The footsteps grew louder, each one pounding against the stone like a war drum.
Mist rolled down the broken staircase, thick and heavy, swallowing the light from the crystals overhead.
And then — they emerged.
Figures cloaked in tattered black, their faces hidden behind cracked, bone-white masks. Their bodies were twisted, half-shadow, half-flesh, like nightmares stitched together.
Each one carried weapons shaped from the mist itself — long black blades that seemed to bleed darkness.
"The Veiled," Elizabeth whispered, her grip tightening on her staff.
Braydon raised his strange new weapon, his fingers twitching over the trigger.
"Tell me when, and I'm lighting these freaks up."
"Now," Shoto growled.
The Veiled moved in silence, surrounding them — slow, steady, calculating.
Shoto stepped forward, fire prickling under his skin. He could feel it — the elemental energy building again, not fully releasing yet.
Not until he needed it.
One of the Veiled lunged first.
Braydon fired — a sharp crack split the air — and the blue runes along his weapon flared.
The blast struck the Veiled square in the chest, knocking it back with an unearthly screech.
Elizabeth swung her staff instinctively — a wave of soft light shot out, stunning two more of them.
KJ reached into the ground, and his shadows leapt upward like whips, yanking a Veiled soldier backward into the mist.
They were holding their own — barely.
Pate ducked a blow, his teeth gritted. For a second, the air around him rippled — almost like light itself was bending — but the power slipped away before it could fully awaken.
Shoto locked eyes with the nearest Veiled, heart hammering.
"I don't know what you are," he muttered under his breath, "but you picked the wrong group."
He charged, fists blazing with sparks, striking with pure force.
The Veiled reeled — but didn't fall.
They weren't trying to kill them.
They were testing them.
And as the last of the first wave pulled back, a new shape stepped through the mist.
Taller. Stronger. Its mask was different — not broken, but perfect and gold, etched with ancient runes.
The High Veiled.
It raised one clawed hand — and the mist behind it boiled and roared.
"The Trial has begun," it said, its voice like steel scraping stone.
⸻
The mist exploded outward, slamming into them like a hurricane.
Elizabeth threw up a barrier of light, but it cracked under the pressure.
Braydon's blasts barely kept the figures at bay.
KJ fought to control the shadows — but there were too many enemies, moving too fast.
Pate staggered back, his breathing ragged.
And then — a Veiled lunged at him, sword drawn.
Pate threw up his arms instinctively — and the world shattered.
A blinding sphere of pure light burst outward from him, tossing the Veiled backward like ragdolls.
The very air seemed to vibrate with the force of it.
Everyone stumbled, shielding their eyes.
When they looked up — Pate stood in the center of the destruction, glowing faintly, cracks of energy still dancing across his skin.
He blinked at his hands, stunned.
"I… I think I just broke reality," he said, voice shaking.
"You bent it," KJ said in awe. "You're controlling space."
Pate had awakened the Power of Light Manipulation and Space Bending — a power rare even in Valoria.
The Veiled hesitated — just for a second.
But the High Veiled stepped forward again, raising its hands.
It wasn't done.
⸻
Shoto felt something inside him snap.
Heat surged through his veins, wild and hungry.
The ground beneath his feet cracked, steam hissing out.
The crystals overhead shattered one by one, raining sparks and dust.
His elemental powers were awakening again — but this time, out of control.
"Shoto!" Elizabeth cried out.
Shoto clenched his fists, struggling to hold it in.
If he let go — he didn't know who he would burn.
Friend or enemy.
The High Veiled spoke one final time:
"Only the strong survive Valoria.
And you… are not ready."
The mist roared again — and the High Veiled disappeared into the storm, leaving behind more approaching shadows.
And deep in the mist, something even worse stirred — something ancient, something massive.
The Trial wasn't over.
It was just beginning.