The Spark Beneath the Skin

Far beneath the academy's western tower, past mana-sealed barriers, silent runes, and wards forged to resist even dragonfire, something stirred.

Not a student. Not a teacher. Not even human.

The figure knelt in the shadows of a forgotten sanctum, bones cracking, black mist curling from his bare back as he carved a sigil into the cold stone with the tip of his claw.

Rael'Zhur.

A demon. But not the kind whispered about in bedtime tales. No horns. No bloodstained cloak. No guttural snarls or fire-drenched steps.

He was calm. Calculated. Refined in the ways that made angels nervous.

His flesh, once obsidian-black and laced with infernal glyphs, now shimmered with the faint disguise of a common elven transfer student—lean frame, pale gold hair, and green eyes that flickered just a little too long when staring into torches.

"Ascension Trial," he murmured, lips curling in amusement as he traced the sigil's final arc. "A proving ground for future heroes. Or a slaughterhouse in disguise."

The sanctum pulsed once. The sigil hissed. It was ready.

He stood, wiping dust from his borrowed academy robes—and for a moment, his body flickered.

The illusion faltered.

And beneath the glamour, there was something else entirely: black veins, eyes like smoldering embers, and wings tucked so tight against his back they pulsed from the pressure.

He closed his eyes. Focused. The disguise returned.

Perfect.

---

Two Weeks Earlier, Demon Lands

"Let the humans tear themselves apart," the voice had said.

Queen Mael'thira, Empress of the Infernal Thirteen, spoke not in words but through the mind,her presence vast, cold, and ancient.

Rael had knelt before her, one fist to the blackened ground.

"Your mission is clear," she had whispered. "Weaken the pact between humans and elves. Twist their trust. Make them bleed. And when the time comes… be the first to strike."

Rael hadn't asked questions. He didn't need to. Among the demons, obedience wasn't weakness, it was efficiency.

Besides, he liked the chaos of it all.

Now

He moved through the academy corridors like a ghost, memorizing routes, voices, and weaknesses.

No one suspected him. Not yet.

He smiled at passing professors. Feigned awkwardness in sparring. Whispered sweet nothings to girls too naive to see past the charm.

But behind that mask… he watched.

He had already planted whispers. Spread rumors of stolen elven scrolls. "A prank," they'd say. "Coincidence." But that would change.

The Ascension Trial was the perfect storm.

Dozens of cadets from different nations. Dozens of eyes in too many directions. When the beasts came, when blood spilled and people screamed, all it would take was one false trail.

A carved sigil in elven runes. A single dead body with a glamoured handprint.

And war would follow.

He'd spent nights in the dorms planting runes on students' beds, specifically on elven cadets. Small charms meant to resonate when triggered by death.

Rael'Zhur didn't want mere violence. He wanted precision. He wanted division.

That night, he returned to the sanctum, deeper this time.

Past the cracked shrine of the First King. Past the buried bones of a failed experiment. Past the sealed door etched in forgotten tongues.

He placed his hand against the barrier.

The sigil burned into the floor flashed, once, then twice.

Then it opened.

Inside was a dormant gate. One not powered by human mana, but by something older. Wilder. The energy of broken realms.

The Rift Core.

Rael stepped forward and placed the blood-stone crystal onto the altar.

"Feed," he whispered.

The core pulsed. Hungry.

And from somewhere in the shadows, a voice responded, high, cold, and strange.

"Soon…"

He bowed.

The gate shimmered, flickered with images of twisted forests and screaming stars.

A creature, barely contained by the seal, slithered just behind the veil. It would not come through yet.

Not until the trial.

Rael left a fragment of his own blood behind. A tether. A promise.

And a key.

Elsewhere, That Same Night

Cael Valeon woke with a start.

His dome was dark, the mana torches having dimmed to embers. But his breath came fast, not from a nightmare, but from something else.

Pressure.

The kind you felt when a storm approached. When mana curled unnaturally. When logic bent around the edges of something wrong.

He stood, scanning the room. Nothing moved.

Yet something had shifted in the air.

Like the world had taken a sharp breath and hadn't exhaled yet.

His eyes narrowed.

"This academy," he murmured, "is hiding too much."

He didn't know about Rael. Not yet.

But the Logic inside him pulsed. Faintly. A whisper of warning from a mind designed to see what others ignored.

And deep within his chest, a new part of him stirred.

As if the approaching disaster wasn't just danger… but destiny.

Back in the Sanctum

Rael stood before the Rift Core, eyes glowing faintly.

He wasn't just setting a trap.

He was awakening something older—something the humans had forgotten. Something buried when the nations forged peace.

His lips curled as he whispered into the air.

"Let them think this is about rankings. Power. Trials. Let the children play."

He stepped back from the core, his form flickering again.

"Let the elves be blamed. Let their banners burn. And when their backs are turned..."

He flexed his fingers—claws briefly piercing the air like knives.

"I'll carve open this world like a wound."

---

At the Academy Courtyard, Hours Before Sunrise

Above the sleeping towers, a raven circled.

Not ordinary.

Its eyes glowed red. Its feathers were black flames. And around its leg, a tiny scroll pulsed with ancient runes.

It flew once around the spire… then vanished in smoke.

The message was sent.

The plan was in motion.

And soon, the trial would begin.

Not just for the students.

But for the world.

---

Cael stood alone in the early morning breeze, his cloak wrapped tight.

He didn't know who. He didn't know why.

But something dangerous was unfolding.

He could feel it.

Somewhere in the distance, a whisper echoed in a language he didn't know.

And somewhere, someone smiled in the dark.

-----

Author's note

Thanks for reading Chapter 7!

If you're enjoying the concept or have thoughts, drop a comment — I read all of them 🙏