The moment the light burst from the Core Stone… silence swallowed the entire testing ground.
It wasn't the kind of silence born from respect.
It was fear.
Kyle Ren stood still, his hand still resting on the cracked surface of the stone. The strange energy pulsing from within it crawled up his arm like something alive—cold, heavy… wrong.
"This… this isn't possible," the examiner muttered, taking another step back.
The crowd, once filled with mockery, now whispered in confusion.
"What kind of core is that?"
"I've never seen anything like it…"
"Is it even a core?"
Kyle slowly pulled his hand away.
The moment he did, the light vanished.
The stone… shattered.
💥
Pieces fell to the ground like broken glass, leaving nothing behind.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Then—
"Defective."
The voice cut through the silence like a blade.
A tall noble youth stepped forward, his golden cloak swaying behind him, his expression filled with cold arrogance.
Lucian Valdore.
"Whatever that was," Lucian continued, looking down at Kyle as if he were nothing, "it's clearly a failure. A broken core… just like its owner."
Laughter returned.
But this time, it was sharper.
Crueler.
Kyle said nothing.
His eyes lowered… not in submission, but in restraint.
"Remove him," Lucian ordered casually. "He doesn't belong here."
Two guards stepped forward immediately.
One grabbed Kyle by the arm.
"Move."
Kyle resisted for a brief moment… not enough to fight, but enough to feel the strength difference.
He was weak.
Painfully weak.
He clenched his fist.
Not now.
As they dragged him away, the whispers followed him like shadows.
"Traitor's son…"
"Useless…"
"Should've been executed with his father…"
…
Outside the testing grounds, the guards threw him onto the dirt road.
"Don't come back," one of them said coldly.
Kyle didn't respond.
He slowly pushed himself up, dust covering his hands. His chest felt heavy… as if something inside was pressing against his heart.
That strange energy…
It was still there.
Faint… but alive.
He placed his hand over his chest.
For a moment—
💥
A sharp pain shot through his body.
Kyle collapsed to one knee, his breath shaking violently.
"What… is this…?"
Fragments of something flashed in his mind.
A battlefield.
Fire.
Screams.
And a voice—
"Survive."
Kyle's eyes widened.
That voice…
It wasn't his father's.
…
Night fell.
Kyle sat alone near the outskirts of the city, a small fire flickering weakly in front of him. Hunger gnawed at his stomach, but he ignored it.
His thoughts were louder.
A broken core.
A failure.
That's what they called him.
But…
He looked at his hand.
"…why does it feel like something is waking up?"
"Because it is."
Kyle's body froze.
A voice.
Behind him.
He turned sharply.
A man stood in the shadows, half his face hidden, the faint glow of the fire revealing a calm, unreadable expression.
"You shouldn't be alive," the man said quietly. "Not with that core."
Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
The man stepped forward slightly.
"Raizo."
A pause.
Then he added—
"From the Organization."
The air grew heavy.
Kyle's instincts screamed.
Danger.
"Relax," Raizo said, noticing his reaction. "If I wanted you dead… you wouldn't hear my voice."
Silence.
The fire crackled between them.
Raizo's gaze moved to Kyle's chest.
"That core… isn't broken."
Kyle's breath stopped for a second.
"…what?"
Raizo's eyes sharpened.
"It's sealed."
Those words…
Changed everything.
"A core that devours its own limits," Raizo continued. "A core that grows stronger the closer you get to death."
He smiled faintly.
"A cursed gift… or a miracle."
Kyle stood up slowly, ignoring the exhaustion in his body.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Raizo turned away slightly.
"Because the world you're living in… is about to collapse."
A cold wind passed through.
"And you," he added, glancing back, "are standing at the center of it."
Kyle's fists tightened.
For the first time since that night…
He felt something clear.
Not pain.
Not anger.
A direction.
"…what do you want from me?"
Raizo smiled.
"Nothing."
A pause.
"For now."
And with that—
He disappeared into the darkness.
Leaving behind silence…
And a path Kyle could no longer ignore.
Far above the city walls…
A pair of eyes watched everything.
Cold.
Calculating.
"Subject confirmed," a masked figure whispered.
"The Ash Heir… has awakened."