The next two tests—Perception and Grace—were a total buzzkill.

  Perception trapped me in a pitch-black tent that felt like sensory deprivation hell. Dense rings of lantern orbs surrounded me, and when one flashed red, I had maybe a heartbeat to touch it. Points for speed. Points for accuracy. Points for not looking like a complete idiot fumbling in the dark.

  After ten seconds of embarrassing myself, the pattern clicked—a sadistic Simon game.

  I Simon.

  "Sixty-four!" the judge announced.

  Respectable. Not spectacular. Just... respectable.

  Lana hadn't stopped scribbling since the Versatility test, muttering "anomaly" under her breath like a broken record. I was pretty sure she'd said it more times than my actual name.

  Elizabeth and Red found us just as my Grace trial started, Katie trailing behind with an expression that said she'd rather be literally anywhere else.

  The elevated obstacle course looked deceptively simple from ground level.

  It wasn't.

  Every surface shifted, twisted, or outright betrayed you the moment you trusted it. I was halfway across when my platform flipped like a middle finger, sending me dangling upside down above the crowd.

  Instinct kicked in before logic could stop me.

  I forced mana into my feet, laughing as I hung there like a grinning bat. The spectators below probably thought I'd lost my mind.

  It took careful minutes to navigate the underside of the course, my brain working overtime to focus on the mana in my feet. When I finally dropped onto the finish line, it felt less like victory and more like surviving a plane crash.

  The judge stared at me like I'd just committed a war crime.

  "I'm not even sure how to score this one," he muttered to Lana, who finally looked up from her notepad.

  "How far did he make it before resorting to Versatility?" she asked, clinical as a surgeon.

  Understanding dawned on the judge's face. "Fifty!"

  A few confused claps scattered through the crowd like pity applause.

  "How the fuck's that work?" Katie demanded, shoving her way over with Elizabeth. I hadn’t seen her this fiery before, like she was cursing out a referee. "He finished the whole damn thing."

  "Not his fault you made the platforms conduct mana, asshole," Elizabeth pointed out, her tone sharp enough to cut glass.

  "The platforms conduct mana so they stay afloat," the judge shot back, defensive. "I'd be happy to reduce the score if—"

  "Fifty is fine!" I interrupted, shooting warning looks at the girls, who seemed ready to start a riot on my behalf.

  Lana's irritation melted into something more thoughtful as she studied me. "The line between Grace and Versatility is thin," she said. "A truly graceful Runebinder would have solved the test's challenges directly. You have speed and accuracy, but the way you apply them is—"

  "Makeshift?" Elizabeth offered.

  "Roughshod?" Katie added, grinning.

  Red sneezed.

  "Hey!" I shot the traitor a scowl.

  "Pragmatic," Lana finished, shaking her head like she couldn't decide if I was brilliant or hopeless. "You really are shaping up to be a Guardian."

  She almost sounded disappointed.

  "Very well. Let's move on to the last test."

  The Spirit testing area felt like stepping into a library after a rock concert. Quiet. Contemplative. Boring as hell.

  Participants sat across from judges at small tables, each featuring a crystal pillar wrapped in brass pipes that looked like something a mad scientist would use to measure souls. The judges monitored gauges, taking notes as the pillars glowed in various colors.

  "Well, these look riveting," I said as we approached.

  Lana nodded absently. "Testing the spirit isn't flashy by nature—it's entirely internal." She took a seat across from me with the air of someone about to perform surgery. "Place your hands on those pads and infuse them with mana. The gadget will do the rest."

  I chuckled at the tiny mouse saying "gadget" and sat down, pressing my palms against two smooth metal pads.

  The moment I made contact, a familiar mana-tug hit me like a gentle current. The crystal pillar flared my signature blue, hungry for more. Light intensified, pulling mana through me in a steady stream that felt oddly satisfying.

  Lana studied her gauges with laser focus, scribbling notes like she was documenting the discovery of fire.

  Then she twisted a knob, and I grunted as the pull on my pathways spiked, the crystal blazing brighter as it demanded more. Lifting my hands would stop the process, but that wasn't the point. This was supposed to measure my spirit—my mana capacity, my raw magical potential.

  Instead of waiting for Lana's cue, I shoved more mana into my hands, forcing the flow even higher.

  Lana scrambled to adjust more dials as steam hissed from the pipes. The crystal pillar blazed brighter than any of the surrounding tests, drawing stares from across the courtyard. I shot her a grin, enjoying the moment—

  Until my concentration slipped and the thread of refined mana broke free.

  An arc of white electricity cracked from my fingertips into the pad.

  The crystal flared instantly, shifting into searing white light that escalated with terrifying speed. The glow became unbearable. Lana had to shield her goggled eyes as sharp cracks formed along the crystal's surface.

  I could sense something building inside it, like pressure before an explosion.

  Without warning, reality snapped, and suddenly I was on my back, staring up at Elena.

  Her arm was raised skyward, fingers forming a complex mudra as wind howled around us like a hurricane. The crystal pillar rocketed upward—before detonating in a dazzling explosion of white sparks that lit up the entire courtyard.

  My ears were ringing. Around me, people were cheering with raised fists like this was some kind of ritual firework display.

  Elena extended a hand, pulling me to my feet. "Next time you use one of these to measure your spirit, maybe resist the urge to shove aspected mana into it." She shot me a knowing look that said she'd seen this exact stupidity before. "Did my mother teach you how to do that?"

  "Yeah, sort of," I admitted. "Sorry."

  "Gaia's Tits, Ben, you just can't help but cause a scene when I'm not around."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A familiar presence hit Valor like a punch to the gut—warm, fierce, and suddenly much stronger than I remembered.

  I spun around to find Cass and Chas standing nearby. Red was hopping excitedly at Cass's feet, but she was grinning at me with pure smugness.

  She looked exactly the same.

  She felt completely different.

  Valor whispered the truth before I could even ask—Cass was way stronger than the last time I'd seen her. Orders of magnitude stronger.

  "Shit, Cass!" I practically yelled, rushing toward her. "You did it! I can sense it from here!"

  "She's gonna be doing chores for my mom for years to pay for all the mana cores it took," Chas said, but his pride was obvious. "But she pulled it off faster than I expected."

  I grinned at Cass. "You got him to visit his parents?"

  Chas scowled. Cass just chuckled. "Sure did! And I couldn't let you pass me by for long."

  "Wait, does that mean you can just go to Sylvarus now?" I asked. "That's awesome!"

  Cass squinted at me like I'd just suggested we vacation in hell.

  "Fuck that," she said. "I want the boat. You’re on my team, right?"

  Before I could respond, Katie, Red, and Elizabeth pushed through the crowd with Erik trailing behind. He stopped in front of Cass, brows furrowed like he was making sure it was really her.

  "You did it," he said, voice quiet and almost disbelieving.

  Cass beamed.

  "Oh, just hug your damn sister," Elizabeth said, shoving Erik forward.

  The siblings embraced—just for a second—but Cass's eyes looked suspiciously glossy when they pulled apart.

  She cleared her throat. "What'd you score with that explosion of yours?"

  I shook my head, glancing at Lana, who was showing her notes to Elena. Both were shaking their heads like they'd just witnessed something impossible.

  "Eighty-Five!" Elena announced.

  The crowd exploded.

  People lost their minds around me, the energy in the courtyard surging like we'd just won the World Cup. Chas met my gaze with the slightest knowing smile.

  Diana had definitely told him about the refined mana.

  Everyone was staring at me like Elena had just crowned me king of the city.

  "Are you sure you didn't just skip to Adept?" Erik asked, incredulous. "There's no way a Seeker could hit that kind of number. And I'm told you can reliably mana burn too."

  "He had some Titan's Root in the Trial Grounds," Chas explained. "Makes it easier to access his mana reserves. Might look like an Adept, but he's gonna have a tough time getting the capacity to actually make it happen consistently."

  Erik nodded, then grinned with competitive fire. "I see. That explains a lot. You almost beat my score on the Power test. Almost. If we didn't have a tournament coming up, I'd drag you to a sparring room right now."

  Before I could retort, Lana stormed over, looking even more frazzled than after my Versatility test. She cleared her throat, composing herself with visible effort.

  "Initia—Seeker Cassandra." The correction was deliberate. "I would be grateful if you'd let me judge your tests. It seems you're becoming an anomaly simply by proximity to Ben."

  Cass crossed her arms. "I'm not an anomaly, Master Lana. I've been training for over a year. Ben just gave me the kick in the ass I needed to do something about it." She shrugged. "But sure, fuck it. How bad could it be?"

  I winced, remembering Lana slamming that silver coin onto the console and nearly frying me.

  After registering, Cass stomped over to the Power test and cracked her knuckles like she was about to demolish a building.

  I blinked—and missed it entirely.

  Her punch maxed out the Seeker test at seventy-five before I even realized she'd moved. When they added an Adept plate, I forced myself to focus. I had to see it this time. She'd always been fast, but now it was like she had Swiftness permanently active.

  It was futile. Her fist pulled back, then cracked against the plate before my eyes could register the motion.

  "Ninety-one!" Lana called out, voice slightly strangled.

  My chest tightened. She hadn't even mana burned like I'd had to. I wasn't even sure she knew how.

  Cass strolled up to Erik and me, clapping us both on the shoulders. "Dainty hands," she said with a smirk, then scratched behind Red's ears.

  The traitor immediately trotted after her.

  The rest of Cass's tests went about the same way—complete domination wrapped in casual arrogance.

  She performed decently on Versatility, scoring seventy-seven. There was still a significant gap between my score and everyone else's, but avoiding death had become my specialty.

  It was Grace and Perception that had Erik and me gaping like idiots.

  Perception made sense—she could simply move faster than I could react. She scored eighty-eight, claiming the top spot just ahead of Malcolm.

  But Grace? That was something else entirely.

  While Versatility had been easy for me, Grace was like watching Cass finally unleash what she'd always been meant to be. The elevated obstacle course became her personal playground.

  She free-ran across it at blinding speed, moving with parkour-style fluidity that made the obstacles look decorative. Barrels became launch points. Walls became brief pauses. She twisted midair as if gravity were just a suggestion.

  The suspended platforms that had betrayed me the moment I'd trusted them? They didn't even move when she ran across them. And based on what I knew of her Swiftness, she was probably slowing down so people could actually see her.

  She finished in moments, landing smoothly in front of Lana, who stared like Cass had just rewritten the laws of physics. Lana flipped through her notebook, stopped, sighed, and tore out a page before throwing it over her shoulder.

  "One hundred and one!" the judge announced.

  The entire courtyard erupted like she'd just broken a world record.

  The cheers were deafening. I might've been notorious after two weeks in La-Roc, but Cass? She was a local hero. Seeing her finally become what she was meant to be after a year of grinding was huge. She was a

  Hunters swarmed her, going to pat her shoulder—only to recoil like they'd just punched solid stone. Cass grinned at them, then at us as she rejoined our group.

  "That was fucked," Elizabeth said, still staring. "How?"

  "You know how they say you learn a lot about yourself when you form a Seal?" Cass said.

  Elizabeth groaned. "Ugh."

  "No, it's true! It was... it was worth it."

  Chas clapped her on the back with obvious pride. "Damn right. Both my apprentices are real prodigies."

  We all shook our heads at him.

  "Hey, you can dispute it all you want, but both were Seekers in a month under my tutelage. Practically unheard of. Not to mention Ben's... unique situation."

  As we made our way toward the Spirit test, I glanced at Erik, who wore a complicated expression.

  "You good?" I asked.

  He snapped out of his thoughts and nodded stoically. "Yes. Just amazed at how fast you two have caught up with some direct help. I find myself... envious."

  "It makes sense, Erik. Cass was basically right there—she just needed a push and some funding to take the leap. But me? I've had people bending over backward to help me these last few days, especially Cass. Without her, I'd still be the stressed-out mess that first stepped onto Ark." I paused. "Shit, I still feel like that sometimes. But now I have the means to actually do something about it. So many people have invested in me I feel obligated not to let them down. That, and I really don't want to get tossed into the multiverse and eaten by some giant monster."

  Erik chuckled. "I understand. But it was only days ago that we were sparring, and the power gap was enormous. Now? I wonder who would win. I find it jarring how confident you've become. Cassandra too. No revelation like that came with my Seal."

  I blinked at him. "You're literally the most confident person I've met here—besides Masters and whatever. I don't think you needed it. You fought Doreen for a dessert and won. So far, everyone else has just gotten their asses kicked."

  He mulled that over before huffing a quiet laugh. "You're a good friend, Ben Crawford."

  I was about to thank him, but he simply walked off to watch Cass at the Spirit test. Such a weird fucking family, but I was happy to know them.

  From behind, I felt Malcolm approaching and turned as he pushed through the crowd. He greeted me with a genuine smile before stepping beside me to watch the crystal pillar in front of Cass flare with green light.

  Red trotted over, sniffing curiously at Malcolm before his tail started wagging. A moment later, he locked onto Malcolm's pack, his entire body vibrating with anticipation.

  "Hey Ben," Malcolm said, crouching down as he reached into his bag. "Red, right? I heard you like snacks."

  He unwrapped a small loaf of bread that was hollowed out and stuffed with cheese. Red snatched it, eyes shining with pure joy.

  "Oh c'mon, not cheese!" I groaned. "He's gonna stink up the whole damn courtyard..."

  Malcolm stood up, eyeing me like he had something important to say but was still figuring out how to phrase it.

  "When you said you'd owe me one last week, did you mean it?" he asked.

  I nodded. "Sure. I just need help disposing of Dorian's body afterward."

  Malcolm froze, staring at me in horror before realizing I was joking. He actually chortled. "I wish, but no. I was hoping you'd consider me for your team in the Tournament. Since the duels don't start until the finals."

  "What about Dorian or Darryl?" I asked.

  He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I won't be competing with him. I'm honestly just pretending until everything starts and he realizes he's fucked. Could mean I'm not competing at all."

  Teams? Malcolm must've noticed my confusion because he let out an exasperated sigh.

  "Graceful Gods, no one told you how the Grand Tournament works?" he asked incredulously. "It's been five days since my mother called it."

  "I've been slightly preoccupied with binding my Seal," I said. "I kind of just assumed it was people kicking each other's asses for a few days until a champion emerged."

  Malcolm snorted. "My mother would love that, I'm sure. But there's more to being Confirmed than just combat skills, as much as she refuses to admit it."

  "Confirmed?" I asked.

  "Once you're in the finals, you're confirmed. Multiple events even the scoring, since Runebinding advancement at our level isn't exactly uniform. Then you fight for the top spots—and the proper rewards." His eyes gleamed. "Like my mother's stupid boat."

  "Oh yeah, Cass is obsessed with that boat," I said, grinning.

  This was interesting. I needed to reach the top five, which meant getting confirmed and winning a few fights. It didn't seem impossible.

  Malcolm laughed. "Teams are three people, and Cass has been pretty vocal about teaming up with you. I figured she'd want Erik, or maybe Felix if he's competing. But I'm not sure how she'd contact him all the way in Sylvarus."

  I hadn't thought about that. Felix was a Seeker too—he could probably compete. I owed him for helping save me and talking me into staying. But I hadn't seen what Malcolm could do, and Cass probably wouldn't appreciate the choice.

  "Ninety-four!" another judge called out.

  Cass stood up, and the crowd erupted like she'd just scored the winning goal in the World Cup.

  I did quick math with all her scores, my jaw dropping as Malcolm seemed to reach the same realization.

  Cass had suddenly become the indisputable strongest Seeker in La-Roc.