CHAPTER 59 – THE FOURTH KNOT
Seryn opened his eyes slowly. The air inside the room hadn't changed; the grey crystal was still on the table, the parchment remained unopened, and the crack was… there. It hadn't widened, nor had it withdrawn. As if everything that had happened the night before hadn't been a decision, but merely a positioning.
He sat up in bed. There was no sudden pressure in his chest. That, too, was a sign. The grey flow liked moments of waking; it liked probing vulnerability. But this morning… it wasn't probing.
So you're still waiting, he thought.
He stood up and looked out the window. The Academy courtyard was normal. Students were walking. Conversations carried through the air. Nothing looked extraordinary. The rumors, the whispers, the looks… they were echoes of yesterday now.
After a while, the Academy's general announcement line activated.
The voice wasn't loud or dramatic. Valen's voice flowed through the stone walls—clear, brief, without commentary.
"The Fourth Knot examination will be conducted tomorrow morning, as the security evaluation has been completed. The participant list remains unchanged. No additional preparation is required from the students."
That was all.
No explanation. No justification. No emphasis.
Seryn's expression didn't change as he listened. This was what he had expected. The Academy liked uncertainty—especially when that uncertainty could be controlled.
Tomorrow, he thought.
After the announcement, time seemed to speed up. Classes were held. Corridors filled and emptied. Seryn didn't have any long conversations. No one asked questions. No one approached him. People saw him—but they stopped there. This, too, wasn't new.
Evening came. Night fell.
And then morning.
This time, the moment of waking was different. The crack seemed to awaken with him. Not with pressure—but with awareness.
As he prepared, he didn't touch the crystal or open the parchment. He dressed, tied his boots, and headed for the door. His breathing was steady. His heartbeat was normal. That, too, was unusual.
On the way to the examination area, he passed through a narrow corridor. The walls were thicker. Mana lines were sparse. Here, aura, mana, and all other systems were more "bare." Ideal for measurement.
The examination hall wasn't large.
A circular room.
There were no tools in the center. No stone, no crystal, no circle. Just a flat floor. The walls were smooth. The ceiling was high. Light filtered down from above in a scattered manner.
When Seryn entered, several students had already taken their places. No one spoke. No one looked around. Everyone was centered on themselves.
The instructors stood at the edges.
Valeria was there.
Valen as well.
There were other observers, but Seryn didn't try to identify them. There was no need.
He took his place. Standing.
The silence stretched.
Then Valen spoke.
"The Fourth Knot is a knot of orientation. Power is not measured. Capacity is not pushed. We do not seek reactions."
A brief pause.
"What you suppress, what you accept, what you ignore… all of it is recorded."
These words weren't a threat. Nor a warning. They were information.
"You may begin."
Nothing happened.
This was the first stage of the knot.
Waiting.
Seryn kept his breathing steady. He didn't close his eyes. Some did. Some didn't. What each person did wasn't important.
The first wave came.
It wasn't pressure. It wasn't a call. It was more like a question. An inward, wordless question.
What pushes you forward?
The crack in Seryn's chest reacted faintly. Very faintly. Like a muscle tightening. But Seryn didn't respond. He didn't suppress it. He didn't pursue it.
He simply stood.
The second wave.
This time, the question changed.
What holds you back?
The grey flow reacted more clearly to this one. Its rhythm tried to accelerate. But again, Seryn didn't guide it. He didn't accept it. He didn't reject it.
Valeria noted this.
By the third wave, some students in the room struggled to control their breathing. Someone's knees trembled. Another took a step without meaning to. The waves were individual.
Seryn's wave, however… was irregular.
But it wasn't erupting.
The fourth wave was the most critical.
This wave touched the inner layer directly. Suppressed things. Hidden tendencies. Impulses consciously ignored.
The crack in Seryn's chest was felt clearly for the first time.
But it didn't open.
It didn't close.
One single sentence passed through Seryn's mind:
Not now.
This wasn't resistance.
It was timing.
The wave passed.
The air in the room changed. Some students were sweating. Some were breathing heavily. A few had pushed their limits. The instructors remained silent.
Valen waited a short moment.
Then he spoke.
"Sufficient."
No one moved immediately. Because in this knot, the end didn't come at the same time for everyone. But this time… it had.
Seryn exhaled. The crack in his chest was still there. But he had noticed something:
The knot hadn't forced him.
And that… wasn't normal.
Valeria made one final note in her notebook. Valen spoke without taking his eyes off Seryn.
"The results will not be announced."
Some students lifted their heads.
"The Fourth Knot," Valen continued, "is not an elimination knot. It is a positioning knot. Some conditions… are not defined."
When Seryn heard this, he felt something.
Not relief.
Certainly not acceptance.
It was suspension.
No one spoke as they left the examination hall. The corridors were quiet. The Academy was trying to return to its normal rhythm.
But Seryn knew this:
The system didn't know where to place him.
And that wasn't an advantage.
It was uncertainty.
When he returned to his room, he looked at the crystal for the first time. He didn't touch it. He simply lo
oked.
The crack was silent.
But this silence was no longer empty.
It was a waiting silence.
Seryn sat on the edge of the bed.
"It's over," he said to himself.