Golden light crept across Mount Veyra's blackened peak, warming Fin's body. The mountain seemed quieter now, as if nature itself recognized what had happened here.

Fin stood at the edge of the cliff, his smile lingering as the crisp mountain air filled his lungs. His pale blue eyes glinted with a new awareness, not quite triumph, but something adjacent to it. Survival, perhaps. Or evolution.

He held out his hand and summoned his System sheet, its blue-white glow sharp against the dawn's amber hues:

Name: Fin Aodh Age: 13 Core Status: Tier Two [Taranis Imprint] Active Skills:

Lightning Armament (Unique) Level 1

Plasma Compression Core (Unique) Level 1

Passive Skills:

Convergent Equilibrium (Unique) Level 10

Electromagnetic Perception (Unique) Level 25 [Evolution Available]

Scientific Warfare (Unique) Level 25 [Evolution Available]

The passive skills pulsed with subtle energy, both displaying "Evolution Available" tags that pulsed like a neon warning sign. Lightning Armament and Plasma Compression Core were fresh at Level 1.

Fin's fingers traced the edge of the system window, contemplating. Evolving these skills now, before his descent, was probably illogical. But after waiting for years, he was ready.

He focused first on Electromagnetic Perception. The skill had mapped dangers throughout his ascent of Mount Veyra, highlighting hidden monsters, and warning him of other students climbing that he wanted to avoid. It had been crucial, a constant vigilance that never tired.

Evolve, Fin willed, directing mana to the skill. His core hummed softly, resonating with his intent. The System responded, and three paths unfolded before him, glowing with potential:

Electromagnetic Perception Evolution Options

Electromagnetic Domain (Unique)

Expands range and sensitivity, creating a comprehensive awareness sphere around the user.

Neural Mapping (Unique)

Focuses on deep analysis of detected entities, providing detailed information about their capabilities and state.

Electromagnetic Synchronization (Unique)

Transforms the passive detection field into an interactive medium that dynamically responds to and influences the surrounding electromagnetic environment, granting a warning for mana-based skills.

Fin's mind spun with possibilities, though Convergent Equilibrium quickly calmed his initial thrill. Each option had clear merits. Domain offered breadth, tempting for scouting and awareness, particularly in the dense wild where threats might come from any angle. Neural Mapping promised precision, a way to dissect opponents' capabilities in detail, but seemed too static, too focused on information rather than action.

Then there was Synchronization. It resonated differently, the potential to not just detect, but interact. To create a field that wasn't merely passive but responsive. A shield and sensor combined, an extension of his affinity made proactive. And the warning for mana-based skills, in a world where a split second could determine survival, that edge seemed invaluable.

"Electromagnetic Synchronization," he chose, feeling mana surge through him, warm and electric.

His core pulsed, vision flickering momentarily as Electromagnetic Perception transformed, rewove itself into something new. Something more. When it settled, Electromagnetic Synchronization pulsed once, bright, before settling into place, a living field around him.

Fin tested it with his eyes half closed. The peak was alive with new detail, mana currents danced around him like invisible rivers, the stone's magnetic grains aligned themselves in his awareness, a distant bird's wingbeat sparked faint static at the edge of his perception. He pushed the field outward experimentally and felt a frost wyrm's icy mana stirring miles down the mountain, its intent vague but presence unmistakable. His lips twitched with satisfaction. Synchronization was a great upgrade to Electromagnetic Perception.

Next came Scientific Warfare. Evolve, he commanded. The system window shifted, displaying three new options:

Scientific Warfare Evolution Options

Analytical Combat System (Unique)

Enhances real-time analysis of opponents and situations, creating a feedback loop that continuously improves combat effectiveness.

Experimental Methodology (Unique)

Focuses on rapid skill creation, modification, and testing during combat situations.

Theoretical Physics Application (Unique+)

Deepens understanding of fundamental forces, allowing sophisticated, powerful skill creations.

Fin paused, brow furrowing at the "Unique+" designation. Was it stronger than the others? More unstable? He'd never seen that modifier before. Maybe something to ask Headmaster Elijah about the next time they spoke, the man's cryptic lessons often held answers.

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Analytical Combat System seemed safe, a refinement of his existing fighting style. Experimental Methodology suited his tinkering nature but felt chaotic for high-stakes situations.

And then there was Theoretical Physics Application. It sang to him, Earth's equations meeting Aetherys' mana, a formula for crafting skills beyond normal limits. It was his scientist's soul, unbound by the constraints of either world. Despite the unfamiliar designation, the choice felt inevitable.

"Theoretical Physics Application," he chose, decisively.

Pain stung through him, sharper than with the previous evolution. His core fluctuated briefly before steadying itself, Theoretical Physics Application locking into place.

Fin stepped back from the scorched circle, testing both skills in tandem. Electromagnetic Synchronization pinged a shadow wolf's signature creeping below a ridge, Tier One, likely drawn by his extensive skill testing. A faint buzz warned him of its mana-coiled muscles, preparing to lunge.

Simultaneously, Theoretical Physics Application clicked into gear: angle of strike calculated, suggestion to use Lightning Armament to form a spear, equations for optimal mana conservation flashing through his mind like elegant script. Fin shaped a crackling spear of lightning, the weapon humming with contained energy, and hurled it with Synchronization's precision guiding his aim.

The wolf yelped as lightning grazed its flank, not a killing blow, but a warning. It slunk away, disappearing into the crags. Fin dispelled the remaining energy in his hand, satisfied, his passive skills wove seamlessly with his active ones, the whole greater than its parts.

His core thrummed, too loud for stealth now, a beacon to anything sensitive to mana signatures. Fin glanced around the peak, Electromagnetic Synchronization catching new signatures approaching, elementals, small and flickering like candleflames, returning to the peak now. A wind sprite spun through the air fifty paces away, several Fire spirits blazed along the ridge's edge, all drawn back to their territory now that Taranis' overwhelming presence had receded.

Then, human signatures, climbing, not descending. Fin frowned, puzzled. He had thought himself the last one here. A voice cut through his concentration, Neela's coming from just below the ridge.

"Fin?" Neela crested the trail, copper hair glinting in the sunlight, eyes widening as they fixed on him. Her mana, cool and precise as always, probed toward him, then faltered as it encountered his transformed core. "Tier Two? You're... first?" Shock laced her voice, Year One's prodigy somehow outpacing veterans who had been preparing for this ascent for years.

Fin's jaw tightened. Memories of Jaren's trap sprang unbidden to his mind. Neela's illogical belief in the boy rubbed Fin the wrong way. "Yeah," he said, voice flat, turning away from her. "Got lucky."

"Fin, wait… I'm sorry, I…." Neela stepped closer, hand raised as if to catch his shoulder.

He ignored her, shouldering his pack, carefully placing the hilt of his tantō inside. Convergent Equilibrium steadied his pulse, but her words stung nonetheless, too little, too late. He jumped down with only two thoughts in his head: descend quickly, avoid unnecessary conflict.

Fin moved, legs blurring with new speed granted by his elevated core. He descended the trail faster than he had climbed it, over ice patches, around boulders, between dense stands of pine, the peak of Mount Veyra fading behind him but coming active with other students vying for an Imprint.

The descent was a blur, his body fluid and responsive in ways it hadn't been before Tribulation. Electromagnetic Synchronization guided his steps, warning of loose stones, weak ice, and the occasional territorial beast. By dusk, he was already halfway down the mountain, the slopes gentler here, pines growing thicker.

Fin paused at a clifftop overlook, gazing back up at the peak. Other students' signatures dotted the summit, Year Twos and Threes, none reaching Tier Two yet, though several were close. First, not last.

The System's tag, Anomaly, gnawed at the edges of his thoughts. What else would it test him with? What did the designation truly mean? Questions without answers, at least for now.

Fin found a shallow overhang as twilight deepened, protected enough for rest but with clear sightlines. He made no fire. His core thrummed with power. He sat with his back against stone, the broken hilt in hand. Kilian's grin flashing through his memory. The moment he handed him the ant's leg. Tomorrow Fin would reach the Academy, and questions would begin, about his core, about the abilities he'd displayed.

As darkness claimed the mountain forests and stars pierced the indigo sky, Fin's thoughts returned to the vision's he'd experienced climbing the mountain. The mages, their power vast and terrible. Cities turned to ash, armies and beast erased from existence, the very fabric of Aetherys torn by their passage. Was that what awaited those who followed the path he now trod? Was that what power ultimately led to?

Fin's hand tightened on the tantō's hilt. No. He rejected that future, though lightning sang in his veins, tempting him with its potential. He would find another way. Had to find another way.

A shadow stirred in the darkness before him, deeper than night, moving with purpose. Fin tensed, Electromagnetic Synchronization flaring, but finding no ordinary signature to latch onto. Instead, there was a void, a careful absence of presence that spoke of mastery.

Headmaster Elijah emerged from the darkness, robes pooling around him like liquid ink, eyes glinting with unreadable depth. Without a word, he sat beside Fin on the outcropping, his presence heavy as Mount Veyra itself.

For several long moments, neither spoke. Fin's core sparked with nervous energy, but Elijah's steady gaze held him, waiting. The Headmaster had appeared precisely when Fin's thoughts had turned darkest, as if summoned by them. Coincidence? Fin doubted it.

The sky wheeled above them, stars tracking across the heavens, while below, the mountain's lower slopes stretched toward the Academy, a journey yet to complete, but not the one Fin found himself most concerned with now. The true journey, he sensed, was about to begin with whatever Elijah had come to tell him.

Still, the Headmaster remained silent, patient as the mountain itself, watching Fin with those ancient eyes that had seen thousands of students come and go. Waiting, perhaps, for the right question to be asked.

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