“Step forward,” Elder River gestured the first child forward, “Approach the chalice, and announce yourself.”

  The boy looked extremely uncomfortable being first up. No parents escorted him, so Tristan had to assume he was either not cared for, or an orphan. That was enough for Tristan to dismiss him.

  Shadow Fist smacked Tristan on the back of the head, maybe he had let too much show on his face. His father muttered in Tristan’s ear, “His parents are both warriors and could not make it back from the ramparts, don’t judge people based on assumptions.”

  Tristan tried to feel ashamed, but he was now interested in this boy. Standing before the chalice he said, “My name is Kerri, son of Erin and Water Burr.”

  So his mother had a title, Tristan wondered what she had done to earn it. His thought was interrupted when Elder River nodded, “You have respectable parents, dip one finger in the chalice and place that in your mouth. No more than one.”

  Elder River mumbled something Tristan couldn’t hear, however, it must have been important judging by the response. Kerri immediately did as he was prompted. His face paled and his body shivered when he placed his finger in his mouth. For a moment Tristan thought that Kerri had stopped breathing. It only lasted a moment, before Kerri jolted upright with a deep breath.

  Elder River did not seem surprised at this reaction, simply looking into whatever liquid was held in the chalice, “Oh, my.” He murmured, then stated the second reason why communal siftings were held, “Kerri has a water kern like his parents, and he has high tier four potential.”

  Silence settled over the crowd. Tristan knew from the rants that his uncle gave that there were two different reasons for the silence. For everyone in the River Caldera, it was cause for celebration. For everyone else, they now had to deal with the Elder River being able to field the strongest person in the Caldera. It would be a decade before the issue would become urgent, but it would invariably come.

  Tristan was unhappy for a completely different reason. He was supposed to be the most important one here. Now, no matter what happened, he would be relegated to second place. People probably wouldn’t even remember he was here.

  He quickly ran through his chances of getting a tier four kern. Shadow Fist had taught Tristan the statistics long ago. Sixty percent were tier zero, thirty were tier one, ten were tier two, and threes hovered right around one percent. There was not even a statistic for tier four.

  Tristan took a deep breath and clapped politely for Kerri. Even if he was part of the River Caldera, a tier four on the ramparts would make the Caldera safer. Nodding to himself, Tristan decided that he would act happy for Kerri, regardless of his true feelings.

  The second person in line was a girl with a dark kern with tier zero potential. That sounded bad and it made Tristan nervous about getting the same outcome. Tier zero simply meant that she was average. She would only be able to use their abilities to do minor things like activate the farming artifacts or see slightly better in the dark. Tristan honestly felt bad for the girl, her parents wore the tough clothing of hard laborers, and her future was set in stone and set quite low.

  Both teens had pale faces as if they had seen a ghost when they stepped off the stage. Tristan wondered if the black water in the chalice was toxic. He did not think so, he was sure his father would have prepared him if there was a survival component to the test. However, there was also a chance that Shadow Fist was unwilling to break tradition and tell him.

  Tristan felt Elder River’s gaze land on him once it was his turn, “Next, step forward, don’t be tardy.”

  Frowning, Tristan obediently stepped up onto the wooden stage. Elder Forest clenched his fists at the jab Elder River had just thrown. Most teens would not have caught it, but Shadow Fist had been educating Tristan to notice things like this. Elder River had just put a subconscious idea in everyone’s mind that Tristan was lazy. That would reflect poorly on his family regardless of its voracity.

  Unfortunately, this peaceful summit was a poor place for retaliation. Shadow Fist stepped up behind him and walked with Tristan to the stand in front of the black smoking chalice. The black water looked especially unappetizing up close. Black fog meant something was poisonous, right?

  It didn’t matter, even if it was poisonous, he couldn’t let his parents down, “I am Tristan, son of Shadow Fist and Helen and only current heir to the Forest Caldera.”

  His mother had been the only one in the Forest Caldera’s head family to have a child. It was the most likely reason that his uncle disliked him. While he did not ask for the position, it did not mean that he would not live up to it.

  Elder River raised an eyebrow at Tristan’s impudent tone. He nodded to him, and gave Tristan a grandfatherly smile, “ It is nice to meet Elder Forest's nephew, grow and support him and his children.”

  Tristan could only nod, “Yes, Elder River.”

  Elder River chuckled at Tristan's expression of irritation and said, “Young man, dip one finger in the chalice. Go ahead and place that finger in your mouth.” He then lowered his voice so only those on the stage could hear, “The will of the grand ancestor was forged into this artifact during its creation so don’t be worried when you see a vision of the founder's life, it is his gift to you.”

  So that was what the Elder had said to those in line before Tristan. At least he understood why they were pale now, having a mental talk with a hero must be taxing in the extreme.

  Tristan nodded and extended one finger, placing it in the black smoke wafting out of the chalice. It did not feel like water, it was more viscous, like paint, however, it was very cold, to the point of causing a burning feeling. He immediately placed his finger in his mouth and sucked. There was no new taste, nothing by which he could determine that anything was on his finger - even the cold vanished as soon as he touched his tongue.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Suddenly, the unbearable cold seized his mind. Tristan tried to move or scream, he had felt worse pain before, but the feeling of something foreign seizing his consciousness was terrifying. It only took a few minutes for his vision to shut down, but he remained aware of everything. He could still feel everything; the sun, the grass, the rustling of leaves in the wind.

  Wait…. grass, leaves?

  He was standing on a wooden stage, no trees stood within a quarter mile. Even then those were pine trees, they wouldn’t create the same sounds he was hearing.

  Tristan attempted to open his eyes and found that he could. What he found was disconcerting. The world was small, an island of greenery floating in a starry void. Everything was in greyscale. His mind knew what colors things should be, and it inhibited his ability to truly get a good understanding of his surroundings. He did not fear falling off the floating rock, this was all in his head. Nothing could hurt him in a vision.

  Looking around he saw a man seated on a rock. The man was different than anyone else Tristan had ever seen, though he was not entirely sure what he had expected the Grand Ancestor to appear as. The man had charcoal black skin, eyes with black irises, and wore leather snakeskin armor over black robes. Tristan would never say it out loud, but the Grand Ancestor had a very sinister appearance.

  He was tall, but Tristan would be taller when he finished growing. Tristan realized he was looking at a hero from the past, from a time before humanity was limited to the caldera like he was some oddity in an antique shop. Immediately, Tristan fell to his knees and bowed to the Grand.

  “Tristan pays his respect to the Grand Ancestor,” He shouted, not caring that his voice broke halfway through.

  “Good morning, young man.” Sai said with a smile, “What can I do for you?”

  Tristan felt a sense of peace fill the small floating island. It made the grey world feel less hostile and more like home, “I was told that you would assist me with knowledge from your life.”

  That was not exactly true, but it was close enough. All Elder River had said was that it would be a gift, not what that gift would be. There was nothing wrong with steering it in a particular direction.

  Sai’s smile turned sad and he looked at the stars, “Did you know, I never wanted to be venerated like a god? I met them. The gods, I mean. I watched them wage war. Unfortunately for you, they won in their own small way.”

  Tristan was confused. However, he was not in a position to judge the Grand Ancestor’s words. They would be wise and he would follow them, after all this man had laid the groundwork for the entire caldera. Tristan felt ill-equipped to rule the small piece he was destined to take.

  The Grand Ancestor stood to his full height and a gauntlet of darkness coalesced around his hand, “I am not blind, and I try to engineer the survival of everyone like you, but it’s so hard to predict the actions of zealots.”

  An inkling of fear settled in Tristan. He tried to get back to his feet, tried to back away. Despite appearing to be strolling along, Sai was in the Heroic realm. Tier six at the minimum, a slow walk from him was faster than Tristan could sprint.

  A hand closed around Tristan’s throat and pulled him from the ground. He tried to pull the fingers apart, but his entire arm was unable to even budge Sai’s pinky.

  “Why?” Was the only thing that Tristan could get out as he looked into the black eyes of the Grand Ancestor.

  “I want you to live,” Sai raised a clawed hand, “If I don’t punish you, the zealots will kill you.”

  Tristan had only come here to learn about his kern. Now he was dangling from the grip of someone he sang songs about in Temple gatherings. What had he done? He had tried to always do what was right, he had studied hard and obeyed his parents. All things the Grand Ancestor supposedly promoted.

  The Grand Ancestor moved in a blur, the black gauntlet sinking into Tristan’s chest. He tried to squirm out of the way, the only thing he succeeded in doing was taking a lung shot as opposed to a heart shot.

  All he could think was, “At least this is a vision.” Then the pain came. If none of this was real, then why did it hurt so bad?

  Sai raised an eyebrow, “You have my blood, so the Forest Caldera can survive.”

  Tristan had no idea what the crazy man was talking about. He was too focused on himself to care. The fist clenched and a part of Tristan’s chest was torn out. There was surprisingly little blood, but that did not mean anything against the new wave of agony.

  “Do your best to survive in the new world you find yourself in,” Sai said, before dropping Tristan’s limp body onto the ground.

  At first, Tristan thought he was dead, but dead people weren't supposed to feel pain and his chest was blazing. His first thought was, what the hell was that? Shadow Fist should have told him the Grand Ancestor would try to kill him. How had the others dealt with it so well?

  Soon, he got an answer. He opened his eyes and groaned. Tristan was definitely back in the normal world as the first thing he saw was River looking down at him with a dark expression. He was glancing from Tristan to the surface of the water where his kern tier and potential would be visible.

  Normally, Tristan would be able to see what his kern and potential were as well. Unfortunately, he had immediately fallen to his knees and started vomiting blood. The Grand Ancestor could hurt people in the real world from a dream. Tristan shivered a bit from that revelation.

  It hurt, but not nearly as bad as what Elder River announced next, “Potential tier zero. Kern, metal.” His faux grandfatherly nature was gone, “All you youth, gaze upon the sworn enemies of the Caldera! Those with a heart of steel, and silver blood. We have this sifting to find these exact people. The Grand Ancestor judges them and finds them guilty.”

  Tristan tried to stand and deny the accusation leveled at him. Another coughing fit sent him back to his knees. Looking at his father, he tried to tell him to deny it. Shadow Fist stood stiffly, not saying anything.

  River looked at Forest, “ He is your clansman, fix your mistake.”

  Forest grimaced, he obviously did not like being told what to do. However, that would not stop him from carrying out his duty to protect the Caldera. He started walking towards Tristan his hand ablaze with fire. It was easily hotter than his mother's. The air shimmered around Elder Forest's fingers as he prepared to end his nephew.

  “No,” Tristan's mother stepped between them, her hands also were aflame, “don't touch my son.”

  Tristan did not doubt that she would be subdued and nothing about the situation would change. However, intercession came from a surprising source.

  “HELLEN! Step back, “ Shadow fist yelled, his voice echoing over the gathering.

  Tristan's mom flinched, glancing back at her husband, “What? Why? They want to kill our son!” She screamed, unmoving.

  Of all the things that could have been said, Tristan did not expect laughter to be his father’s response. Tristan watched as he walked by, then was shocked again as his father kicked him in the side. He rolled a few times leaving spots of blood where his mouth bounced off the wood planks.

  Shadow Fist’s mirth died down, “Sure, and for good reason. He's a tier zero metal kern, he is a silver devil, he is a threat. Well, barely with that tier zero potential.”

  Forest paused, looking on, intrigued at the interaction. He was not inclined to raise his hand against his nephew if he did not have to. Tristan was in shock, tier zero. Metal. He was a silver devil. That would at least explain Sai’s actions, though not his emotions. Then a realization set in, his uncle was going to kill him.

  Shadow Fist turned and glared at Elder River, “ I do believe you were wrong in your judgment.”

  Elder River just raised an eyebrow, he said in a dangerous tone, “Pray tell, how have we strayed from what is right.”

  Shadow fist smirked, “ I am the new blood added to the head family of Forest Caldera so this is because of my blood. The way I see it there are two ways to interpret what is necessary. First, this is my mistake, so it is my duty to fix it.”

  Tristan cringed back from his father as one of Shadow Fist's hands dropped to the dagger at his waist.

  "What's the second,” Forest was nodding.

  “Second, I cannot speak to this interpretation as I am not an elder. I do not know the ways of the Grand Ancestor Sai. However, the Grand Ancestor chose to maim and not kill Tristan despite possessing the ability to do so. As his father, I may be biased, so it is not my place to interpret…..” He looked from Tristan and locked eyes with the elders on stage. He folded his hands behind his back, waiting for their judgement.