The air bit into my fur like a thousand silver needles as we reached the trial grounds—a glacial basin encircled by jagged pillars of ice. Elder Liang floated onto a frost-covered dais, his sleeves billowing despite the windless cold. "The first test is simple," he said, tapping the ice with one toe. A spiderweb of cracks erupted beneath him, revealing pitch-black water that hissed where it met the air. "Survive the Shattered Tides. Your body is your greatest tool... and liability." My paws clenched at the reminder—while the other disciples had human forms to balance on the floating ice shards, I’d need to rely on brute strength. A murmur rippled through the gathered candidates; I caught a fox-eared girl smirking. "The runt of the litter shouldn’t bother," she whispered, loud enough for me to hear. Heat flared in my chest—not from anger, but the first spark of defiance. Let them underestimate me.

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