The walk from the Western Barracks to the Elder's Pavilion was the longest of Ren's life. The silence between him and Elder Tian was not empty; it was a physical weight, a pressurised chamber where Ren's future was being decided. He could feel the Elder's spiritual sense, a calm but impossibly vast ocean, pressing in on him, examining every flicker of his Aether, searching for the source of the anomaly.
They entered the serene garden. The Elder did not sit, nor did he tend to his crystalline tree. He stood in the center of the courtyard and turned to face Ren, his expression unreadable, his patience clearly at an end.
"I will ask you only once more, Ren," he said, his voice devoid of all warmth. "Explain to me how you have achieved this. The truth. Do not mistake my guardianship for foolishness."
Ren met his gaze. He had formulated his story, a careful construction of partial truths designed to be indigestible, but not provably false. He had to give the Elder something, an answer that would satisfy his need for a logical framework, without revealing the impossible reality of the ghost on his wrist.
"After the duel with Anya Volkov," Ren began, his voice steady, his expression carefully crafted to show confusion and a hint of fear, "I acquired the bracer we wagered for. When I returned to my room, I tried to channel a small amount of Aether into it, to see if it had any hidden properties."
He held up his wrist, showing the inert, grey band. "There was a reaction. A surge of energy from the bracer flooded my body. It was violent, and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, I was… like this."
It was a plausible lie. Ancient artifacts were known to have unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, residual power.
The Elder's eyes narrowed, his gaze locking onto the bracer. "An Aetheric surge from a dormant relic. Possible, but crude. A surge of that magnitude should have crippled you, not advanced you by two full ranks. It does not explain the contained nature of the energy fluctuation." He took a step closer. "Let me examine the artifact."
This was the moment Ren had anticipated. He could not allow the Elder to touch the bracer. Zephyrion was silent, but Ren could feel his ancient, arrogant pride; he would not submit to being studied by a GAMA 'fool'.
"I cannot," Ren said, his voice firm.
"You refuse my command?" The Elder's voice dropped, the temperature in the garden seeming to fall by several degrees.
"The surge… it connected the bracer to my soul," Ren continued his fabricated tale, weaving a new thread. "I can feel that it is now a part of me. To remove it, or to allow another's Aether to probe it, would feel like tearing a part of my own spirit away. It is a feeling I cannot explain." He looked at the Elder, his expression one of earnest, fearful confusion. "It feels… dangerous."
He was leveraging the Elder's own lack of knowledge about his primordial nature. By claiming a unique, soul-bound connection, he was presenting a situation where the Elder's probing could cause irreparable harm. He was making the Elder's own caution a shield.
A long, tense silence stretched between them. The Elder stared at the bracer, his mind clearly weighing the possibilities. He was a master of Aether, but the soul was another matter entirely, and a primordial soul was a complete unknown. Was the boy lying, or was he telling the truth about a danger he himself didn't understand?
Finally, the Elder seemed to come to a decision. His expression hardened into one of grim pragmatism.
"I do not believe you are telling me the complete truth, Ren," he stated, his voice like chipping ice. "But I cannot risk damaging a prodigy of your potential on the basis of a suspicion." He had chosen to accept the risk, for now. "The source of your power remains a mystery. A mystery I will solve. But the power itself is a fact. And it is a fact we must now address."
He began to pace, his hands clasped behind his back. "Your current state is untenable. You are a Rank 5 Initiate with the control of a novice. Your foundation is dangerously unstable. Your previous training is now inadequate."
He stopped and looked at Ren, his eyes holding a new, cold light. "The method you used on yourself, this 'surge', it is too chaotic. But the principle of using raw power to temper the body has merit, if it can be controlled. I will devise a new training regimen for you. One that will stabilize your foundation and give you true control over this new power you possess. It will be more difficult and more painful than anything you have endured before."
It was a devil's bargain. The Elder was accepting Ren's new power level, but he was reasserting his control, seizing command of Ren's cultivation path once more.
"Furthermore," the Elder continued, "your public persona is now a liability. The "Aether-Deaf" dud who defeats the academy's top genius raises too many questions. We will craft a new narrative. The duel with Anya Volkov triggered a 'Delayed Awakening' of your talent. You are no longer a dud; you are a late-bloomer, a volatile and unpredictable talent. Your victories will no longer be seen as impossible luck, but as the chaotic outbursts of an unstable genius."
He was giving Ren permission to be powerful, but only within a narrative that he controlled.
Ren stood silent, accepting the terms. He had survived the interrogation. He had protected his secret. But the price was a new, more rigorous cage, built by a master who was now watching his every move with deep and abiding suspicion. He had a ghost for a teacher, and a warden for a mentor. And he knew his life was about to become infinitely more complicated.