The arena's roar still echoed faintly in Edran's ears as he stepped through the quiet stone corridors of the Academy of Crowns. The torchlight painted long shadows over his cold, unreadable face. He walked with the same controlled, measured pace he had during the match — not hurried, not idle, but deliberate.
The battle replayed in his mind. Every strike, every movement, every ounce of his opponent's qi.
Peak-stage Qi Condensation, he thought, his eyes narrowing. His strikes lacked precision in the final exchanges. Overcommitted on his third technique. Had he hidden a trump card? Possibly… but not decisive enough.
He turned down a narrower hall toward the dormitories. The silence was heavy, almost unnatural. His fingers brushed the jade token at his waist, the one every participant carried, feeling the faint hum of stored spiritual energy within.
---
When he entered his quarters, moonlight spilled across the room from a high lattice window. He sat cross-legged on the mat in the center, the air around him growing still. Drawing in a long, slow breath, he began circulating his Azure Dragon Breathing Art.
A faint shimmer of blue qi coiled around him like mist, the rhythm deep and steady.
In his dantian, the newly stabilized mid-stage Qi Condensation realm pulsed with quiet power. Yet tonight… something felt different.
It began as a faint warmth, deep beneath the core of his qi — an ancient, slow pulse, like the heartbeat of something vast and sleeping. His breath hitched for half a second, and the azure light deepened into a richer shade, tinged with gold.
The Dragon Vein…?
He stilled, focusing inward, but the sensation faded as quickly as it had come. Only the calm hum of his normal cultivation remained. Still, a small furrow formed between his brows. He had not triggered it. It had moved on its own.
---
Across the courtyard, in another dormitory wing, Lyra was in the middle of a slow, deliberate sword form. Moonlight caught the silver of her blade, painting arcs in the air. Each movement was precise, her breathing steady, her late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation flowing in perfect synchrony with her strikes.
But mid-swing, her wrist hesitated. Her eyes flickered toward the dark treeline beyond the walls of the Academy.
She frowned. There was nothing there. No sound. No movement. And yet… the faint prickle at the back of her neck would not leave.
She sheathed her blade with a soft shhhk, never taking her eyes off the window for a long moment before returning to her practice — slower now, more alert.
---
Meanwhile, Kaelen lounged in his quarters with a cup of tea, the steam curling lazily toward the ceiling. A faint grin touched his lips as he replayed his own match in his mind, remembering the shocked look of his opponent when his footwork had outpaced them.
Mid-stage Qi Condensation, not as far along as Lyra, but his movement techniques were already infamous among their peers. He set his cup down — then paused, head turning slightly toward the door.
Like a predator catching an unfamiliar scent, he held still. Nothing. Only silence and the faint creak of the wooden frame as it cooled in the night air. He chuckled under his breath, but it was a thin sound, lacking his usual warmth.
"Paranoid already, Kaelen?" he muttered to himself, though his hand strayed closer to the dagger resting beside him.
---
Back in Edran's quarters, his meditation broke when a faint breeze passed through the closed room. His eyes snapped open. The candle on the low table flickered wildly, though no window or door had been disturbed.
He rose to his feet in one fluid motion, scanning the corners of the room. Nothing. No qi signature. No sound. And yet, the hairs on his arms stood on end.
He crossed to the window and looked out over the courtyard. The moon hung high and cold, bathing the Academy in pale light. Somewhere in the distance, a shadow shifted — too far to identify before it melted into darkness.
Edran's gaze lingered on that spot for a long moment, his expression as unreadable as ever. Finally, he turned away, extinguished the candle, and returned to his mat.
But when he closed his eyes again, the ancient pulse in his core was stronger… slower… and unmistakably aware.
---
Far away, in a hidden chamber deep beneath the city, a hooded figure traced a glowing sigil in the air. "The pieces are in place," they whispered to the empty room. "Soon, the storm will break."
And somewhere within the silent stone walls of the Academy of Crowns, three siblings slept under the same moon — each unaware that the quiet they felt tonight would be the last they knew for a very long time.