A crisp, commanding voice suddenly echoed through the vast chamber, a male voice deep and daunting woven into authority.
"All new students, please place your orientation letters into the crystalline receptacle beside your seat. This will finalize your registry under the Academy's System."
The voice seemed to reverberate through bone and air alike, settling deep in the chest like a whisper of power.
Zephyr blinked, then finally noticed the object near his right side—a narrow pillar of transparent crystal, no taller than his knee, glowing faintly with the same red light as the central stage. Dozens of identical pillars stood beside every seat in the auditorium, humming with a low, ambient buzz.
The other participant were already sliding their letters from their coat's pocket.
"Don't think too hard about it," keal said,
Zephyr reached into his uniform, pulling out the letter still neat and straight. He hesitated for a moment—just long enough to hear a soft tsk from Kael, who had leaned back with one foot propped on the rail like he owned the place.
"You're not making a pact with a Rift Spawn," Kael called up. Then muttered under his breath. "At least, not yet."
Zephyr rolled his eyes and dropped the letter.
The moment it vanished, the crystalline pillar pulsed once in acknowledgment. A soft glyph shimmered across its surface, then faded.
Across the chamber, other students were doing the same. One by one, the lights flickered as the academy registered its new blood.
Then the voice returned—calmer now, almost pleased.
"Registry complete. All first-year applicants of the South Wing, welcome to the Academy of Elden Vow. Your fates are now bound to the Circle."
A low hum filled the air, and the stage at the center of the vast chamber began to glow brighter—its blue crystal base swirling with streams of golden threads. A symbol of a phoenix slowly flared to life, wings outstretched across the floor.
Out of nowhere the air cooled down, excited shatter slowed down until it didn't exist anymore. Zephyr could feel the Aether moving around as if excited, even his own Aether started to surge boiling in excitement, the neutral Aether surging through his body, goosebumps rose from his skin, his strength heightened, and then he entered.
An old man entered, floating inches above the ground, his long murky yellow robes trailing like embers behind him. He was thin, almost skeletal, but carried himself with an air of unshakable authority. His face was gaunt, lined with centuries of experience, and his eyes sharp but dull. Wisps of white hair hung behind his shoulders, and his hands, clasped behind his back, trembled slightly—not from weakness, but from a restrained power that hummed in the air around him.
A silent procession of similarly robed individuals followed him—members of the Vermillion Clan. They didn't speak or announce him. They didn't need to.
As he took a seat at the upper balcony reserved for high-ranking guests, the effect was instant. Even among the students, heads turned, whispers flared, and the atmosphere grew taut with tension and reverence.
Keal leaned closer to Zephyr, his voice low. "That's venerable Magnus Vermillion. They call him the Withered Flash."
Keal continued. "Don't let the bones fool you. He's a living legend. Used to be Alpha rank—a true top-tier combatant. But after some cursed war back in the Eastern Archipelago, his vitality got wrecked. Slipped down to Beta rank, but—and here's the insane part— he still have access to his alpha rank Taboo-class art."
Zephyr blinked. "Wait. Taboo arts are locked behind Alpha ranks, right?"
"Exactly," Keal said, eyes locked on Magnus with reverence. "But he didn't just use one—he mastered it. Even after dropping a tier, no one's dared challenge his claim. Rumor says even the current Alpha elites avoid provoking him unless they've got a death wish."
As Keal spoke, the Vermillion Clan participant around the hall sat straighter, their expressions subtly shifting.
Some smirked, others tilted their chins upward. A girl near the stage adjusted her robes with exaggerated grace. Another leaned back in his seat with a smug little grin as though the mere presence of Magnus had justified their entire existence.
Zephyr caught it too—the rising confidence. The swelling pride. It was like watching a group of cornered wolves suddenly realize the alpha had arrived.
"Tch," Keal muttered, eyeing them. "Here we go. The Vermillion brats are gonna be insufferable for the rest of the day." Keal didn't have any intention of stopping as he kept talking. "They should be, why not he is the personification of power and he is from their clan, I mean". Zephyr toned out keal words. As he focused on the figure of power seated on the high seat. Look at the figure he could feel the boundless strength effortlessly oozing out from him, if before he compared Vox to a shadow then now looking at the figure it was as if he was staring at empty space, his entire figure was devoid of weakness despite what his body may portray.
"Magnus Vermillion has arrived. Now the exam begins, all participant place your hand on top of the crystalline receptacle beside your seat". All the participants placed their hands on the crystalline receptacle besides their seats excitedly.
Zephy let out a deep breath, excitement flashing in his eyes, although he was confused by the order, he thought they were going to like fight each other, but how it seems to be a test that will test their potential.
"Hey". Turning to face keal at his side. Keal voice was lowered as he spoke to zephyr. "Try to lower your inner self, try and think of yourself in the image of your body".
"Any reason why I should do that". Zephyr said with a frown.
"Magnus is going to pull your consciousness into his domain". Keal didn't say anything else, they was nothing to say anymore Zephyr already got the message.
'my self from the previous world'. His consciousness was Zephyr from earth not Zephyr from Vaeltherium.
"Wait how do I su—
He has barely got what he wanted to say out of his mouth before the changed in his very eye.
Zephyr suddenly found himself in the middle of a forest.
Massive, hulking trees surrounded him, the air was cool and felt cold against his skin, the sounds of birds chirping was very real, the warm feeling coming from sun.
"Looks like a realistic VR game"