Chapter 7: Crowns
Later, when the crowds thinned and the upper ranks left the sparring floor, Kael found himself in a quieter corner with the others.
He didn't speak right away. They didn't need to.
Everyone was still feeling it. August was gone now—but the pressure he left behind wasn't. The ring still hummed. The air still smelt like cracked stone and mana.
Kael finally broke it.
"Well, if we want to get through this death zone, we've got to demonstrate our capabilities. I'll start off."
"My crown doesn't have a fancy name or a clan banner behind it. But it burns like a star."
He lifted his hand slightly. Not to show off—just enough for them to feel it.
A low arc spun around his fingers. Faint and hot. The kind of shimmer you get off pavement in dead heat. But spinning, always spinning.
"There's pull. Rotation. But more than that—there's heat, and a lot of it. Pressure too. It feels like a star trying to form. Like something inside me wants to collapse and burst at the same time."
He hesitated.
"I can tether this aspect to myself, or objects, or just the area around me. And the more it moves, the more it builds. It's… fusion-based, as far as I can tell. Like I'm generating energy from momentum. If I keep accelerating something, the heat stacks, and eventually it… explodes."
They were listening closely. Not just to what he said—but how he said it. Trust didn't come fast, not in a place like this. But it started here.
Soahc snorted. "Are you sure you're not an Ashbourne dropout? They'd eat that up."
Kael shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't mind the aesthetic."
That got a grin out of Soahc.
Veyna crouched in front of him, curious. Not sceptical.
"Fusion, huh? So, like, you're building heat the way stars do? All that pressure until something explodes?"
Kael nodded. "Maybe. I spun a rock once, and it pulled dust into orbit before it cracked in half from the heat."
He didn't mention the nosebleed and headache that affected him for an hour.
"Still figuring out where the limit is."
Veyna's eyes narrowed in focus. You could almost see the equations lighting up in her mind.
That caught his attention. Not just the way she thought, but how quickly she accepted the risk of engaging with his ability. Kael watched her carefully.
"If you can rotate and inject heat at once, you could launch something with absurd pressure. Even melt things mid-air. What happens if you accelerate spin on a sharp projectile? Ever tried binding it to a metal arc conductor?"
Kael blinked. "Not yet. Not thought about it."
She didn't mock him. Didn't act superior. Just turned the thought over.
Veyna stood up. She was holding something now.
Not a gun.
A long, curved weapon with metal prongs and a pulsing obsidian spine. A Voltarm.
Arc-conductive. Meant to transmit Arc through strikes or throws. Built to hum with power the second you touched it.
Kael's eyes followed the crackling current dancing between its edges.
She spun it once, let the momentum carry, and caught it mid-flip.
"Standard issue here, but does its job in practice," Veyna said. "Doesn't fire like my pistols, but reacts faster."
Kael understood immediately. Direction was everything for her.
Her Crownlight flickered along the Voltarm's prongs like it belonged there. Runes lit in sequence as her hand pulsed with energy.
He wasn't just seeing what she could do. He was watching how far she was willing to go with it.
"My Aevum's called Vector Chain," Veyna continued. "Whenever I launch something, I can tag its path. Anchor the vector. Then I layer effects. Bend the route, delay it, split it, bounce it, and multiply it. Whatever works."
Kael watched the arcs ripple through her weapon.
"You basically enchant physics."
Veyna grinned. "I weaponise geometry. Guns, blades, volts—doesn't matter. If it moves, I can make it smarter."
He didn't say it, but Kael was impressed. Not because it was flashy. Because it wasn't.
It was technical. Very calculated. That's what made it deadly.
And she didn't even need theatrics to prove it.
They understood something about each other in that moment. Not just skill—but intent. Control. Precision. How far the other was willing to go.
He caught Soahc watching, arms crossed and grinning like someone who'd just found a new favourite disaster. Sol, off to the side, didn't say anything—but his posture shifted. Just a little more alert now.
Veyna stepped back into the line beside Kael. And Kael stood a little taller beside her.
The two of them hadn't shared much before now. But after this?
They understood something about each other. Not just skill—but intent. Control. Precision. How far the other was willing to go.
And maybe more importantly—what not to say.
Trust didn't need to be declared. It was built in moments like this.
Quiet tests.
Kael didn't mind going first. And Veyna didn't hold back in response.
They were both taking notes. Gauging limits. Seeing how they work as a team with stakes this high.