The progression of the middle nobility of the Empire, the ss of ts, marquises, and dukes, had caused the atmosphere of the ceremony to shift yet again. The green fmes had appeared to burn a little brighter, the dance seeming to be that much more the result of a living i behind their movement. To Krion’s surprise, a few of them had even undergoiceable transformations during their judgment by the emerald fmes. Among slight ges in size and build, some emerged with eyes gleaming with newfound colors, hair different or streaked with silver old, and even a palpably charged presence. Given his still shogly ck of knowledge, all Krion could guess was that their character sheets had been altered to reflect their ges in some way. For his part, he was both excited and worried about what he might himself experience when it was finally his turn.
The st s of a dukedom, a tiny boy with blonde hair that stood straight up no matter how much he had fidgeted with it before approag the emerald fmes, successfully pleted the ceremony and rushed back to his seat. With no one else left in line for the middle nobility, the Lord Seepped fain, his booming voice ringing out.
“We have e to the final stage of the ceremony,” he decred. “The ss of the Archducal Houses, bearers of the Empire’s greatest legacies iern reaches absent any representatives of higher ranks, shall noroach the altar.”
Krion could feel the crowd shift behind him, and he could guess what was happening. Every gaze had just turo the front, where the ses for the ss of Houses Silverwind, Ironcw, Oakfrost, Bright, and his own Bcksword sat.
“You will kneel before the Altar of the Foresworn,” the Lord Sentinel tinued, his tone sharper now, “to be judged and to swear your loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire itself. The fme reveals all — strength, treachery, and truth. Let none approaworthy, for the Empire does not five deceit.”
A bck armored finger exteo point at the seating furthest from where Krion sat by himself. “Step forward, ss of Archducal House Silverwind.”
Almost before the Lord Sentinel fialking, the small group of young nobles with silver hair sitting in the Silverwiion stood as oo make their way to the stage. Based on their appearances and expressed fidence, Krion guessed the lower-ranking members of the house were bei up to the fme first. Much like what had gone on before, each s swore their agreement to the question the Lord Sentinel asked, then braved the emerald fmes. What was different, however, is that ead every one of them ged in some on their emergence from the fire. At first g was mostly reflected in hair being more silver and bodies being more lean, but Krion expected other, less noticeable ges had happened as well.
Then the Lord Sentinel did something that he hadn’t doo this point. He annouhe final figure of House Silverwind by name.
“Seraphina Valenor Silverwind. Step forward and swear yourself to the Empire.”
Unsciously, Krion leaned forward in his chair to watch as a young woman with striking silver hair that shimmered like captured moonlight stepped onto the stage. Her expression was serene, her steps precise and unhurried. When she reached the crystal altar, the Lord Sentinel gestured silently for her to kneel. Seraphina lowered herself gracefully to the ground, the emerald fme above her surging in respoo a height that no one had yet seen. It practically touched the ceiling.
“Do you, Seraphine Valenor Silverwind, s of the Archducal House Silverwind, swear unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?”
Without hesitation, Seraphina’s clear voice rang out like a bell, “I swear.”
The emerald fme plunged down to envelop her fully. For a moment, the brightness pletely obscured her form. Then, the fme receded, revealing Seraphine unged in body but radiating a quiet, unassaible presence. A faint, silverly glow encircled her as if the wind itself had embraced her. She stood, pale blue eyes gleaming, and gracefully returo her seat amidst whispered admiration.
What happened with House Silverwind became the pattern for the rest of the ceremony. The other Houses, Ironcw, Oakfrost, and Bright were all called with all but one of their members not being addressed by name by the Lord Sentinel. Given that this likely meant that these four individuals would be those he would o avoid above all others while at the Imperial Academy, Krion did his best to pay attention to them as they were called onto the stage.
Garrick Dain Ironcw was the named noble s to be called onto the stage. Where Seraphina’s approach had bee and calm, Garrick had stepped with forceful and resolute strides. Long dark hair hung over broad shoulders, adding to his imposing figure as he marched toward the crystal altar.
While the emerald fme had risen high for Seraphina, farrick it instead flickered wildly. Garrielt before the altar with a defiant fidence, his head bowed only enough to show respect but not submission.
“Do you, Garrick Dain Ironcw, s of the Archducal House Ironcw, swear unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?”
Garrick’s voice responded deep and steady, “I swear.”
The emerald fme engulfed him with an almost feral iy, r like a beast unleashed. So violent was the rush at the young s that some in the audience recoiled. When the fmes receded, Garrick was left transformed as well. His shoulders seemed broader, his stance more unyielding. The faint image of spectral cws shimmered briefly around his hands before vanishing. He stood, pierg green eyes alight with a newfound ferocity which he fixed immediately in the dire of Krion wheurned away from the crystal altar. Krion could practically feel the anger directed his way, though he had no idea why Garrick would feel that toward him, a stranger. It likely had something to do with House Bcksword. He made up his mind then and there to do everything he could to avoid iing with the leading s of House Ironcw. Without a g the crowd, Garrick then strode back to his seat.
had e Liora Arden Oakfrost. Uhe other members of her house, her hair was not the white of pure winter snow, but an auburn that looked almost warm. Upon being called, she had risen from her seat with a quiet grace, her auburn braid swingily behind her as she made her way to the crystal altar. When she reached it, she had k smoothly, her head fully bowed in solemn respebsp;
“Do you, Liora Arden Oakfrost, s of the Archducal House Oakfrost, swear unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?”
Liora’s voice responded softly, “I swear.”
Uhe previously named ss, the emerald fme swirled around her in graceful patterns prior to slowly coalesg around her. Rather than a roar, or even a crackle, the fmes almost seemed to hum as they roiled around her. As slowly as it had begun, it was soon over. Liora stood, auburn hair now gleaming with golden highlights, her moss-green eyes now glowing faintly, almost like they were infused with the vitality of some a forest.
She rose with quiet dignity auro her seat, but not before Krion thought she gnced in his dire. He wasn’t sure because as soon as he thought he made eye tact, she was again looking ahead to her own house’s seating. Hopefully, if she had looked at him, it had beeo something like idle curiosity rather than iional focus for some other reason.
Finally, there was only o remaining group before it would be his turn. The Archducal House Bright. Ead every one of the s possessed golden-blonde hair and, for some reason, bright white smiles they directed all around themselves as they made their way onto the stage. Evehey somehow seemed to pale in parison to the highest ranking s of their house. Caspian Aric Bright was, in a word, charismatic. His smile, his golden-blonde hair just a shade brighter thahers, even his golden eyes, all drew the attention of everyone in the amphitheater as he answered the summons of the Lord Sentinel. His gait was fident, almost jaunty, as though he were walking onto the stage to accept a prize rather than undergo a trial.
“Do you, Caspian Aric Bright, s of the Archducal House Bright, swear unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?”
Caspian’s voice was smooth and fident in response, “I swear.”
The emerald fmes then did something that hadn’t happened before. With the others they had ged shape or approach, but the color had remaihe same. For Caspian, however, faint streaks of gold appeared. The fire danced around him with a pyful energy, and all could clearly make out the smile on Caspian’s face even as the fmes pressed in close to him. When they evertually pulled back to reveal the young s of House Bright, his already radiaures seemed just a bit more defined, his hair still brighter, and his golden-eyes possessing a captivating glow for a moment, only for Caspian to blink it away. He rose, fshing a charming smile at the crowd, theuro his seat with a stride that spoke of supreme fidence. While Krion could tell that many in the audience seemed to be drawn to the young man, for him something just seemed a little off. Before he could examihe thought further, the words that he had been hoping, dreading, were spoken by the Lord Sentinel.
“Krion von Sturmwacht of the Archducal House Bcksword. Step forward and swear yourself to the Empire.”
The Amphitheater of Indu fell utterly still. All at once, Kriohat every gaze was fixed on him. As he stood to follow the Lord Sentinel’s and, he got a look at the ranks of nobility that sat behind him. Some eyes were filled with curiosity, but the vast majority were filled with wariness or even ht suspi. The murmurs that had followed his early walk to the Bcksword se returned, sharped and more insistent. The whispers carried questions, judgments, and disbelief.
Kriohe weight of their eyes, the impact of their whispers, like a physical force pressing down on him. His pulse quied, and he fought to keep his expressioral. He stepped into the aisle, the echo of his boots against the floor sounding loud in his ears. Each step he took closer to the crystal altar, the Altar of the Foreswor heavier tha.
As he walked, fragments of versation again reached his ears. Those that he could most clearly figure out came from the seats of the other Archducal houses.
“—se—”
“—Bcksword? I thought they wouldn’t send ahis year.”
“—the scars. How did he—”
The words swirled around him, but Krion forced himself to focus. Stepping onto the stage, he approached the crystal altar. The emerald fme h over it pulsed with an iy that seemed to pick up the closer he came.
When he reached the spot just in front of the altar, Krion paused. The silence around him was deafening, broken only by the sound of his owhing and the emerald fme that loomed before him. Slowly, deliberately, Krio, posture held rigid as he lowered his head.
“Do you, Krion von Sturmwacht, s of the Archducal House Bcksword, swear unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?”
Krio a voice emerge from his throat that spoke deep and resolutely in response, “I swear.”
The emerald fmes exploded, surging like a living thing to fill fully half of the massive stage, its roar shattering the silence of the amphitheater.
Krion heard the briefest of gasps from the crowd before the fire smmed into him from all sides. Heat danced across his body, yet lingering ever so slightly on his scars as it moved. Far less intehan he expected, it felt only unfortably warm. For long mihe fme seemed to slow, almost as if fog on probing the depths of his being. The heat faded enough that he was able to get a glimpse of what was happening outside the fire around him.
The Lord Sentinel watched ily, his masked face revealing nothing, but for those who cared to look closely, there was a tension in his stahat spoke volumes. This was no ordinary indu ceremony. Eveher Archducal ss, seated in their respective ses, leaned forward, their gazes fixed on Krion with a mix of i and apprehension. But before he could look farther afield, it happened.
Words appeared in front of him, formed of the emerald fme.
Do you, Krion von Sturmwacht of the Archducal House Bcksword, swear your loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire of Treverorum? Do you vow to uphold your duties as a s of Archducal blood, to lead, protect, and serve at the highest levels of the Empire?
Accept to awakereverorum Empire nobility system.
Refusal will result in forfeiture of your bloodliatus.
Accept: Yes/No
Krion’s throat tightened as he struggled to take a deep breath through the heat. The significe of the moment pressed down on him. It wasn’t just the weight of the ceremony, or the pressure of what it meant to be a noble s in the Empire — it was the sense of something far greater, a power beyond his prehension, was reag through the emerald fmes around him to demand his absolute loyalty.
“I accept,” he spoke again, though no one would be able to hear him over the fmes.
The words hung in the air for a moment, and as they left his lips, it was as if the entire world held its breath. Then the fmes darted in still closer, coiling tightly along his limbs, again moving like a living thing. It moved up and down his body, but for urpose Krion could not tell. It took its time, doing whatever it was doing.
But then, something ged.
The emerald fme began to waver, and theensity picked up by aire order of magnitude. Where before he had been able tely see through the fires to the Amphitheater of Indu around him, everything turned into shifting shapes and blurred images. A strange hum filled the fmes around him, vibrating through the burning air with a low, ominous pitch. It resonated deep within Krion’s chest, as though the very grouh his feet was trembling. His hands, which had been steady moments before, ched into fists to stop the trembling he felt ing.
Above him a ranslut prompt appeared, shimmeriically in the air. The words were flickering, unstable, as though the System itself was struggling to process something it didn’t uand.
Error: Authority flict Detected. Swearing loyalty… failed.
The words disappeared, leaving a sense of terrifying finality in Krion. What did that mean? The ceremony had proceeded fwlessly for all but one of the young noble ss that were there to enroll in the Imperial Academy. All but one had sworn their loyalty, received the blessing of the fme, and unlocked their noble birthright. Yet here he was, caught in the middle of something that felt dangerously out of pce.
The hum deepened, now a resonating thrum that vibrated his body down to the marrow of his bones. He could feel it in his chest, in his head, a force trying to pull at him, to tear something from him.
The emerald fme that bore down on him from all sides began to take on a bck hue.
Then, for a brief, fleeting instant, Krio a surge of power course through him — an energy so raw, so primal, that he was left breathless in its iy. New words appeared before him.
Error: Loyalty override applied.
Krion’s breath hitched. The System was… bypassing something. He didn’t know what that meant, but ces were, with his luck, it wouldn’t be good. His entire body tense, muscles locked in pce as his mind raced, trying to grasp what was happening. Before he could make any sense of it, a final notification appeared in front of him.
Nobility System unlog… plete.
At that moment, the emerald fmes surged again, brighter and more intehan before. Even the rough outlines and shapes around him in the amphitheater disappeared into nothing but endlessly shifting fire. It washed over him, pletely engulfing his body. This time, it did not merely coil around him; it ed him utterly, ing him in a searing inferno of energy. The fme roared like an untrolble beast, its light sht that Krion’s eyes felt like they were burning in his skull, even after he ched them shut. The temperature rose higher, but again he did not burn. It was as if the fire was sinking into him — burning through his body, trying to reshape him.
And then the pain began.
His body felt as though it was being pulled apart. His muscles tightened, and he felt a strange weight settling in his bones as if the fme were expanding his form, remaking him into something greater than he had been. His breath came in short, ragged bursts as the fire tie. All around, nothing but the green light.
As abruptly as it started, it ended.
Opening his eyes revealed that the fmes had died down, revealiill k at the crystal altar, panting, his chest heaving. He made to stand, but as he did so Krion’s eyes fixed themselves on his refle in the crystal altar in front of him. His once-dark hard had deepened into bck strands tinged with an unnatural shade, darker than the night itself. His eyes had shifted told hue. Even his body had ged. Where before he had been tall and a bit rger than most, now he had grown taller still, more imposing, and his frame had filled out to beore solid, more muscur. He felt stronger.
Standing, Krion turo face the Lord Sentinel. Still motionless, he stood with his crimson-streaked white mask tilted slightly as though scrutinizing Krion’s ges. To Krion, the bck armored figure, imposing before, had settled into a stahat exuded tension and curiosity, a rare break iherwise impcable demeanor the Lord Sentinel had maintaihrough the rest of the ceremony.
When the Lord Sentinel made ure otherwise, Krion turned and began to make his way back to where he had been sitting in the se set aside for House Bcksword. As he did, Krion looked over the gathered nobility in the ses around the stage. What he saw caused him to nearly miss a step.
Rows upon rows of silent nobility stared back at him, to a oheir faces pale and eyes wide with shod something else — fear, perhaps, or awe. The ss of the other Archducal Houses, seated promily before the stage, were no exception. Even the posed and fident ones bore expressions of unease. A quick sweeping gnce showed Seraphina and Liora to have worried expressions. Caspian had a calg look that was quickly covered over with a bnk expression as their eyes made tact. Worst was Garrick’s furious gre that Krion knew remained fixed on him even after he had turned his attention away from the s of House Ironcw.
Kriouro his seat uhe eyes of the crowd, still trying to ualy what had happened. He froze as the System caused another set of words to appear in front of him.
Noble Awakening: SuccessBloodline Validation: SuccessCharacter Sheet Modification: SuccessError: Unbound from Imperial Loyalty straintsError: Ied Prerogatives Locked
Again he cursed the fact he had only the barest uanding about the System and everything tied to it. But that would be a problem for ter. Right now, he wao see exactly what was meant by a modification to his character sheet.
Brag himself, he mentally pulled it up.
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