"Thank you, Chosen Thalen." The Bishop nodded to the man as he collected the parchment. The man bowed before returning to his place at the wall.
Ren was already cataloging the positions of all the Chosen in the room, trying to gauge the levels of the resonance loops they were building and deciding who to take out first.
The Bishop turned to the aspirants with the parchment held in both hands, raising it to his face with a solemn expression.
The murmurs that previously filled the room faded into tense silence as the other Chosen stationed along the walls stood straighter, unmoving, their eyes fixed ahead.
"We shall begin the headcount." The Bishop announced grandly.
He looked down to read the parchment, opened his mouth, and froze.
There was a few seconds of silence before the aspirants burst into hushed whispers, trying to figure out what was going on.
The Bishop stood there as still as a statue, still staring down at the parchment.
