Azreal woke with a sharp inhale.
Warm air filled his lungs, tinged with mana and faint astral pressure. He lay upon a raised obsidian platform inside a vast circular chamber, its walls carved from dark crystal veined with slow-moving starlight. Massive runic arrays pulsed softly along the floor—formation circles meant not for protection, but suppression.
This was not a bedroom.
It was a royal sanctum.
Azreal sat up, wings shifting instinctively behind him. The membranes brushed the air with a soft, leathery whisper. His locs fell loosely around his face as he stared down at his hands—at the pale glow tracing the bones beneath his black-grey scales.
Bone Mage.
Organic Synthesis.
The words settled quietly in his soul.
"You're awake already."
The voice carried authority—not crushing, but undeniable.
Azreal looked up.
His father stood at the center of the chamber.
Even in humanoid form, the Dragon Emperor was imposing. Broad-shouldered and tall, his presence was heavy with accumulated rule rather than divinity. Star-dark scales patterned his arms and neck, etched with imperial sigils dulled by age and war. Two draconic horns curved back from his brow, restrained rather than ornamental.
Ruler of a Cosmic Realm.
One sovereign among many.
"You didn't panic," the Dragon Emperor said.
"Good."
Azreal slid off the platform. "You warned us."
A warm presence bloomed to his left.
Golden flames spiraled into being, forming the elegant shape of the Phoenix Empress. Her fiery wings folded neatly behind her, embers drifting harmlessly through the air. Her gaze held pride—and worry she did not bother hiding.
"My flame," she said softly. "You always wake first."
The stone floor trembled.
From the far side of the chamber, the Titan Empress stepped forward, massive and solid, her skin resembling living stone threaded with glowing magma veins. Each step grounded the chamber itself.
"At least one of them has discipline," she said bluntly.
Azreal smiled faintly.
Footsteps echoed again.
Saldo emerged from a side passage, already fully awake. His silver-white scales gleamed beneath the runes, muscles coiled and controlled, wings folded with deliberate precision.
Moments later, Thena followed—sage-green scales shimmering softly, wings twitching with restrained excitement, eyes alight with curiosity rather than fear.
'You felt it too', Thena sent through the bond.
'Every moment', Saldo replied.
The Trinity Bond pulsed—steady and unbroken.
The Dragon Emperor's gaze lingered on the three of them longer than usual.
"You remember more than we expected," he said.
"Not everything," Saldo replied evenly. "But enough."
The Phoenix Empress exhaled slowly.
"That means the time has come."
Azreal's wings stiffened slightly.
"You're sending us away."
"Yes," the Titan Empress said without hesitation.
The Dragon Emperor turned, gesturing toward the far wall.
Three massive gateways were embedded within it.
One forged of black stone and bone, radiating death-aspected spiritual energy.
One grown from living wood and crystal, overflowing with wild life mana.
One of polished silver and obsidian, perfectly symmetrical and unnervingly calm.
"These are not the true academies," the Dragon Emperor said.
They are mortal-realm branches.
Foundations."
Thena blinked. "Mortal realms?"
"Where power is limited," the Titan Empress said.
"Where failure hurts. Where inheritance means nothing."
The Phoenix Empress stepped closer.
"You will grow where even princes bleed."
Azreal clenched his fists.
"You're afraid we'll stagnate."
The Dragon Emperor met his gaze.
"We rule a cosmic realm," he said quietly.
"Not Existence itself. Beyond us are beings we do not command—and should not provoke."
He paused.
"And we are not the only ones making this choice."
The chamber darkened.
The far wall shimmered, transforming into a vast astral mirror.
Azreal's breath caught.
Across distant stars and realms, other cosmic thrones stirred.
A Leviathan Sovereign lowered its colossal head as its heir stepped into a spatial rift.
A Void Empress watched in silence as twin children vanished into a lower world.
A Celestial King clenched his fist as his chosen successor descended, stripped of blessing and name.
Ancient beings—some hostile, some indifferent—all making the same decision.
Sending their blood.
Their legacies.
Down to the mortal realms.
"The mortal worlds will become crowded," Saldo said quietly.
"Yes," the Dragon Emperor replied.
"And dangerous."
Thena swallowed.
"So we won't just be students."
The Titan Empress nodded.
"You will be competitors. Rivals. Unknowns."
Silence fell.
Then Azreal stepped forward.
"I don't want to fear what I am," he said. "I want to understand it."
The Dragon Emperor inclined his head.
"Then the Black Sepulcher Academy — Mortal Branch will take you."
Thena followed.
"I want to learn how to create without losing myself."
"Genesis Wild Academy — Mortal Branch," the Phoenix Empress said softly.
Finally, Saldo stepped between them.
"I'll learn balance," he said. "So when one of us goes too far… I can pull them back."
The Titan Empress's lips curved faintly.
"Equilibrium Citadel — Mortal Branch."
The gateways began to open.
Before they stepped through, the two empresses moved together.
Flame and stone intertwined.
For a brief heartbeat, the Empress of Origin manifested—life anchored by endurance, rebirth bound to foundation.
"Come back alive," she said gently. "That is all we ask."
The Trinity Bond flared.
'We'll meet again', Thena sent.
'Stronger', Azreal replied.
'Whole', Saldo finished.
As they stepped onto separate paths, a final message echoed within their souls:
[Path Divergence Confirmed]
[Trinity Bond Stable]
High above the mortal realms—
above cosmic thrones and ancient pride—
Existence watched.
And waited.
The Era of Chaos did not begin with conquest.
It began with heirs falling into the same world.