Chapter 11: Echoes in the Dark

Kael sat at the edge of the academy rooftop, legs dangling off the side, eyes fixed on the endless horizon. Below, the training yards buzzed with energy—students sparred, Wills flared, laughter and shouts filled the air. Normalcy, on the surface.

But he couldn't shake the pulse beneath his skin.

Ever since the fight, the shadows hadn't left him. They moved when he didn't ask, lingered longer than they should've. Tetsu called it control. Kael knew better. It was fear wrapped in silence.

Tetsu plopped down beside him with a sigh, arms behind his head. "Still brooding, Shadow Prince?"

"Don't call me that," Kael muttered.

Tetsu grinned. "No one suspects a thing. Far as they know, you got lucky. Burst of adrenaline, maybe a borrowed Will surge. That's what Ryuu's saying anyway."

Kael winced at the name. Ryuu Takashi, heir to the elite Takashi lineage, and a walking thunderstorm of ego. He hadn't stopped glaring at Kael since the beast attack. Like he could sniff out something deeper.

"He's not wrong," Kael said quietly. "I don't even know what this is yet."

Tetsu's smile faded. "Then figure it out. Before someone else does."

A bell tolled across the academy grounds—time for Combat Theory. Tetsu stood, dusting himself off. "You coming?"

Kael hesitated.

Below, students filed into formation, instructors shouting orders. Among them, Kaede Mizuno's sharp eyes scanned the crowd. The young mentor had taken a personal interest in Kael since the Fracture Beast incident. Too sharp, too watchful.

"I'll catch up," Kael said.

Tetsu nodded. "Don't take too long. You're not the only one being watched."

When Kael finally moved, he didn't go to class. Instead, he found himself drawn to the old hall ruins—abandoned ever since The Fracture. Shadow pooled there, thick and cold. He reached out instinctively.

The darkness responded like an old friend.

"You're getting stronger," came a voice behind him.

Kael turned sharply. No one.

Then a shape stepped from the dark—an old man, robed, with a jagged scar down his eye. Eyes glowing faintly violet.

"You don't know what you carry yet," the man said. "But others will soon."

Kael took a step back. "Who are you?"

"A warning," the man said. "The Last Will does not belong in the light."

Before Kael could react, the man vanished—swallowed by shadow.

Kael's breath caught in his throat. The shadows around him twisted uneasily, echoing the man's words.

From the rooftops, Kaede Mizuno watched with narrowed eyes.

Something was awakening.

And it wasn't just Kael.