Rain returned the next morning—gentle but cold, as if the skies themselves were unsure whether to weep or laugh. Kaien, as usual, slept with one arm dangling off the ruined balcony of what once was the Velthorn Manor. A sparrow landed beside him. He muttered, "No food today either, buddy."
The sparrow chirped and flew off. He groaned.
"Traitor."
---
The House with No Flame
Kaien wandered the rotting halls of his family's ancient estate. Portraits of long-dead nobles watched with judgmental eyes. One was cracked down the middle—his father, Lord Daemon Velthorn, once a feared war tactician who'd vanished during the Crimson Fire War.
Kaien stood before the painting.
"You know, you could've left a 'how to summon Essentia for dummies' book before you disappeared."
He knocked on the wooden frame. No hidden passage. No glowing scrolls.
Just silence, dust, and a broken legacy.
---
A Visit from the Past
A sudden knock at the half-collapsed front door startled him. He shuffled over and opened it to find a hooded figure, short and cloaked in faded green.
"Who are you?" Kaien asked, scratching his head.
The figure didn't answer. Instead, it pulled out a wooden seal with the old Velthorn crest: a spiral sun with a sword through its heart.
Kaien's eyes widened.
"That crest's been gone since—"
"I'm not here to talk," the figure whispered. "Just to remind you that your bloodline is not dead. Not yet."
And before Kaien could react, the figure pressed something cold into his hand—a metal shard, glowing faintly—and vanished into the mist like smoke.
Kaien stared at the shard. It pulsed once, dim and distant, like a memory refusing to die.
---
Back at the Academy Grounds
Meanwhile, Naomi stood beside her father, Lord Silvryn, watching the student board update. Her name was, of course, at the top of the Prodigy List.
"Naomi," her father said, "you'll do your House proud."
"Yes, Father."
She stared at the bottom of the list.
Kaien Velthorn — Unranked (No Spark)
And yet, she couldn't shake the image of that fleeting glow she'd seen during his test. A spark hidden deep behind his grin.
It wasn't a joke, she thought. Something moved. Something I don't understand.
---
Nightfall at the Manor
Kaien sat under the broken moonlight, the glowing shard resting in his palm.
"So… I'm not crazy. Something's in me. Something old."
He closed his eyes.
He could almost hear it—a voice, deep and thunderous, echoing not in his ears but in his bones.
"Ashes do not die. They smolder... waiting."
He opened his eyes, heart pounding.
The shard was gone.
In its place, etched into his palm, was a faint sigil—the old Velthorn mark.
Kaien looked up at the stars and whispered, "Guess I really don't get to be normal."