Red was the third to reach the altar. We all watched carefully as the cosmic mana descended once again seemingly from the void, and engulfed him whole. His body was no longer visible for a few seconds before like the rest of us, he emerged unharmed.
His expression was defiant as he turned his gaze to glare at me, his fighting spirit seemed to have been ignited after gaining his name, and I could almost see the flames coming out of his body. 'He looks crazier than Golden boy,' I thought as I shook my head with a sigh. 'What a pain,'
Soon, red descended from the altar and rejoined us. He didn't seem interested in watching brown complete his trial and was instead focused on me. I ignored him completely as I turned towards grandfather and asked in curiosity.
'Grandfather, may I ask a question?'
"What is it little one?" He asked with his gaze still fixed on brown who was struggling to continue his ascent.
'What will happen to him if he can't make it to the top?' I asked while motioning to brown with my chin.
At my question, grandfather's gaze turned cold before he replied. "If he can't make it, then that can only mean he wasn't worthy," His answer only served to further confuse me. 'Not worthy? Does that mean he will lose the privilege to be named by the king? Or what exactly?'
The answer to my question soon unfolded before my eyes. Brown who was struggling throughout his climb, finally seemed to have reached his limit. He looked quite pitiful, for some reason his appearance reminded me of Green.
I shook my head to rid myself of such useless thoughts. His limbs were visibly trembling as he seemed to have trouble holding his head up. I was surprised as I wondered, 'Just what sort of pressure is he facing?'
While the aura on those stairs was quite strong and unlike any I have felt before, It was still bearable as long as you did not give up I was sure that making it to the top was not impossible. Yet looking at Brown's pitiful appearance made me question, 'Is he truly facing the same pressure I did?'
'Grandfather, is the pressure we experience all the same?' I asked without removing my gaze from Brown.
My grandfather was silent for a few seconds before he replied. "No, the bigger the pressure the stronger the name," He said causing me to frown. 'But grandfather, I didn't feel any pressure at all except when I first stepped foot on the stairs, does that mean my name is weak?' I asked.
To my question, grandfather used his mana as If it was a giant hand to gently pat my head and replied. "No little one, you are a monster," He said with a grin before continuing. "Now look carefully, what you are watching is the fall of a genius,"
'The fall of a...genius?' I mumbled, I didn't have time to question him anymore as Brown who had barely reached the upper parts of the staircase suddenly missed a step and fell headfirst.
A loud thud resounded throughout the now deathly quiet hall. I glanced about in surprise as everyone watched carefully with serious expressions on their faces. The adults all had frowns as the mood seemed to sour, the younglings on the other hand didn't seem to know much of what was happening yet were also affected by the shift in mood.
The most disturbed one was without a doubt the adult dragon that brought Brown to the trial. One would be unable to tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face, yet his emotions seemed to be in disarray as he watched the youngling fall, unable to get back up.
'What is happening?' I wondered as I turned to look at Brown. He had a defiant expression on his face as he raised his snout high in the air almost as if he was glaring at something only he could see.
I squinted my eyes trying to make out what it was, yet I failed. The cosmic mana blocked my vision, and the only thing I could see was its stream. Although it did seem like I had an affinity to it, cosmic mana was not as docile as water mana, it did not listen to my command nor requests.
Just then, the space above Brown seemed to crack like a glass mirror. I gulped down hard as I felt the adults stiffen, their bodies leaked with a dangerous aura. The combined bloodlust was targeted at the cracks in the void which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The creepy aura caused my scales to tingle as my heart tightened in my chest. 'What is this? I'm afraid?!' I gulped in surprise. This was not the feeling of facing a strong enemy, nor was it the feeling of standing against my grandfather, no this felt like I was facing my natural enemy!
The adult brown dragon seemed to hardly be able to keep himself from bolting up the stairs as his aura soared through the roof. I watched unblinkingly, afraid to miss anything as a strangely obsidian arm with long claws made its way out of the void and towards the collapsed Brown.
'Why is no one moving?!' I didn't know what was that thing, but what I did know was that if nobody did anything Brown was surely going to die!
I almost unconsciously tried to step forward only to be stopped by my grandfather's strong mana, I was about to retaliate in anger, one of our own was going to die by that disgusting thing so why were we standing here doing nothing?!
The words stopped in my throat as I looked at grandfather's bloodshot eyes. His bloodlust was so strong it seemed to form a natural fire that burned space itself around him. "We cannot intervene in the naming ceremony little one, watch and burn this sight into the depths of your soul, those are our enemies, those are the Shades!"
With widened eyes, I turned to look as another clawed arm appeared out of the void, and then another, and another... They all surrounded Brown who had his head raised high in defiance, I could not feel an ounce of fear from him, only hostility and anger. He kept his head high in pride as he released one final roar that seemed to tug at my heartstrings before the claws descended on him.
His body disappeared behind the sea of obsidian arms for what seemed like a few minutes before the arms slowly began to retract back to whatever realm they crawled from, almost reluctant. They did not do so willingly but instead appeared as if they were forced back.
My heart skipped a beat as my eyes fell on what remained of Brown. His body was nothing but bones. He had passed away. 'What the fuck were those things?!'