It side-stepped. Backflip... and nothing.
It didn't feel like it didn't understand—it felt like she refused. Like she thought it was beneath her.
"So it's not soulless after all," Fin muttered.
Next, he pointed to one of the dummies. This time, he didn't give her any specific instruction—just told her to attack.
What followed gave him immediate flashbacks.
The spider dashed across the room, impaled the dummy straight through the belly with one of her legs, then yanked it sideways—splitting it clean in half. Without hesitation, she began to eat the mangled metal body, tearing it apart and swallowing every last chunk. Not even a nail was left behind.
"I should never piss this one off," Fin whispered, gulping.
Satisfied (and mildly terrified), he dispelled the spider. Her form dissolved into a pool of darkness, vanishing entirely.
He wasn't done yet. He still had the other brand to test.
His light powers came more naturally to him. There was something intuitive about them—like he already understood the rules. But that didn't mean he didn't want to experiment.
Once again, he summoned essence into his core—this time, the bright one—and activated his ability.
He focused on the light in the room, commanding it to reflect and twist into a single thread. The beam focused itself on one of the remaining dummies, creating a brilliant, almost blinding strand of woven light.
The moment it struck the target, it melted through it like butter.
The heat, the precision... it was beautiful.
When it was all done Fin felt tired but not completely exhausted, he had not fully depleted his reserve of essence. Fin wiped the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath. His heart was still racing a little from the spider incident—no matter how cool it was to control her, it didn't change the fact that she terrified him.
He gave the room one last glance before heading out. The melted dummy was still smoking. He probably wasn't supposed to do that, but… whatever.
The hallway was quiet as he made his way back to the dorms. A soft hum buzzed from the lights above, and the cold steel beneath his feet clanked with every step. His mind was still spinning from everything he'd just discovered.
He was dangerous now. Not just in theory.
When he reached his room, the door was slightly ajar. He frowned and pushed it open.
Inside, Deryn and Ephy were sitting on his bed, deep in conversation. They didn't notice him at first—too caught up in whatever they were talking about. Deryn was gesturing with both hands, animated as ever, while Ephy leaned back with his arms crossed, expression unreadable.
"So I hit it dead-on," Deryn was saying, "but it didn't even flinch. Just tanked the whole thing like it was a mosquito bite. I swear, these training dummies are cursed or something."
"Or you just need to train harder," Ephy said dryly.
Fin snorted, and both of them turned toward the door.
"Well, look who's here," Deryn grinned.
"Barely," Fin muttered, stepping in and letting the door swing shut behind him. "You two just make yourselves comfortable, huh?"
Ephy gave a small shrug. "You took forever."
"Training," Fin said simply, and flopped into the desk chair. "Nightmare stuff. Spider girl says hi."
"What do you mean." Deryn asked
"It's nothing, just a small joke." Fin answered while looking at Ephy who was a bit paler than a second ago.
"Uh okay, anyway I've been meaning to give you guys something." Deryn said with a more serious tone.
She then extended her hand and a piece of cloth suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"Wow that's amazing." Fin said stunned by what he just saw
"Thanks"
"What are going to do with a creased tissue." Ephy asked
Deryn did not answer, instead she lifted it up to reveal three beautiful sapphire rings.
"My power's tied to forging," she said, her tone more serious now. "Part of it lets me create and enchant objects. I made these for us. They're not powerful or dangerous—no corruption or mind control, I swear—but they are useful."She paused. "We will surely have to go our separate ways soon and this rings will change colour and send us your location if you send a little of essence in them. That way if one of us is ever in danger the other two can come to his aid."
They all paused a little knowing that they could not delay the conversation about the future any longer.