Chapter 4: Shadows Beneath the Light.
Combat training was held in the Soul Chamber, a colossal amphitheater carved into the bones of a dormant mountain deep beneath the Academy. The walls pulsed faintly with ancestral soul echoes—whispers of battles long past, etched into the stone by generations of Soulbornes.
Karen stood near the edge of the arena's circular floor, her breath steady but her nerves taut. Her black hair was tied back, eyes sharp beneath long lashes. Around her, dozens of first-years stretched, murmured, or fidgeted in anxious anticipation.
Instructor Sereth Kael, a severe woman clad in layered armor robes, strode into the center. She wore no insignia, but the aura that rolled off her was suffocating—dense, measured, and razor-sharp.
"You will pair off," she said, voice cold and sharp. "Soul Energy only. Physical strikes will be punished. Victory is not determined by destruction, but control. Show your will. Not your wrath."
Karen was paired with a boy named Dane Alphon, a smirking second-generation Soulborne with flaming orange Soul Energy and a reputation for arrogance. His eyes locked on her like she was prey.
"This'll be easy," he sneered. "Hope you've got some pretty tricks, Lockwood."
She gave no response. Instead, she stepped onto the ring and centered herself. She could feel the Proto-Domain just beneath her skin, whispering, waiting.
The match began.
Dane was quick. His Soul Energy burst forth like wildfire, forming fiery lances that cut toward her from every angle.
Karen moved differently than the others had in their bouts. No flashy blasts. No grand defenses.
Just fluid, effortless evasion.
She didn't block. She slid through the gaps. A half-step here, a breath-lean there.
The crowd began murmuring.
And then she tapped it.
Her Proto-Domain.
Darkness cracked around her feet. A low hum filled the chamber. The lights flickered. A veil of silent night unfurled like wings around her—barely a few meters wide, but enough.
Time slowed.
Dane lunged again—this time, aiming to overwhelm.
But when he entered the Proto-Domain's edge, something changed.
His energy flickered.
His footing faltered.
His Soul Techniques unraveled mid-air, falling apart like rotted cloth.
He gasped, clutching his head. "W-what the hell—?!"
Karen stepped forward. Shadows danced across her fingers.
"Yield," she said softly, the air thick with weight.
Dane dropped to one knee, not by choice.
The silence was deafening.
Sereth Kael raised a hand. "Enough."
The Proto-Domain receded instantly.
Karen blinked, her breath catching. It had felt so natural.
The crowd erupted in whispers again.
"Did she collapse his technique?"
"She didn't even touch him!"
"That's not a beginner's Domain…"
Sereth approached, her expression unreadable. "You didn't just form your Domain," she said quietly. "You commanded it."
Karen said nothing.
But inside, she felt the stirrings of something vast.
---
Later that night, Karen wandered the gardens behind the east wing of the Academy, her head still buzzing from the match. The trees swayed under moonlight, and the distant waterfalls fed cool mist into the quiet air.
"You shouldn't have done that in public."
She turned quickly.
A figure stepped from behind a wide pillar. Cloaked in long black robes, face mostly hidden beneath a veil of shifting shadows.
Karen's hand drifted toward her hip.
The figure chuckled. "Relax, little soulflower. If I wanted you dead, I would've spoken through your nightmares."
"Who are you?"
"I go by many names," the voice purred, "but to the few who matter… I am Lira, the Wraithbinder. I speak for the Veil."
Karen stiffened.
Lira stepped closer, shadows coiling around her fingers like curious snakes.
"You're early, girl. Too early. The Abyss has touched you deeper than we thought."
"What do you want?"
"To warn you," Lira said, voice suddenly flat. "Your Proto-Domain? It isn't entirely yours. Not yet. It's seeded. It hungers. And when it grows… so will their interest."
"Whose?"
"The Council of Nine," Lira whispered. "Our lords. Your enemies. Or your future."
Karen narrowed her eyes. "I'll never serve them."
"You say that now. But tell me—when you're alone, in the dark… doesn't it whisper your name?"
Karen's jaw clenched.
Lira smiled faintly beneath her veil. "You have two choices, Karen Lockwood. Learn to master the abyss within you…"
She stepped back into the shadows, voice fading.
"…or be consumed by it."
The night closed around Karen like a second skin.
She stood still for a long time, her heartbeat quiet… but deep down, her soul echoed with a whisper she could no longer ignore.
It was the throne again.
Calling her home.
....