Chapter 4: Where Weakness Is Executed
The gates of Blackspire closed behind them with a sound like a tomb sealing shut.
Kael felt it immediately—the academy was alive.
Not metaphorically. The stone beneath his feet pulsed faintly, responding to the presence of those who entered. Mana flowed through the walls, the towers, even the air itself, watching, judging.
Students began to move, breaking into clusters marked by banners and colors. Clan heirs walked with confidence, entourages forming naturally around them. Power radiated openly here; hiding it was considered either cowardice or stupidity.
Kael stood alone.
Unmarked.
Unclaimed.
A bell rang.
Not a single sound, but seven layered tones that struck directly into the chest. The courtyard fell silent at once.
A platform of black crystal rose from the ground, stopping several meters above the crowd. Upon it stood three figures.
The masked observer from the balcony had descended.
Beside them stood a woman in crimson armor, scars crossing her face like trophies, and a tall man wrapped in white and gold robes, eyes glowing faintly blue.
"Instructors," Orin murmured. "And executioners."
The masked figure stepped forward.
"Welcome to Blackspire Ascension Academy," they said, voice distorted, echoing from nowhere and everywhere at once. "Here, your birth grants you nothing. Your clan protects you from nothing. Your death will inconvenience no one."
A ripple of unease moved through the crowd.
"Those who cannot adapt," the figure continued, "will be removed."
Removed did not mean expelled.
Kael understood that instinctively.
"Today," the masked figure said, "we assess."
The crimson-armored woman grinned and slammed her fist into the platform.
The ground split open.
Stone pillars rose violently from the courtyard floor, dividing the students into dozens of enclosed arenas. Kael found himself standing within one such ring, the walls sealing shut behind him.
A shimmer passed over the stone.
Barrier.
Across from him, another student appeared.
A boy about Kael's age, tall, broad-shouldered, with glowing green markings spiraling down his arms. A crest burned at his throat—Verdant Fang Clan.
The boy cracked his neck and smiled.
"Unmarked," he said. "Lucky me."
Kael exhaled slowly.
A voice boomed overhead.
"Match begins."
The boy lunged instantly, mana erupting around him like a storm. Vines burst from the ground, snapping toward Kael's legs, barbed and fast.
Kael moved.
Not back.
Forward.
The vines shattered as if they had struck an invisible wall. Kael stepped through the debris, eyes cold.
The Verdant Fang boy faltered. "What—"
Kael raised his hand.
The air compressed.
The boy slammed into the barrier wall with bone-cracking force, coughing blood as he slid to the ground.
Silence.
Kael frowned.
"…That's it?"
The instructor's voice echoed. "Winner."
The barrier dropped.
Medics rushed in, dragging the unconscious boy away without ceremony.
Kael stepped out—and immediately felt eyes on him.
Not admiration.
Calculation.
Predators reassessing prey.
The golden-sigil boy from earlier leaned against a pillar nearby, arms crossed. His crest gleamed—Solaris Dominion.
"That pressure trick," he said casually. "Interesting. But crude."
Kael didn't respond.
The man in white and gold robes appeared beside them without warning.
"Name," he said to Kael.
"Kael."
"No clan?"
"No."
The man studied him closely. "Rank?"
Kael hesitated. "Unranked."
The man smiled thinly. "We'll see."
More bells rang.
New arenas formed.
Again and again, Kael fought.
Fire users. Enhancement specialists. Beast-bonded heirs. Each came at him with confidence sharpened by lineage and training.
Each fell.
Kael didn't enjoy it.
He didn't hate it either.
It felt… natural.
Between matches, he noticed something unsettling.
The academy reacted to him.
When he stepped, mana parted. When he focused, barriers weakened slightly, as if uncertain whether they were allowed to resist him.
The masked instructor watched intently from above.
By the final match, only a handful of students remained undefeated.
Kael stood among them.
The last arena rose larger than the rest.
Across from Kael stood the golden-sigil boy.
He smiled broadly. "Name's Aurelian," he said. "Try not to die."
The signal sounded.
Aurelian vanished in a burst of light.
Kael turned just in time to raise his arm as a blade of condensed solar mana slammed into him. The impact hurled him backward, skidding across the stone.
Pain flared.
Real pain.
Kael grinned.
"Good," he muttered.
Aurelian appeared above him, spears of light forming behind his shoulders. "Finally," he said, "someone worth—"
Kael stood.
The spears shattered mid-air.
The light around Aurelian flickered.
His smile faltered.
"What are you doing?" he snapped, pushing more power into his technique.
Kael took a step forward.
Then another.
Each step made Aurelian's mana tremble.
"I'm not doing anything," Kael said calmly. "You are."
Aurelian screamed and unleashed everything.
The arena cracked.
Kael closed his fist.
The solar light collapsed inward, imploding around Aurelian in a violent shockwave. When the dust settled, the Solaris heir lay unconscious at Kael's feet.
Dead silence.
The masked instructor descended slowly.
They stopped before Kael.
For a long moment, they said nothing.
Then:
"Unmarked student," the figure said. "You will be placed in the lowest dormitory."
Murmurs erupted.
The masked figure raised a hand. Silence returned.
"Not as punishment," they continued. "As containment."
Their hidden gaze bored into Kael.
"You are not ranked," they said. "Because you do not belong in the system."
Kael met their stare without flinching.
"Then why let me stay?" he asked.
The masked figure's voice softened—just slightly.
"Because the academy wishes to see," they said, "whether you will become its greatest weapon… or its extinction."
Kael smiled.
"Let's find out."