Vahn woke to the sound of footsteps.
The room was small and clean, lit by soft panels in the ceiling. A suppression band rested around his wrist, cold against his skin. He tested his fingers. They moved without resistance.
"You're awake," a voice said.
Professor Maelin stood near the wall, arms folded. A Warden sat by the door, helmet off, watching Vahn closely.
"How long?" Vahn asked.
"Six hours," Maelin replied. "You collapsed hard."
Vahn nodded once. "Figures."
They moved him to a testing chamber beneath the academy.
The room was reinforced, lined with suppression arrays and resonance dampeners. Three instructors waited inside. None of them looked relaxed.
"Step to the centre," one said.
Vahn did.
A student with a combat crown entered the chamber, escorted by Wardens.
"Activate your ability," the instructor ordered.
The student hesitated, then clenched his fist. Light flared around his arm—then flickered and died.
"It's not responding," the student said, confused.
"Distance?" another instructor asked.
They moved the student back. The light returned immediately.
"Step closer," the first instructor said.
The student obeyed. The light dimmed again.
Silence spread across the chamber.
Maelin exhaled slowly. "Passive suppression."
They repeated the test with different crowns.
Elemental. Utility. Control.
Every ability weakened near Kael. Some shut off completely. None reacted violently. The effect was clean.
"How far?" an instructor asked.
"Two meters," another replied. "Stable."
Vahn stood still the entire time.
"So I break things," he said.
Maelin looked at him. "You disrupt resonance."
"Same thing."
"No," Maelin said. "Much worse."
They tested movement next.
A barrier formed in front of Vahn.
"Walk forward," an instructor said.
Vahn stepped through it. The barrier collapsed the moment he crossed.
The instructors exchanged looks.
"No resistance," one said.
"Like the field isn't there," another replied.
Vahn glanced back. "Is that bad?"
"Yes," Maelin said.
After the tests, they locked the room.
Only Maelin stayed.
"The Tribunal will want answers," she said. "And control."
Vahn leaned against the wall. "Do I get a choice?"
She didn't answer right away.
"Not yet," she said.
Later, Lira visited him.
She looked tired. "They wouldn't let me see you."
"You're here now."
She stared at his wrist. "It doesn't look like a crown."
"It feels worse," Vahn said.
She swallowed. "People are scared."
Vahn met her eyes. "Are you?"
She hesitated. "No. Just… worried."
"That's fair."
That night, Vahn lay awake.
He felt the same quiet he'd always known. No hum. No pressure.
Outside the room, crowns were glowing. Rifts were being held back. The world continued as it always had.
But near him, nothing worked the way it was supposed to.
And someone, somewhere above the academy, was paying very close attention.