Chapter 134 – The Resonance Beyond

Chapter 134: Chapter 134 – The Resonance Beyond

The next morning, Azrael and Seraphina went directly to Headmaster Orion’s office.

The tournament had ended the previous evening, and most of the academy was still talking about the results. Marcus had already managed to tell several students that their victory was largely because of his "exceptional leadership," despite everyone knowing that Seraphina had coordinated most of the team’s movements during the final battle.

Azrael had no interest in correcting him.

The distant resonance was more important.

Orion looked up when the twins entered his office.

"I assume this isn’t about the tournament."

Seraphina smiled faintly.

"No."

Orion placed the document in his hand aside.

"Then sit."

The twins took the seats opposite him.

Azrael spoke first.

"There’s something we need to report."

Orion’s expression became serious.

"Another discovery?"

"No."

Azrael paused.

"Another resonance."

Orion’s eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

"We don’t know."

"How strong?"

"Very weak."

Orion waited.

Azrael continued.

"But it isn’t ordinary."

Seraphina placed her hands together.

"I felt it too."

That changed Orion’s expression.

"You both sensed the same thing?"

They nodded.

"Describe it."

Azrael thought carefully.

"It feels distant. Much farther than the northern mountains. It doesn’t behave like an ordinary fluctuation."

Seraphina added, "It doesn’t feel hostile either."

Orion leaned back.

"Then what does it feel like?"

The twins exchanged a glance.

Azrael answered.

"Like something calling."

The room became quiet.

Orion didn’t dismiss the idea.

Instead, he stood and walked toward the large window overlooking the academy.

"Interesting."

He folded his arms.

"How long have you been sensing it?"

"A few days."

"Why didn’t you report it earlier?"

Azrael answered honestly.

"Because I wasn’t certain it was worth investigating."

Orion glanced back at him.

"And now?"

"Seraphina sensed it too."

Orion nodded slowly.

"That makes it different."

Orion opened a drawer beneath his desk and removed several old documents.

He placed them across the table.

Most were academy records concerning unusual energy fluctuations.

One described a phenomenon near the eastern territories.

Another mentioned a strange pulse detected almost thirty years earlier.

A third contained nothing more than a series of incomplete observations.

Seraphina examined them.

"These are all different."

"Yes."

Orion pointed to the first document.

"This was recorded as a natural energy disturbance."

He moved to the second.

"This one was believed to be caused by an ancient formation."

Then he placed his finger on the final document.

"And this one was never explained."

Azrael looked at it.

"Where?"

Orion pointed toward a marked location on the map.

"East."

Azrael studied the distance.

It was nowhere near the northern mountains.

The location was several territories away.

"What happened there?"

"Nothing."

Azrael looked up.

"Nothing?"

"The fluctuation appeared for approximately three minutes."

Orion turned the document around.

"Then it disappeared."

Seraphina frowned.

"Was anyone injured?"

"No."

"Buildings destroyed?"

"No."

"Monsters?"

"None."

She looked confused.

"Then why was it recorded?"

Orion smiled slightly.

"Because the academy records everything unusual."

Azrael looked back at the map.

"Did it resemble what we sensed?"

"That is what I want to know."

The twins remained in the office for another hour.

Orion asked them to describe the resonance separately.

Azrael described it as a rhythm hidden beneath the world’s energy.

Seraphina described it as something that felt alive without possessing the presence of an ordinary living creature.

Their descriptions were different.

But the location they independently indicated on the map was nearly identical.

Orion noticed.

"You aren’t simply detecting the same fluctuation."

Azrael looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Your perceptions are complementary."

Seraphina considered that.

"Because of Genesis and Oblivion?"

"Perhaps."

Orion didn’t claim certainty.

"Whatever the reason, I don’t want either of you investigating this alone."

Azrael nodded.

"Understood."

"And you won’t be returning to the northern mountains either."

Marcus would probably be relieved.

Seraphina smiled.

"We weren’t planning to."

Orion gathered the documents.

"I’ll send a message to several regional observatories. If the fluctuation appears again, we may be able to identify its source."

Azrael stood.

"And if it doesn’t?"

"Then we wait."

Azrael accepted the answer.

That was becoming easier for him.

Not everything needed to be pursued immediately.

By midday, academy life had returned to normal.

The tournament banners were being removed from the central arena, and the students had already begun returning to their usual classes.

Marcus, however, seemed unwilling to let the tournament end.

"We should celebrate."

Ryan looked at him.

"We already celebrated last night."

"That wasn’t enough."

"What exactly do you want?"

"A feast."

Elena shook her head.

"You just want free food."

"That is an unfair accusation."

Sophia laughed.

"It’s accurate, though."

Marcus looked toward Azrael and Seraphina.

"You two agree with me."

Seraphina smiled.

"I do."

Azrael glanced at Marcus.

"Food is reasonable."

Marcus immediately pointed at Ryan.

"See?"

Ryan sighed.

"Fine."

The group eventually left the academy grounds and found a small restaurant in the nearby district.

For once, there were no ruins.

No monsters.

No ancient symbols.

No mysterious doors.

Just food.

Marcus spent most of the meal describing his greatest moments from the tournament, occasionally exaggerating his contribution.

Caelan corrected him several times.

Lyanna quietly ate while listening.

Sophia laughed whenever Marcus’s stories became too ridiculous.

Even Azrael relaxed.

Seraphina noticed.

"You really are getting better at this."

"At what?"

"Living normally."

Azrael looked around the table.

"I suppose I am."

Marcus immediately leaned forward.

"Did you just admit that you’re enjoying yourself?"

Azrael took another bite.

"Don’t ruin it."

Everyone laughed.

Later that afternoon, the twins returned to the training grounds.

They didn’t train.

Instead, they sat beneath the same tree where they had spoken several evenings earlier.

Seraphina leaned against the trunk.

"Do you think Orion believes us?"

"Yes."

"Even though we can’t explain what it is?"

"He doesn’t need an explanation to believe that we sensed something."

She looked toward the sky.

"Do you think the resonance is connected to us?"

Azrael was quiet.

"I don’t know."

"That’s an honest answer."

"I’m trying to give more of those."

Seraphina smiled.

They remained there for several minutes.

Then a familiar sensation touched their awareness.

Both twins looked up at exactly the same time.

The resonance had returned.

This time, it was clearer.

Not stronger.

Clearer.

Azrael closed his eyes.

The world seemed to become quiet around him.

He could feel the academy.

The surrounding city.

The distant mountains.

The countless lives scattered across the land.

And somewhere beyond all of it...

A pulse.

Seraphina reached for the sensation through a different path.

Golden energy gathered faintly around her fingers.

She didn’t force it open.

She simply listened.

Then her eyes widened.

"Azrael."

"I felt it."

"It changed."

He nodded.

"It responded."

The resonance passed through them.

For a brief moment, Azrael sensed something that didn’t feel like an attack.

It wasn’t a warning.

It wasn’t an invitation.

It was simply recognition.

Then it vanished.

Seraphina lowered her hand.

"What was that?"

Azrael opened his eyes.

"I don’t know."

She smiled.

"You’re getting good at saying that."

He gave her a look.

"You’re enjoying this."

"A little."

That evening, Orion received reports from the academy’s regional observation network.

Three separate monitoring stations had recorded a minor fluctuation.

All three were located east of the academy.

Orion studied the reports carefully.

The timing matched.

The duration matched.

And the energy signature was remarkably similar.

He walked to the large map hanging on his office wall.

Three locations had been marked.

They formed a rough line.

Orion followed the line with his finger.

His expression slowly changed.

The three points weren’t random.

They were moving.

Not quickly.

Not predictably.

But each new occurrence was slightly farther east than the previous one.

Orion remained silent.

Then he looked toward the academy grounds below.

The tournament had ended.

The northern expedition was still being investigated.

And now something else was moving across the world.

He didn’t know what it was.

But unlike the northern ruins, this phenomenon wasn’t waiting in one place.

It was traveling.

That night, Azrael stood beside the window of his room.

Seraphina was already asleep.

Astraeus rested against the wall.

Azrael looked toward the eastern horizon.

He couldn’t feel the resonance anymore.

But he remembered its rhythm.

It hadn’t felt like a threat.

It had felt like recognition.

He thought about the old master’s lessons.

Listen before you act.

Azrael closed his eyes.

He would listen.

For now, that was enough.

Far beyond the academy, another faint pulse passed through the world.

Then another.

And somewhere along the eastern horizon, something answered.