Rain trickled like silver veins down the glass windows of Celestial High. Neon gutterlight shimmered in puddles, the sky a bruised purple over the Iron Cloud District. Jin Kazematsu charged past hovering vendor drones and sliding taxis, barely managing to stuff his ID into the school gate's scanner before it beeped its disapproval.
"LATE," the red holograph pulsed.
He huffed, sprinting through wide obsidian halls, barely noticing the reactive lights blooming beneath his feet. Spiritual aura ran like blood through the school's walls—barely visible unless you knew what to look for
At the base of the Meditation Hall's levitating stairwell, a familiar voice called:
"You're going to burn out your lungs."
Jin turned to see Elena Du Plessis, her braided hair beaded with silver and brass. Her skin shimmered with light from the overhead jade orbs.
She tossed him a towel. "Master Sefu isn't kind to chaos."
He grinned, out of breath. "Then I better breathe fast."
They rose into the Meditation Hall, where a dozen students sat cross-legged on floating cushions. At the center, Master Sefu N'Golo's calm presence radiated like still thunder beneath a rain-soaked sky.
> "Inhale the world... Exhale the self."
Jin tried. He closed his eyes.
And the world ignited.
Something stirred—deep within his chest. Behind shut eyelids, he saw fire on scales, a horizon split by a dragon's roar. Emerald light bled through his senses. His chest throbbed.
His eyes flew open. He gasped aloud.
The coiled dragon-shaped sigil on his chest burned beneath his shirt, slithering with light toward his shoulder.
"Jin?" Elena whispered. Eyes turned. Master Sefu opened one serene eye.
"I—I'm fine," Jin said quickly.
But he wasn't. He felt... different.
---
Later, during Cultivation Theory, Professor Vargas traced the myth of the Azure Scales Clan on a floating diagram.
> "Masters of dual force—body and spirit. Some say their blood was ink, their bones carved with glyphs…"
The words echoed inside him.
From across the room, Amir El-Sayed watched him. Silent. Sharp. His golden eyes unreadable.
---
In the back gardens, where koi swam under pale moon-lights, Jin and Elena sat in silence.
"Show me," she said gently.
He rolled up his sleeve. The sigil glowed, luminous green.
Before she could speak, a voice emerged like a blade pulled from silk:
> "Bell Tower. Tonight. Come alone."
They turned.
Amir, scrolls under his arm, vanished around the corridor's edge.
"Elena… this is real, right?" Jin's voice trembled.
"I think," she said slowly, "you're waking something that's been asleep too long."
---
That night, the Bell Tower loomed like a skeleton of forgotten myths. Fog wound around its moss-streaked base. Jin crept through the threshold and climbed ancient, rune-inscribed stairs. The top chamber glowed with the light of a single lantern.
Amir stood beside a low pedestal.
"Few can hear glyphs when they stir," he said, not looking back. "Fewer still can awaken them."
He rolled out a scroll. Symbols danced across it—not written, but living.
Glyphs—patterns not just of language, but power.
"What is this?"
"An echo," Amir replied. "You'll either survive it... or you won't."
Jin stared. "You're not going to explain anything?"
"No," Amir said, and stepped aside.
Something called him forward—his hand moving without thought.
As he touched the scroll, a blast of emerald fire engulfed him.
His scream echoed into the night.