Chapter 10: The Elder's Shadow
The hall was dimly lit, the flickering torches casting long shadows against the stone walls. Elder Varek sat behind a polished oak desk, his sharp eyes narrowed in thought. The results of the trials had been clear, and a new name buzzed quietly among the faction's elite: Jin.
Varek's gaze lingered on the report scroll before him. Jin had only awakened a single elemental affinity—fire—nothing rare or exotic. Yet his fire talent was mid-grade, a level that even many elite disciples failed to reach. The boy's elemental core pulsed stronger than any other candidate's.
A deep frown crept across the elder's weathered face. His pride was stung—not because Jin had surpassed his own student, Kael, who held a rare wind-water dual affinity, but because Jin had stolen the spotlight with sheer strength where Kael had only finesse.
Varek's jaw tightened. In his years, he had guided many promising talents, but none who had garnered such quiet attention in their first trials.
"The faction's eyes are on him now," Varek muttered, voice low and bitter. "A single element, yes, but the strongest. This cannot be allowed."
His mind raced with plans, schemes that had kept him powerful and respected through decades. He would not let some unproven youth eclipse his legacy.
Varek stood and paced, fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk. Jin's journey would be a thorn in the faction's side—and in Varek's path.
"We shall see how long his flame burns when faced with real adversity," he hissed. "I will ensure his path is lined with challenges—tests that no mid-grade talent can overcome."
Outside, the corridor was silent. The faction's walls held secrets, and Elder Varek knew them all.
His influence was vast—whispers in the cultivation halls, assignments to the harshest training grounds, rivals planted in Jin's path.
This was war disguised as mentorship.
The elder's eyes gleamed coldly. "Let him rise. But only to fall."
Jin's fire had sparked the faction's curiosity—and its envy.
Varek's shadow stretched long, darkening the horizon of the young prodigy's future.