Morning light bled through the fog that lingered above the academy's courtyard.
The aftermath of the second round had left the campus buzzing rumors of Alex's duel with Rhea were everywhere. Students whispered in corridors, instructors debated behind sealed doors, and even the nobles' messengers carried reports back to their Houses.
But Alex wasn't in the mood for glory.
He stood at the edge of the training field, sweat clinging to his skin, his focus locked on the faint flame hovering over his palm. It flickered weakly, sputtering between crimson and black unstable, like a pulse that couldn't decide if it wanted to live.
He gritted his teeth. "Again."
The flame surged, twisted and died.
"Too much emotion," Mira's voice called behind him. She was sitting cross-legged on a stone bench, her hair tied back and a datapad hovering in front of her. "You're forcing the mana flow instead of guiding it. You're treating it like fire when it's… something else."
Alex sighed, dropping his hand "It is fire."
Mira tilted her head, studying him. "Not anymore. Not after what happened yesterday."
Her words hung heavy the memory of the duel replayed in his mind the explosion, the black flame that devoured Rhea's attack, the moment everything slowed and the world vanished except the dragon's heartbeat.
He clenched his fist. "The System called it synchronization. Every time I fight, it… reacts."
Mira frowned. "Reacts how?"
Before he could answer, his vision glitched.
For a split second, the world froze sound vanished, color drained, and strings of golden symbols flickered across the air.
[ ALERT — Unauthorized Energy Detected ]
[ Dragon Protocol Breach Level: 02 ]
[ System Override Engaged… ]
The flame in Alex's hand reignited on its own, bright and alive, swirling into the shape of an eye its pupil slit like a predator's.
"Alex!" Mira jumped up, mana flaring around her. "What's happening?!"
He couldn't answer. His heartbeat matched the flickering symbols, each pulse echoing through his skull.
Then a voice layered, mechanical yet ancient spoke from within the flame.
User Alex Harven. Synchronization threshold approaching limit. System will intervene.
"Intervene?" he gasped. "What do you mean"
Light exploded outward.
Mira shielded her face as the field was swallowed in gold and crimson fire.
When it cleared, Alex was gone.
Only the faint echo of the System's whisper remained in the air:
Trial Initiated: Path of Equilibrium.
The world returned with a soundless roar.
Alex gasped, stumbling forward but there was no ground to catch him. He hung suspended in a void of shimmering light, where fragments of stone floated like drifting islands.
Above him, golden circuits weaved through an endless sky, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"Where… am I?"
His voice echoed strangely, swallowed by the airless space.
Then the System's voice returned, cold and precise:
[ Welcome, User Alex Harven. ]
[ Initiating Synchronization Trial — Tier 1: Equilibrium of Flame. ]
[ Objective: Control the Shadowflame without external aid. ]
[ Failure Condition: Overload or Loss of Consciousness. ]
Alex blinked. "A System trial? Now?!"
He spun around, searching for a way out but the void responded with a blinding flash. The shards of stone assembled beneath his feet, forming an arena etched with glowing runes. Across from him, a shape began to form a mirror image of himself, wreathed in black and gold fire.
Its eyes opened. They were not human.
"Is that… me?" Alex whispered.
The double tilted its head. "No," it answered in his own voice, smooth and cold. "I am what you fear becoming."
Before Alex could move, his reflection raised its hand, summoning a blade made of condensed fire. It lunged forward, the ground shattering beneath its feet.
Alex barely dodged the first strike. Heat seared his arm — the fire wasn't illusionary. It hurt.
He countered with his own flame, but the copy's power dwarfed his. Every spark he threw was devoured by a stronger, darker fire.
[ Warning: Stability dropping. Synchronization threshold — 15%. ]
"Dammit!" he hissed, rolling across the arena. "So that's how it is. You're not just testing me you're trying to break me!"
The double laughed, its voice echoing through the void. "Control what you cannot understand, or be consumed by it!"
It swung again, unleashing a crescent of fire that split the ground open.
Alex raised his hands instinctively his flame erupted, unstable and wild.
Crimson clashed against shadow, the explosion lighting up the entire dimension.
When the smoke cleared, both stood panting, burned, identical two sides of one power refusing to yield.
Then the System spoke again, voice colder than before:
[ Round One Complete. Emotional instability detected. Proceeding to Phase Two: Fusion Stress Test. ]
The void trembled. The mirror self began to merge with him burning light wrapping around his body, threading into his veins.
Alex screamed as his vision filled with red and black.
The scream died in Alex's throat as the light consumed him.
He fell not through space, but through himself memories flashed in fragments: the jeering crowd at his awakening, Kael's smirk, Mira's worried eyes, the faint heartbeat of the dragon echoing in his chest.
Then, silence.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a sea of fire.
But this was no ordinary flame.
Half of it burned gold warm, alive, radiant. The other half shimmered black cold, quiet, devouring. The two sides twisted and collided endlessly, creating a horizon of endless balance and chaos.
[ Synchronization Phase Two: Conscious Core Examination. ]
[ Objective: Face the Flame Within. ]
A shape rose from the horizon vast wings unfurling, molten eyes opening slowly.
The dragon.
Not the egg-bound creature he had seen sleeping. This was its spirit colossal, shadow-edged, crowned with burning light. Its voice trembled through the air like thunder made of silk.
"You call upon me, yet you fear me."
Alex's knees buckled, the air itself pressing down on him. "You're… the Shadowflame Dragon."
"A name unworthy of the fire we share," it rumbled. "You seek control, yet you do not understand balance. The light you chase and the darkness you flee both are mine."
The golden fire surged around them, and Alex's heartbeat quickened in pain and awe.
"I don't want power for destruction," he shouted against the roar. "I just want to protect what I have my friends, my home, my future!"
The dragon's gaze pierced him. "Then learn this, child of the Sun and Shadow: power is not what you wield. It is what you endure."
It exhaled, and the sea of flame surged toward him two colors merging into a storm that wrapped around his body.
Alex screamed, feeling both warmth and cold flood his veins. The fires battled inside him, tearing through every nerve, demanding he choose one side.
But he didn't.
He couldn't.
Instead, he drew both hands together, pulling the golden and black fire toward his heart.
"Balance," he gasped. "You said balance!"
The flames merged in an instant of blinding brilliance and for the first time, the fire didn't burn it sang.
[ Synchronization Rising… 15% → 20% → 25% ]
[ Phase Two Complete. Emotional stability restored. ]
The dragon's voice echoed faintly as the world began to fade again:
"When next we meet, you will not call me shadow."
The roar of the crowd crashed into his ears as Alex's eyes snapped open.
He was back the arena blazed with fire Kaelen's spell, the Infernal Maelstrom, still raging around him.
The barrier mages had nearly intervened; their hands hovered over the control sigils, ready to save him from being burned alive. But before they could act, something inside the storm changed.
The crimson flames shifted hue bleeding into black and gold.
A single shockwave rippled outward, silencing the audience. The entire maelstrom froze, flames hanging motionless like glass shards suspended in air. Then, with a low hum, they shattered into harmless embers.
At the center stood Alex.
His hair shimmered faintly under the mixed glow golden strands tipped with smoky black. His eyes, once plain amber, now flickered between sunlight and shadow. The arena's sand hissed beneath his boots as he rose to his full height.
[ System Notice: Hybrid Flame Detected. ]
[ Title Unlocked: Flamewalker — Bearer of Light and Shadow. ]
[ Temporary Buff: +15% Mana Efficiency, +10% Elemental Control. ]
Kaelen stumbled backward, shielding his face from the fading storm. "What… what is that power?"
Alex lifted his hand the new fire answered his call instantly, forming a swirling orb that pulsed like a heartbeat. "Something you can't understand," he said quietly, voice steady but edged with something new authority.
Kaelen gritted his teeth and unleashed another wave of flame. "I don't need to understand it! I'll crush you with pure strength!"
The air ignited.
But Alex didn't retreat. Instead, he stepped forward one calm stride into the inferno. His shadowflame surged outward, devouring Kaelen's fire, bending its color until it folded into him. The audience gasped as his aura flared, half angelic, half abyssal.
The barrier mages exchanged horrified looks. "He's absorbing the attack!"
Dust exploded skyward. When it cleared, Alex stood inches from Kaelen, his flame coiling like a serpent around his wrist.
"Your fire is loud," Alex said softly. "Mine listens."
He flicked his wrist a whisper of black-gold light and Kaelen's wand shattered like glass.
The explosion's echo faded into stunned silence.
Alex didn't smile. He simply turned, the mixed flame dimming as he whispered under his breath: "Not victory… balance."
High above, Elder Seraphiel's hand froze over his crystal lens.
"That… was no ordinary awakening," he murmured. "Something ancient stirs within the boy."
The crowd erupted again, not in mockery this time but awe.
The cheers thundered through the coliseum like a living storm. Alex stood unmoving in the center of the arena, the mixed flame fading slowly from his hands.
For a heartbeat, everything felt distant the noise, the crowd, even his own breathing. Then the System flickered before his eyes, symbols forming in quick succession.
[ Quest Completed: Survive the Second Round. ]
[ Reward: Synchronization +4% ]
[ Current Synchronization: 22% ]
[ Warning: Energy Overload Detected. ]
[ Side Effect — Mana Drain: -45% Vital Capacity ]
The world tilted. The sand beneath his feet swam, and the brilliant glow that had filled his vision dimmed into darkness. His knees hit the ground, hard.
He gasped as pain ripped through his arms burning, searing agony that pulsed with each heartbeat. The black and gold fire had vanished, but the marks it left remained. Faint scales traced up his skin like shadowed veins, glowing dimly before fading again.
"Alex!"
Mira's voice cut through the roar. She pushed past the guards, dropping to her knees beside him. "Hey stay with me!"
He managed a weak smile. "Guess… I overdid it."
"Overdid it?" she snapped, her eyes glistening. "You almost burned yourself alive!"
He tried to laugh, but the sound came out as a rasp. "Still… worth it."
The System pulsed faintly again, its voice almost gentle this time.
[ System Notice: Shadowflame Reactivity Increasing. Restraint Required. ]
[ Advisory: Unchecked fusion may result in loss of control. ]
Alex's head spun. "Loss of control…" he murmured. "What do you mean?"
But there was no answer just static fading into silence.
Elder Seraphiel approached then, robes whispering against the scorched sand. "You should rest," he said quietly, though his eyes betrayed unease. "That power… is not something the Academy can explain."
Alex met his gaze. "Then I'll learn to control it myself."
Seraphiel studied him for a long moment before nodding slowly. "Very well. But remember light and shadow are not meant to coexist. Should one devour the other… so will you."
The words lingered like a curse.
Mira helped him to his feet, slipping his arm around her shoulder. The crowd still chanted his name, but Alex barely heard them. His chest still thrummed with that second heartbeat the dragon's.
It was stronger now, awake and alert.
You called me, a voice whispered in his mind, ancient and deep. And I answered. But every fire has its hunger.
Alex closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as the arena's light faded behind him. "Then I'll feed it what it needs," he whispered back. "Strength, not destruction."
A faint rumble of approval echoed within.
As Mira led him toward the infirmary, the last flare of sunlight crossed his face. Half golden, half shadowed.
The world was watching now and so was the darkness within him.