The arena emptied slowly.
Some candidates walked out grinning, others limping, a few escorted away by medics with blank expressions. Damon stood among them, calm on the surface, alert underneath.
He could feel it.
Someone was watching him more closely than the rest.
They were led into a wide, tiered hall carved from white stone and crystal alloy. Symbols glowed faintly along the walls—old, powerful, and patient. At the front stood a row of examiners, each radiating a different kind of pressure.
One of them leaned forward.
He was tall, dressed in a dark academy coat trimmed with silver lines. His eyes were sharp—not hostile, not friendly—just focused. The kind of gaze that peeled layers away.
"Candidate," he said. "Name."
"Damon," he replied.
The examiner's fingers tapped the console. "Ability classification?"
A pause.
Damon opened his mouth—
The system stirred.
[Warning: Ability Undefined]
[Risk: Misclassification]
"I… don't know," Damon said honestly.
A ripple went through the room. Some candidates scoffed. Others frowned.
The examiner didn't react immediately. Instead, he gestured, and a thin beam of light scanned Damon from head to toe. The device hummed, then hesitated.
Once.
Twice.
The screen flashed ERROR.
Silence.
"That's odd," another examiner murmured.
The tall examiner's eyes narrowed slightly. "Run it again."
The scan repeated.
[External Analysis Detected]
[System Concealment Protocol: Active]
This time, the display showed fragmented data—reaction speed spikes without corresponding muscle enhancement, neural activity far above baseline, energy efficiency that didn't align with any known category.
"No elemental signature," the examiner said slowly. "No reinforcement pattern. No mutation markers."
He looked up at Damon again.
"And yet you cleared Stage One with minimal output."
Damon met his gaze. He said nothing.
The examiner smiled faintly—not with amusement, but with interest. "You move like someone who knows exactly what will happen half a second before it does."
A dangerous thing to say.
He straightened. "For now, you'll be listed as Unclassified."
A symbol appeared next to Damon's name—rare, subtle, and heavy with meaning.
UNCLASSIFIED — UNDER OBSERVATION
As Damon stepped back into the line, the system pulsed once.
[Notice: Examiner Threat Level — Elevated]
[Suggestion: Maintain Low Profile]
From across the hall, Lira caught his eye. She had passed too—relief clear on her face. She gave him a quick smile.
Damon returned it, then looked back at the examiners.
Especially the one still watching him.
In Ethereal, power was currency.
And being unknown?
That made him dangerous.