In one of the palace rooms, Atenyos woke up in complete agony, pain coursing through his body from head to toe. But there was one place where the pain was the most intense—imagine the sensation of every bone in your hands shattering into dust. Although he was physically unharmed, it didn’t feel that way. He screamed as if waking from a nightmarish dream, and as soon as his eyes opened, the pain vanished, as though it had been washed away.

"Augh."

"What the hell happened?" Atenyos mumbled, adjusting himself on the bed he was lying on.

“We want to know that too. What happened, Atenyos?” A deep voice asked, one so powerful it made Atenyos's chest tighten, as if he were standing on top of Mount Seran.

I glanced to my left, and there he was. I knew him by name, but I had never seen him in person—Kantara, Irium's Emperor Candidate. A man with the power to strike fear into anyone he considered an enemy or threat.

I answered simply, “I don't know.”

And I really didn’t. All I remembered was the excruciating pain and the sensation of my hands being crushed under an immense force.

"I see. So you don't remember. That’s what we expected." Kantara’s eyes narrowed. "Let me tell you what happened. You went to meet the essence to see if you'd gain its favor and its ring. But three minutes in, you were thrown from the room and smashed into the palace walls. We brought you here. Now, answer me, Atenyos—what is your power? Why do you have two rings? And why is one pure black and the other pure white? You must have received some knowledge, as the rest of us did, about your powers."

I looked down at my hands, and there they were—a black ring on my right hand and a white ring on my left. The scars I had borne since childhood greeted me once more.

Atenyos was speechless. The truth was, he hadn’t gained any knowledge at all. He knew no more about what had happened than the others did.

"I don't know," he stammered. "I... I didn’t receive any knowledge. I don’t remember anything. All I recall is the pain... and a white light that jumped toward me, engulfing me." He shuddered, the memory of the agony still fresh.

Kantara seemed to believe him, as Atenyos’s words rang true. The fact that his rings were inscribed with "0.01%" suggested that even if he had gained a power, it was insignificant—a percentage so small it posed no threat. Or so Kantara thought. Little did he know...

Kantara explained that they would now move to the capital of Terram, as Atenyos belonged to Irium’s land. He was offered proper attire, but he refused, choosing to wear the ragged clothes he had walked in with.

The carriage awaited them at the palace gates, ready to depart. They were already two days late due to Atenyos’s condition.

At the top of the palace stood Setis and Iruim.

“What do you make of this, Iruim? This is the first time the light has behaved this way. Based on Kantara’s report, it seems the light engulfed him,” Setis asked, a mix of confusion, worry, and agitation in his voice.

“I don't know, Setis,” Iruim replied. “Even though his percentage doesn’t seem threatening, we can’t take our eyes off him. He’s under my watch now, and I’ll report everything that happens. We need to understand what’s going on, and what that black ring represents.”

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"Okay, Iruim. You know I trust you. I’ll leave this in your hands. But remember—if you even have the slightest doubt that he could be a threat, eliminate him without hesitation. That’s not an order, Iruim—that’s a request from a friend who wants to protect the peace we fought so hard for, and sacrificed so much to maintain."

They exchanged a firm handshake, sealing their pact. Iruim then leapt from the palace high-rise, jumping across the castle spires as he headed toward the capital.

Setis walked back to his room in the palace, a chamber as large as a commoner's home, with marble floors and a bed draped in gold. As he sat down, he thought to himself:

"What if that kid is right? He reminds me of Enyos. He always believed the way we dealt with the Witnesses was wrong. He thought we should just end them, not hide behind our walls. But we did what we thought was right. What would you have done in this predicament, Enyos? My friend, I wish you were here. I wish you were here—it would've been so much easier knowing you were standing with us. Maybe we’ve lost too much, Enyos. My comrades, fallen, never to see the light of day or the smiles of their sons. My beloved Anaya… Oh, if only you were all here, would I still have this doubt?

I can't believe the words of a child have shaken my belief in what we've done. We've upheld this system for years, stood by it. Is it really time for change? No. We must protect the peace we've longed for. We will keep fighting the Witnesses, if they so wish to face us. The Bright Dark won't defeat us if we stand together."

Setis spent the entire day reflecting on the encounter and wondering why the Light had chosen only three ring-bearers, and how it had handled that boy. He wanted to continue what they had started, but the doubt lingered.

I’m on my way to the capital. Kantara hasn’t taken his eyes off me, not even giving me a moment to breathe. This is too much. What’s happening to me? Why do I have two rings? And what the fuck is 0.01% output?! Are you kidding me? Oh god... I’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as we return to the guild.

I slept for a bit, and in about a day, we were back at Terram’s Capital and the guild’s headquarters. Kantara led me to my room and told me someone would come to escort me to the training facility. The entire guild would be there to witness my powers.

"What?! What powers?!" Atenyos exclaimed, shocked. "I told you, I don’t have any—or at least I haven’t gained any knowledge of them. What will you be testing?"

“Nothing to worry about, Atenyos. Since you don’t know your powers yet, we won’t ask you to use them. We’ll just test your strength, and you might spar with someone. But don’t worry, no one will go all out on you. This is just to see where you stand,” Kantara said calmly. He wasn’t trying to comfort Atenyos so much as to explain what would happen.

“I’ll be off now. Someone will come to pick you up and take you to the headquarters' training facility,” Kantara said as he stood up to leave Atenyos’ room.

*Sparring?* Atenyos thought to himself. *I know how to fight—I’ve trained for it since I was young—but I don’t stand a chance against a ring bearer. And how will they even test my strength beforehand?*

Atenyos sat by himself, contemplating, and as Kantara had said, 30 minutes later someone came to escort him to the training facility. Inside were about 30 people, all of whom had heard about the scene Atenyos caused on Selection Day. Word spread fast throughout the lands. Some were indifferent and wanted to meet him before making judgments, while others had already taken sides. Some even admired him for standing up to Setis and facing Claruvis.

“He’s here.”

“That guy stood in front of Claruvis? They must’ve exaggerated the story or something.”

“Atenyos, huh.”

As soon as I entered, I heard several ring bearers whispering and looking at me from afar, their stares piercing through me like daggers. *Leave me alone, damn it.*

“Okay, calm down. Sir Iruim is here,” Kantara announced.

The entire room stood at attention, placing their right hands over their hearts as a sign of respect for the Emperor. Atenyos, unsure of what to do, stood there awkwardly.

“At ease. I’m sure everyone here knows who this is, as he caused quite the commotion on Selection Day. But don’t treat him as you would a stranger. He is one of us now. We are a team; we are brothers. We share the same goals, so put aside your personal opinions and emotions. Treat him as an equal,” Iruim said, calm but firm. His words were clearly orders not to be questioned.

“Atenyos, welcome. We’ll now start your tests. At the end of the room, you’ll see a ball. I want you to punch it as hard as you can. It will display a number that will serve as a measure of your physical strength since we still don’t know what your powers are. This will give us a baseline for your prowess, and then we’ll proceed to sparring,” Iruim explained, his tone neutral.

The room fell silent, confusion visible on some faces as Iruim mentioned not knowing what Atenyos’ powers were. This was a first for them, as every other ring bearer had known the full extent of their abilities the moment they gained their rings.

The crystal ball was a device crafted by the land's engineers to measure the physical prowess of those who hit it.

Atenyos was given a path to the crystal ball, which shimmered white. He didn’t care much about what others thought, even if it turned out he was weak. But he still wanted to know for himself how strong he had become after gaining not one but two rings, despite his doubts due to the measly output of 0.01%.

I walked up to the crystal ball. I don’t care about the guild, but I’ll give it my all. I still want to know where I stand.

He stood in position, preparing to hit the ball with power. Iruim watched closely, intrigued by the way Atenyos positioned himself—it reminded him of something, though he couldn’t place it. Atenyos’ hands ached as he stood there, the air around him shifting as though a wind was passing by. His rings glowed faintly as he struck the crystal ball, causing an explosion of air to erupt around him. A loud bang echoed through the room.

Although Atenyos didn’t notice it, Iruim and Kantara saw a spark in his black ring, and the lightning marks on his skin grew larger. He stood tall as the ball displayed the number: 14,654.

The room went silent. What they had just witnessed was the physical prowess of a ring bearer operating at about 14-16% output. Even Iruim looked shocked, and Kantara was almost pushed back by the sheer force of the air blast caused by the hit.

“Atenyos,” Iruim said, his voice shaken, his face still in disbelief at the strength of someone with only a 0.01% output.