The Spirit Strand battle was a simple test, and all the students were aware of it.
Basically, each student would place their hand upon the Spirit Converging Crystal, a relic designed to measure the number of Spirit Strands within their body. These strands represented the depth of their Arcane Energy, the foundation of their power.
But everyone already knew the outcome if this was what they decided to use as a method to select their representative…
Skye had last measured twenty‑nine strands. That was when she entered the Academy.
For her age, it was an impossible number, a gulf that separated her from her peers.
Ruth and Vin, prodigies in their own right, had twenty‑five and twenty‑four, respectively. To outsiders, the difference might seem small, but among practitioners, each strand was a chasm.
At their age, even a single strand could mean at least six months of training and refinement.
Professor Zeno smiled faintly as the students murmured, then shook his head.
