Stepping onto the array and through the portal after Kaelen—who was already halfway through—Ethan moved with a touch of urgency, a primal fear that the shimmering void might snap shut the moment he entered. The transition was instantaneous and disorienting; a lurch that had less to do with his body and more with his soul being forcibly folded through reality. He squinted against the sudden shift in light and atmosphere.
The room they arrived in was starkly empty, a perfect cube of seamless grey stone with a single, imposing door at its far end. Taking a few moments to adjust, Ethan instinctively stepped aside, clearing the arrival point so Alan wouldn't materialize directly on top of him.
After about five seconds, his senses settled. He turned, expecting to see the portal swirling behind them, only to be shocked. Alan was stepping through, but not through a portal. He was phasing directly through the solid wall, his form shimmering into existence as if the stone were an illusion.
Just then, Kaelen's voice cut through his confusion, calm and instructive, as if he could hear Ethan's unspoken questions. "It's a one-way portal. A security measure. This room exists in a separate, anchored space. Without proper identification, you cannot step through that door into the true base of the Aeltic Order."
While Kaelen spoke, Ethan listened without a word, his eyes tracking Alan as the boy fully emerged from the wall and stumbled, catching himself from a wave of disorientation. When Ethan finally turned to face Kaelen, he found the man looking at him with a faint, knowing smile.
"Shit..... did I just mess up?" Ethan thought, his mind racing, noticing that the wave of disorientation that had just hit Alan might have been the normal reaction for someone who just used a portal for the first time. Right?
Kaelen's smile vanished as if it had never been, his face returning to its neutral, scholarly mask. He gestured, and a simple, darkwood cane appeared in his hand from thin air, just as the crystals and token had. He tapped the cane twice sharply on the floor. With a soft chime, a small, intricate circle array, glowing with a soft blue light, popped into existence on the stone before them.
"Stand one by one on the array," Kaelen instructed.
Ethan saw no need to go first now that the immediate pressure of the other representatives was gone. He held back, his instincts screaming to observe.
Kaelen noticed this hesitation and kept quiet, but a thought drifted through his mind. "So he's the cautious type like him too.... my smile must have tripped him." If Ethan knew he was being read so easily, he would have been terrified to even move.
Noticing Ethan's delay, the more impulsive Alan shuffled forward and stepped onto the array. It lit up immediately, and a deep, resonant voice that seemed to come from the very walls echoed in the room.
"Name and affinity."
Kaelen looked at Alan. "Speak your name and affinity."
"A-Alan Umbra. Lightning affinity," the boy stammered.
The voice replied, "Registered. Welcome to the Aeltic Order. Report to the Temple Hall to receive your identification and allocation before the end of the day."
Alan quickly stepped off. Ethan moved forward next, settling onto the cool light of the array. He felt a subtle sensation, a scan of his soul, but unlike the invasive probe of the Awakening Array, this was a feather-light touch, a surface-level verification.
"Name and affinity," the voice repeated.
"Ethan Alerion. Illusion Affinity."
"Registered. Welcome to the Aeltic Order. Report to the Temple Hall to receive your identification and allocation before the end of the day."
As Ethan stepped off, expecting the process to be over, the voice spoke again, its tone shifting from bureaucratic to downright jovial. "Little Kaelen, look at you acting all grown! I still remember when you first got here, you were shivering like a leaf in a storm!"
Ethan was startled. He had assumed the voice was a non-sentient recording or a simple spell. He saw Kaelen's face twitch in a flash of pure, unadulterated annoyance.
From the gleeful tone, Ethan was sure the entity was immensely enjoying teasing the powerful representative.
Kaelen spoke a moment later with a defeated sigh. "Greet your ancestor, Brutus. The guardian space artifact of the Aeltic Order."
Before Ethan could even process how to greet an entity he couldn't see, the voice boomed again, this time directed at Kaelen with mock fury. "Kaelen! You bastard! Calling me 'ancestor' makes me sound ancient! I'll send a grade 5 space storm your way, let's see if you still have that smug look on your face!"
Kaelen's composure crumpled. He immediately bowed deeply. "Kids, join me if you value your life." He then spoke to the air, his voice strained. "Oh mighty Brutus, Ruler of Space, the Unshakable Pillar of the Order, forgive my insolence."
Ethan and Alan, thoroughly confused but sensing genuine danger, hurriedly joined in the bow.
They were met with a greedy, bargaining voice next. "1,000 elemental stones."
Immediately, Kaelen responded, "300."
The voice came back, sharper. "1,500!"
Kaelen countered without missing a beat, "250."
A wave of palpable, spatial pressure filled the room, making the very air feel heavy. Brutus's voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "You dare lower your offer? You try my patience, little Kaelen. 2,000. Final offer."
Kaelen let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. 2,000. Now, onto better matters." He clearly wanted to move on.
"Now, onto better matters," Brutus agreed, his voice shifting, the playful greed replaced with a tone of genuine appraisal. "Kaelen, I see your senses didn't fail you this time again. The Order's masters don't send you out for recruitment in vain. A kid with an Un awakened elemental body and a kid with an Un awakened soul body. This is a jackpot this time."
Ethan and Alan exchanged a confused glance. Un awakened what?
Brutus continued, his focus sharpening, "Especially for the kid with the Un awakened soul body. I can't wait to see what ability his soul body awakens... he he."
Kaelen, who had been standing with a look of strained patience, suddenly went rigid. His eyes widened, shock erasing all prior annoyance. "What the hell did you just say, Brutus?" His firm voice rang out, sharp and demanding in the sealed space.
Brutus, still in a playful mood, replied, "Hmmmnn... are you deaf, or do you just want to stress me? Anyways, they're both kids with amazing potential. I've never seen a soul body give out strong waves like this... Kaelen," the artifact's voice dropped to a serious, almost awed whisper, "this kid's soul body just might be stronger than your..."
"Brutus. 5,000 elemental stones. Lock down this space for a moment. We need to have a conversation."
Kaelen's face was a mask of intense concentration. His voice was low and deadly serious when he spoke again.
The air in the room seemed to freeze. Brutus went silent, the weight of Kaelen's statement hanging in the air. The playful dynamic vanished, replaced by a palpable, heavy tension.
There was no humorous barter this time. A profound silence descended, thicker than before. Ethan felt a subtle shift in the room's pressure, a sensation of the very space around them hardening, becoming an impenetrable vault. No sound could escape. No energy could leak in or out.
"shit shit shit... this is really some web novel nonsense, how the hell do I, of all people, have a soul body ..... I literally just arrived in your world and where I'm from ..... I'm just a 30-year programmer. Ethan began to panic once his unusual perception noticed the lockdown in the space around them.
Kaelen turned his full attention to the two boys, his eyes lingering on Ethan with an intensity that felt like a physical weight. The representative was gone, replaced by a calculating, powerful awakener who had just stumbled upon something world-shaking.
The game had just changed entirely.