CHAPTER 34: STAGE THREE TRIAL

The final portal opened, moving them into a void of swirling light and shadow. Floating platforms drifted in an endless expanse, connected by bridges of soulstream energy.

"Your bonds must be one," Kaelus’s voice ecohed. "Reach the Sanctum’s Core and bind its essence."

The platforms shifted, and beasts appeared—Voidborn Phantoms appeared with their forms shifting between beast and tamer, each was a mirror of the trio’s fears.

Kelvin faced a phantom of himself, its eyes were hollow, its bond with a shadowed Xerion was weak. Lyra faced a phantom of her doubt, its Salaris-like form faltering. Darius faced a phantom of his recklessness, its Rhoam-like beast was wild and uncontrolled.

Kelvin dove into his soulstream, feeling Xerion’s fire. "We are stronger than this," he growled, charging the phantom. Their Convergence flared, and he struck, his gauntlet’s light shattering the mirror. Xerion’s flames burned away the shadowed End-Tyrant, and the platform stabilized.

Lyra wove her runes with her bond with Salaris a beacon of clarity. She bound the phantom with shadow chains, and Salaris’s talons tore through its core causing it to disappear.

Darius and Rhoam fought as one, the panther’s armor was deflecting the phantom’s wild strikes. Darius’s dagger was powered by their bond they struck true, and the phantom dissolved.

The trio reached the Sanctum’s Core—a radiant orb pulsing with the school’s essence. But a final guardian emerged—a Triad Seraph, a three-headed beast of light, shadow, and flame. Its presence shook the void, and the platforms quaked.

"Together!" Kelvin shouted. They attacked as one and their bonds synchronized. Xerion’s flames countered the seraph’s fire, Salaris’s talons struck its shadow head, and Rhoam’s claws cracked its light head.

Kelvin, Lyra, and Darius channeled their Convergences, their soul streams was intertwining. Kelvin’s gauntlet blazed, Lyra’s amulet glowed, and Darius’s soulstones flared. They struck, a unified blast of soullight shattering the seraph’s core.

The orb’s essence flowed into a runic crystal, and the void faded. They stood in the arena, this time the crowd was silent, then erupting in roars. Kaelus raised a hand. "You have faced the Crucible and emerged as one. The Inner Sanctum acknowledges your mastery."

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That night, the trio gathered in the dorm with their beasts lounging nearby. The relics—soulstone, ember, and crystal—glowed on the table, split evenly as symbols of their unity. Kelvin traced his gauntlet, feeling Xerion’s pride.

"We’re not just tamers anymore," he said, his voice was steady. "We are the Sanctum’s future."

Darius grinned, tossing a soulstone. "And we have got the loot to prove it."

Lyra smiled, her hand was on Salaris’s feathers. "Together, we are unbreakable."

Under the Sanctum’s spires, Kelvin felt their bonds burn brighter, ready for whatever the Inner Sanctum would demand next.

The echoes of the Crucible of Bonds still lingered in the Obsidian Division, where Kelvin, Lyra, and Darius had cemented their names as rising legends.

Yet, within the school walls, glory was fleeting, and the relentless demands of study and training waited for no one.

Kelvin stood in the central library while Xerion, the End-Tyrant, lounged outside, his massive form was too large for the library’s space, but his presence burned steady in Kelvin’s soul which was amplified by the gauntlet on his wrist.

He traced the sigil as it etched into its blackened steel, his mind was half on the open book before him—a treatise on advanced Convergence techniques—and half on the weight of their recent trials.

"Focus, Kelvin," Lyra’s voice cut through his thoughts, soft but firm. She sat across the table, her silver hair was tucked behind her ears, her raptor, Avian Salaris, perched on a nearby stand.

Lyra’s runic amulet, claimed from the Shattered Veil, glowed faintly as she pored over a scroll on soulstream resonance.

"Master Torren’s lecture on essence manipulation is tomorrow. If you are daydreaming about the Crucible, you will fail the practical."

Kelvin smiled, flipping a page. "I am not daydreaming, I am... strategizing and there is a difference between the two."

Darius, sprawled in a chair nearby and snorted, his thick-armored panther, Rhoam, curled at his feet, the beast’s iron-like plates clinking softly as he shifted.

Darius juggled a soulstone, one of their spoils with his eyes scanning a tome on beast physiology with half-hearted interest. "Strategizing, huh? It sounds like an excuse for staring into the space.

You heard Lyra—Torren’s practicals are brutal. Last time, he made a kid cry for mixing up a basic rune."

Kelvin leaned back, tossing a quill into the air and catching it. "I am not worried about Torren. But you are right—we can’t slack. The Inner Sanctum is watching, and they don’t care about our last win. They want consistency."

Lyra’s eyes went up looking sharp. "Exactly, the Crucible proved our bonds, but the Sanctum is not just about fighting. It is about mastery—mind, body, and soul. If we don’t keep up with lectures, drills, and practicals, we will fall behind."

Xerion’s voice rumbled through their bond, a low growl in Kelvin’s mind. "The school sharpens us like a blade but if we neglect the grindstone we will be dull."

Kelvin nodded, with his resolve hardening. "Let’s hit the books, then the yard later. No excuses."

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The morning unfolded and the trio moved from the library to Master Veyne’s lecture hall, a circular chamber with walls carved with runes that pulsed in time with her serpentine beast’s that hisses.

Veyne’s lesson focused on soulstream harmonics, the delicate balance of aligning a tamer’s essence with their beast’s.

Kelvin took down notes as Veyne demonstrated his lectures, her serpent was weaving threads of light that danced in sync with her gestures.

Lyra’s hand moved swiftly while writing her notes meticulous, while Darius doodled a crude sketch of Rhoam in the margins, earning a sharp glance from Veyne.

"Harmony is not brutal force," Veyne said with her voice cutting through the hall. "It is precision. Tomorrow, you will pair with your beasts to channel a harmonic pulse. Fail, and your bond will falter under stress."

Kelvin exchanged a glance with Lyra, who nodded slightly. Their time in the Shattered Veil had taught them the value of precision, but theory was one thing—applying it was another. As the lecture ended, they filed out, Salaris was gliding silently above Lyra, Rhoam’s heavy steps were echoing beside Darius.

The trio’s next stop was the Runic Workshop, a forge-like chamber where Master Caelum taught the art of inscribing soulstones. The air was hot, thick with the tang of molten metal and enchanted crystal.

Caelum, guided them through carving runes that amplified a beast’s natural abilities. Kelvin worked with a soulstone from the Veil, etching Xerion’s sigil with a stylus that hummed in his hand.

The stone pulsed, accepting the rune, and he felt a surge of pride as Xerion’s approval rippled through their bond.

Lyra’s amulet glowed as she inscribed a rune of shadow on her stone, her fingers were steady despite the heat. Salaris watched as her talons were clicking impatiently.

Darius, meanwhile, struggled, his rune lopsided until Caelum corrected his grip with a grunt. "Focus, boy. A sloppy rune can fracture your bond mid-battle."

By midday, the trio’s minds were tired, but the Sanctum allowed no rest. They joined a drilling session in the Obsidian Yard, a sprawling arena where students honed their physical and magical prowess.

Master Torren oversaw the drills, his obsidian tortoise was looming behind him like a living fortress. The yard was alive with action: tamers were sparring with their beasts, soulstream energy flaring as bonds were tested.

A flamehawk screeched as its tamer summoned a fiery vortex, while a stonebear roared, its tamer weaving runes to strengthen its hide.

"Pair up!" Torren barked. "Convergence drills—synchronize your movements with your beasts. No mistakes."

Kelvin and Xerion moved as one, their bond was like a seamless flow of fire and will. Kelvin leaped with his gauntlet flaring as he channeled a soullight blade, while Xerion’s wings swept down, their flames merged with the blade in a spiraling strike. The impact shattered a training dummy, earning a nod from Torren.

Lyra and Salaris danced through the drill, the raptor’s wings sliced the air as Lyra’s shadow runes formed a net that pinned a second dummy. Their movements were fluid, a testament to their harmony.

Darius and Rhoam charged, the panther’s armored hide absorbed a barrage of runic projectiles as Darius hurled a soulstone, its explosion cleared the path. His grin was wide, but Torren’s critique was sharp: "Sloppy footwork, Darius. Rhoam can’t carry you forever."

As the drill ended, sweat dripped from Kelvin’s eye brow, but his heart pounded with exhilaration. The yard was a crucible of its own, forging their skills through repetition and discipline. Yet the day wasn’t over.

The trio joined an evening seminar on beast ecology, led by Master Sylva, a wiry woman whose vine-serpent coiled around her like a living cloak.

The lecture hall was a greenhouse that is like a chamber. Sylva’s lesson went deep into the instincts of predators which is crucial for anticipating a beast’s moves in battle.

Kelvin listened intently with his notes filled with insights on how Xerion’s predatory drive could be channeled for precision strikes.

Lyra sketched diagrams of Salaris’s flight patterns, linking them to aerial tactics. Darius, restless, fidgeted until Rhoam nudged him, prompting a hasty writing. Sylva’s serpent hissed at a student who dozed, a reminder of the Sanctum’s unrelenting standards.

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As night fell, the trio gathered in the dorm, their beasts sprawled across the stone floor.

The day’s grind had left them weary, but the relics from their missions—the Veil shard, amulet, and soulstones—glowed on a table, a reminder of their purpose. Kelvin leaned against Xerion, feeling the End-Tyrant’s warmth.

"We can’t give up," he said while keeping his voice low. "The Inner Sanctum is waiting for us to slip."

Lyra nodded, her hand on Salaris’s feathers. "Study sharpens our minds, drills our bodies. Without both, our bonds won’t hold."

Darius threw up a soulstone and catched it with a smile, as he echoed. "Yeah, yeah, I was able catch it. No slacking. But man, I would kill for a day off."

Rhoam growled, and Darius laughed. "Kidding, big guy. We are in this together."

Kelvin’s eyes shifted to the window and said to himself, with Xerion, Lyra, Darius, Salaris, and Rhoam, "I fill ready to meet challenges, to carve their names into its ancient legacy"