The dawn sky bled pale orange over Ardent Academy, casting long shadows across the high towers. Most students were still asleep, unaware that blood had soaked the courtyard hours earlier.
Kael wasn't among them.
He stood silently in the central rotunda, flanked by two faculty enforcers clad in soulsteel armor. His wrists weren't bound, but the air around him was heavy with pressure judgment, not chains.
Above him sat the *Council of Eight*, robed in gold and black, eyes filled with both curiosity and caution.
At the center was *Master Veyren*, finally revealed in full. Tall, gaunt, and draped in ashen robes lined with sigils that shimmered faintly with suppressed power.
To Kael's surprise, he wasn't angry. He looked… intrigued.
Veyren leaned forward. "Kael Ardyn. First-year. Low noble. Formerly frail, now… unusually competent."
No one spoke.
Then Veyren continued, "Last night, you defeated five upper-class enforcers. Two are still unconscious. You used a soulbound weapon, likely unregistered, and displayed Devourer-class resonance. Do you deny any of this?"
Kael looked up. "No."
Whispers rippled through the other masters.
Veyren smiled faintly. "Good. I appreciate honesty in dangerous men."
Another councilor, *Lady Marris*, frowned. "He is unstable. A risk. I propose suspension and soul-cleansing."
Kael's fingers twitched at that. Soul-cleansing was worse than execution—it was memory erasure. A slow death of identity.
But Veyren raised a hand. "Denied. You want to punish him for defending himself? When it was your precious noble families that sent killers to his door?"
The room went still.
Veyren stood, descending the steps. "Kael Ardyn is no longer under normal academy law. He is now under my authority."
Gasps echoed.
Marris shouted, "That's a violation of protocol!"
Veyren ignored her. He stopped in front of Kael, meeting his eyes.
"You built a soulbound weapon in secret. Tapped into flame-core resonance. Absorbed living souls. Tell me—do you know what you are?"
Kael's voice was quiet, steady. "I'm becoming what they all fear."
Veyren's eyes gleamed. "Good answer."
---
Later that day, Kael found himself in a private wing of the academy, handed a new robe marked with a subtle silver crest: a black circle surrounded by runes.
The *Devourer Class*—a designation so rare that most students thought it was a myth.
Elira met him near the balcony overlooking the training fields.
"They're talking about you everywhere," she whispered. "You're the first to ever survive a formal council summon and walk away with protection."
"I didn't walk away," Kael said. "I was claimed."
She touched his arm. "Are you okay?"
Kael looked out over the horizon. "No. But I will be. And now… they can't stop me from building the forge."
---
System Notification:
—"New Access Granted: Forbidden Soul Archive
—Unlocking Black Tier Trials
—Devourer Path Progress: 27%
—Hidden Quest Received: Claim the Second Node (Location: Obsidian Depths)"
Far below the academy, within ancient vaults, the earth trembled. Something had awakened.
And far across the empire, the Hollow King opened his blind eyes… and smiled.