Whispers Beneath the Crown

The applause from Kael's victory over Arienne hadn't faded, but the consequences were already falling like silent knives.

It wasn't just a duel anymore.

It was a declaration—Kael Virell was no longer someone to ignore.

And yet, to him, nothing had truly changed.

Because the real battles weren't won in arenas or through applause…

They were waged in shadows, behind closed doors, and within the silence of secrets no one dared speak.

---

New Faces and Old Eyes

The academy corridors felt… different.

Kael noticed it in the way students looked at him now—not with contempt, but with calculated curiosity. As if trying to decide if they should fear him… or use him.

A few dared to greet him with stammering respect. Most still watched from corners, whispering.

But one girl didn't hide.

A sharp-eyed beauty with ink-black hair and silver earrings stepped beside him as he left the dueling coliseum.

"Kael Virell," she said without ceremony. "I'm Saine Rhielle. I want to interview you."

"Interview?" he raised a brow.

"For the underground student newsletter," she said, smirking. "Uncensored, unpaid, and extremely… unapproved."

Kael blinked. "You just admitted that?"

"I like honesty. And you've just become the most dangerous anomaly in this academy. People need to know what kind of storm you're stirring."

He stared at her a moment longer. "One condition."

"Name it."

"You tell me why a girl from a noble family pretends to be a commoner."

Her expression flickered. Just once.

Then she grinned.

"You're sharper than you look, Kael. We'll talk later."

---

The Quest Board Unlocks

That night, Kael's system pulsed softly in his mind.

[Mainline Quest Path Unlocked]

> The Way of the Throne

Current Objective: Establish a legitimate business

Reward: New Skill Branch + System Store Expansion

Optional Subquest:

Recruit 3 Unique Talents (0/3)

Reward: System Feature—Faction Creation

He leaned back against the wall of his dorm room, eyes narrowing.

The throne. The business. The factions.

All pieces of a larger puzzle… and someone was watching him place them.

He opened the system store for the first time since unlocking it.

Rows of absurd things appeared—technology, rare artifacts, ancient scrolls, even illegal power stimulants. Most were grayed out.

But one item glowed softly.

> Starter Pack: Entrepreneur's Instinct

Cost: 10,000 Points

Grants foundational business knowledge, marketing awareness, and instinctive negotiation.

He bought it.

A low pulse rippled through his head—his brain firing with sudden clarity, economic models arranging themselves like blueprints in the back of his thoughts.

"I know how to build a company now…"

But what kind?

---

The Hidden Threat

While Kael planned, someone else watched.

From a sealed room beneath the western dormitories, a man knelt before an ancient glyph-marked mirror.

"Target has reached Level 24. Powers are mutating. Nullborn has made contact."

The mirror pulsed.

A deep voice replied.

> "Let him climb. The higher he rises, the harder the fall."

The mirror shattered.

And the shadows stirred.

---

Academy Rumors & The Golden Game

By week's end, Kael had unintentionally caused chaos.

Not through fighting.

But through his sudden presence among women no one could dream of touching.

Rin—loyal and mysterious, seen walking with him late at night.

Velveta—the flamboyant blade dancer who now offered to spar daily.

Veyra—spotted sharing a coffee with him in the library. A coffee, which by her standards, was practically a public marriage proposal.

And then Arienne Vale—who now watched Kael during every class, arms crossed, as if measuring him for something no one else could understand.

This sparked the "Golden Game," a betting war among students over who Kael would "choose."

Kael, oblivious to the entire thing, simply trained harder, planned deeper, and grew stronger.

---

A Strange Encounter

One evening, Kael visited the lower city, seeking suppliers for his future business.

In an alley, he heard a sound—a whisper. Faint and wrong.

He turned, finding a boy no older than twelve, dressed in rags but with glowing eyes.

"You… you smell like the throne," the boy said. "She's watching you. The Cradle stirs."

"What?"

But the boy screamed, fell over—foam at his lips—and vanished into smoke.

Kael stood frozen.

Not because of the boy.

But because his system whispered:

> [Hidden Thread Detected – Future Divergence]

[Someone is tampering with prophecy timelines.]

He clenched his fists.

Someone was pulling strings far above him.

And Kael Virell… would cut the threads.

---

End of Chapter Updates

Kael Level: 24

New Quest: Build Company / Recruit Unique Talents

System Store Access: Partial

Girls in Orbit: 4 (All noticing changes)

Hidden Enemy: Watching, Not Acting (Yet)

New Mystery: The Cradle, Prophecy Tampering.