POV: Kael DarkflameLocation: Chamber of the Three Stars – Beneath Ironbrand Academy
He'd expected chains.
Or at least threats.
But when the trial ended, no instructors scolded him. No tribunal emerged. Instead, a single message appeared on his system screen:
Private Summons: Lady Astra
Location: Chamber of the Three StarsTime: NowRefusal Consequence: Unknown
Now Kael stood in a vaulted underground room unlike anything he had seen in the academy.
It was warm. Dark. Ancient.
The walls pulsed with veins of starlight, crisscrossing obsidian bricks. Three floating lights orbited a stone dais in the center, casting long shadows on the walls.
And she was already there.
Lady Astra.
Golden eyes. Silver hair cascading down robes threaded with black silk. Her aura didn't blaze—it sank into the world, like it belonged outside of time.
"You reaped a mutation," she said calmly.
Kael didn't answer.
Not out of fear.
But because she already knew.
"You consumed what the System forbids."
Still, he said nothing.
Then Astra did something unexpected.
She smiled.
"So did he."
______________________________________________________
POV: Astra (Internal Monologue)
He doesn't flinch. Doesn't bow. Just like the last one.
But there's more control in this one… or maybe just colder blood.
And that may be what saves him.
_________________________________________________________
POV: Kael
He finally spoke.
"Who?"
Astra turned toward one of the three lights floating near the dais. She tapped the air.
The starlight shimmered—and formed an image.
A man.
Tall. Clad in armor laced with glyphs. A massive scythe chained to his back. Red eyes like Kael's, but older. Tired.
"He was the first Shadow Reaper."
"His name was Soren Veyr."
"He's the reason the Celestials began the purge."
System Interruption – Memory Echo Triggered
Accessing Archive Node: [Soren Veyr – Final Cycle]Warning: Restricted Memory Fragment – Class Tier Requirement: Unique+
Permission: GRANTED
The room blurred.
Kael's breath caught.
He stood—not in the chamber—but in a battlefield, centuries old.
Ashes fell from a burning sky.
And Soren Veyr stood alone, surrounded by Celestials in gold, his body torn, cloak ragged.
He raised his scythe once more and whispered:
"I reap because you refuse to bleed."
And then—
The world vanished.
Back in the Chamber
Kael gasped, blinking hard.
The image was gone.
Astra regarded him quietly.
"He died fighting eight Celestials. Took two with him. But not before leaving behind something they couldn't destroy."
She extended her hand.
A silver crystal—no larger than a fingerbone—floated there. It pulsed with a familiar rhythm.
Shadow.
"This is his legacy core."
Kael's fingers twitched.
"Why give it to me?"
Astra's eyes narrowed.
"Because you were never supposed to exist."
"And yet you do."
_____________________________________________________________
POV: Selene – Training Yard, Later That Night
She struck the dummy again.
Then again.
Frost bloomed across the ground with each movement.
Ren approached, voice soft.
"You're worried about him."
Selene didn't answer.
"What did they say? After the mutation?"
She lowered her blade.
"They didn't scold him."
"They called him worthy."
Ren blinked.
"…Worthy of what?"
Selene turned.
"Waking the old Reapers."
___________________________________________________________________
POV: Kael
He didn't accept the legacy core.
Not yet.
But he took something more important.
A name.
Soren Veyr.
The one who came before.
The one who bled the sky.
Astra's final words echoed as he left the chamber:
"When you reach Phase Two… the system will no longer control you."
"But it will fear you."
"And so will they."
System Update – Shadow Reaper Path Alignment
Legacy Node: Soren Veyr identifiedSynchronization: 11%
Trait Gained: Echo of the First Reaper➤ Effect: Reduced damage from Celestial-element attacks➤ Allows retention of memory fragments through soul attacks
Next Sync Trigger: Reap a high-born noble from a legacy house
___________________________________________________
POV: Celestial Plane – Hall of Order
The golden-masked observer slammed his hand against the crystal wall.
"She showed him the core."
A shadowed voice answered.
"Then the Chain must be reforged."
"Send the Warden."
_________________________________________
POV: Kael
That night, Kael stood alone in the dormitory gardens.
The wind whispered through the trees.
He drew Broodfang.
Its blade shimmered darker than night.
He whispered to the air:
"Soren."
"I'll finish what you started."
End of Chapter 23