Chapter 9 – The Silver Howl
The battlefield was silent except for the faint crackle of dying embers. Smoke drifted lazily into the dawn sky, carrying the scent of scorched fur and ozone.
Baifang sat slumped against a rock, his spear planted in the dirt beside him. "You know," he muttered, his voice rough, "if every 'test' nearly kills us, I'm starting to think Azure Sky Academy has some issues with mercy."
Yin Jin didn't reply. He was standing still, eyes closed, the faint hum of power coiling around him. His crimson flame flickered with streaks of gold, swirling like molten metal in a forge. The aura around him was heavier — not wild, but… alive.
Baifang raised an eyebrow. "You're glowing again. That normal?"
Yin Jin opened his eyes slowly. "No," he said. "But it feels… right."
The mountain wind shifted. For a moment, everything went unnaturally quiet — no birds, no insects, not even the whisper of leaves. Then, from the depths of the valley below, came a sound that froze their blood.
A howl.
Low, mournful… and metallic. It resonated through stone and bone alike, carrying with it a pulse of spiritual pressure so dense that Baifang's spear began to vibrate in his grip.
"Uh," Baifang said carefully. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."
Yin Jin turned toward the sound, eyes narrowing. "It's stronger. Much stronger."
From the treeline, a silver mist began to rise — thick, cold, and shimmering like liquid moonlight. Within it, faint shapes moved: long, lean figures prowling silently across the ground.
Wolves. But not like the ones they'd fought before.
Their fur gleamed like polished steel, their eyes glowing faintly white. Every step they took left frost in their wake, freezing the very air.
"The Silver Howl Pack…" Baifang whispered. "I thought they were just a legend."
The largest of them emerged from the mist — taller than a man, its body etched with lightning-like scars of white fire. Its gaze locked onto Yin Jin and Baifang, intelligent and ancient.
Baifang exhaled shakily. "You gotta be kidding me. We just killed their Alpha's cousin or something, didn't we?"
Yin Jin's voice was calm but low. "No. This one's different. It's not here for vengeance…" He stepped forward, flames coiling around his feet. "It's here to test us."
The Silver Alpha's eyes flickered — and in the next instant, the ground erupted.
Baifang barely raised his spear before a shockwave of cold slammed into him, sending shards of frozen soil flying. Yin Jin countered, fire clashing with frost, the air exploding in a storm of steam and light.
The beast moved faster than thought, appearing before Baifang in a blink. Claws like blades slashed toward him — but his instincts took over.
"Thunder Cross!"
His lightning flared, intercepting the strike — sparks burst across the clearing, blinding bright. He twisted, stabbing upward, but the wolf dodged, its silver tail smashing him into a tree.
"Baifang!" Yin Jin shouted, hurling a sphere of golden flame. It struck the wolf square in the chest — but instead of burning, the creature absorbed it, its fur gleaming hotter.
Baifang coughed, staggering to his feet. "It's absorbing your fire!"
Yin Jin's brows furrowed. "Then I'll give it more than it can handle."
He drew his sword — the one he forged from his own flames — and for a moment, the air itself seemed to bend around him. His voice was steady. "Let's see if you can devour this."
He slashed.
The ground split apart as golden fire erupted skyward, forming a massive arc of molten light. The Silver Alpha roared, meeting it with a blast of freezing wind. The two forces collided — flame and frost — neither giving way, both devouring the world around them.
Baifang, lightning dancing wildly around his arms, charged again. "Don't hog the spotlight!"
He leapt high, his spear spinning. "Thunder Lance — Heaven's Break!"
The attack struck from above just as Yin Jin's flame surged from below. Fire and lightning intertwined once more — not as chaos, but harmony.
The Silver Alpha howled one last time as the explosion engulfed the clearing.
When the smoke cleared, the once-green valley was gone — replaced by a crater of glass and ash.
Yin Jin stood trembling, his sword still glowing faintly. Baifang lay sprawled nearby, groaning. "I swear, next time, you fight first."
Yin Jin managed a faint smile. "You always say that."
But behind the exhaustion, something was stirring deep within him — a new resonance between flame and lightning, a power neither of them yet understood.
High above, unseen, a figure cloaked in azure watched from the mountain peak.
"So," the figure murmured, voice carrying on the wind, "the Azure Sky trials have found their storm and flame."
The first phase of the exam was far from over.
But the true test had only just begun