The moment Kastor’s gaze settled on him, Zephyrion stilled. This was the moment. The moment that would decide everything.

He kept his expression unchanged, appearing as natural as possible.

To the outside world, nothing was happening. However, inwardly, numerous calculations ran through his mind.

If Kastor spoke up, what next? It wouldn’t affect his chances of winning the Proving, but it would severely limit him when it came to acquiring the secret rune arts of the great high houses.

Right now, he could see and store their effects in his mind, but they were merely the effects. Without seeing the source itself, replicating rune arts as complicated as theirs was almost impossible.

A moment passed. Zephyrion felt the aura settle onto the pin hidden in his chest, and his world went utterly silent.

Then, the heavy aura withdrew as though it had never existed in the first place.

Instantly, the tension gripping Zephyrion eased. Still, though he didn’t turn to look at his father, he couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Kastor’s mind.

Kastor had clearly sensed the rod, yet had chosen not to say anything. Understanding what went through Garrick’s head was one thing, but someone as significant as the head of house, Kastor...

That was different.

’...I’ll have to find a way around that.’

Moving forward, he would need to predict Kastor’s thoughts and reactions. The world was vast, and this was merely his starting point.

He meant every word he had said to Demorian.

This world... he would take control over it.

With a subtle exhale, sound gradually returned to Zephyrion’s ears. He shifted his attention toward Ingrid, who had already begun speaking.

"...I will now reiterate the rules," Ingrid said. "As with every Proving, there are two rounds. The first round is the qualifier round. In moments, you will all be sent to a controlled region where you will be pitted against one another. Your objective is simple. Locate the flags scattered throughout the forest. Your relics will guide you toward them. There are two hundred flags in total, and to qualify, you will need to secure a minimum of five."

Waves of murmurs instantly spread through the candidates. Zephyrion merely watched calmly. With only two hundred flags present, and five required to qualify, the implications were obvious.

’Only forty can qualify.’

Across the entire South, there were more than a thousand seventeen-year-olds participating in the Proving. For merely forty to advance only signified the intense competition to come.

"Receive your relics."

Ingrid waved her hand, and something rippled through the air before every candidate. Moments later, bracelet-like relics materialized in front of them.

Zephyrion reached out. The instant his fingers touched one, the relic shot onto his arm and clasped tightly around his wrist.

A dark screen lit up across its surface, displaying a green dot over what he quickly recognized as a map of the current area.

"Woah... this is actually insane."

Beside him, Tobias stared at the relic with sparkling eyes. Lumi, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the device, tapping repeatedly against the screen with deeply furrowed brows.

All around them, the other youths reacted similarly, staring at the relics in awe. Technological relics like these were things many of them had never seen before.

Usually, only the great houses or exceptionally wealthy mid houses had access to such artifacts.

Still, Zephyrion had encountered many relics like this while growing up in Calderalth, and even during his time in the Order, so he wasn’t fazed in the slightest.

Instead, his attention lingered on the art Ingrid had just used. In a single motion, she had summoned countless relics out of thin air.

Zephyrion hadn’t seen the source rune, but even he could tell its complexity far surpassed anything he had witnessed before.

The power of a Herald...

He emerged from his thoughts as Ingrid’s voice echoed once more.

"You’ll figure out the relic’s other functions during the event. Now prepare yourselves. You will all be sent out in five seconds." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began releasing a dim glow that steadily intensified with each passing second.

Zephyrion felt a light tug on his arm. Beside him, Lumi was staring at him with a small smile.

His gaze shifted toward the petite arm wrapped around his own before returning to her expression. Then he sighed inwardly.

Clearly, she was trying to make sure they ended up together when they teleported. Unfortunately, as with every Proving, considering the sheer number of participants, spawn locations were completely random.

Still, Zephyrion could already imagine the fuss it would cause if he explained that now. He could already feel numerous gazes settling on him because of the petite girl clinging to his arm, and the last thing he wanted was to start apologizing in front of millions of spectators.

So, Zephyrion wisely remained silent.

As the seconds ticked by, he suddenly felt multiple piercing gazes settle onto him. The first belonged to Nedra, naturally. The other...

Zephyrion lifted his gaze and found Ingrid staring directly at him despite the thousands gathered below. Her eyes held emotions difficult to decipher. Irritation. Annoyance. Yet buried beneath it all was a faint warmth.

Zephyrion frowned inwardly.

It felt like she wanted to say something, yet for some reason was too irritated to actually voice it.

Eventually, Ingrid released a quiet scoff before turning sharply, her trench coat sweeping through the wind behind her.

The next moment, an intense flash of light swallowed Zephyrion’s vision whole.

...

Zephyrion’s eyes snapped open. A gleaming dagger was already clenched tightly in his grip as his gaze swept across the surroundings.

The thousands of youths, the massive screens, the deafening crowds... all of it was gone.

Around him remained only towering trees and dense forest.

The Proving had begun.

Without lowering his guard, Zephyrion glanced toward the relic bound around his wrist.

The map displayed on its surface had shifted from the coliseum to the forest, with a green marker indicating his current position.

Zephyrion zoomed out from the green mark. The map expanded, revealing multiple red markers scattered across varying distances throughout the forest.

’The flags.’