CHAPTER 58 – STANDING AT THE THRESHOLD
Silence was no longer foreign to Seryn.
He remained motionless in his room. He neither entered meditation nor reached for the grey crystal. It lay on the desk; its presence could be felt, yet it made no call. As if it, too, was waiting.
The grey flow was silent.
At first, this silence did not feel like relief. It felt more like that brief moment when both sides loosen their fingers from the trigger and weigh one another. Seryn knew this from the battlefield—the strange stillness before the first move is made.
It isn't afraid, he thought. But it hasn't withdrawn either.
He stood up and took a few steps around the room. With the rhythm of his steps, the emptiness inside him shifted as well. The crack was still there; it hadn't vanished. But it no longer asserted itself.
"So that's how it is," he murmured. "If there's no pressure… then there's guidance."
This aligned with what Aleric had said. The call did not come through force. It was waiting to be accepted.
He turned toward the door. He didn't want to step back into the Academy corridors, but staying closed inside wasn't a solution either. The Fourth Knot had been postponed, not canceled. He had gained time—not security.
When he stepped into the corridor, a few students looked at him from afar. Their gazes quickly shifted away. No one approached. No one asked questions. There were rumors, yes—but confronting rumors was another matter entirely.
Good, he thought. Let it stay that way.
He went down the stairs. He didn't enter the main courtyard. Instead, he followed the side path used by instructors. It was quieter here. The mana lines in the walls were weaker; the grey flow reacted less.
That, too, was a sign.
He stopped. He didn't close his eyes. He simply regulated his breathing.
You're calling me, he thought. But you still haven't opened the door.
A faint vibration stirred inside him. Neither approval nor rejection—just acknowledgment.
"Understood," he said quietly. "I'm not rushing either."
After those words, the tension around the crack loosened a little more. For the first time, Seryn clearly felt that this power was not only a threat, but also a threshold.
Thresholds did not have to be crossed.
Sometimes, one simply stood before them.
After a while, he started walking again. This time his direction was clear: the training grounds. There was no exam, but the area wasn't empty. Some students were training on their own. Aura bursts, irregular mana flows—everything was ordinary.
Seryn stood at the edge and watched.
The grey flow did not react.
That mattered.
Normally, irregular energy disturbed him. Now, he was simply observing. Separating. This was an effect left behind by the crystal—but it didn't quite count as becoming stronger.
Clearer, he thought. But heavier.
An instructor glanced at him from a distance. Their eyes met. The instructor said nothing and continued on.
Seryn watched the surroundings for a while. Watching people brought him a small sense of calm.
After some time, he left the area. He wasn't going to push himself today. He hadn't placed Aleric's warning—"don't be alone"—and his advice—"rest"—in the same category. He had already faced solitude.
But he wouldn't push the night.
When he returned to his room, he didn't take the grey crystal into his hand. He didn't open the parchment. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed.
Seryn leaned his back against the wall. His eyes were open, fixed on the ceiling. The Academy's stones were silent—but the world was not. Far away, unseen yet present, things were in motion. What they were, and how they would affect Seryn's life, only time would tell.
He laid his head on the pillow. Without even bothering to chan
ge his clothes, he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.