The sky over New Dawn Academy shimmered like polished glass. Floating cultivation arenas orbited the main tower, casting runes of light across the city below. Each level of the academy buzzed with activity: drones whispered ancient chants, spirit-forges hissed with molten qi, and students practiced thunderstep footwork in gravity-locked chambers.
Kaien walked alone.
His boots echoed against the synth-stone path of the Hall of Transmission, where neon lotus lamps lit the way. He clutched his shirt tighter over the faintly glowing mark on his chest, heart pounding.
The mark had not stopped burning since dawn.
> Two figures beneath a tree… Holding hands… Why does it feel like it knows me?
The hall ahead split into two: one led to the Combat Simulation Deck, the other to the Meditation Wells. He turned left. Combat he understood. Silence, he feared.
---
Scene: Simulation Deck Theta-9
The vast arena shimmered to life as Kaien stepped in. Steel walls folded outward, revealing a battlefield patterned after ancient ruins—Wang Chung's final battleground, though most students thought it just a stylized arena.
Above, the artificial sky flickered with cloudlike spirit formations.
A voice called from the shadows.
> "You're early, Lightblood."
Kaien winced.
Lira, a top-ranked Technocultivator and daughter of the Minister of War, stepped forward in her black nanoweave robe, her neural-jade headset glowing. Four drones hovered behind her like loyal hawks.
> "Simulation: Flame Sovereign Redux," she commanded.
The arena changed.
Pillars of scorched earth rose from the ground. Ash rained from above. Kaien's skin tingled—the arena mimicked real qi conditions, and he felt his own spiritual circuits respond involuntarily.
Lira raised her hand. "Let's see if you're still afraid of yourself."
Kaien didn't reply.
He launched forward.
Her drones spun, projecting barrier fields and illusionary attacks, but Kaien moved like instinct was guiding him. His body twisted mid-air, flames leaking from his fingertips—not code-invoked, but raw. Real.
> Why does my body remember fire I never learned?
He struck a drone. Instead of damage, his flame consumed it—code and all—reducing it to nothingness.
The simulation screeched in error.
Lira blinked. "What the hell?"
Then the arena froze.
---
Scene: System Override
Every light in the simulation chamber flickered to red.
> System Override Detected
Unauthorized Sovereign Signature Located
ID: W.C. — Code Ignition Triggered
Kaien staggered back. A circle of flame formed beneath him, ancient runes spiraling around his feet. The scorched earth arena dissolved—replaced by something else. A vision. A memory not his own.
---
Vision: The Lantern Tree
He stood beneath an enormous tree, its branches hung with golden lanterns. A man stood there—back straight, eyes glowing with sorrow and fire. His long coat fluttered in the wind.
Wang Chung.
He turned, eyes meeting Kaien's.
> "You're not ready yet. But you will be."
Kaien tried to speak, but the memory collapsed.
---
Scene: Back to Reality
Kaien collapsed to the simulation floor, panting. His hands trembled.
Lira stared at him from across the broken arena, her headset cracked, drones smoking.
"What are you?" she whispered.
Kaien didn't answer.
But inside his chest, the mark pulsed. And in the back of his mind, words not his own whispered:
> "When the world forgets the flame, a child of ash shall carry it again."