The Heavens Shall Fall

Stepping through it, the room beyond the red door was not a room, but a hallway, ending in a spiral staircase. He walked past the black doors with different numbers and, after taking the stairs to the second floor, he finally found his mark. Entering the chamber behind it, it was circular, with smooth gray walls and a floor that was marked by three overlapping formations, probably there to keep the place intact when the disciples who were to be assessed would release their power. There were no windows, yet the room was bright, lit by soft light from the ceiling. At the far side, an Elder was already there, waiting, holding a rectangular, jade-made tablet in one hand. He looked middle-aged, with a square jaw, bushy, dark red hair cascading loosely down the back of his head, and black eyes with horizontal white pupils. Siu immediately noticed the two inhuman facts, knowing that his examiner was a transformed beast.

“You must be Siu," He muttered, reading the tablet, "Newly promoted from the outers, with an unclassified affinity." Then he looked up at him, smiling a little, "And two mutual beast companions. Hm hm." He scanned Arya and Marly, making the two shiver involuntarily, "Elder Thane’s notation told me enough, so no need to come up with excuses. I also know of your situation, anyway.”

"..." Siu’s mouth twitched, holding back whatever he wanted to say to that.

“I am Elder Hanru, and usually it is I who assesses new registrations that do not fit cleanly into the normal process. There are a few every year, but yours is the most exciting in the past century or so.” His gaze moved to Arya and Marly again, speaking in a way that echoed in all of their heads. “Stand in the circles within the formation, separately, please.”

"Hmph..." Arya narrowed her eyes, jumping off his head. “He is bossy.”

“I am an Elder,” Hanru answered, "and I ordered you through the shared link to tell you, I can tap into it. Be a bit quicker on the uptake, little fox." Before Arya could say anything or hear Siu's grumble, Hanru simply continued as they took their places, “Let's continue then! We will test cultivation, your current essence capacity, along with physical ability, and combat response. Then, I will take a look at your companions and your coordination, and lastly, the bonds' stability. This is not an exam you pass or fail, so no need to worry.”

“I understand,” Siu answered, cupping his hand respectfully.

The first test was simple but uncomfortable. Siu stood in the circle while the formation drew a thin but sharp thread of essence through him, measuring how well his blood carried it, how quickly his marrow replenished it when it got diffused, and how stable the circulation remained under pressure, which was piled up on him until he almost collapsed. Hanru watched, glancing at the tablet in his hand, then at Siu, his goat-like eyes shining, clearly reading the results coming in from the formation. Then, he repeated the same tests with Arya and then with Marly, just the same.

“Early Blood Resonance,” he noted down in the end, talking to Siu, “You broke through in a way that will give you a great boon, because you got cleared of bodily obstacles. I read the reports, well, at least what was permitted for my level to read... So, I'm not surprised that your essence capacity is already above average. Then, your replenishment rate is also above average... Control…" He hummed, "That's still irregular."

“That sounds bad.”

“Mhm.” He nodded again with another hum, "It is below the other two, so you will have to learn that. I wouldn't worry, it's normal, your body has jumped over some hurdles, stripping you of experiencing them. Not a big deal, in fact, I think others would choose your fate over working through it normally. You can master it through hard work, so don't stress it."

"What about us?" Arya asked, and the Elder simply smiled, still talking to Siu instead of them.

"Your companions are also coming along nicely. The fox is close to advancing, although the squirrel needs more time. I suggest you start feeding her some rare herbs. She is at a bottleneck, and it could help her make the breakthrough."

When they wanted to say something, Siu shot them a glare, and both of them fell silent, making the Elder chuckle. With that done, the physical test came next. Hanru had Siu strike him, dodge his counter-punches, up to the point where he would no longer see the strike coming, the Elder's fist stopping just before touching his skin. Lastly, he was made to demonstrate his fighting techniques, going through it all, for almost an hour, before the Elder deemed it sufficient. When Siu thought he was done, Hanru snapped his fingers, and the formation summoned three illusory opponents, each made of murky, noisy light, and waited until Siu, Arya, and Marly fought them off as a team. Seeing that Siu was easily keeping up with them, he added two more illusions without warning, letting them jump him mid-sequence. Siu’s eyes narrowed, sensing the change, but just then, Arya’s tail flickered as she scattered light across the chamber, creating flashing misdirections that drew one illusion’s strike off line, saving her Master's back. At the same time, Marly glided down from the air, throwing herself into the other illusion’s face with enough force to disrupt its shape before bouncing away. With his back secured, Siu broke off his attacks and moved between the disrupted additions, finishing off the illusory enemies, just so each of them popped apart at that exact moment.

“Stop. That will be enough!” While the trio kept panting, recollecting themselves, the Elder continued, muttering to himself, watching them, “Hm, hm... Coordination excellent; your bond has strengthened to an instinctive level, giving you split-second response times. Very good. Your combat communication is silent and immediate, too, no need to bark out orders... Perfect.”

“Perfect?” Siu asked, because that felt like very high praise.

“Yes,” he nodded, ignoring Arya's proud postruing on the floor, "Your ability to bond with beasts is... strong. I can feel it myself..." He murmured, taking a deep breath, "I like you, boy."

"Oi!" Arya harrumphed, "You are too old for our Master!"

"Arya!" Siu snorted, but Elder Hanru simply waved a hand.

"It's fine, she is a feisty teenager. Our kind gets rowdy like that when we go through puberty. She is right, I'm old, past my fourth century, so I've seen a lot already. Anyway, I'm still going to test your bonds' stability, be prepared... this won't be pleasant."

"..." That alone made Siu pay closer attention, waiting for him to continue.

“This test is going to use illusions,” the Elder continued. “Its purpose is to determine whether your mutual contracts can be disrupted under heavy stress, fear, especially in separation. It will also test you to withstand temptation or recognize hijacked commands.”

Even Arya stopped posturing now, not to mention how Marly went still while listening.

"I... understand," Siu muttered, thinking his words through.

“Some beasts can be turned against careless contractors, I saw it happen." The Elder continued to explain, "Some disciples can be manipulated into abandoning their beasts and vice versa. Mutual contracts are stronger, so it is rare for those to get broken by trivial interventions like this, but it can cause confusion. Get ready, and I will cast the spell!”

“Understood.” He nodded, taking a deep breath, and that was all it took.

The chamber vanished the moment he exhaled, and the next second, Siu found himself standing in a forest as snow fell heavily around him. For a heartbeat, he thought he had been thrown back into the night he had gone searching for Neya... Or when the Icecrown Stag was chasing him. Then his thoughts felt lagging behind, and both feelings were there suddenly, and his chest tightened, mixing the two memories... It became worse by the second, especially when he heard distant screams. Rushing towards it, he noticed how blood-stained the snow ahead was, and then something large moved between the trees, disappearing into the darkness. He was about to skid to a halt when Arya’s voice cried out to him.

“Master!”

He turned and saw her trapped beneath a fallen branch, one leg twisted into a mess, her fur stained red with blood. Just then, Marly screamed from somewhere else.

“Master! Help!”

At the same time, Neya’s voice came from deeper in the forest, panicked and desperate.

“Siu!”

He felt a sudden fear rush through him, unable to choose, but then, he pushed it down with a deep, cold breath. No... Concentrate...

"I was in a testing chamber..." He told himself.

Focusing, he could suddenly tell that Marly’s panic came from the wrong direction, as he could sense her... and she was fine. Switching, Arya's presence was not even there where he saw her. Not to mention, Neya’s voice was... off.

“Arya.” He spoke out through the connection, trying to reach out via their link.

"I'm here!" The trapped fox looked at him, trembling. “Master, help me!”

“No.”

“Master…?” She asked, tears gathering in her eyes.

“You are not Arya.” He said, eyes closed, searching, "You are not answering me through our link." The forest shifted at once, and the false Arya smiled... then she turned into something else and attacked him.

Just then, from his left, the real Arya burst through the illusion in a flash of silver, slamming into the false one with a furious snarl. A moment later, Marly dropped from above like a falling stone, cheeks puffed, and spat a nut directly through the illusion’s head, bursting it open as the two landed before Siu.

"I would never!" Arya shouted angrily, "Never!" Marly repeated at the same time.

The forest cracked at that, then the next moment it shattered, and they were back in the chamber. Arya was still trembling with rage, while Marly had tears in her eyes but looked angrier than afraid. As they rounded on him, Hanru watched them for a moment longer before he began clapping.

“Incredible... Once again, incredible! Your bonds' stability is exceptional. A perfect illusion rejection... almost instantly. Huh... Your beast companions maintained loyalty and independent judgment from the start and didn't listen to the illusion's traps. I think this is a new record in breaking it."

"Really?" Arya asked, her anger suddenly evaporating, "Is there a reward?"

"No." The Elder smiled, making Arya turn back into an angry little furball.

After that, Hanru did not ask him to explain much about what he felt, leaving the experience to Siu and how to handle it. Instead, he moved on to the next part, which was related to his affinity. Already knowing the details, he produced three simple techniques: a small earth-pressure step that made the floor vibrate, a basic wind-pressing jab that made his sleeve flutter, and a minor sound pulse created by striking a metal ring with a finger. He demonstrated the techniques multiple times, while Siu copied none of them perfectly.

The earth-pressure step failed almost entirely, producing only a faint heaviness in his foot instead of making the floor rattle. The wind pressure came out better, but was so weak it was hard to tell whether his sleeves made the noise because of it or because he was, well, punching. The sound pulse... Siu thought it was simply the noise the metal was making when his finger knocked against it. Yet, to his surprise, Hanru looked impressed, nodding his head.

“It's different to see it in action than hearing about it,” he said at last.

"I'm sorry, Elder, but these were... clear failures."

"No, I wouldn't say that." He shook his head, "Someone wouldn't be able to copy it at all. Even if we are talking about Grand Elder Yan when she was your age, she wouldn't have been able to copy the steps or movements required so well from so few examples and without reading the manuals. Fascinating... a brand new affinity that we had never seen..."

"..." For some reason, Siu felt a cold sweat rush down his back, looking into those white horizontal pupils, watching him, shining in the middle of the completely black eyes.

“Anyway, the registration is complete,” Hanru said, tapped his fingers against the tablet, and Siu's sash warmed for a moment before going back to normal. “You are cleared for Tier One missions.”

“Only Tier One?” He asked, especially after getting so much praise in one examination.

“Yes, you need to get used to life in here.” He nodded, "We will upgrade your pass after you complete some, it will happen automatically, as your sash keeps collecting data."

"I understand." He answered, not pushing it, cupping his hands.

"Your cultivation is newly advanced." The Elder added, knowing youngsters are prone to think differently than how they answer, "Your affinity is still relatively unknown, even to you. Even for us, it is difficult to gauge. Yes, your beast coordination is excellent, but your companions are young. Your combat foundation is strong, but you have no record of an inner disciple mission. So... Until we, this includes you too, Siu, know more, Tier One only. Okay?”

"As I said, Elder," He smiled at him, "I understand."

"I will believe you," Hanru said as he handed him a thin bronze token with a goat's horn etched into it. “This is my personal token for approval. Return to the front hall, hand it in, and my observations will be made official. And Siu, browse Tier One missions..." He warned him kindly, "And do not accept more than one on your first try.”

“That sounded like very specific advice.” He smiled, taking it with a bow, deciding that, despite feeling dread when looking into his eyes, he really liked this Elder.

Before leaving, Siu cupped his hands again, then exited with Arya and Marly. When he stepped back into the main hall, the noise of the Nine Hanging Bells washed over him again, and for a moment, he stood there, feeling the bronze token in his hand, absentmindedly flipping it between his fingers. It took him a moment to realize Seloryn wasn't there, but soon he spotted her talking with a group of disciples, standing around the column in the middle of the hall. When their eyes met, she quickly said her goodbyes and headed to him, making Siu hold back his mouth from twitching, because the group she left behind was now looking at him.

“Well?” she asked, unbothered by the fact they were being looked at.

“I am only allowed Tier One missions.”

“As expected,” she chuckled, looking him over, "Come on, let's hand it in, then! And before you start mission browsing, you owe me a spar."

"You were serious?" He asked, raising a brow, and as they looked at each other, Seloryin simply widened her smile.

"I always am." She muttered dangerously.

"Aren't you a Paragon?" He shrugged, heading towards the counter, "Is this some kind of... freshmen bully ritual? I had my fair share of that..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bully you," She giggled, holding the back of her head, stretching, "But it is a ritual, yes. You won't really know what Blood Resonance is all bout until you fight someone at that stage."