The **Celestine Academy** had never seen a day like this.
By dawn, the cracked **Spirit Resonance Obelisk** had been carted away under heavy guard. Whispers raced through **Aurehaven**'s marble streets: *A Null Vein awakened dual supreme paths. A peasant from Emberfall shattered the Soul Lock Formation with scrap herbs.*
Elias Varnholt, still wearing his patched cloak, was escorted—not to the outer disciple barracks, but straight to the **Jade Spire**, the academy's forbidden core.
Two silver-armored **Starward Sentinels** flanked him. Their halberds hummed with astral runes.
"Keep moving, Anomaly," one grunted. "Archmage Orion awaits."
Inside the spire, floating crystals cast constellations across the walls. At the center stood **Archmage Orion**, white-bearded and cloaked in living starlight. His eyes were twin galaxies.
"Elias Varnholt," the Archmage intoned. "The **Primordial Ember** burns in your soul. But power without discipline is a wildfire. You will undergo the **Starfire Trial** tonight—or be expelled forever."
Elias met his gaze. "What's the trial?"
Orion snapped his fingers. A rift tore open, revealing a pocket realm of endless night dotted with nine blazing **Luminarie Orbs**.
"Cross the **Astral Crucible**. Survive the nine orbits. Claim the **First Luminary**." Orion's voice softened. "Fail, and the ember consumes you."
Before Elias could reply, the rift swallowed him.
---
He landed on a meteor the size of a city square, hurtling through a nebula of violet fire. Gravity shifted with every heartbeat.
*First Orbit: The Ember's Breath.*
A colossal **Pyre Wyrm**—the same breed that razed Emberfall—coiled around the meteor. Its scales were molten star-iron.
Elias drew his battered iron sword. *Useless against that thing.*
The ember in his chest pulsed. A memory surfaced—not his own.
*Emperor Aurelius, bloodied, carving runes into his own bones: "Fall seven times, rise eight. Let the stars bear witness."*
Elias's sword ignited. Not with spirit energy, but **starfire**—crimson-gold, alive.
He leapt. The Pyre Wyrm's jaws snapped where he'd been. Elias landed on its snout, sword plunging into an eye. The beast roared, shaking the void.
*Alchemy isn't just pills. It's transmutation—of self, of fate.*
He pressed his palm to the wound. The ember flared. Wyrm blood crystallized into **Starblood Crystals**, which he crushed into his blade. The iron sword *screamed*, reshaping into a jagged **Starfang Edge**.
One slash. The Pyre Wyrm's head tumbled into the nebula, dissolving into the **First Luminary Orb**—a fist-sized star that orbited Elias like a loyal hound.
---
*Second Orbit: The Gravity Maze.*
Nine floating islands, each pulling in a different direction. Between them, **Void Chains** that shredded anything they touched.
Elias sprinted. Starfang Edge carved glowing steps in the air. He vaulted, twisted, *danced* through the chains. Each near-miss left frost on his skin.
On the final island stood **Cassian Holt**, smirking. A **Stellar Projection**—not the real Cassian, but a trial construct infused with his malice.
"Peasant," the projection sneered. "You stole my spotlight. Kneel, and I'll let you live as my dog."
Elias laughed. "I don't do leashes."
Cassian's projection summoned a **Meteor Lance**. Elias met it with Starfang. Sparks birthed miniature stars.
Mid-clash, Elias bit his tongue. Blood hit the blade. *Alchemy: Blood-Forged Rune.*
The sword absorbed his blood, then *Cassian's* projected essence. Runes crawled across the metal: **Holt's Greed → Varnholt's Will**.
Cassian's projection shattered. The **Second Luminary** merged with Elias's heart. His aura surged—**Foundation Stage, Level 6**.
---
*Third Orbit: The Pill Tribulation.*
A cauldron the size of a mountain floated in the void. Nine **Calamity Flames** guarded it: Thunderflame, Frostflame, Soulflame…
Elias's task: Refine a **Nine-Orbit Star Pill** using only the flames and his own ember.
He tossed in the **Starblood Crystals**, a lock of his hair, and a drop of Pyre Wyrm marrow. No measurements. No fear.
The flames resisted. *They had wills.*
Elias roared, slamming his palm on the cauldron. The **Primordial Ember** erupted, *devouring* the Calamity Flames. They became fuel.
Thirty breaths later, a pill the color of dawn floated out. Nine rings spun around it—**Perfected Nine-Orbit Star Pill**.
He swallowed it.
Pain. Ecstasy. His bones cracked, reforged with starlight. Veins became constellations.
**Foundation Stage, Level 9 → Half-Step Core Formation!**
---
The remaining six orbits blurred into a montage of blood and fire:
- **Fourth**: He outran a collapsing star, forging boots from its core.
- **Fifth**: Faced illusions of his burning village—chose vengeance *and* mercy, earning the **Orb of Resolve**.
- **Sixth to Ninth**: Merged into a single duel against a mirror of himself—**Elias, the Unbroken**. Victory came when he *sheathed* Starfang and embraced his reflection. The ember became a **starheart**.
---
The rift spat him back into the Jade Spire. Elias knelt, gasping, nine **Luminarie Orbs** orbiting him like a crown. Starfang Edge rested on his back, now a crystalline greatsword veined with galaxies.
Archmage Orion's eyes widened. "You… claimed the **First Cycle** in *one night*?"
Elias stood, voice steady. "I have a pill that breaks life and death. A sword that pierces the stars. What's next?"
Orion smiled for the first time. "Next? The **Inter-Academy Stellar War** in three months. Every genius from the **Seven Realms** will come for your head."
From the shadows, **Liora Valcrest** stepped forward, her silver hair glowing. "I'll be watching, Elias Varnholt. Don't die before I crush you myself."
Elias grinned. "Looking forward to it."
High above, unnoticed, a black-robed figure vanished into a spatial tear. In his hand: a shard of the broken obelisk, pulsing with the same ember as Elias's soul.
*The Holt Syndicate moves. The real trial begins.*