Morning light filtered weakly through the arched windows of the Academy's infirmary, washing everything in pale gold. The air smelled of herbal tonics and healing incense, mingled with the faint sting of scorched stone and ozone.
Kaito sat upright in a narrow bed, bandages wrapped around his torso and shoulder, his thoughts drifting like smoke through the events of the previous night. The duel. The VeilHeart. The voice Liora had spoken with. That presence in the dark.
He hadn't slept long. Or well.
The door creaked open.
Bootsteps—measured, powerful—echoed on the stone floor.
Dean Kain entered, his obsidian cloak trailing behind him, arms folded, gaze sharp as a honed blade. His expression gave away nothing, but his presence carried a pressure that turned the air heavy.
Kaito straightened instinctively.
The Dean stopped at the edge of the bed and looked down at him.
"You're awake," he said.
"Yes, sir."
Silence stretched between them. Kaito braced himself.
"You could've died."
There it was.
"I know."
Dean Kain's eyes narrowed. "And yet, you still faced him. You didn't hold back. Not even when he unleashed something that should've torn you apart."
Kaito didn't respond at first. Then, quietly:
"I couldn't let him lose himself. He wasn't fighting like a student. That artifact… it changed him. And it would've destroyed him."
A long pause. Kain studied him with unreadable intensity.
"That was an ancient relic, boy. Not something a student should even be able to access, let alone use. I've placed high-level wards across the campus—if something like the VeilHeart appeared without setting off alarms, then either it was already here… or someone brought it through unconventional means."
Kaito looked up. "You think someone gave it to him?"
"I think someone wants to test more than just you," Kain replied grimly. "You've been drawing attention since the Echo awakened. First the Behemoths. Then a corrupted relic. If there's a pattern here…" He trailed off, jaw tightening. "We'll find it."
Kaito exhaled. "And Liora?"
"He's stable. But he'll be under watch. The artifact's influence hasn't fully faded." Kain's gaze sharpened. "That duel was reckless. But you showed restraint. Control. That blade of yours—it's growing with you."
Kaito blinked. "You're… not angry?"
"I didn't say that," Kain said, voice low. "You defied protocol. You engaged a fellow student in a battle that nearly collapsed part of the courtyard. And you risked your life without calling for backup."
Then, his eyes softened—just a little.
"But you won. And you did it without losing yourself."
Kaito said nothing.
Dean Kain turned to leave, but paused at the door.
"One more thing," he said, not looking back. "That figure you saw in the courtyard. Describe him."
Kaito frowned. "You knew?"
"I sensed something. Just outside the battlefield. Something… immovable."
Kaito hesitated. "Tall. Huge, really. Like a mountain in human form. I didn't see his face clearly, but I think—he was watching."
Dean Kain's voice was quiet. "Then he's begun to move again."
"Who?"
Kain looked over his shoulder, eyes cold as obsidian steel.
"Darius. The Unbreakable."
And with that, he left.
Kaito sat frozen in place.
Darius. That name struck something ancient in his memory. Something deeply wrong and impossibly old.
He didn't know why the name chilled him.
Only that it did.
The sun had just begun its slow descent behind the Academy's spires, casting long shadows across the training fields. A cool wind rustled through the trees, carrying the lingering tension of the previous night's battle.
Kaito stood beneath the arch of an old colonnade, his arms folded as he waited. Elya arrived moments later, still in her academy uniform, though her usual composure was tinged with concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I've had better nights," Kaito admitted, offering a faint smile. "But I'm still breathing."
Elya nodded, then looked over her shoulder. "Did Seraphine agree to meet us?"
"She's already here," came a voice from behind them.
Both turned to see Seraphine Vaelaris striding toward them from the far end of the colonnade, golden hair tied back in a braid, her sword sheathed elegantly across her back. She radiated calm precision, like a blade that never dulled.
"I heard about the duel," she said as she reached them. "And the artifact."
Kaito nodded. "Liora wasn't himself. That thing… the VeilHeart. It twisted him."
Seraphine's eyes narrowed. "That artifact should not exist within these walls. Whoever smuggled it in knew exactly what they were doing."
"That's why we're here," Elya said. "We need to get stronger. Whatever's coming… it won't stop with Liora."
Kaito met Seraphine's gaze. "We want you to train us. Personally."
Seraphine arched a brow. "Flattering."
"It's not flattery," Kaito said. "You're the greatest swordswoman in the Kingdom. And if I'm going to wield the Echo of Arcanum properly—if I'm going to survive—then I need to learn from the best."
Seraphine regarded him for a long moment, then Elya.
"You're serious."
"We are," Elya said.
Seraphine exhaled. "Very well. I'll train you. But my methods won't be gentle, and I won't tolerate hesitation. If you want to be warriors—real warriors—you'll leave your pride behind. Are you ready for that?"
Kaito and Elya nodded in unison.
"Then meet me at dawn," Seraphine said, turning away. "And bring the Echo."
As the two watched her walk off, Elya glanced at Kaito.
"This is going to be brutal."
"Yeah," Kaito said. "But it's what we need."
Meanwhile…
Far beneath the Academy's central tower, in a vaulted chamber lit by floating orbs of crystalline light, Professor Elyndra Vexis stood before a containment circle etched with ancient silver runes. At its center, the VeilHeart hovered in place, pulsing with deep violet energy like the beating of a cosmic heart.
Dean Kain stood beside her, arms crossed, his expression stern.
"This is no ordinary artifact," Elyndra murmured, violet eyes glowing as she examined the orb. "It's laced with bindings I haven't seen since the Old Kingdoms. Its enchantments shift constantly—like it's alive."
"It took control of Liora," Kain said.
"It didn't control him," she corrected. "It amplified him. Fed off his ambition. Artifacts like this... they don't impose their will. They invite it."
Kain's eyes darkened. "Then someone wanted him to lose control."
Elyndra nodded. "This thing doesn't belong in this world, Kain. Not anymore. I'll need time—days, maybe weeks—to untangle its structure. But I'll start with its origin."
Kain turned to leave. "Good. While you do, I'll continue tracking the source of the mana ripple. I don't believe these events are disconnected."
Elyndra's voice followed him as he reached the exit. "Keep a close eye on the boy. The Echo of Arcanum reacts to more than just mana. If the VeilHeart is a window to something else… his sword might be, too."
Dean Kain paused, nodding once.
Then he vanished into the shadows of the hallway beyond.
The first rays of dawn bled across the sky as Kaito and Elya stood at the edge of the Academy's secluded training field. The grass was still dewed with morning mist, and the air hung heavy with silence—until Seraphine's blade sliced through it with a sharp whistle.
"Again," she said flatly, stepping aside as Kaito stumbled from a parried strike.
His chest heaved, his shirt soaked in sweat. Across from him, Elya already stood in defensive stance, focused, steady—but clearly strained.
Clash.
Steel rang against steel. Seraphine moved with impossible grace, each motion precise, as if her sword obeyed her thoughts before her body. When she struck, the air itself seemed to split.
"You rely too much on your magic, Kaito," she scolded, disarming him with a twist of her wrist. "You won't always have time to chant, focus, or gather mana. When that moment comes, your blade must speak for you."
Over the next days, the montage unfolded like the rhythm of a war drum:
—Seraphine guiding their movements beneath a waterfall, the roaring torrent masking all sound, forcing them to rely on intuition over sight or hearing.
—Kaito sparring blindfolded, learning to feel mana signatures rather than see them.
—Elya and Kaito running laps up the mountain trail while weighted with enchanted training gear, their legs burning and lungs screaming for air.
—Seraphine meditating with them by moonlight, her voice echoing like a mantra: "Power is nothing without control. And control begins in stillness."
Time bled together, but Kaito could feel it—a change deep within his core. His connection to the Echo of Arcanum became sharper, clearer. The blade's presence pulsed alongside his own heartbeat, responding not just to combat, but to intention.
One night, while training alone under the stars, Kaito's magic surged.
His body trembled as the Echo shimmered with violet fire, the air warping around it. He felt something rip open within his mana field—a fracture into deeper realms of magic.
With a cry, he drove the blade forward.
A violent ripple of arcane force exploded from its edge, disintegrating a boulder across the field into pure light. Trees trembled. The earth cracked. The wind howled as if fearing what had just been unleashed.
Arcanum Surge.
Kaito fell to his knees, gasping—but alive. And stronger than ever.
Later, guided by instinct, he carved a thin line in the air with the blade. Space split open like torn fabric. A swirling portal shimmered briefly before him—unstable, but real.
Reality Ripper.
Though it collapsed a second later, the weight of it stayed in his chest. His mana, once a flickering ember, now roared like a forge—wild, searing, yet filled with potential.
Kaito stood again at the cliffside where Seraphine first tested him, the wind brushing against his face, the stars glimmering above.
He gripped the Echo of Arcanum tightly.
He was no longer the uncertain outsider who stepped foot into the Academy weeks ago.
He was becoming something else.
Something more.