"What's her name?" Valdis asked
Silas didn't answer immediately, but instead, he glanced toward the silver-haired girl, who remained seated at a distance, her posture straight despite her visibly exhausted state.
"Luminara, her name's Luminara," he finally said.
Cassian, who had been standing nearby, smirked slightly before adding—
"Also known as the Ice princess."
Valdis's eyes flickered faintly at the title, which suited her completely and described her personality.
Cold and distant
And as though sensing their conversation, Luminara's eyes opened.
Her gaze shifted directly toward them, and the moment her eyes landed on the trio, Cassian flinched.
It was subtle, barely noticeable.
But it was there.
Silas, on the other hand, chuckled lightly and said
"Looks like she heard that."
Valdis, on the other hand, met her gaze calmly.
There was no tension in his expression just acknowledgment.
He gave her a slight nod.
A greeting.
For a brief moment, silence stretched between them.
Then, after a while, Luminara nodded back, returning his greeting.
And just like that, she closed her eyes once more, returning to her recovery as if nothing had happened.
Cassian let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.
"She's still terrifying."
Silas smirked.
"You're just too jumpy."
Cassian shot him a look.
"You didn't experience what I did."
Silas laughed under his breath.
Valdis said nothing, but after a while, he turned to Silas and asked
"Have you sparred with her?"
"Yes, once," he replied
Valdis nodded, but as he was about to ask him another question, Cassian began speaking abruptly.
"You've sparred with her before. Why am I just hearing about it now?" Cassian asked
"Because it's not that important."
'Not that important," Cassian said, looking at Silas in disbelief as he continued, "What made you think that a spar you had with the Ice princess wasn't that important?"
Hearing Cassian's question, Silas shrugged and didn't answer
Seeing that he wasn't getting an answer, Cassian asked: "What was the result of the spar?"
Hearing the question, Valdis turned towards Silas, as he too was interested in knowing the results of the spar
Seeing their anticipative gazes, Silas sighed and said, "I won."
Hearing the response, Valdis nodded as he had expected such a result. Since he arrived here, Silas was the only one whose presence caught his attention. It felt as though there was a beast locked inside him, waiting for the right moment to strike.
But Cassian didn't take the news as easily.
"You're a monster"
Valdis turned to Luminara again, his gaze lingering on her for a brief moment before shifting away.
Time passed.
The platform remained quiet, the nine of them recovering in silence.
Sudden flashes of light appeared leaving behind figures of the other trainees who had been eliminated at different points of the trial.
They returned in groups, their bodies showing no signs of exhaustion or injury, as most had already been treated.
Their expressions, however told a different story.
They all looked downcast, frustrated, and disappointed.
Some clenched their fists while others avoided eye contact entirely. The weight of failure hung heavily over them.
Valdis observed them briefly, his eyes scanning the group.
But before he could fully take in their condition
Another silvery light erupted but this time it engulfed everyone
Valdis's eyes widened slightly as the space around them distorted.
When the light faded they were back to where they started outside the forest with no instructor in sight.
And it was at that moment that Valdis realized that he had underestimated Instructor Alaric's comprehension of spatial laws.
Because the sheer depth of control and precision required to do what he just did, plus the energy that must have propelled it must be massive.
'When will I be able to learn how to control spatial laws like this' Valdis thought
Before he could dwell on it
A presence descended.
Another instructor.
He appeared in the air, standing calmly as his gaze swept across the group, and without wasting time, he spoke.
"I am your weapons instructor."
His voice was firm, direct.
"Since you have not yet reached the Meridian Opening Realm, you are not qualified to participate in Aether Control classes."
A few trainees showed disappointment.
But the instructor continued.
"However since I am here…"
His eyes gleamed slightly.
"I will give you a little demonstration of what those classes will teach you"
And before anyone could react a massive wave of aether erupted from his body.
It wasn't violent but it was overwhelming.
The Arther felt dense, pure, and refined beyond comprehension
The aether spread outward engulfing everyone.
And immediately Valdis felt it, his body became lighter then weightless.
Then he and the other trainees rose slowly into the air
The ground beneath them drifted further away as they were lifted into the air, rising until they reached a similar height to the instructor.
Gasps echoed around him.
Shock.
Awe.
Disbelief.
Valdis remained silent, but his eyes sharpened as this was immense power under precise control without relying on the laws
Then the instructor said
Let's head to the training grounds."
And before anyone could respond the aether around them shifted.
As he pulled them along, he flew into the distance
The flight didn't take long as he quickly arrived above the Ebonhart training rounds.
The instructor hovered above before gently dropping them on the ground after they reached the floor he descended as well.
After his feet touched the floor he looked at everyone gathered and said
"Go pick a weapon from the weapon racks around you. I know most of you have chosen the weapons but for these classes, we will be using the wooden practice weapons"
After he finished speaking the trainees moved around each searching for the weapon type they used and about five minutes later they were back.
"So I do not know your ability to use a weapon off the top of my head but I can learn if I see you people spar against one another."
Hearing this some trainees quietly prayed that they weren't paired against any of the monsters in the class especially Silas.
Seeing the awkward reactions the instructor added "Don't worry I need to see the true extent of your ability to wield your chosen weapon so I won't pair you up against someone too powerful as they won't help me assess both your abilities properly"
Hearing this most of the trainees heaved a sigh of relief.
Unknown to them while they were speaking among themselves the instructor's eyes changed.
His previous dark eyes became light blue with a dim red rune at the center.
His eyes in their current form scanned the trainees one by one. As Silas, he nodded seemingly impressed with what he saw but the moment his eyes landed on Valdis his gaze paused as what he saw defied everything he knew.
'It seems he's the duke's son everyone's been talking about. It seems he's even more talented than his brother, interesting' the instructor thought.
What the instructor didn't know was that as his gaze landed on Valdis the sword in his mental space vibrated thinking if it should block his gaze or not but at the end it fell silent allowing the instructor's power to scan Valdis.
"Now I'll share papers, and anyone who matches your number will be the person you'll spar against."
The moment he finished speaking he stretched out his hands and papers appeared and flew into the sky.
After a while they stopped ascending and began descending as though guided by some hand towards each of the trainees stopping in front of them.
"The numbers in front of you represent the order on which the matches will proceed in an ascending order"
The moment he finished speaking the training ground grew silent and almost immediately two hands went up in succession pulling the attention of everyone in the training ground.
The individuals who had their hands up were Silas and Valdis. The both looked at each other shocked as it seems they both had the same problem but before they could turn and voice their concerns the instructors voice rang out.
"I know both of you didn't get papers but that was because I couldn't pair you two with any one or even yourselves as the power gap is massive and as I said I need to gauge your ability to use a weapon"
After saying this the grounds fell silent again but this time all the trainees were shocked including the ice princess, Luminaria.