The morning after Luna released her transcended halos, the atmosphere on the training grounds had changed.
Not just in the air, but in the eyes.
There was something different about the students. The weak looked weaker. The strong looked reborn. Even those who had collapsed under the pressure of Luna's twelve blazing halos now stood straighter. More alert. As if what hadn't broken them had instead burned away the fog.
Some still bore tremors in their steps, but many walked as if carrying something new within their bones—clarity, maybe. Or the humbling truth of their own limits.
And then there was one among them who had seemed unaffected entirely. The one who stood beside Luna as though her overwhelming power was a breeze passing through a window.
Dawn.
He said nothing about it. Offered no explanation. And no one questioned him aloud.
But the thought lingered like dust in sunlight.
"How?"
Before it could settle, the instructors arrived.
They came without the usual fanfare, just presence and silence. Instructor Valeris walked at the front, his expression unreadable, followed by Aeliana and three others who rarely made appearances. As they stepped onto the field, the students instinctively lined up in formation. No orders were needed.
Valeris gave the group a long, slow glance.
"You've all surpassed expectations."
A ripple of quiet pride moved through the students.
"Which is why," he continued, "you'll now be introduced to something that wasn't part of the original syllabus. Something we reserve only for those who demonstrate readiness."
He gestured behind him. Assistants rolled in a series of reinforced platforms, upon which sat large, stone-like weights. Each carved with sigils, etched deep with flowing lines that pulsed faintly.
Aeliana stepped forward. "You all know what your halos have changed within you. Confidence. Clarity. Resonance. But you haven't yet understood what they've changed outside of you."
The students looked at the weights, confused.
"Halos don't only temper the mind and spirit. They alter your body. They reconfigure how you interact with gravity, pressure, and stress."
Valeris nodded toward the platforms. "Today, you'll test that."
The first round began.
Students were called forward to lift the weights. The ones with fewer than three halos struggled. Some couldn't even budge the base-tier weights.
But as the halo count increased, so did the ease of lifting. A student with five halos lifted what looked like a slab of mountain with trembling arms and shocked eyes.
Gary went up next. With ten halos, he lifted his assigned weight quickly, but overextended his posture and had to readjust. The strain was visible, but the strength was real.
Ingrid followed, methodical as always. Her seven halos glowed briefly as she braced her legs and lifted without breaking form. The weight rose like it was part of her.
Then came Cedric.
He hesitated for a moment, maybe remembering the humiliation at the Hollows, but when he stepped forward, there was a quiet fury in his movements. He lifted a weight calibrated for someone with eight halos and managed it easily.
The instructors watched closely, murmuring among themselves.
Then came Dawn.
He stepped up with no fanfare, no change in expression. His three halos flickered faintly around his chest.
"This one," Valeris said, pointing to a moderate weight, calibrated exactly for someone with three halos.
Dawn approached and lifted it with ease. One smooth movement. No shake in the arms. No shift in balance.
The instructors narrowed their eyes.
"Again," Aeliana said. A heavier one this time.
Dawn obliged. And while he didn't make it look effortless, he did not struggle.
"He's trained his control, not just his strength," one instructor whispered. "He uses exactly what he needs. No waste."
The students watched in silence.
Finally, all eyes turned to Princess Luna. But she only waved a hand.
"I'll sit this one out," she said, smiling faintly. "Let the mortals enjoy their progress."
There was laughter, but it was nervous.
No one questioned why.
Back in the rows, one student finally leaned toward another and whispered, "How did Dawn stand next to her yesterday? How come he didn't fall like the rest of us?"
Their fellow student nodded slowly. "I was wondering the same thing..."
High above, one instructor turned to Valeris. "He didn't flinch even once. Not even a twitch. That wasn't resistance. That was absence."
Valeris said nothing, but his gaze never left the boy on the training ground.
And in that silence, a question quietly bloomed across minds, unspoken but alive:
What has he experienced?
---
The instructors didn't just bring out weights. They laid out a full course—sprinting lanes, obstacle paths, endurance challenges, reflex trials. A brutal gauntlet designed to test every edge of physical performance.
The tests began.
One by one, students ran, leapt, strained, and pushed themselves through the gauntlet. The results were startling. A boy with five halos lifted double his previous best. A girl with six moved across the reflex trial so fast the sensors lagged. Even those with three halos, the baseline, displayed strength and speed they never knew they had.
It wasn't just about raw lifting power. Their entire bodies had changed—bones reinforced by internal light, muscles energized by new flows of will, breath control sharper, reactions quicker. They were different.
Except the instructors didn't react. They watched with calm expressions. They knew this would happen.
Dawn stood to the side, observing silently, his arms crossed. No awe on his face. No surprise. He had predicted this long ago. Had felt the shift in his frame after the luminous transformation. These external changes were only natural.
Gary and Ingrid were impressed, but not blindsided. They'd known about this from their families. But still, watching it on a field filled with dozens, brought clarity to what they had only sensed.
Cedric, bruised ego and all, managed to push past his previous limits. A part of him, bitterly, had expected the change—but seeing it so clearly struck a different nerve.
Even among the nobles, those born into power and knowledge, there was a pause. They had heard about the transformation halos would bring. But this was revalidation. And reality always felt heavier than theory.
---
End of chapter