Kaiden stood at the edge of the arena floor, the distant cheers already beginning to fade beneath the pressure of what was coming. His na hovered in golden script above the crystalline do for all to see, floating alongside the na of his opponent: Champion Rel of the Iron Guild.
The Iron Guild—a clan of tal-blooded warriors from the inner forges of Elthros. Rel wasn't just their champion. He was their pride. A walking mountain of armor and enchantnt, muscle forged by war, blade kissed by rune-smiths. Kaiden had seen him once, in a mory.
He looked back. Alice gave him a reassuring nod. Joshua offered a small smile, calm as ever.
But it was Adam who stepped forward.
"Kaiden," he called.
Kaiden turned. "Yeah?"
Adam walked toward him. Slowly. Deliberate.
There was no grand speech. No fatherly pat on the shoulder.
He simply reached out.
And tapped his son on the forehead.
A spark of light burst from the point of contact. Barely visible to most. But the arena shivered. The floating chains creaked.
Kaiden felt it instantly.
Sothing uncoiled inside him.
Not fire. Not mana. Sothing older. Deeper. Like the breath before the first word of the universe.
His veins pulsed. His skin humd. His heartbeat changed rhythm. Slower. Stronger. Clearer.
He stumbled slightly, catching himself.
Adam leaned in. "Just one percent. That's all you get."
Kaiden blinked. "Wait, what?"
Adam smiled faintly. "Go. Show them who a Dhark is."
A few people near the edge of the arena raised their brows. "Dhark?" one whispered. "What's that, a clan?"
"Never heard of it," another muttered. "Sounds made up."
But Joshua, still watching, tilted his head slightly. His smirk grew a fraction wider. Vael raised one brow and muttered under his breath, "Ohhh, they're not ready."
The steward called out: "Kaiden Dhark! Champion Rel! Step forth!"
Kaiden walked into the center. So did Rel.
The crowd quieted again.
Rel towered over Kaiden, tal armor gleaming with heat runes, a two-handed war blade slung over his shoulder. His skin shimred with a tallic tint, like soone dipped a god in molten steel.
He looked Kaiden up and down.
"You look soft," Rel grunted.
Kaiden rolled his neck. "And you look overcooked."
A murmur of laughter rippled from one side of the stands.
Rel snorted. "Try not to die too quickly, boy."
The steward raised her hand.
"BEGIN!"
Rel moved like an avalanche—fast, brutal, direct. His blade swung downward with a scream of tal, aiming to split Kaiden from shoulder to spine.
But Kaiden didn't dodge.
He stepped into the swing.
Rel blinked—too late.
Kaiden twisted, grabbed the flat of the descending blade with one hand, and redirected it with a flick of his wrist. The massive sword slamd into the stone beside him, cracking the floor.
Kaiden lifted his other hand—palm open—and struck.
Just once.
An open-palm hit to the chest.
It sounded like thunder.
Rel staggered back, coughing, the breath knocked out of him. His armor stead.
The audience gasped.
"What was that?" soone muttered. "He didn't even use magic!"
Rel roared and charged again. This ti with spells lacing his blade—explosive enchantnts, fla trails, kinetic bursts.
Kaiden moved through it.
Like wind through fire.
His movents weren't flashy. They were efficient. Clean. One step here, a slip there, a turn, a pivot, a breath. His strikes were few, but they landed like punctuation marks in a sentence written in steel.
He ducked a cleave, slid under Rel's guard, and kicked him in the back of the knee. As Rel stumbled, Kaiden launched upward, elbow crashing into the back of the champion's neck.
Rel hit the floor.
Hard.
Kaiden landed beside him, calm, untouched.
Rel growled, pushing himself up.
Kaiden looked down. "You want to forfeit?"
Rel answered by swinging again.
Kaiden caught the blade. With two fingers.
The audience gasped.
Kaiden looked at the blade. Then at Rel.
Then he let go.
And in a blur, he was behind Rel.
Rel turned—and Kaiden struck.
This ti, a full-body blow to the chest. No magic. Just raw celestial muscle.
Rel flew.
Across the arena.
Into the wall.
The entire coliseum shook.
The golden do flickered for a second.
Rel didn't get up.
Silence.
The steward hovered forward, eyes wide.
"C-Champion Rel is unable to continue. Victory goes to Kaiden Dhark!"
No cheers.
Not yet.
Everyone was still watching Kaiden, who stood in the center of the ring, chest rising slowly, his eyes calm. Controlled. But different now. Sothing deeper behind them.
Joshua nodded once. "That's our boy."
Alice smiled softly, a hand over her heart.
Adam just folded his arms and smirked. "One percent."
The Zenith Arena buzzed with a new kind of energy. The na Kaiden Dhark echoed in the air like a spell no one had heard before but would never forget again.
Whispers spread through the crowd.
"Did you see how fast he moved?"
"What kind of magic was that? It felt… ancient."
"Dhark… I don't know that house. Do you?"
"No. But I think we will."
Up in the noble boxes, Lady Vireen leaned forward, her silver mask gleaming under the arena lights. Her spellguard stood behind her, silent and still, but she could feel the tension in the air. The boy moved like a predator trained from birth.
Duke Gorrim didn't hide his scowl. He grunted, his heavy rings clinking against the rail as he clenched his fist. "Dhark, huh? Never heard of it. But that kind of power? That's not from the lower districts."
"He moves like a godspawn," said one of the Iron Guild emissaries nearby. "But the records show no celestial bloodline."
"Then the records are wrong."
Down below, Kaiden walked back toward the waiting circle, his steps calm, but every motion still crackling with the aftershock of the power he'd just unleashed. His opponent, Champion Rel, was still being carried off the field by dics, unconscious but alive.
Joshua t Kaiden halfway. He didn't speak—he just gave the boy a look.
Pride. But laced with caution.
Kaiden nodded. "Held back. Like you said."
Joshua smirked. "You did good."
From the corner of the field, Adam watched it all, arms folded, gaze cool.
He felt the stirrings in the air. Whispers. Spells being tuned. People scribbling sigils to investigate. The na Dhark would not stay in mystery for long.
And that was fine.
Let them dig.
Let them find nothing.
The truth wasn't in the books. It was in the blood.
The tournant continued.
Kaiden's second match ca two hours later. A dual-wielding elf from the Crimson Veil sect—a notorious duelist with perfect record, said to be so fast he could cut lightning in half.
It ended in thirty-one seconds.
Kaiden didn't even summon a weapon.
He moved through the elf's range like a ghost, tapped a sigil across the elf's ribs with his fingers, and whispered sothing only the elf could hear.
The mont the countdown ended, the elf fell to one knee and forfeited.
No one understood why.
Only that fear was real in his eyes.
By the third match, there were no more whispers.
Only silence.
Even the Celestial King leaned forward now, his golden crown dimd slightly by the sheer tension.
Lady Vireen spoke to her advisor in a whisper of light magic. "Begin a trace. Cross-reference the na Dhark against the Interrealm Registrars. Scan all sealed archives."
"Understood, my lady."
Duke Gorrim cracked his knuckles. "If he's not from here, we need to know where he's from. Power like that doesn't co cheap."
In the arena tunnels, Kaiden leaned against a stone wall, breath even, aura quiet.
Alice approached, holding a drink and a small towel. "You're not even sweating."
Kaiden took the drink. Smiled faintly. "A little."
She looked at him carefully. "They're all watching now. The nobles. The guilds. The Spiral."
Kaiden's jaw clenched at that last na.
Alice lowered her voice. "They're going to co for you."
Kaiden glanced toward the bright light spilling from the arena gates. He could hear the crowd still buzzing from his last fight. "Let them."
Then he looked at her, softer. "As long as they don't co for you, I'll be fine."
Alice blinked. Then smiled. "You're definitely his son."
Up above, Joshua and Adam watched in silence.
"They won't let this slide," Joshua said. "They're already trying to trace him."
Adam didn't blink. "Let them try."
"You sure unlocking one percent was enough?"
Adam smirked. "For now. Let them get curious. Let them start trembling."
Joshua nodded. "He made his mark."
Adam turned toward the horizon. "Now it's ti to protect it."
And sowhere far beyond Krayon Sol—
In a place where mirrors wept and ti whispered in circles—
The Spiral watched the arena flicker in his broken reflections.
And began writing again.
But this ti, not in ink.
In blood.
The war for Kaiden Dhark had officially begun.
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