A few days had passed, and Kaz had earned himself a new nickname.
Lazy Fool.
It spread quickly—half mocking, half amused—born from the absurd story he told about his first Rift and the fact that, ever since, he seemed to do nothing but sleep.
But the truth was far from what the whispers claimed.
The day after the incident with Ryuma's sister—who he now knew was named Sarah Bloom—Kaz's schedule had been quietly changed. His classes were shifted from morning to night.
Why?
Because of his Commandment.It couldn't last through the full day without taking a heavy toll.
So while others saw a slacker snoozing through the daylight hours, Kaz was surviving something most of them couldn't even begin to understand.
And he wasn't sleeping to rest.
He was sleeping to recover.
Kaz had done some digging into the Scar Clan—Axion's clan.
What he found was both impressive and unsettling.
The Scar Clan was once one of the most powerful clans in the region, renowned for their strength, their pride, and their discipline. But then… they were gone. Erased in a single, brutal incident.
Their clan leader's soul—frozen in stasis—had mysteriously vanished.Shortly after, the entire clan was burned alive by blue fire.
Only Axion remained.
But what caught Kaz's attention was the timing.
Right as the Scar Clan fell, a new name emerged—an up-and-coming clan called Flame Heart. Their rise had been meteoric, almost too perfect. And there was something strange about them… something off.
Kaz could feel it in his gut.
He wanted to dig deeper. Needed to.
But something held him back.
A sharp pressure in his chest. A quiet warning in the back of his mind.
So, for now… he paused.
The next person Kaz looked into was Ryuma—and more importantly, Sarah Bloom.
Their clan, the Bloom Clan, had once been known for their poise, power, and intelligence. But a few years back, tragedy struck. Both of their parents died young, leaving Sarah to shoulder the weight of the entire bloodline.
In response, she did the unthinkable.
She jumped into a Fracture—alone—and conquered not just her second Rift, but her third. That was how she became a Pure, a Hero-ranked Evolved.
It made sense. The Bloom Clan had always been led by powerful Evolved, and with no one left to lead, Sarah stepped forward and earned the strength her clan demanded.
And now, that same power was watching him.
Kaz had to be careful. Someone like her—brilliant, dangerous, and possibly ruthless—wasn't just observing him for fun.
She was measuring him.
Still, Kaz hadn't been idle. Between research and naps, he'd been experimenting with his Trait—Chaos Control.
Slowly, it was beginning to make sense.
When he surrounded himself entirely in chaos energy, he could sense it—locate the heart of disruption, the eye of any storm. It let him track where the most unpredictable or dangerous things were happening in a given space.
But the real breakthrough came when he focused the energy on specific parts of his body—his arms, his legs.
The result?
Explosive, temporary power boosts.
It wasn't refined. It wasn't perfect.
But it worked.
And if he kept developing it in secret…No one would see him coming.
His first time in Eden might be a struggle—but he didn't really know if it would be. He had a feature called Prosper: he was fated to thrive when everything descended into chaos, to be subjected to danger at every turn.
But the danger was never specific.
Like when Sarah appeared—he hadn't felt any threat. He used her to build his foolish reputation. Or before coming to the academy—maybe his sister had been the danger all along.
He couldn't really understand this feature he had.
But these thoughts would have to be pushed to the back of his mind—well, not all the way back. Not with Dareth around. Maybe somewhere in the middle.
It was time for classes, and he didn't want to be late. Most of his teachers probably hated his guts. Since his schedule ran late into the night, they had to stay up until every class was finished—including his. Safe to say, he wasn't exactly a favorite.
Well, except for Weaver. That guy was eccentric. He stayed up all night anyway, obsessing over the new script language of the Curse.
The thing was, he'd sometimes spend weeks just to figure out a single letter of the alphabet. He claimed it was great progress for a researcher—but still, it seemed far too taxing.
Maybe it was Kaz worrying about his Commandment. He could never see himself as a full-on researcher, not like Weaver. But still... learning the Curse Scripts could be useful.
Sometimes, what the Curse announced didn't quite match what it meant—the true meaning often hidden in the original language.
Either way, Kaz knew that out of all his classes, Rift Survival would be the hardest. Weaver, more dedicated to his work than any of the other teachers, would probably love the idea of Kaz dying in Eden—just to learn how someone might escape that realm.
Kaz stepped out of his room.
Even though he'd said he was pushing his thoughts to the middle of his mind, the wariness lingered—especially when it came to Ryuma.
And it showed.
As he walked to class, two hands suddenly covered his eyes—one on each side of his face.
"Wh—what?" he thought, turning around.
Behind him stood a small girl. She looked weak and sickly, her skin a soft olive tone. Her hair flowed gently down both sides of her face, and her eyes shone a bright, unnatural gold. Anyone who looked at her would probably say she resembled a cat.
Kaz knew her well enough—which was the only reason he tolerated her.
The only reason he ever spoke to this fragile, death-scented girl was because of one thing, and one thing only:
She knew his True Name.
Her name was Sophie.
She looked soft. Innocent, even.
But Kaz knew better.
Behind that delicate appearance was one of the most dangerous Traits on Earth.