Dawn came slowly to Tempest Hold, the rising sun casting molten gold across the horizon. The towering stone bastions stirred with life as squadrons of initiates began their daily drills. Clashes of wood against wood rang out, mixed with sharp commands and the occasional aura burst as trainees practiced basic techniques.
Thalen stood at the edge of the observation deck, arms folded over the railing. Below him, hundreds of hopefuls trained some as young as twelve, others well into their twenties. All of them bore the same desire he once did: to grow strong enough to protect, to rise above their limits, to survive.
Yet none of them had seen what he had. None of them had faced a vision of Vael Seros in a dream or awoken to a sword flickering with Tyrant Spirit embers. None of them knew just how close death truly loomed.
He turned as Dain approached, two trays in hand.
"Brought you breakfast," Dain said. "Again."
Thalen took the tray with a chuckle. "You're going to make me soft."
"Hardly. I'm just making sure you don't pass out during sparring again. Arkan's patience has limits, y'know."
They sat on the balcony, watching the recruits. The food was simple: rice, spiced meat, and boiled vegetables nothing extravagant, but enough to keep them fueled. For a long moment, they ate in silence.
Then Dain leaned in, whispering, "He's watching you. Arkan. From the upper tower."
Thalen's eyes flicked up. Sure enough, atop one of the spires, the shadow of the black-cloaked SSS Hero loomed behind the tinted glass. Unmoving. Observing.
"I think he knows something's changing in you," Dain added.
Thalen nodded. "I felt it. After the dream. The sword pulsed… like it was alive."
Dain looked at him cautiously. "Thalen, I asked around. You're not supposed to be feeling Tyrant Spirit resonance this early. It's not natural."
"I know."
"So what does it mean?"
"That I don't have time to train like the others."
Later that morning, within the hardened stone of the Combat Sanctum, Thalen stood in the center of a dueling ring. The sword he held now was forged under Arkan's request a high-grade Rare-class blade aligned to his Blade Aura. It hadn't reached Legendary class, not yet. But it pulsed with potential.
Across from him stood Fera another aspirant and one of the top-ranked initiates in Tempest Hold. She was older than Thalen by three years and bore the Windlash Aura, a type infamous for its blistering speed and whiplike strikes. Her long silver braid was tied tight, and her stance radiated calm focus.
"This is a real match," she warned. "Not a drill."
"Good," Thalen replied, gripping his sword. "I need something real."
The bell rang, and Fera vanished.
Or so it seemed.
Thalen's instincts screamed. He ducked, just in time for a lash of compressed wind to scream past his head, slicing a gash into the wall behind him. He rolled to the side, raising his sword as another wind strike hammered down.
Fera danced on the air itself, her movements fluid and fast, every step kicking up dust and wind. Thalen parried strike after strike, but she was relentless. Her aura snapped like a whip thin, invisible, but deadly.
He breathed deeply, slowing his pulse, reaching inward not to the Tyrant Spirit, not yet, but to his Blade Aura. It surged through him like a forge's heat, strengthening his limbs, sharpening his vision.
The next strike came low he deflected, stepped forward, and countered.
Fera's eyes widened as his blade grazed her side. Not deep, but enough to surprise her.
"You're not supposed to be that fast," she hissed.
"I'm not," Thalen said, and moved again.
This time, he didn't block. He anticipated. His footwork mirrored hers. His blade wove through the space like wind meeting steel, and on the fourth exchange, he landed a clean strike across her shoulder.
Fera dropped to one knee, panting. "Yield."
The bell rang again.
The spectators were silent. Then, slowly, clapping. Hesitant at first, then louder.
Thalen offered Fera a hand. She took it, eyes searching his face.
"What are you becoming?" she whispered.
"I wish I knew."
That night, Arkan summoned him to the Tower of Silence.
The chamber was carved from obsidian, lined with relics from a forgotten era broken swords, shattered masks, and crystal fragments humming with residual aura. At its center stood a pedestal where a scroll burned with ghostly blue fire.
"Sit," Arkan commanded.
Thalen did.
"You're accelerating too fast," the SSS Hero said. "Faster than any candidate I've trained."
"I'm not doing it on purpose."
"That makes it worse," Arkan replied. "Most Tyrant aspirants burn out. You? You're adapting. Almost too well."
Thalen met his gaze. "Do you think I'm dangerous?"
Arkan was silent for a moment. Then, "No. Not yet."
He walked to the pedestal, lifting the scroll. "This is the Tyrant Codex. A record of every wielder of the Tyrant Spirit since its emergence. Ten names. Ten paths. Ten fates."
Thalen stood, curiosity piqued. "And all of them survived?"
"All of them paid a price," Arkan said. "And one of them didn't survive in spirit."
"Vael Seros."
"Yes."
Arkan handed him the scroll. "Read it. Learn from it. And understand this your Blade Aura alone is not enough. You must forge a bond between it and your Tyrant Spirit. Otherwise, the power will consume you."
Thalen nodded slowly. "What happens if I succeed?"
"You become a true Tyrant Wielder. And then the real war begins."
Meanwhile, in the northern outlands, where the hills rose like stone giants and the trees whispered of ancient grief, a shadow crept through the mist.
A village lay quiet in the cradle of dawn. Children played in the fields, unaware of the figure that passed between trees like a ghost. His face was hidden beneath a pale mask, his robe trailing silence behind him.
He stepped into the square.
And the air stopped.
Wind halted mid-gust. Leaves hung motionless. The children froze in place.
One of them blinked. Looked around. Called for her mother.
But her voice made no sound.
A moment later, she vanished. Then the houses. The trees. The very soil beneath the village began to flicker like fading embers.
In under two minutes, the entire village ceased to exist erased from reality.
Vael Seros stood at its center, holding nothing.
Only the memory remained.
Back in Tempest Hold, Thalen jolted from sleep, clutching his head.
Something inside him screamed.