"State your academy."
"Heavenly Academy."
"State your elental affinity and Arcana Spirit."
"Death. My Arcana is nad Tezca, the Death Scythes."
A small ripple spread through the court. That na was not normal.
"Do you possess any personal or political enmity with Prince Dushassana?"
Rael looked up at King Dhritarashtra without blinking. "No."
The circle pulsed gently. No reaction. The truth.
The King nodded slowly. "Then why, young one, did you say he would die?"
Rael hesitated. Not in fear, but in weight.
Then, finally, he spoke. "Because I am cursed."
Silence fell like a sword.
The priest frowned. "Clarify."
Rael’s voice echoed through the marble chamber.
"Since I awakened my Arcana, I’ve felt it. A shiver runs through my soul when soone near is... marked. People who are about to die give off a scent. A shadow. A ticking."
He tapped his chest softly. "I don’t see death. I feel it. That’s why I said it. That’s why I knew."
Soone from the royal family muttered, "Dark sorcery..."
But then, Val—a tall man in grey armor, wearing the crest of House Aurelius—stepped forward from the crowd. His silver eyes glowed faintly, and everyone fell quiet at once.
He was sent to speak, to protect, to intervene.
But he didn’t, as he spotted Achilles standing behind Rael and paused.
He studied him for a mont, then... stepped back.
He would not interfere.
Rael stood alone. "You want proof?" The boy said, his voice lower now. "But no one here is dying."
He turned his head slowly, scanning the court, from guards to princes, from scribes to nobles.
He saw no glows. No scent of death.
Until...
"There is soone..."
His voice ca out sharper.
"Soone in the palace. I don’t know who but..." Rael said. "That person will die before the sun rises again."
Gasps erupted. The man in question paled.
"W-what?! I—what nonsense is this!" The Crown Prince becos angry. Duryodhana stepped forward, summoning his mace Arcana spirit. "Father... he was spouting such nonsense."
Rael, however, gave a glare to the prince. "Then, you can just wait for today. By tomorrow morning, soone who lives in this palace will die." He declared loudly.
At once, the entire place beca silent.
Achilles couldn’t help but stare at his back. Val beca worried as he muttered. "What the Duke has feared is going to beco a reality. Young Master offended the royal family in their own court. Even if it becos true, I hope it’s a maid or soone unimportant who will die... We don’t want to escalate this situation."
"Commander Bheeshma..." Dhritarastra then shouted.
A swirl of divine aura swept down from one of the high balconies. A tall man with flowing white hair and unaging eyes descended, clad in shining armor of gold and blue.
The guardian of the Kuru throne, Arjuna’s granduncle, had his back straight and watched down.
"I place the palace under maximum lockdown," the King said. "I give you the job to ensure no one leaves the palace. I ant no one, whoever is right now in the palace, will be there, and it will be your responsibility to ensure no one dies."
The King then looked at Achilles, "And Lord Achilles, I also ask you to be the guest, but allow us to watch you 24/7. Allow your freedom to be restricted until the dawn."
Achilles looked back at the king and nodded.
*
Ch: Three Years later;
The moon had barely crested the outer palace walls when the screams ca.
Servants ran through torchlit hallways. Healers were summoned in haste. The sky felt heavier.
By midnight, the news had spread across the entire capital:
Queen Mother Satyavati was dead.
The matriarch of the Kuru bloodline—the last of the ancient royal seers—had passed quietly in her private chambers. No poison, no wound, no spell. Simply... gone. It’s a natural death.
The royal court convened again before dawn, this ti in hushed frenzy.
Inside the Grand Council Hall, voices erupted in anger and panic.
"That cursed boy! He predicted death and brought it with him!"
"He’s a necromancer in disguise!"
"Execute him—before he kills another royal!"
A few ministers shouted Rael’s na like it was a plague. Others, more educated, whispered darker things:
"The Duchy of Freyles knew of him. That’s why he was shipped off to the Arcana World. The child was cursed from birth."
"His Arcana is linked to Reaper’s Gate. What do you think that ans?"
But another faction erged—those who did not believe Rael had anything to do with it.
Instead, they turned their eyes on soone else.
"What about Achilles?" one lord bellowed. "He was here. Who else has the power to kill silently, instantly?"
"He was being watched," another countered. "Bheeshma never took his eyes off him!"
Bheeshma stood unmoving, arms folded. "He did not move an inch from my sight."
And still, Rael remained silent.
Until Dhritarashtra, now grieving and furious, turned toward him once more.
"Speak now, cursed child. Did you kill my grandmother?"
Rael stepped forward.
His cloak dragged slightly over the polished marble floor. His face, pale but resolute, lifted toward the dais.
"No," he said. "But I knew she would die."
Gasps.
"I told you. I am cursed by death. I do not cause it, but I see it. The closer they are to death, the clearer it will be for ."
He stared directly at the King—unafraid, unflinching.
"If you want more proof, keep here. Lock in your palace. Watch what happens. I will tell you when the next death approaches. I won’t cause it. I will just know. But it is a curse I had to bear. Wherever I go, death will follow."
His words echoed like winter wind across the cold chamber.
The King gritted his teeth, rising from his throne, his voice cracking not just with age, but with fury and sorrow.
"Cursed child! Spawn of shadows! Get him out of my kingdom. I will not suffer death to live among my family!"
The guards didn’t need a second order.
They moved in, but Achilles stepped between them and Rael, his hand just hovering above his spear. The guards halted.
Dhritarashtra waved them off bitterly. "Let him go. Let the gods deal with him. Get him out."
A while later;
Outside the Palace
Rael walked through the streets of Hastinapura with Achilles beside him, the night air heavy with whispers and watchful eyes.
Neither of them spoke... until they reached the final bridge near the outer city wall.
Then Achilles spoke, voice unusually quiet. "You shouldn’t have said that in front of the King."
Rael looked up.
Achilles continued. "Your father warned ... about your curse. Your ’death vision’. That’s what they called it in Freyles, isn’t it?"
Rael nodded once. "But I don’t know who kills them. Or why. Only when."
Achilles let out a breath and rubbed his temple. "Still... don’t say these things out loud again. Especially not to kings and nobles. Or worse, people will take advantage of your powers."
Rael didn’t reply at first. Then softly, he said, "I was just telling the truth."
Achilles gave a slight snort.
"Yeah, well... maybe hold off on truths until you’re grown. The death vision... you’re not ready for it. Not emotionally. Not politically. Wait till you’re older. Then we’ll train it properly."
Rael finally nodded.
"Alright. I’ll hold it back."
Achilles glanced at him from the side, his voice softer now.
"You’ve got more power than most kids your age, Rael. But power alone doesn’t make you a man. Knowing when to speak, and when to be silent—that’s wisdom. Start learning that."
Rael looked back once, toward the towering palace behind them.
And for the first ti that night, he smiled faintly.
*
Three years Later;
Just like that, years passed in the blink of an eye, smoothly without any significant events in the academy.
During these three years, Rael and his team won championships twice in a row and many other competitions. Artaigne, after working very hard, made it to the team, too.
And right now, as they cross the age of 12, Rael and Eon stood at the cusp of their second awakening, the mont that would define their Arcana futures, and for Rael, perhaps shape his destiny as well.
They were no longer children.
Rael, at 12 years old, stood taller, his Arcana still carrying the weight of its cursed vision. The students gave him the nickna, the Scythe. He had entered Rank-6.
Eon had mastered her ti manipulation even further. Her confidence radiated in every step, and over the years, she gained the nickna of Goddess of Ti in the academy. Like her brother, she is also a Rank-6 Arcana Master.
Artaigne, now 13, had grown into a more formidable assassin. As for her rank, she had outgrown both of them, entering Rank-7 through sheer hard work and willpower. She has already earned the qualifications to apply for the graduation test, but she stuck with the team.
All three had grown together, beco a tight trio. They were almost seen together every minute.
Present;
They were deep in the level-3 region, facing off against the monstrous regional lord, a platinum grade creature that looked like a massive armored lion with wings.
Through their combo attacks, the White Panthera King is on the verge of death. It was injured from top to bottom, blood oozing out of its body like a stream. Its wings were damaged to the extent that it cannot fly anymore.
"Raaa..."
Letting out a roar, Rael jumped as high as possible, raising the scythe as the Panthera King was on the ground.
"Soul skill: Slice of Death"
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