The courtyard of Aether Academy did not return to normal after the first day of testing. It only grew quieter. Results were recorded, but not discussed openly. Rankings were not announced yet. The instructors watched more closely now. Especially during training. Ethan stood at the edge of the practice grounds, flexing his fingers lightly. His core felt… intact. No damage. No instability. But something about the test hadn't left him. It wasn't the pressure. It was the moment just before he knelt. The structure.
"You're thinking too much again."
Kael dropped beside him, stretching his shoulders.
"That didn't look like a B-rank to me."
"It was," Ethan said.
Kael narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You don't believe that."
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
"I believe it was measured as one."
Kael exhaled.
"That's not the same thing."
Before Ethan could respond, a loud crack echoed from across the grounds. Both turned instantly. Another student was mid-test inside a smaller auxiliary array used for re-evaluations. The formation flared violently. The student collapsed. Not cleanly. Not controlled. His body hit the ground hard, and the array flickered out irregularly.
"…That's not supposed to happen," Kael muttered.
Instructors rushed in immediately, dispersing the remaining energy. The student was carried out quickly. No announcement followed. Just silence. Ethan watched the formation. The runic lines didn't settle properly. They dimmed unevenly. Like something had disrupted their flow.
"That's the third one today," Kael said quietly.
"Third?"
"Yeah. First two weren't as bad. But still… wrong."
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It's not just the students."
Kael looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan didn't answer right away. He stepped closer to the auxiliary array once the instructors cleared it. From the outside, it looked stable. Perfect even. But the internal flow—barely visible—felt inconsistent.
"It's the structure," Ethan said finally.
Kael frowned.
"The array?"
"Yes."
"That doesn't make sense. This thing is designed by academy elders."
"It's still reacting."
"To what?"
Ethan hesitated.
"I don't know."
But he had a feeling. Not strong. Not certain. Just familiar. Later that day, Hiro called the remaining candidates back into the main testing courtyard. The Origin Array stood active again, but dimmer than before. Like it was conserving energy. Or recalibrating. Hiro's expression was unchanged, but his voice carried more weight this time.
"The test will continue."
A pause.
"However—"
The word alone tightened the air.
"Instability has been observed in select formations."
Whispers started immediately before dying down.
"We are adjusting output thresholds."
Kael leaned toward Ethan again.
"That's not reassuring."
Ethan kept his gaze forward.
"It means they don't fully understand what's happening."
Hiro continued.
"If you feel abnormal fluctuations beyond pressure, you will withdraw immediately."
Not kneel. Withdraw. That was new.
"Failure to do so may result in permanent damage."
The second round of testing began. This time, the pressure increase was slower. More controlled. But something else had changed. The array didn't feel consistent between candidates. Some experienced steady pressure. Others felt sudden spikes. The formation was adapting. Or struggling.
"Next—Ethan of Nox."
Again. Too soon. Ethan stepped forward without hesitation. As he entered the array, the hum returned. But different this time. Lower. Uneven. The pressure built gradually. Ethan adjusted instinctively, letting his mana sink inward again instead of pushing outward. The array reacted. The runes beneath him flickered—not wildly, but subtly misaligned. Ethan felt it immediately. The same fracture-like sensation as the rune in the library. Not visible. Structural. The pressure increased. His core compressed. Stable. Then— A sharp fluctuation. Not stronger. Just wrong. Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"…There."
He didn't say it out loud. But he felt it. A single misaligned flow point within the array's structure. Tiny. But enough to cause instability when pressure peaked. Without thinking— Ethan adjusted his internal flow slightly. Not outward. Not forceful. Just… aligning with it. For a fraction of a second— The array stabilized. Completely. The hum smoothed. The pressure became clean. Perfect. Hiro's eyes sharpened immediately.
"…What did he just do?" one instructor whispered.
Then it snapped back. The instability returned. Ethan's limit approached quickly after. This time, he didn't wait. He stepped back. Voluntarily leaving the array before collapse. Silence. Hiro didn't announce anything immediately. He simply stared at the formation beneath Ethan's feet.
"…Test paused," he said finally.
That had never happened before. Students exchanged looks. Confusion. Tension. Kael stepped toward Ethan as he exited.
"You felt that too, right?"
Ethan nodded once.
"It's not just pressure."
"What is it then?"
Ethan looked back at the array.
"…Something's incomplete."
Deep beneath the academy, ancient formations reacted again—faintly resonating with the same misalignment Ethan had sensed. Far beyond the world, the Last Conqueror of Power observed once more. This time, not just noticing. Measuring. Not Ethan's strength. Not his capacity. His interaction. A deviation had occurred. Small. Insignificant in scale. But precise. And precision… was never random.
The test had not broken.
But it was no longer functioning as intended.