He glanced at the examiner.
"Is it still forming?"
The examiner was studying the altar’s assessment with a frown.
"Keep your hand there for a moment."
Owen obeyed while the examiner checked the result again. The man looked toward the empty space in front of the altar, then returned his attention to the assessment.
"Your Armament Core has awakened successfully," he said.
"Then where’s my weapon?"
"That’s what I’m trying to determine. Can you sense your armament?"
Owen concentrated on the unfamiliar connection within his awakened core. He could feel something responding to him, but no matter how he tried to draw it out, nothing appeared in front of him.
"I can feel something," he said. "But I can’t summon it."
"Try again. Don’t concentrate on a particular weapon. Just focus on the connection."
Owen followed the instruction, but the space before the altar remained empty.
The examiner examined the result once more.
A few conversations had begun among the spectators.
"Did his awakening fail?"
"No, the examiner said his core awakened."
"Then why hasn’t anything appeared?"
"That’s the youngest Ferrers son, isn’t it?"
Owen heard a chair move behind him and glanced toward his family’s seats. Gareth had risen halfway to his feet, while Eleanor watched Owen with her hands clasped together. Edmund was already approaching the altar.
"Can you explain the result?" his father asked.
The examiner turned toward him. "His Armament Core has awakened, Lord Ferrers. That much is certain. However, the assessment hasn’t identified a weapon class, and he hasn’t been able to produce a manifestation."
"Have you encountered a result like this before?"
"No. I wouldn’t want to give you an explanation without knowing what we’re dealing with."
Gareth joined them and turned toward Owen.
"What did you feel when you tried to summon your sword?"
"My core responded, but nothing appeared."
"Did anything change when you tried again?"
"No."
Gareth looked toward the empty space beside the altar before turning back to the examiner.
"Could it be an armament that needs something else before it can manifest?"
"It’s possible," the examiner said. "But I can’t confirm that from the assessment."
Owen looked at the altar. He had spent twelve years preparing to wield an awakened sword, and now even the person conducting the ceremony could not tell him what he had received.
The instructor approached Edmund and indicated the other candidates waiting beside the aisle.
"We still have several awakenings to complete, Lord Ferrers."
Edmund nodded before turning back to the examiner.
"Record my son’s result as unidentified. I’ll arrange for a further examination."
"Of course, Lord Ferrers."
Owen withdrew his hand from the altar and followed his family away from the platform.
Behind him, the instructor called the next candidate’s name.
As he followed his father away, the instructor called the next candidate’s name.
A conversation started behind them almost immediately.
"Did they work out what it was?"
"No. I heard the examiner say he didn’t know."
Owen kept walking.
Gareth fell into step beside him. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine."
"I meant physically."
"I said I’m fine."
Gareth looked at him for a moment, then nodded and left the matter alone.
Eleanor was waiting near their seats. She reached for Owen’s arm but stopped when he glanced toward the spectators behind her.
"Let’s go home," she said.
Owen was glad she did not ask him to explain the awakening again.
The journey back to the Ferrers residence was quieter than the journey to the ceremony.
Edmund waited until they had left the hall before asking Owen about the sensation he had experienced when his core awakened. Owen explained that the energy had settled in his chest and that he could still feel an unfamiliar connection, although he had not been able to manifest anything through it.
"And nothing else?" Edmund asked.
"Nothing I could identify."
"Did the connection weaken when you tried to summon your sword?"
"No, Father. I could still feel it. The weapon just didn’t appear."
Gareth shifted in his seat. "Then there must be something connected to your core, even if we can’t see it yet."
Owen looked at him. "That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you."
Gareth raised his hands slightly. "All right."
Eleanor, who had been listening without interrupting, turned toward Edmund.
"Can someone examine it without putting him through the ceremony again?"
"I’ll make inquiries," Edmund said. "I want to know what we can actually test before we arrange anything."
Owen looked out of the window.
They had been discussing his awakened sword that morning as though it were something he would bring home with him. Gareth had already planned their first training session, and Owen had spent weeks looking forward to discovering how cultivation would change the movements he had practiced since childhood.
He could still use an ordinary sword. He could still train with Gareth. But the other candidates would be learning to wield their bonded weapons, while he had no idea whether the object he had awakened could be used in combat at all.
"We can continue your training tomorrow," Gareth said.
Owen turned back. "With a practice sword?"
"Until we know more, yes."
"We were supposed to be training with my awakened sword."
"I know that."
"Then you understand why doing exactly what we’ve been doing for years isn’t much of an answer."
Gareth’s expression tightened. "I wasn’t suggesting that it was."
Owen looked away.
After a moment, he said, "I know you weren’t."
Gareth rested his arms on his knees. "I’m not going to pretend I know what that rack is. I don’t. But you haven’t forgotten everything I’ve taught you, and neither have I."
Owen nodded, though he had little to say in response.
When they arrived home, Edmund stopped him before he could return to his room.
"No decisions about your academy training will be made until we understand the armament better," he said. "I’ll arrange another examination. In the meantime, you can continue cultivating and training as far as your abilities allow."
"Thank you, Father."
Eleanor stepped closer. "Would you like someone to stay with you?"
"I’d like to try examining it myself first."
"Of course."
Gareth gestured toward the corridor leading to Owen’s room. "Call me if you find anything. Even if it’s something ridiculous."
"You’ll be the first to know."
"I’d better be."
Owen managed a small smile before leaving them.
His room looked exactly as he had left it that morning. His practice sword rested beside the training clothes he had put away before dressing for the ceremony.
He removed his formal coat and laid it across a chair, then picked up the sword.
The familiar weight settled into his hand. He shifted his stance and performed a slow practice cut, stopping well clear of the furniture before bringing the blade back to his side.
His movements were the same as they had been the previous day.
Owen lowered the sword and tried to summon his awakened weapon.
He could still feel the connection within his Armament Core, but concentrating on it produced nothing he could hold or even see.
He tried again, this time focusing on the familiar sensation of gripping a sword. He had practiced the movement thousands of times, but his awakened armament remained beyond his reach.
After several minutes, he gave up and returned the practice sword to its stand.
There was no point spending the entire afternoon repeating the same failed attempt. His father would arrange another examination, and Gareth would help him continue training. Until they learned more, that was the only practical course available to him.
Owen sat on the edge of his bed.
The unfamiliar energy within his chest had not disappeared. His Armament Core was active, and something was connected to it, even if he could not make that connection produce a weapon.
He was about to get up when a strange sensation passed through his chest.
Owen stopped.
It was different from the energy he had experienced at the ceremony. Something within his awakened core seemed to respond, and a faint sound rang inside his head.
Ding!
A line of text appeared before his eyes.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]