The academy's sun rose warm—but the shadows? Colder than usual.
Kain noticed it the moment he stepped into the hallway.
The walls hadn't changed. The marble still gleamed. The teachers still spoke with the same tone. But the air—it whispered something different.
Eyes followed him now.
Students that used to ignore him now moved aside with a beat too much hesitation. Some whispered. Some stared longer than they should.
Not because of rumors.
But because of fear.
He'd ranked third.
No divine mark. No noble blood. No known teacher.
Above children of dukes. Above trained spellcasters.
Just below Kai and Elmore.
And the only people who knew how he did it… were the ones who saw it with their own eyes.
---
Behind Closed Doors – Teacher Conference Room
"That boy Kain... he used a sword technique we don't teach in this school."
Vairon didn't even blink. "He used what he needed to survive."
"You call that survival? That was surgical execution. That was precision. I've never seen a Horizon Flow that refined outside the military."
Another instructor folded her arms. "And no divine signature. Not even a hint of one."
Vairon tapped the scroll beside him. "Then perhaps we should start asking better questions… about the kind of student we've been training."
The room fell quiet.
One thing was becoming clear.
Kain wasn't just another student anymore.
---
Student Courtyard – After Hours
Kai found Kain behind the mess hall again—alone, sharpening his blade in silence.
"You made it harder for the rest of us, y'know?" Kai said casually.
Kain glanced up. "Not my intention."
Kai chuckled. "Doesn't matter. You did."
He leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed. "You've got something dangerous in you, Kain. That sword move you used… my father called it a ghost blade. A cut that shouldn't exist."
Kain's fingers paused. His gaze turned downward.
"It's not finished," he said. "I'm still learning to cut nothing."
Kai whistled. "That's a damn poetic way to say it."
He looked at him for a long moment. "Be careful. People fear what they don't understand."
---
Midnight – Beneath the Surface
Far from Orilyon, beyond the royal capital, beneath a ruined fortress buried by history…
A group of cloaked figures knelt inside a circle drawn in blood and ashes.
Each one wore a crimson-threaded robe marked with jagged sigils of imbalance. Their hands were scarred, burned by divine backlash—a price they accepted.
This was Andras's inner circle.
Only six of them.
Not the leader. Not the high seat.
Just field agents—trained assassins, scouts, infiltrators. Each blessed by fragments of Andras, the Divine Being of Rebellion and Collapse.
Their god wasn't one of balance. He was the god of beautiful ruin.
Of reversal. Of distortion.
Once a being of clarity, now consumed by the will to undo the world's order, so it could be rebuilt under his chosen rule.
One of the cultists spoke.
> "The academy shelters the seeds of future kings."
Another answered.
> "Then we are the fire that burns the orchard."
The leader of the six stepped forward.
> "Begin infiltration. Mask your auras. Let Helon's foundations tremble."
> "By Andras's will... Orilyon will be the first domino."
---
Kain's Dorm – Sleepless Night
He didn't sleep. Not really.
Images kept flashing.
Fire. Blood. The academy, broken. A twisted smile in the dark.
Then a single word—painted in red smoke across the sky.
> ANDRAS.
He sat up, heart racing. Breath unsteady.
And then—Inventor's voice.
> "So... you finally heard it."
Kain didn't speak. His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness.
> "If you become able to cut—"
static tore through his mind like a storm tearing paper
> "—then you might meet me."
A pause. A breath.
> "Oops. You're still not in a place to learn about that."
Silence returned.
But Kain wasn't alone in the dark.
He could feel it.
Something was moving toward the academy.
---
Outside – Academy Perimeter
The first cloaked infiltrator stepped into Helon's outer forest.
Aura sealed. Footsteps light.
He looked up at the academy in the distance.
> "Soon, the chosen ones will bleed."
He raised a small sigil stone—its black glow pulsed faintly, barely visible.
Behind him, five more moved like shadows.
---
Final Scene – Teacher Vairon's Office
Vairon stood with his back to the door, watching the night sky.
He didn't turn as the door opened.
A messenger stepped in. "The Council has approved your request. You may select students for pre-graduation field duty."
Vairon nodded once.
The scroll already sat open on his desk.
Kain's name was at the top.
The candlelight flickered.
He picked up a quill and wrote one more word in the corner of the page.
> Andras.
Then he looked out the window, toward the field.
Where Kain stood again. Alone.
Practicing in the dark. Blade humming with soft blue light.
> "Boy… the storm isn't coming. It's already here."