Chapter 10: Blood on the Wind

Kaelen returned to Valewind Institute under cover of darkness.

No fanfare.

No congratulations.

Just the quiet creak of the gates swinging shut behind him, and the cool whisper of the night air.

Exactly how he preferred it.

He had changed.

The Trial of the Forgotten Kings had burned away the last traces of hesitation within him.

Now he walked not as a boy chasing a dream — but as a force quietly carving his destiny into the bones of the world.

As he passed through the lower corridors of the dormitories, the System whispered softly:

[Warning: Unknown hostile presence detected nearby.]

Kaelen's body tensed instantly.

He slowed his steps, letting his hand drift naturally to the hilt of his blade.

In the reflection of a cracked glass window, he caught the briefest shimmer — a ripple of magic, like heat distortion.

Not students.

Not instructors.

Killers.

Sent for him.

Outside — A Rooftop Across the Courtyard

Two cloaked figures knelt in the shadows.

Both wore black masks marked with a crescent moon bleeding dark smoke — the unmistakable symbol of the Black Moon Guild.

The first, a thin man with poison-tipped daggers, smiled grimly.

"Orders are clear," he whispered. "Kill the commoner before he grows beyond our reach."

The second — a woman clad in skin-tight leathers, her fingers crackling faintly with cursed magic — nodded once.

"No witnesses. No mistakes."

Back at the Dormitory

Kaelen didn't flinch.

Instead, he smiled.

Good.

Let them come.

He pivoted sharply, ducking just as a dagger whistled through the air where his throat had been a heartbeat before.

The blade thunked into the wooden wall, vibrating with the force of the throw.

From the shadows, two assassins emerged — their faces blank, their movements unnaturally fluid.

Kaelen moved without thinking.

Mana flared through his limbs.

Arcane Step.

He vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing behind the first attacker.

His sword swung in a deadly arc, crackling with Arcane Sovereign's Blade energy.

The assassin twisted aside — fast — but not fast enough.

The blade caught him across the side, carving deep.

Black blood sprayed the walls.

The second assassin hurled a cursed chain — a writhing, black tendril that sought to coil around Kaelen's body, to drain his strength.

Kaelen slammed his boot into the ground, summoning raw mana into the air around him.

[New Passive Unlocked: Arcane Disruption Aura.]

The cursed chain fizzled and died before it could reach him.

The female assassin's eyes widened behind her mask — the first flicker of real fear.

Kaelen struck.

Two steps.

One swing.

Arcane Breaker tore through her defenses like paper.

She collapsed without a sound, a heap of broken bones and twisted steel.

The first assassin, wounded but desperate, tried to flee.

Kaelen would not allow it.

He pointed two fingers forward, gathering swirling mana at his fingertips.

[New Skill Activated: Arcane Lance.]

A spear of condensed magic shot from his hand, piercing the assassin's back clean through.

The man dropped face-first onto the cobbles, twitching once — and lay still.

Silence returned to the corridor.

Only the faint sizzle of dying magic remained.

System Chime:

[Enemies Defeated: 2 (Black Moon Guild Operatives).]

[Skill Mastery Increased: Arcane Breaker / Arcane Sovereign's Blade.]

[New Title Unlocked: Deathmarked Survivor.]

Kaelen wiped his blade clean on a torn cloak and exhaled slowly.

It had begun.

The world's hidden powers were no longer ignoring him.

They were moving against him.

He would have to move faster.

He would have to become stronger than anything they had ever seen.

Meanwhile — Astralis Academy

Aria Valcrest stood before an ancient mirror, deep beneath the main academy tower.

The walls of the hidden chamber were lined with runes that pulsed with forbidden magic — knowledge banned by the Noble Guilds, knowledge whispered of only in the darkest libraries.

Her mentor — an old sorceress exiled from the High Council — watched quietly.

"You seek power not granted by bloodlines," the old woman rasped.

"You seek power to break chains, not wear crowns."

Aria nodded.

"Then learn," the mentor said, "the Path of the Unbound Star."

She pressed a trembling hand against Aria's forehead, and the runes flared to life.

Aria gasped — a thousand rivers of knowledge flooding her mind, burning her soul.

Back at Valewind

Kaelen stood atop the highest tower, looking out over the sleeping campus.

He traced the stars with his eyes — feeling a strange connection tug at his soul.

Somewhere out there, someone else was rising.

Training. Fighting.

Waiting.

For him.

He clenched his fists.

I will not fall.

I will not be caged.

I will carve my path through the heavens themselves if I must.