Getting Strong!

The pack stands in the courtyard, the cold night air thick with tension.

The scent of burning herbs lingers, curling in the air like unseen tendrils of magic.

The elders form a half-circle, their expressions grave, their gazes sharp.

Marsel steps forward. His voice, steady and authoritative, cuts through the silence. "We will begin now."

A pulse of energy ripples through the ground, subtle at first, like a whisper beneath their feet. Then, without warning, it hits.

The test begins.

A thick fog rolls in, swallowing the courtyard in an eerie white mist.

The world shifts, distorts_ shadows twist into unnatural shapes. Illusions.

Ace clenches his fists. He knows this isn't real. He knows it's the elders testing them, but his heartbeat spikes anyway.

His skin burns with a restless heat, his flames reacting to the unseen force.

A flicker, movement in the fog.

Then he hears it.

"Ace…"