The following morning…
Resonance Academy was different.
Not just because of the exams, but because something invisible had been moving within its halls since the previous night.
Something ancient.
Something that made even the quantum monitoring systems within the academy trigger repeated errors for no understandable reason.
Along the long metallic corridors, spectral screens flickered for brief moments:
STATIC ERROR
UNDEFINED PRESENCE DETECTED
Then the message would vanish immediately, as if the system itself was afraid to hold onto it for too long.
As for Sami… he walked calmly through the main corridor.
But this time, people didn’t forget him.
Students passed by him, looking at him normally.
One student blinked toward him and whispered to her friend:
“Isn’t that the student who was with Dr. Selene yesterday?”
And her friend replied: “I think so.”
Just that.
No distortion.
No erasure.
No cognitive collapse.
Sami lowered his gaze slightly toward the black ring on his finger.
The Ring of Existence.
The ring that had finally forced the world… to acknowledge him.
Inside his mind—
Seraphine laughed lightly.
“Look at them.” She was reclining on the air within his consciousness, like a demonic queen watching an entertaining play.
“Humans are finally remembering you.”
Lira, however, was pacing nervously within his mental void.
“I still don’t like this.”
Sami sighed internally.
“Which part, exactly?”
She pointed agitatedly.
“All of it.” Then she added with clear jealousy, “Especially Selene.”
Seraphine laughed immediately.
Vaeldrak was silent, as usual, but his gaze remained fixed on the ring.
Finally, Elysion spoke: “Be careful.”
Silence fell inside Sami’s mind.
Then Elysion continued in his chillingly calm voice:
“The ring doesn’t just prove your existence… it also proves the trace of the Throne.”
Sami felt a faint shiver, but he had no time to think further, for the doors of the central arena swung open before him.
A massive sound engulfed the place.
The central arena inside the academy looked as if it were designed for cosmic wars, not student drills.
A giant circular ring, blue energy barriers swirling around it, spectral physical symbols moving through the air, and complex gravitational equations writing and erasing themselves on the walls.
Today… was the day professors chose their personal students.
It was one of the most dangerous days at the academy, for a personal mentor doesn’t just teach a student… they bear the responsibility for them before the entire Kingdom.
The stands were packed—students, professors, analysts, researchers.
Even the Director himself was present on the upper platform.
A man bearing a terrifying aura despite his calmness; his eyes resembled those of someone who had seen the end more than once.
When Sami entered… some eyes stopped on him.
“Who is that?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
“I think he’s the student Selene was talking about.”
As for him… he remained silent.
In a corner of the stands, Selene stood, her long black coat moving quietly behind her, her mechanical eye tracking him directly.
For the first time… he did not vanish from her vision.
On the contrary, the ring made his existence so clear that her analytical eye began displaying new data about him:
UNKNOWN EXISTENTIAL FREQUENCY DETECTED
Her eyes widened slightly.
“The ring…” she whispered very quietly.
Then she felt something strange—something she hadn’t felt in many years: Relief.
Because she no longer had to fight against reality to remember him.
Inside Sami’s mind—
Lira was watching Selene with narrowed eyes.
“She’s looking at you again.”
Sami sighed.
“You’re watching her more than she’s watching me.”
Lira gasped as if stabbed.
“Betrayal!”
Seraphine laughed violently.
Even Vaeldrak closed his eyes as if trying to ignore the absurdity.
Suddenly—
The Director appeared within a circle of white light above the ring, and everyone went silent immediately.
He said in a calm voice that reached every corner:
“Begin.”
The tests started.
One student jumped into the ring and unleashed dense blue fire.
Another controlled gravity.
A third covered his body in liquid metal.
A fourth summoned a spectral beast.
The professors watched, evaluated, rejected, and chose.
But Sami… remained standing near the wall.
Quiet.
Only watching.
One student noticed him and laughed with his friends.
“That guy will never be chosen.”
Another said mockingly: “Even his energy can’t be measured.”
A third muttered: “Strange… I feel that looking at him bothers me.”
Inside Sami’s mind—
Seraphine said with a mocking smile: “Do you want me to burn him?”
He answered immediately: “No.”
Lira pointed at the student enthusiastically: “I can erase half his lineage if you want.”
“…No.”
Vaeldrak sighed: “Humans are typical.”
But Elysion whispered: “The problem isn’t them. It’s the thing they feel inside him.”
A full hour passed.
Then two.
Professors began choosing their students.
“This one is mine.”
“She has high compatibility.”
“I’ll take that boy for the War Department.”
One after another… everyone left.
Until Sami was left alone again.
A light silence fell over the arena.
The Director looked at his file.
Then he sighed.
Empty.
Even the ring hadn’t been able to fully repair the old data.
He said coldly: “If you are not chosen… you may leave.”
Some professors began gathering their papers.
But Sami… picked up his bag quietly and turned toward the exit.
But before he could walk away—
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
He stopped immediately.
The entire hall went silent.
Because the person who grabbed him… was Selene Arctis.
She approached him quietly, but an invisible pressure began to spread with every step.
She said, without letting go of his shoulder:
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Sami whispered: “…No one chose me.”
And for one second—
Something appeared within Selene’s eyes.
Anger.
Then—
Her Aura exploded within the arena.
The air collapsed.
Gravity malfunctioned.
Spectral equations above the ring began to disintegrate on their own.
Even light became slower near her.
Some students fell directly to their knees.
Another started crying without understanding why.
The professors immediately raised defensive barriers.
Because Selene… wasn’t releasing energy.
She was releasing Will.
She stared directly at the Director.
Then she said in a voice that shook the arena:
“Sami Kō.”
His heart trembled for a moment.
Because hearing his name from someone who acknowledged his existence… still made him feel strange.
She continued: “I have a test for you.”
She descended slowly into the ring.
With every step—the ground cracked, the barriers trembled, the measuring devices screamed.
Even the Director’s eyes widened slightly, for she was truly serious.
Inside Sami’s mind—
Lira was holding her head nervously.
“Ah! Look at her!” She pointed toward Selene with childish anger.
“She’s acting like she’s the protagonist of a romance novel!”
Seraphine laughed loudly.
Sami felt a slight heat in his ears.
Selene stood in the center of the ring, then raised her head toward him.
“Endure my will for five minutes.”
Heavy silence.
“And I will accept you as my personal student.”
Whispers exploded within the arena.
“Impossible!”
“Selene hasn’t taken a student in years!”
“Who even is this guy?!”
Sami stepped into the ring slowly.
Every step made the black ring heat up more.
And when he stood directly in front of her… he felt something terrifying.
Pressure.
Not physical.
But something pressing on perception itself.
As if her presence was trying to force him to bow.
She said quietly: “Begin.”
And her will exploded fully.
In the first moment—Sami’s knees shook.
His breathing faltered.
He felt as if a mountain had fallen onto his shoulders.
Even the ground beneath him began to crack.
But the worst part… was that Selene’s eyes never left him.
She was watching him with complete precision, as if wanting to see everything he was hiding.
A minute passed.
Then two.
The pressure increased more and more.
A student fainted despite being in the stands.
Some professors began to retreat.
But Sami… remained standing.
With difficulty.
But standing.
Selene stepped closer.
Very close now.
She said in a low voice: “You are hiding something.”
Sami’s shadow shivered for a moment.
And inside his mind—the four suddenly went silent.
Even Lira stopped joking.
Then Vaeldrak said: “…They have felt the Throne.”
Elysion whispered: “It is leaking.”
And suddenly—
Sami’s shadow shook.
And for just one second… something massive appeared behind him.
A giant black throne.
And four shadows standing behind it like primordial disasters.
It wasn’t a full manifestation.
Just… a leak.
A simple leak from the True Form.
But that alone—was enough.
Half the barriers collapsed.
The air itself cracked.
And all measuring devices within the academy stopped.
ERROR: UNKNOWN THRONE DETECTED
The Director stood up suddenly.
Some professors immediately drew their weapons.
One professor whispered in fear: “What is that thing…?”
As for the students… they only felt a primordial sensation.
The feeling that something higher than life itself had looked at them for a moment.
And in the midst of all that—
Selene’s mechanical eye exploded with data.
UNDEFINED ROYAL SIGNATURE
EXISTENCE PRIORITY: ABSOLUTE
Her eyes widened insanely.
But instead of fear… she felt something else.
Curiosity.
Then—
Everything vanished.
As if it had never happened.
The air returned to normal.
The data fell.
A terrifying silence reigned in the arena.
Sami remained standing, gasping, not understanding what had happened.
Then…
She smiled.
And for the first time—it was a real smile.
Soft.
And shockingly warm.
Then she said before everyone:
“He passed.”
Silence.
Then she added with steadiness:
“From today on…”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“Sami Kō is my personal student.”
The central arena inside Resonance Academy no longer resembled a place meant for education.
It was more like a dividing line between two worlds: a world of rules… and a world from before the rules.
The air itself was charged with an unnatural density, as if gravity had become more “attentive” than usual.
The spectral screens on the walls were behaving erratically:
STATIC FLUCTUATION
REALITY ANCHORING… UNSTABLE
Then they vanished.
Sami stood in the center of the arena, gasping silently.
The black ring on his finger was still warm, as if it “remembered” something it did not want to admit.
But the problem wasn’t the ring.
The problem was what everyone had seen for a split second: that thing behind him—the throne, and the four shadows.
Even if they were gone now, the trace remained in the air like a scar on reality.
Inside his mind—
Lira was the first to speak, her voice lower this time: “…This isn’t even normal for you.”
Seraphine didn’t laugh.
She just said slowly: “That wasn’t a power leak… it was a declaration of existence.”
Vaeldrak raised his head slightly: “The next step will determine the direction.”
Elysion’s voice was more dangerous than all of them: “Only one person saw it with complete clarity.”
Silence.
“Selene.”
Sami looked up.
She was there before him.
Selene Arctis.
The second most powerful professor in the academy.
But now… she wasn’t looking at him as a student.
But as a phenomenon.
As something outside the system.
Her mechanical eye was darting rapidly, displaying data that changed every fraction of a second:
UNKNOWN THRONE SIGNAL
EXISTENCE CLASS: IMPOSSIBLE
REALITY RESISTANCE: MAXIMUM
Then, suddenly… all the data stopped.
Selene fell silent for a moment.
The air around her became terrifyingly still.
Then… she began to smile.
At first, it was a simple smile.
But it didn’t remain simple.
It widened slowly.
It wasn’t a smile of joy.
It was the smile of someone who had found something they had been searching for for years, without even knowing they were searching for it.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and the spectral light reflected off them in a way that made her look… unstable.
But she wasn’t unstable.
She was excited.
Dangerously so.
In a way entirely inappropriate for an academic setting.
The students in the stands felt it first.
A student whispered: “…Why is her smile more frightening than the pressure from earlier?”
Another replied: “I feel like she’s about to start a war.”
Even the professors fell silent.
Because they knew Selene well.
This wasn’t an ordinary smile.
Selene slowly raised her head toward Sami.
Then she said in a very quiet voice… uncomfortably quiet:
“Sami Kō.”
His heart stopped for a moment.
Not out of fear.
But because the way she said his name was different.
As if she were no longer calling a student.
But a “possibility.”
She stepped closer.
Then a second.
And with every step… the pressure in the air changed.
But this time, it wasn’t the will to crush.
But something closer to… “reconfiguration.”
Then she stopped directly in front of him.
She slowly raised her hand.
Then she pointed at him with her finger as if she were marking a target in a scientific experiment.
And she said:
“I intend to lead you.”
Silence.
Then her smile widened suddenly.
And here, the thing that made everyone freeze happened.
Selene’s smile transformed.
It was no longer the smile of a professor.
Nor the smile of a scientist.
But the smile of someone standing on the edge of a battle they had been waiting for a long time.
Broad.
Sharp.
Filled with an excessive confidence that was almost dangerous.
Her eyes became narrower, but brighter.
As if something “very excited” inside her had stepped out for a moment.
Then she said the sentence that completely shattered the atmosphere:
“I am going to get you to Rank EX.”
Dead silence.
Even the wind stopped for a moment.
One of the professors in the stands whispered:
“…EX?”
Another replied in a low voice:
“This rank does not officially exist.”
A student shivered:
“Does this mean she wants to break the limits of the academy itself?”
But Selene did not care.
She stepped closer to Sami.
Her voice became lower… but more dangerous:
“And you will become the most powerful being in the entire Empire.”