Flames Beneath the Sun
Kai Dawnsworn woke up with his body feeling like a shell—emptied, weighted, and nearly alien. The sunlight peeking from the slats of the old shutters pierced his eyes, making him wince. A night had gone by, but it might as well have been an eternity.
What. happened?" Kai grunted, the sound of his voice a rasp, his body shaking as he sat up. The plants around him had wilted and turned brown, as if the soil itself had suffered from his fatigue.
Next to him, Boomer leaned against the wall, breathing shallowly, his broad shoulders slumped with exhaustion.
The recollections of yesterday hit Kai like a tempest. His mind acutelized, and his eyes shut as his awareness descended within—far within his War Soul Palace.
When his spirit reached that inner space, Kai stopped short. The former barren landscape was no longer vacant.
And now, a bright moon was suspended in the heavens above, its glowing silver pouring across rolling hills and shining streams. The old tree that had been the vehicle of his War Soul stood tall in the center, greener and more alive than it ever had been before, radiating a throb of clean Mana.
The World Tree… it's altered.
His real consciousness manifested below the enormous tree, staring up at its arms that stretched on forever.
Did Father deceive me?
His father used to tell him that their family line bore the curse of rebellion—their people were Blade-Seers who had disobeyed Heaven's plan. The World Tree, he told him, was able to siphon life and spirit from all things on the earth. But that power had been taken from them many years ago. Kai was told he was a remnant—a shell heir to a lost legacy.
And yet… here it was. Alive. Flourishing.
Was it possible that the ancient stories of FreeMind Meditation were true after all?
He recalled the mantras his father had made him repeat over and over again as a child. He had always dismissed them as meaningless words—now, his heart pounded.
Kai's lips moved instinctively, the ancient syllables rolling off his tongue in a low murmur. His mind sank deeper, quieter, until every wandering thought fell still. The boundaries of his spirit blurred; he felt as though his consciousness galloped freely between Heaven and Earth.
Then—he felt it.
A dense ocean of Mana welled up in his meditative mind. Within it shimmered streams of light, each a different hue—red, green, blue, gold, and more—like threads of a divine tapestry. Each color carried the essence of an element.
Flames…
Kai's focus tightened on a blazing crimson flow of fire-element Mana. His War Soul, the World Tree, flared with the same brilliant red, its branches wreathed in flame.
Outside, in the world, fire Mana boiled off of the air itself and into his body, pouring into his veins, burning through all of his nerves. He was on fire; his heart pounded frantically.
He clenched his teeth and changed his focus. Wood element.
A new flow of green Mana poured into him, cold and calming, healing the power that had been burned out of him by fire.
Then metal arrived. Earth. Wind. Water. In succession, he directed each, shaping the flow with increasing skill.
When finally he opened his eyes, he looked down at his hands—still shaking, lightly radiating from the streams of Mana that flowed beneath the flesh.
"Is this… real?" he whispered.
"Of course it's real!" Boomer's voice came from behind, hoarse but charged with awe. His fists were clenched so tight that veins bulged from his forearms. "You're a Full-Attribute Blade-Seer, Kai! And not just that—your body's adapting to both martial and Spell Craft arts. You're… a dual-natured prodigy!"
Kai blinked, stunned. "Then doesn't that mean my gift is…"
"Against Heaven's will," Boomer concluded with a smile. "There's no other you in all of Greenhold."
Silence stretched out between them for an instant—then Kai smiled. Pride swelled in his breast. So many generations of their line had never managed to rouse their ancestors' talent. But he—of all mortals—had.
Perhaps this, too, is Heaven's will.
He jumped up at once, energy dancing in his gold eyes. "Let's go."
Boomer gazed up. "Where to?"
"To the rear of the mountains," replied Kai, already walking towards the door.
"The Skyfire Mountains? You're aware that there are demonic beasts patrolling that region."
Kai threw him a sideways glance with a grin. "We'll just remain close to the border. And also—what would possibly be wrong with you covering my six?
Boomer sighed but couldn't hide the small grin tugging at his mouth. "You're insane," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet and following close behind.
________________________________________
By noon, the two young men stood on a massive boulder perched high above the cliffs of Skyfire Mountain. From there, the sprawling expanse of Greenhold Academy stretched far below, bathed in golden sunlight.
Kai inhaled deeply, his chest rising with the wind.
Three years. Three years of weakness, trapped in the martial discipline while his mind rested. Now, having learned the truth of his heritage—his status as a Blade-Seer—he could no longer be at peace.
The disillusion, the rage, the endless evenings of quiet despair—all of it was parched tinder. And today, it all ignited.
The sun blazed high above, its light reflecting in Kai's gold eyes as he lifted his gaze toward it. His entire being stilled. The FreeMind Meditation focused on two things: observation and thought.
Now, he observed the sun. And he thought of its flames.
He stood unmoving on the rock, his presence growing heavier with every passing breath.
Slowly, the light came to thicken, become molten. Torrents of fire-made light streamed around him, into him. His body burned as the fire-element Mana merged with his blood, his bones, his soul.
Boomer stood at a distance, his face hard but his eyes soft with pride. "You've finally come awake… you crazy son of a gun."
The air was filled with crackling as the skin of Kai turned red, glistening with warmth. The fire engulfed him in a cocoon of radiance. In the sun's blazing, his very flesh was reforming itself.
Minutes turned to hours. When the sun started to set, his body remained aflame like a living inferno. Inside, dragons of fire ran through his meridians, bellowing with every beat of his heart. The mountain vibrated softly with the sound.
No one was around to see it but Boomer, wide-eyed in wonder.
He's crossing planes… three of them… in one day.
As the last sun rays disappeared beneath the horizon, Kai's flames dissipated. He opened his eyes slowly—and two sharp shafts of fire burst from his eyes, vanishing after an instant.
Boomer breathed out, shaking his head. "You broke three planes in one day. Three years stuck… and you actually did it."
Kai shrugged his shoulders, feeling the rush of fresh power vibrating beneath his flesh. He had tapped into the sun's energy and forged his body in its heat, shattering the Growth, Vascular, and shooting right into the Resolute Plane—his body as tough as steel, his will afire with determination.
A smile crept across his face. "This is. incredible."
He faced a giant ancient tree standing nearby. Without pause, he cocked back his fist and punched.
Boom!
The entire trunk split in two with a thunderous crack. The impact point was scorched black, smoke curling upward from the wound.
Boomer's jaw went slack. "Even a cultivator in the Unstoppable Plane wouldn't walk away from that punch."
Kai flexed his fingers, the faint heat still radiating from his skin. "Guess I'm catching up fast."
The two of them stood there under the fading light of evening—one laughing, one silent—as the wind rushed across the mountaintop, bearing the smell of smoke and the rumble of leaves whispering in the distance like applause.
Under the setting sun, the slumbering dragon of Greenhold had finally awakened.