The chamber was built for silence.
Everything from the curve of the walls to the way the torches flickered seemed designed to dampen noise. Voices didn't echo. Footsteps vanished beneath soft stone. Only the hum of the ward-runes carved into the floor gave the room any life.
They stood in the center: Kieran, Selene, Rei, Calla, Talon, Nova, and Sera.
Tired. Bandaged. Whole.
Before them sat four figures in dark robes, silver trim gleaming faintly in the lamplight. Three were instructors — faces Kieran vaguely recognized from orientation lectures and passing glances in the halls. The fourth wore a longer mantle, her eyes sharp beneath a thin circlet of polished obsidian.
High Administrator Varen.
She didn't speak first.
Instructor Malen, a lean man with a low voice, did.
"This is a routine post-Trial evaluation," he said. "We'll record your accounts for Academy records, verify the results, and clear you for recovery or reassignment."
Kieran said nothing.
No one did.
Until Selene stepped forward. "We encountered a Trial harder than expected. The ruins weren't dormant. Something old had nested inside the spiral chamber."
Malen nodded. "We've seen that pattern before. Trial beasts growing beyond containment. Please describe the manifestation."
They took turns.
Rei described the Bronze-Rank Wretch — the opening battle. Calla added details about the terrain, the decayed forest, and the corruption laced through the stone. Talon explained the environment shift — how the air shimmered before they reached the chamber.
Then Nova spoke of the Mind Hex.
Varen leaned forward slightly at that.
"You're certain it wasn't a trial residue?"
"It wasn't residual," Nova said. "It was alive."
"It mimicked thought," Selene added. "It knew how to isolate us. It forced us to see versions of ourselves — broken ones."
"And who disrupted the illusion?" Instructor Halvesin asked.
They looked to Kieran.
"I did," he said calmly. "My Aspect reacted. It showed me what was real."
Varen's gaze sharpened. "and what ability is that"
Kieran answered in a weak voice."revelation and umbrakinesis "
"Unusual name for a shadow-based aspect."
"I didn't choose it," he said.
She studied him for a long moment. Then nodded once.
"And after the Mind Hex shattered?"
"The chamber fell apart," Rei said. "Then we fought the Hollowborn."
Malen looked up. "Classification?"
"A low Awakened. Wretch class," Talon answered. "Mimic-based, partial regenerative frame, emotion-fueled movement. Weak to light and synchronized pressure."
"You killed it?"
"Together," Calla said. "It wasn't a clean fight, but we won."
There was a pause.
Halvesin scribbled something in his log.
Varen stood.
"You've done what was asked. You survived what should've broken most teams. You'll be placed on Limited Recovery Watch for the next three weeks. No isolation. No containment. But all field operations are suspended until cleared by Instructor Corvan."
She stepped down from the platform.
"Rest. Train. Return stronger."
Outside the chamber, the air felt less heavy.
They walked in silence through the stone halls. No one spoke until they reached the northern stair.
Then Selene murmured, "They didn't ask everything."
"They didn't need to," Calla said. "They already knew some of it."
"But not all," Kieran added.
He felt the crimson feather shift beneath the cloth tied to his waist.
Hidden.
Undiscovered.
But not forgotten.