The Dreamforged pods hissed open like breathing stone.
Kieran stood beside the others in the staging hall beneath the arena, staring at the five sleek, obsidian capsules lined up like sarcophagi. A faint silver glow pulsed beneath each one alive, waiting.
"Creepy," Rei muttered, eyeing his pod like it might bite.
"It's safe," Selene said, calm as ever. "I've read the documents. No physical harm is transferred. The pods stabilize vitals and channel aetheric threads to interface with the arena."
Calla smirked. "She says that like it doesn't sound worse."
Talon was already examining his pod in silence, fingers brushing over the etched runes.
Kieran didn't speak. He'd seen enough strangeness since awakening to know that nothing was ever truly safe. But this this was still better than the real Trials. A construct. Controlled. Predictable.
More or less.
Corvan's voice echoed from the raised platform nearby. "You'll be entering in real-time. The arena forms a mental projection of your abilities based on your current level of resonance. No cheating, no simulation handicaps."
He looked directly at Kieran. "If your Aspect fails, it fails. If it thrives, so do you."
Kieran nodded.
Corvan continued, "Each school submits five candidates for the opening team rounds. Your first match is randomized. Win, and you move up the bracket. Lose…"
He let the pause hang like a blade.
"You don't want to lose."
The instructor turned and left without another word.
"Very motivational," Rei muttered.
"Classic Corvan," Calla said with a grin.
One by one, they climbed into the pods. As Kieran settled into his own, the inside adjusted to his body like memory cool stone warming at contact, silver veins pulsing with rhythm.
He exhaled slowly as the lid closed.
Darkness.
Then light.
---
The Dreamforged Arena bloomed around him like a blooming star.
He stood with his team on a wide obsidian platform floating above an endless sky. Terrain shifted and shimmered in the distance massive trees, crumbling ruins, a ring of jagged cliffs. All part of the arena's forming battlefield.
A voice thundered across the false sky.
"Welcome to the first round of the Inter-Academy Dreamforged Trials!"
"First Match: Umbravale Academy versus Frostgarde Academy."
Calla cracked her knuckles. "Let's get warm."
Rei gave a tight nod, eyes narrowing.
Selene's hands already pulsed with faint gold.
Talon vanished into a low crouch, scanning.
Kieran looked across the distance. Five figures emerged across the forming terrain cloaked in slate blue and steel, their presence like cold stone.
The battlefield stabilized. The sky turned deep violet.
And Kieran felt something stir in the air.
This wasn't a dream.
It was a warning.
"BEGIN."
---