Today, the sun remained dormant, sending some who awoke back into sleep, weighed down by an unfathomable lethargy, as though night had never ended.
However, even that reaction was rare, since to not know of the Lightless Seven Days was to have never experienced the tradition at all.
It would be like not knowing of the winter solstice, or one's own birthday.
Most of the world knew the seven days as Lightfall.
But there were more names Oren had heard from the surrounding candidates use.
Such as the Dark Week, and the Sunwane.
Despite it being his first Sunwane, Oren awoke earlier than usual. He had eaten breakfast in the academy canteen, meditated, and unlike the previous days, he had prayed.
Not to the religious figures he had heard of, nor those he had been taught, but to himself.
He was not an almighty being who could grant himself fortune and prosperity.
And yet, he prayed to himself.
If it could be called prayer, it was him alone in that pathetic academy room, hoping to succeed in the Trial of Longing.
It was nice to have hope after all, and hopefully this hope would guide Oren to enlightenment, or from what he knew, partial enlightenment.
Since Elder Idris had said that beating the Trial of Longing did not mean full enlightenment, he would most likely have to pass another test of sorts.
Maybe with the survivors of the trial. Those who, if they succeeded, would become enlightened.
He wondered who among them would achieve that future. In a week, Oren had gradually become familiar with the other candidates, though he never made any real effort to grow close to them.
They were little more than acquaintances in his eyes.
Since he usually kept to himself during lectures and in the hours between them, observing rather than participating.
Sable, however, often found himself hovering nearby.
Whether it was out of loneliness or because the other candidates had unconsciously drifted away from the two of them, the distance between them slowly faded.
Sable may have simply come to see Oren as someone familiar like a friend.
What Oren wished he knew, however, was that he remained alone by choice, not because of the circumstances forced upon him by others.
They weren't friends, but after spending so much time in each other's company, speaking to one another had become almost natural.
So, 'I wonder who will succeed and who will fail. Maybe it will be me who fails in the end.'
...
To Oren's surprise, they had not been placed in the original hall where the first assembly had been held, but in another located at the back of the first-year block.
Within the cold embrace of the second academy hall, two hundred candidates sat cross-legged in rows, each arranged strictly by number.
It was as though they worshipped the sacred altar, shrouded in shadow at the front of the hall, cast in dull black.
Swallowed by the darkness of the Lightless week.
The lamps that were rarely lit offered what little light they could, but the gloom felt absolute, leaving most candidates in awe and confusion.
At the front of the vast group of students, Oren squinted slightly, his eyes scattering around the room.
'Why does it reek of iron and ash?'
Shaking his head, Oren dismissed the thoughts.
He should concentrate.
His golden eyes rose to the large window in the centre of the wall above the ancient altar.
It was a mix of mismatched glass, amber beside cobalt, violet against jade, and on the largest shard of stained glass was a half circle.
No sunbeams were there to make the colours burst with life.
Yet that was not why Oren was uneasy.
What unsettled him was an unfathomable presence, a weight in the air no one else seemed to sense, as though he were being watched.
The presence was palpable, sinister even, as if a bad omen clung to the sacred altar.
Looking around the room, Oren thought.
'Oh, so it is not just me...?'
Sable, who was beside him, was trembling, and a few others were too.
As the batch of students mumbled and whispered, Oren remained silent, deep in thought.
'Is it the world energy. No, it is impossible to sense the supposed world currents as a mere mortal.'
Oren had tried so many times to feel the world energy through meditation, and failed. He would not magically sense it now.
Would he...?
Oren froze, turning back when he heard the large, imposing doors slam shut.
Shortly after the doors closed, each candidate's number was called out in steady rhythm.
Elder Cosette and Elder Tie-Ru's voices echoed through the hall.
"Candidate 1… Candidate 2… Candidate 10… Candidate 44… Candidate 71… Candidate 98… Candidate 123… Candidate 156… Candidate 187… Candidate 209… Candidate 225…"
To Oren's surprise, six candidates had been expelled from the school and five did not wake up on time.
Therefore 225 remained instead of the original amount of candidates.
"Oren."
Sable stared at the altar, then nudged Oren lightly.
"The Trial of Longing. It's starting soon."
Oren sighed with a smile, his gaze returning to the front.
"Yes, I know. Are you ready for it?"
To Oren's surprise, Sable answered honestly, without hesitation.
"I don't know, truly... I tried. I had tried so hard to become unattached, but I suppose feeling nothing just isn't who I am.
What I used to want doesn't matter as much as what I want now, so, I don't feel that I'll fail. But if I do… then that is simply how it was meant to be."
Oren nodded as Sable glanced at him and grinned.
"Have you come to terms with everything?"
Oren paused, shifting slightly before speaking with feigned ease.
"Ah. Yes, I suppose I have... there was never much to set aside anyway."
Sable was pleased with the answer, then fell silent as Oren continued.
"I forgot to tell you this, but I guess you were right after all. When we first met, you said something felt off. I suppose your suspicions disappeared once they finally told us the truth... though that doesn't really change anything, does it?"
Sable sighed. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't blame them. I also don't think the elders had much choice in the matter. And if they had told us the truth before the assembly, half of us would never have accepted.
Only a few would have become enlightened. They need candidates to run the academy, after all."
Oren nodded. It was then that a sombre voice rose from the back of the hall, growing louder with each step forward.
Elder Tie-Ru emerged from the shadows, watching the hall with a calm, almost protective smile.
Something about his eyes felt off. Not hostile or spiteful, just slightly inhumane. Jade eyes were like the shadowed hues of forest trees.
His pale skin and ice-white hair blanketed him like snow, reminding him of winter.
A solemn expression rested upon his beautiful face.
"Silence."
His calm voice carried warmth, settling the candidates.
Every head straightened, but Oren caught sight of him.
Elder Tie-Ru, one of the head elders of the academy.
After a few still seconds, he continued.
"The trial will begin shortly. Further instructions will follow. Until then, you are to remain silent. Any who speak will be immediately disqualified."
Elder Tie-Ru shortly added with a smile.
"Do you understand?"
'A trick question,' Oren thought.
"Yes Elder—"
"You may leave. Candidates who cannot follow simple instructions are unfit for this school and will most certainly fail."
From the back of the room, near the entrance doors, Elder Idris did not raise his voice.
Candidate Seventeen froze, stunned. With nothing to defend himself, he lowered his head and walked out.
Murmurs rippled through the room like the great waves of a vast ocean.
The candidates turned around, watching the doors shut behind Candidate Seventeen.
But Oren remained still in that sea of noises.
Suddenly, Elder Tie-Ru's gaze swept across the lines, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.
"I will continue," he said.
"In the Trial of Longing, there are no second attempts. If you fail, you will remain ordinary mortals forever.
You will never be able to ascend further, for failure means death.
You will never obtain what you once read about in fairy tales as youths. You will not be able to reap the benefits of an Enlightened, to return academy as proud men and women."
Coldness spread through the hall instantly.
"This is your warning. Some never return sane. And when they do return, they are changed, in one way or another.
Only you can determine your own success and failure."
Elder Tie-Ru continued with a dim smile.
"Youth, candidates of the academy, you have not yet seen nor felt the world's essence. After this trial, you will be given that ability. Whether you perceive it or not depends on the individual."
Elder Tie-Ru's smile widened, but in it was no longer comfort, but a crazed sincerity twisted with dread.
"Hallucinations, memories, illusions. Once you enter meditation, none of you will be able to distinguish truth from nightmare, and nightmare from reality.
Do not trust your senses. Do not trust the people you see, not even your own reflections. Do not trust your thoughts. In the trial, your thoughts will sing you lullabies.
You must overcome what you envision and uncover falsehood from fact, imagination from reality. Allow yourself to let go."
After his cold words, only silence remained.
Candidates exchanged worried glances as though they regretted ever coming to the academy.
They had been given a week for everything to sink in, and yet most were unprepared.
They did not want to die, and they knew they could live without enlightenment. Yet they remained. They were here by choice, driven by dedication, ambition, entitlement, or obligation to their families.
Even the windows seemed to hold their breath, as though the tempered glass dreaded his next words.
"As we have been informed, each step you take will send you further into a place designed for you, a place you will want to stay.
Do not savour those feelings. Savour the feeling of success, your potential, and the bountiful futures as enlightened."
Elder Tie-Ru glanced at Sable temporarily, then the rest of the candidates, and sighed wistfully.
"Do not get cocky, though, for even our most promising students and rising stars have failed in the past.
Despite that trial being one of combat, not mind, they are equally as fierce.
And about the rank of enlightened, it is more than just a title, whilst you are offered the ability of feeling the world's energy and sensing it, there is more to it, whether your growth remains stagnant or continues is up to you."
His mouth opened, then closed.
Ultimately, he sighed and yielded to the gazes around him, his jade eyes shining with age and wisdom.
"Your success in this trial means you ascend to someone between ordinary and extraordinary.
You will do things mortals cannot, unfathomable to them, familiar to you. But in the end, you remain mortal."
An elder in grey robes crossed from the entrance, whispering into Elder Idris' ear.
In an instant, the unknown elder returned.
Idris' eyes darkened as he whispered to himself.
"Already. So soon? Time has gone so fast."
Then he spoke aloud, making the surrounding students nervous and uncertain.
"You have seven days to succeed. This is your time frame. Be careful out there, I wish to see you all return safely from your minds."
After saying that, all whispers ceased.
Even the candidates knew when to stay silent, and this was one of those times.
Leaving Oren with his thoughts for a while.
'Seven days....'
The thought of a trial lasting seven days made him suspicious. He would be in a vulnerable state for seven days.
In the end, Oren accepted that it was necessary for true benefit and enlightenment.
Judging by the weather yesterday, it was the last days of spring. The locals undoubtedly had another name for it, but to Oren, spring was still spring.
Oren reluctantly shut his eyes, his chest throbbing with an emotion he could not describe.
'But at least... I won't make the same mistakes...'
His thoughts slowly slipped from his mind as he sunk deeper into meditation.
'Has the trial started yet?' he thought.
Who knew.
No one did...
His consciousness slowly faded.
Oren could not help but feel as though he was praying to a divine altar. With that feeling came a suffocating sense of awe and dread.
The emotions pressed against him, vast and unseen, as though something beyond him had already taken notice.
A mist of thoughts filled his mind, or perhaps he was no longer bound to them… the thoughts were shaping his mind as much as he shaped them.
Slowly, he felt disconnected, as though there were a vast distance between his mind and body.
It was like his consciousness sank into the waters of a bottomless ocean, drowning beneath its currents.
Something within his mind had grown weak and weary.
The emotions he had guarded ever since becoming human were unleashed, no longer restrained, slowly spreading through him.
Through the faint connection he still had with his body, he felt cold and damp. He was sweating profusely as an emotion he had not felt in a very long time resurfaced within him.
Fear.
And with that helplessness, his meditation deepened beyond any point he had ever reached.
And so began the Trial of Longing.