Kael woke to the faint warmth of Leiya curled beside him, her breath rising and falling steadily against his arm. The early morning sun bled in through the infirmary's stained glass, bathing the room in amber hues. For a few seconds, he just watched her, letting the dream dissolve.
The Varnok. The death. The scream. It hadn't happened. Not yet.
But the feeling hadn't gone away.
Three days later, Kael stood outside the Spire Citadel.
His body was still stiff, but he'd healed faster than expected. Still, the healers had warned him not to push it. Of course, he ignored them.
Leiya walked beside him, her black dress swapped for a practical combat jacket and leggings. Her smile was faint but supportive. "They don't usually summon people here unless it's something... huge."
Kael nodded. "I know. I can feel it."
They were escorted deep underground, beyond normal guild chambers, into a war room walled in white crystal and silver inlay. There were over two dozen figures gathered: guildmasters, military generals, representatives from other nations, even a few who Kael couldn't identify.
At the far end of the room stood a man in a white coat, silver threads drifting through it like veins of light.
He turned slowly.
Everyone fell silent.
Kael felt the weight instantly. The pressure around this man bent the air, made his breath catch in his lungs.
"Kael Fael," the man said.
Kael managed to step forward. "You know me."
"Everyone does now."
His voice was quiet. Unshakable. The weight of mountains behind every word.
"I am Arkzen Vael. Humanity's Strongest."
Kael blinked. That name—he had only heard it in rumors. Ghost stories. Tales of a man who had once stopped an Eclipse-ranked Varnok with a single punch.
Arkzen didn't offer a handshake. He turned and waved a hand over the table.
A magical projection rose into view: a swirling vortex above floating isles, darkness pulsing beneath the Hollow Skies.
"Your dream was not a dream," Arkzen said. "It was a resonance. A warning. The thing you saw… matches the ancient records of a sealed Origin-class Varnok."
Murmurs erupted. One of the elven envoys stood. "That seal was never supposed to break—"
"But something is stirring," Arkzen cut in, "and our time is short. We need more than soldiers. We need weapons."
He looked at Kael.
"We need you."
Kael followed him to a private chamber. The moment the door shut, Arkzen spun and fired a pulse of dark silver light. Kael's body slammed to the ground. It wasn't just force—it was essence. Compressed, refined, poisonous.
He could feel his blood screaming.
His muscles tore. His lungs burned.
But he didn't yield.
He rose.
Slowly.
Arkzen watched, arms crossed.
Kael stood, panting. Sweat poured down his temple. His legs shook.
Arkzen smiled faintly. "You'll do."
The training began immediately.
Every day was pain. Kael was thrown into density fields twenty times normal gravity. He was made to channel Kinetic and Storm together while being bombarded with Anti-Essence spheres. When he failed, the room exploded around him. When he succeeded, the very walls trembled.
Arkzen taught without words. His lessons were in beatings, corrections, pressure.
"You're too slow," he'd say. "Again."
Kael bled. A lot. Leiya often waited outside the chamber, pacing, lips bitten. But she never stopped supporting him.
On the third night, he collapsed beside her outside the chamber. She sat beside him and pressed a towel to his head.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
He didn't answer at first. Then he looked at her.
"I saw you die," he said. "In that dream. I couldn't stop it. And I… I never want to feel that again."
Leiya didn't speak.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
Soft. Warm.
They stayed like that for a while, arms around each other. Kael didn't need to say the rest. She already understood.
Weeks passed. Kael began mastering fusion points between all four of his affinities. Lightning-Storm chains. Kinetic-Flame bursts. Storm-Kinetic mobility. By the end of the month, he stood in the gravity field, unmoving, surrounded by an aura of blazing silver flame rimmed with violet lightning.
Arkzen nodded.
"One day," he said, "you'll face that thing for real. And when you do, I expect you to stand tall."
Kael looked up.
"Because I won't be around forever."