Valmira

In the radiant world of AURELIS, where Ascendance determines destiny and Protocols shape power, every child dreams of their Rite — the moment the Monolith names them, grants them a Protocol, and charts their place among the Chosen.

But Kaien Virell receives nothing.

Declared Hollowborn, shunned as a mistake, and mocked as a fluke who broke the sacred Monolith, Kaien is left to rot in the ashes of failure. His past is haunted by loss. His future has no path.

Yet something ancient stirs in the silence.

A whisper. A flicker. A zero.

Drawn into the elite halls of Solvyr Academy by a loophole and a professor with too many secrets, Kaien finds himself thrust into a world that does not want him. Rivals rise, powers awaken, and a flawless prodigy named Ayari Thornveil casts an unforgiving light on his every weakness.

But beneath the Academy’s golden façade, shadows move. The Protocols are not what they seem. And Kaien’s failure may not be failure at all.

When fate refuses to choose him, Kaien will write his own.

Ascendance Protocol

Three days since the tower incident.

No reports of the Severance Order.

And worst of all… no proof.

Not even Nox backed Kaien's claims afterward. When questioned, the rogue simply shrugged, said, "Dream logic's catching."

But Kaien knew what he saw.

It still glowed when he was alone.

Solvyr Academy returned to its rhythm — combat drills, flame protocols, theory lectures — all while Kaien was being watched.

In the ripples of the Protocol Field.

The sensation that his thoughts were… echoing.

Like the world wasn't just observing…

It was mirroring him.

In Professor Velle's private lab, Kaien stood quietly as glyphs scanned his body.

The professor frowned. "No abnormalities. No latent Protocol infections. You're clear."

"…I saw things I can't explain," Kaien muttered.

Velle didn't look up. "You're not the first to awaken something dangerous in Solvyr. But you might be the first to survive it. For now."

Kaien stared at the professor. "What am I?"

"You?" Velle tilted his head. "You're either a singularity… or a correction."

"The lie we call the Protocol Flame."

Outside, the student ranks were shifting.

A public ranking duel was called — a mandatory system event. Academy tradition.

And now, standing across from him in the Arena of Concord Flame, she looked at him not with superiority…

…but with worry.

"You've changed," she said quietly, flames circling her wrist like dancers. "You move differently. You hesitate."

Because his vision was fracturing again.

His left eye — the Protocol Lens — had begun activating on its own.

The world slowed. The glyphs blurred. Ayari's aura twisted like a wrong reflection in a polished blade.

Then, something impossible:

Behind Ayari… a second Ayari stood.

Kaien dropped to one knee, hands trembling.

The hollow Ayari vanished.

But the real one was rushing him now, combat instincts kicking in, fire protocols flaring.

He saw it.

Fifteen possible strikes.

Ayari's attack twisted past his shoulder. Her eyes went wide — a fraction too late — as Kaien stepped through her stance and brought his hand to her chest.

Ayari flew backwards, skidding across the ground.

But from resonance.

The Protocol Field reacted — flaring, distorting.

Watching his own hands shake like they weren't his.

That night, whispers crawled through Solvyr's upper towers.

Whispers of a Null Spark.

Of unrecorded movement.

But so were the Writheborn — broken echoes of failed protocols, locked deep beneath Solvyr's core.

In the underground silence of Solvyr's Forbidden Levels, a steel door begins to crack.

From inside, a voice, ancient and dry:

"The Unwritten has awakened. Open the Scriptorium."

Chapter 10 - When the Flame Watches Back