The Abyss

Chapter 11: The Orb Test Hall

"Edward Ironvale!" the professor's voice rang through the testing hall.

A ripple of curiosity murmured through the crowded bleachers. Students leaned forward, eager to see what kind of attribute the mysterious transfer student possessed. Edward stepped onto the stage, his posture calm and rigid.

The professor gestured toward the massive crystal structure. "Do you know how to operate the mana orb, young man?"

"Yes, sir. I know. Thank you," Edward replied politely.

He stepped up and placed his palm flat against the smooth surface. He intentionally withheld his mana, keeping his vast reservoir completely locked behind his shroud. The crystal hummed, flickering weakly before projecting a dim, colorless font into the air:

! MANA ORB RESULT !

*Name: Edward Ironvale

*Level: 1

*Attribute: Void (None)

A collective gasp echoed through the hall, followed by a heavy, suffocating wave of pity and hushed whispers. To the elite students of Godspire, a level-one Void was practically a tragic ghost.

Before the murmurs could grow, the professor checked his ledger. "Next candidate: Sebastian Ashford!"

I stepped out of the front row and walked up the stone steps. Placing my hand onto the cool crystal, I mimicked Edward, sealing my dark mana deep within my core. The orb vibrated softly, displaying an identical low-rank projection:

! MANA ORB RESULT !

*Name: Sebastian Ashford

*Level: 1

*Attribute: Void (None)

The silence in the hall turned utterly hopeless. The spectators looked at us with deep sadness, assuming we were just two powerless outcasts.

The professor offered a gentle, encouraging smile. "Don't give up, boys. True power requires patience. Keep training, and your awakening will come."

Standing near the stage, Valencia’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "You both remind me so much of my youngest brother," she said, her voice carrying a weight that made several nearby students look down. "He never gave up. Even when the strain made him vomit blood, he kept pushing because he refused to be a burden to us. And now... he's gone."

Her raw words hung heavily in the air, bringing a solemn hush over the auditorium. Lucas stepped up beside her, his jaw tight. "As long as your willpower remains unbroken, you can achieve anything," he added firmly.

"Test concluded. Dismissed!" the professor announced.

Edward and I bowed to the faculty and the Eldrion family before navigating the crowded corridors toward the grand cafeteria. As we walked, Edward glanced at me, his expression full of genuine regret. "Your family... they loved you so much, Sebastian. I'm truly sorry for k********g you all those years ago."

I let out a soft laugh, shaking my head. "It's okay, Edward. Honestly, if you hadn't taken me, I would still be that useless burden, coughing up blood in the shadows. Because of what happened, I found my strength. I'm grateful to you."

The savory aroma of roasted meats and rich stews filled the cafeteria. We stood near the entrance, our stomachs growling, before a sudden realization hit us we didn't have a single coin of mortal currency.

"Step aside, transfers," a voice called out from behind. Lucas and Valencia walked up, tracking our hesitant looks. "Do you two have lunch funds?" Lucas asked.

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling sheepishly. "No, actually. We forgot to ask our guardians for an allowance before leaving this morning."

Valencia smiled warmly, gesturing to the food stalls. "Get in line. I'll take care of the bill."

"Are you sure, Lady Valencia?" I asked, feigning surprise.

"Of course," Lucas affirmed, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Go ahead."

We loaded our trays with an array of high-tier, delicious dishes and scanned the bustling cafeteria for a spot. Finding an empty eight-seat table near the courtyard windows, we claimed it and dug in.

Before we could finish our first bites, a shadow fell over the table. Isolde Eldrion smoothly placed two tall glasses of cold water in front of us, followed closely by Ivan, Seraphina, and Luke Vale. They pulled out the remaining chairs and joined us, creating an instant circle of the academy's top elites.

Wanting to gauge their current combat styles, Edward looked up from his plate. "If you don't mind me asking, what are your primary attributes and preferred weapons?"

Lucas leaned back proudly. "Fire Manipulation. I channel it strictly through a standard katana."

"Nature Manipulation," Valencia offered. "My weapon of choice is a specialized scythe."

Isolde adjusted her cuffs. "Water Manipulation, paired with an imperial spear."

"Earth Manipulation, katana," Ivan said concisely.

"Wind Manipulation, scythe," Seraphina added with a brief nod.

Luke Vale smiled, tapping the metal buckle of his uniform. "Metal Manipulation. I wield a katana as well."

I took a sip of water, carefully phrasing my next question. "Are your weapons forged from raw physical metal, or do you manifest them directly from your elemental mana?"

The table went completely still. They looked at me as if I had spoken a foreign language.

"No one can forge a weapon using pure elemental mana," Isolde explained, her brow furrowed in disbelief. "It's fundamentally impossible."

"What would happen if someone tried?" I pushed further.

"Their mana channels wouldn't be able to handle the back-pressure," Isolde replied solemnly. "The elemental feedback would destroy their physical body from the inside out. They would die instantly."

Edward and I exchanged a brief, knowing glance. We kept our faces carefully neutral.

"I see," I murmured, lowering my head to look downcast. "We want to become strong like you all, but we are just weak Voids."

Lucas’s expression softened with sympathy. "Hey, how about you two join us tomorrow? We're heading out for a scheduled dungeon hunt."

Edward tilted his head. "Who exactly is participating in the raid?"

"The six of us right here," Lucas said, gesturing around the table. "It'll be a safe environment for you to observe high-level coordination."

We nodded in unison, readily accepting the offer. After finishing our meals and cleaning up, we bade them farewell and headed to our afternoon alchemy session. Professor Selene’s lecture on high-grade potion crafting and material sublimation was incredibly detailed, and Edward and I filled our notebooks with precise formulas.

Once the final bell rang, we stepped outside the academy gates to catch the evening breeze. A sleek, high-end mana-tech vehicle pulled up to the curb, the window rolling down to reveal Lucas in the driver's seat.

"Hop in, you two," Lucas called out.

"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning through the window.

"Just somewhere outside the city walls," he smiled.

Edward and I climbed into the back, finding Valencia, Isolde, Ivan, Seraphina, and Luke already packed inside.

"We're heading down to the northern coast to watch the sunset from the beach," Isolde explained as the vehicle accelerated smoothly onto the highway.

"The academy rooftop has a clear view of the horizon," I noted casually. "Why go all the way to the coast?"

Valencia’s gaze drifted out the window, her voice dropping to a soft whisper. "Because that specific beach was where our youngest brother always wanted to go. He used to say it was the only place where he could watch the sunset in absolute peace."

I looked at the reflected grief in the rearview mirror. "How important was he to all of you?"

The question caused a sudden, sharp silence. Lucas slammed on the brakes, pulling the vehicle safely onto the shoulder of the empty coastal road. He turned around in his seat, his eyes burning with a raw, fierce intensity.

"He was our entire motivation to grow strong," Lucas said, his voice cracking slightly. "Sebastian was the one who believed in us the most. Even when he had zero power, he would smile and tell us to be patient. We swore we would become powerful enough to protect his peace—he was the light of this family."

Valencia broke down, covering her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. "He was my entire hope," she sobbed.

Edward silently pulled a clean cloth from his pocket, gently helping Valencia wipe her tears. Isolde, Ivan, and Seraphina remained entirely quiet, staring blankly at their laps, the unspoken grief weighing heavily on the air.

I turned to our childhood friend. "What about you, Luke? What was Sebastian to you?"

Luke offered a sad, reminiscent smile. "He was the one who taught me never to back down from a challenge, no matter how terrifying the odds looked. My metal attribute awakened because his advice gave me the strength to push past my limits. We owe everything to his memory."

Lucas swallowed hard, wiping his own eyes before shifting the car back into drive.

We reached the secluded cove just as the sky began to turn a brilliant shade of crimson and orange. The coastal air was cold, sharp, and serene. Together, we gathered wood and established a makeshift campsite, Lucas utilizing a controlled flare of his fire manipulation to ignite a roaring bonfire.

While the group gathered around the fire, chatting warmly, Edward and I stepped away under the pretense of gathering more kindling. Once we were safely out of earshot beneath the shadow of the cliffside, our expressions hardened.

"Something is wrong here," I whispered, my senses tingling. "I'm picking up a distinct trace of decaying flesh. It smells exactly like an Abyssal scout."

Edward nodded, his eyes scanning the treeline. "I feel it too. The density is faint but clear. I'll deploy my clones to sweep the perimeter and neutralize it before they notice anything."

With a silent pulse of mana, Edward manifested five invisible clones, sending them darting into the dark foliage like phantoms.

We walked back to the bonfire, blending seamlessly into the conversation. "What are we discussing?" I asked, taking a seat on a log.

"Just our current attribute thresholds," Luke replied, frowning slightly. "Lately, it feels like our power development has hit a hard ceiling. It feels like something vital is missing from our mana flow."

Edward offered a sympathetic shrug. "I wish I could help, but as a level-one Void, I don't know much about mana circulation. I'm sorry."

Valencia looked up, offering a small, appreciative smile. "It's fine, Edward. And... thank you for helping me earlier."

Edward smiled back gently. "You're very welcome."

On the other side of the fire, I leaned closer to Lucas. "I'm sorry for bringing up your younger brother earlier. I didn't mean to reopen an old wound."

"Don't apologize, Sebastian," Lucas sighed, staring into the crackling embers. "It's our fault. We were simply too weak to match the entity that stole him away from us."

"It wasn't your fault," I insisted, looking him straight in the eyes.

"It was mine," he muttered, his voice tight. "I was his older brother. I should have been stronger."

I placed a firm hand on his shoulder, projecting a wave of calm authority. "Calm down, Lucas. Stop carrying that weight. Just trust in your brother's strength wherever he is. He will return."

Lucas took a long, steadying breath, the tension leaving his shoulders as he nodded and rejoined the group's conversation.

Using our psychic link, I contacted Edward. *'Clones found something. Let's move.'*

We slipped away into the shadows of the tree line, moving rapidly toward the coordinates of the scouting clones. Deep within a rocky ravine, we found the clones standing over the fresh corpse of an Abyssal warrior.

One of the clones turned to us, its form flickering. "We took this one down, but a second scout managed to slip through a localized rift. He escaped back to the Abyssal Kingdom. He's going to inform the upper echelons of our presence."

"Darn it," I muttered. "The timeline is accelerating."

We dissolved the clones and walked back to the camp, keeping our expressions light. "Hey everyone, the wind is picking up and the temperature is dropping fast. We should probably head back to the academy grounds," I suggested.

Agreeing with the assessment, the group packed up the campsite. Lucas drove us back through the city gates, dropping Edward and me off directly in front of Instructor Ronan’s estate.

"Thank you for the ride, Lucas," I said as we stepped out.

"Anytime, boys. See you at the dungeon gates tomorrow morning," he waved as the car pulled away.

The moment we stepped through the front door of the estate, Professor Selene was waiting for us in the foyer, her arms crossed and her expression stern. We endured a swift, thoroughly deserved scolding for staying out past curfew before she finally dismissed us to our quarters.

Closing the bedroom door behind us, Edward and I threw ourselves onto our beds, staring up at the ceiling as the reality of the upcoming dungeon raid loomed ahead.