Birds chirped beneath the clear sky while a warm wind stirred Lyn's hair. Several people waiting in line whispered among themselves, their eyes briefly settling upon his worn village clothes before darting away.
Lyn paid them no attention. He was accustomed to standing alone.
People entered and left the dark granite building ahead. Their expressions revealed the outcome more clearly than words could have. Some emerged solemnly, their shoulders bowed beneath a newly discovered weight. Others appeared carved from anger, while a few looked hollowed out by sadness.
None of them seemed pleased.
"Ryn?"
The dry voice of an elder cut through the surrounding murmur.
His hair was the colour of ash, and a long white beard descended over the same white-and-gold uniform worn by the soldiers stationed at the fortress above. Authority seemed woven into the fabric itself.
Lyn's attention snapped toward him.
It was finally his turn.
I waited at least thirty minutes. Hopefully this will be quick.
The elder opened the heavy door farther and gestured for him to enter with a brief movement of his hand.
Lyn obeyed without speaking.
The interior of the building resembled a labyrinth constructed for a precise purpose. They followed plain stone corridors, turned sharply at several intersections, and passed closed doors marked with symbols Lyn did not recognise.
Their footsteps were the only sound. The air remained cool and still, carrying the scent of damp rock and something faintly metallic, like charged ozone.
After several minutes, the elder stopped before a blank wall and extended his left hand. A Shard Gate shimmered open above his palm, allowing him to withdraw an unremarkable fragment of glass that could not be identified by sight alone.
He channelled a thin thread of Essence into it.
The wall dissolved.
No door opened. Instead, the stone itself became insubstantial and swirled away like mist, revealing a steep, brightly illuminated staircase leading deep underground.
The elder gestured again, and Lyn followed him down.
They descended for nearly five minutes before reaching another door. The elder removed a key from his robes, unlocked it, and led Lyn into a large chamber engraved with more than ten formations.
Faint light of various colours flowed through the granite walls and ceiling before converging upon three square, altar-like structures positioned in the centre of the room. The sight was mesmerizing.
Most buildings contained formations that supplied ordinary utilities, but depending upon their design, they could also provide defence, concealment, and countless other functions.
This single chamber contained at least ten.
Formation lines could be concealed inside walls, although doing so made a structure more expensive to construct. When left visible, they usually appeared as extremely thin streams of glowing light.
Here, every line had been exposed, revealing both the importance of the chamber and the immense power circulating through it.
The elder finally spoke, his dry voice carrying the fatigue of someone who had repeated the same instructions countless times.
"Child, approach the altar on the left and place your hand upon it. Wait until the formations reach your hand. Once all ten colours appear upon your skin and you hear a bell, remove your hand."
He gestured toward the remaining altars.
"Then repeat the process with the central altar and, finally, the one on the right."
Lyn nodded.
Three altars?
The elder remained behind him with his hands clasped at his back. A Shard Gate shimmered open above his head, producing another featureless fragment of glass.
His face remained impassive, but his eyes acquired a distant focus, as though he were recording his observations upon an unseen ledger.
Lyn placed his hand upon the left altar.
Thin threads of coloured light emerged from the formations engraved into the floor. They crawled up the stone and spread across his skin, carrying a deep vibration that travelled through his bones.
The tenth colour, a profound shade of violet, settled across his knuckles like a tattoo.
A single, clear chime resonated through the chamber, seeming to emerge from the altar itself.
Lyn removed his hand.
The elder gave a slight nod of approval.
Lyn moved to the central altar and repeated the process. This time, the colours flowed more quickly, while the vibration became sharper and more intrusive.
The bell chimed again, perhaps half a note higher than before.
As Lyn withdrew his hand, he noticed the elder's eyebrows lifting by the smallest amount. The momentary shock broke through his professional detachment before being suppressed.
The elder said nothing.
Lyn approached the final altar and placed his hand upon it. The process occurred swiftly, with all ten colours flashing across his skin in an almost impatient sequence.
The final chime was softer, resembling a sigh of completion.
Lyn stepped back and waited.
"Remain here for a few minutes," the elder instructed.
He opened another Shard Gate and summoned a different shard into his palm. After he activated it, a simple wooden door materialized within the smooth granite wall behind him with a soft rush of displaced air.
The elder stepped through.
A moment later, both the door and the opening disappeared, leaving Lyn alone inside the humming chamber.
Judging from his expression, one of those altars must have examined my Truth Carvings. Did it detect the star?
A cold spike of alarm pierced through Lyn's practiced calm.
He did not know what the star truly was. It might be a blessing, a curse, or something neither he nor the sect would recognise.
What if they consider it an abomination? A corruption that must be destroyed immediately?
Lyn glanced at the formations surrounding him.
He was deep underground, sealed inside a chamber designed specifically to analyse Dao Chosen. Escape was impossible.
A heavy acceptance gradually settled over him, cold and quiet.
Sometimes there is no choice. Sometimes the only move left is to stand still. I should become accustomed to this.
He drew a slow breath and allowed the panic to recede, leaving only sharp and watchful readiness.
There was nothing he could do except wait and discover what the formations had truly measured.
Several uncomfortable minutes passed beneath the constant hum before the wooden door reappeared.
The elder stepped through and gestured for Lyn to follow him back upstairs.
They had already begun climbing the long staircase when the elder spoke. His voice now carried considerably more respect, along with a trace of disbelief he had failed to conceal.
"Sea Depth: B. Truth Carvings: six hundred and forty. And somehow... your Purity is ranked SS."
He shook his head.
"This is simply ridiculous."
"How so?" Lyn asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral.
The elder glanced back at him.
"Kid, do you even understand what I just said?"
"I'll be honest, Elder. I'm a commoner. I don't know much."
The elder sighed, the sound echoing through the stone stairwell as he continued climbing.
"Sea Depth represents your spiritual fuel reserve and is determined at birth. It is graded from F to SS. You were born with B-rank Depth, which gives you a fairly large reservoir and a meaningful advantage during battle."
He raised one finger as he explained.
"When you advance, your Sea grows according to a percentage of that original foundation. Because your innate base is larger than average, your future capacity will remain larger than that of most people."
The elder lowered his hand.
"Sea Purity measures the quality of your Sea and is improved through cultivation. It is graded from F, where the Sea is turbulent and wasteful, to SS, where it becomes crystalline and perfectly controlled."
He looked at Lyn again.
"You possess SS Purity. The highest possible grade. Every drop of Essence you use is flawless, with no waste and no backlash."
Lyn listened without interrupting.
"Truth Carvings represent your understanding of your Path. You currently possess six hundred and forty, but the strength of those Carvings is restricted by Purity."
The elder's expression tightened with bewilderment.
"For most people, poor Purity strangles the strength their Truth Carvings can produce. For you..."
He paused as another thought passed through his mind.
If he also possessed SS Essence regeneration, that would be absurd. That is tested separately at a later time, but if he truly had it, he would undoubtedly become memorable.
"With SS Purity, your six hundred and forty Carvings would perform with the effectiveness of ten times that number," the elder continued. "Six hundred and forty Carvings combined with SS Purity provides a sixty-four-times multiplier to any of your mortal fragments."
He released another sigh.
"Most students possess B or D Purity at best. If they held the same six hundred and forty Carvings, they would only produce a fraction of your strength, perhaps a twenty-times or forty-times increase."
The weight of the comparison remained in his voice.
"You possess this foundation at Rank Three. It is unheard of."
The elder stopped halfway up the staircase and looked back.
"Depth is endurance. Purity is control. A genius with SS Depth and F Purity is a walking disaster. A cultivator with C Depth and SS Purity is a master of economy who extracts the greatest possible result from every spark of Essence."
His eyes moved over Lyn as though recalculating everything he had previously assumed.
"You possess the reservoir of a future powerhouse and the control of a consummate master. At Rank Three."
He resumed climbing, his voice becoming quieter.
"To understand your Carvings in proper context, advancing from Rank Three, Stage One to Stage Two requires eight hundred. Stage Three requires twelve hundred. Reaching Rank Four requires seventeen hundred."
The elder's footsteps continued echoing ahead of Lyn.
"You are not far from your first major blockade. With a foundation like yours, you will face it from a position of obscene stability."
Lyn absorbed the information in silence.
The numbers meant less to him than the elder's reaction.
He was not being condemned.
He was being recalculated.
The star had apparently remained hidden, yet his foundation alone had been enough to shock them.
Neither spoke for the remainder of the climb, although the elder occasionally sighed beneath the weight of his lingering disbelief.
Once they reached the surface, he opened another Shard Gate. A plain granite door materialized in the air, and the elder stepped through with Lyn close behind him.
The opening disappeared after they entered a series of quiet administrative corridors.
They eventually stopped at one of many identical desks. The elder opened a drawer and handed Lyn a slate together with a neatly folded uniform.
The robe was white, with a single narrow stripe of gold and orange thread sewn around its collar.
"Your assigned class is Lightflame," the elder said, his voice once again flattened beneath routine. The brief respect he had displayed on the staircase had already been buried.
"I will update the Storage Shard you received with directions to the appropriate building. That is all. Move along."
Lyn accepted the objects, his fingers brushing the cool surface of the updated ledger stone and the coarse fabric of the robe.
He offered a shallow bow of acknowledgment before leaving.
The training yard felt different when he stepped back into its noise and movement.
Before entering the testing chamber, Lyn had been an anonymous figure among hundreds.
Now, he possessed a classification. Lightflame.
He possessed a measurable number: six hundred and forty Truth Carvings.
More troublingly, he possessed SS Purity, a grade that seemingly made no sense even to the elder who had measured it.
Lyn found a quieter corner beside a wall warmed by sunlight and activated the Storage Shard delivered to him earlier.
A map unfolded within his mind, highlighting a route toward a building positioned along the western edge of the training grounds.
He glanced down at the slate. Softly glowing characters appeared across its surface.
RYN | CLASS: LIGHTFLAME
MERIT POINTS: 98
SEA: B DEPTH | SS PURITY
TRUTH: 640 (LIGHT PATH)
NEXT MANDATORY TRIAL: 29 DAYS
FIRST LECTURE: DAWN, HALL 7
Lyn examined the information.
A Storage Shard? It seems closer to an Information Shard. I wonder what its actual name is.
The shard had detected his Light Information Shard, drawn it into an internal subspace, and updated the information it contained.
Khor would have believed this impossible. It seems our combined knowledge amounts to almost nothing. Still, a commoner is a commoner.
Lyn sighed at the limitations of his own understanding.
He directed his intent toward the map, changing it to display the route to his assigned quarters.
As he began walking, the numbers from the test returned to his thoughts.
Sea Depth: B. Purity: SS. The elder said I have six hundred and forty Truth Carvings, but only a few hours ago I had six hundred and thirty.
The difference was small but undeniable.
This may be another anomaly caused by the star. First, it allows me to activate Heavenly Shards from inside my Vessel Realm. Second, it appears to grant me SS Purity. And now, from the look of things, it may allow me to consume foreign truth.
Lyn considered the possibilities as he followed the map.
There is no other explanation.
He scratched his head while continuing through the training grounds.
Soon, the crowded central district gave way to rows of buildings made from dark wood. The area was quiet, forming a complete contrast to the restless heart of Morninglight.
After several more minutes, Lyn reached the location marked upon the map.
He directed his intent toward the Storage Shard.
A key appeared within its internal space before materializing directly in his hand.
This must be another item that disciple gave me.
A second thought followed immediately.
Wait. Can they simply send objects directly into my Storage Shard?
Lyn released a long, tired breath.
The possibility was dangerous, but there was no value in dwelling upon something he could not currently change.
What can I do about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
At least his own method of using shards provided him with one hidden advantage. Most people needed to summon a shard into the physical world before activating it, whereas Lyn could control his directly from within his Vessel Realm.
At least I still possess that advantage.
A faint trace of satisfaction passed through him. Before the Rogue Star appeared, he had never been capable of doing so.
Lyn inserted the key and opened the door.
The quarters were plain, containing two main rooms in addition to the spaces used for bathing and other utilities. Dust lingered in the air, suggesting the rooms had remained empty for some time.
The first room served as a living area. A single table stood in the centre beside one chair, and another uniform had been placed upon its seat.
Lyn ignored it for the moment.
What else do I really need?
The second room contained a simple bed, while the remaining spaces provided a toilet and shower.
Compared with his previous life in Hazelrun, the arrangement could easily be considered luxurious.
Does every student receive all of this?
He looked around the quiet room.
The sect itself probably finances it, but why? How important is this place? As far as I know, the Restless Mountains do not contain any resource points.
Classes were not mandatory, and the day had already grown late.
Lyn decided to rest.
Within a single day, he had registered with Morninglight, endured an incomprehensible assessment, purified and refined a Storage Shard that also functioned as an Information Shard, received a uniform, been evaluated, and obtained private quarters.
Tomorrow was when everything truly began.