The morning sun poured over Min Academy, gilding the marble courtyards in pale gold. Students gathered in the central plaza, murmurs swelling into a tide of curiosity and anticipation. Above them, the academy's grand announcement board hovered, threads of light pulsating around it, ready to reveal the results of the three-part evaluation.
Whispers erupted instantly.
"Did you see Kaito during the Field Simulation?" a girl murmured, eyes wide. "He moved… like he could predict the threads before they even formed!"
"Everyone's talking about him," someone else added. "I saw Rin during the Practical Test… how did Kaito even keep up, let alone surpass him?"
Kaito stood at the edge of the plaza, hands tucked into his coat, crimson eyes half-lidded. Noise, envy, awe—they all washed over him, irrelevant. Threads flared with excitement and fear around the crowd, but none touched his own.
They all see only the surface, he thought. The trembling admiration, the subtle fear, the envy curling in the air. None sense the undercurrent beneath the threads, the quiet inevitability pulsing in red beneath my skin. Their lives are sparks. Mine… is the current itself.
The announcer's voice rang out clearly, cutting through the chatter:
"First-year Thread Weavers! The results of your three-part evaluation are now revealed. Listen carefully."
A hush fell.
"Overall rankings, top 10:
1. Kaito Fei — Rank 1 Thread Weaver
2. Rin Aetherion — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
3. Daren Myrr — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
4. Liora Vex — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
5. Soren Kall — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
6. Ren Kurogane — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
7. Kael Durn — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
8. Aria Lin — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
9. Thane Rook — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
10. Zephyr Shai — Rank 2 Thread Weaver
Students ranked 1–10 will receive 100 Thread Points each week; 11–20 will receive 50 points; 21–50 will receive 25 points; 51–100 will receive 15 points; and 101 and below will receive 10 points."
The plaza erupted.
"Wait… what?" a boy whispered. "Kaito… first?!"
Gasping girls near the fountain covered their mouths, disbelief written across their faces.
"He's always calm… but first place?" one whispered.
Envy rippled through the crowd like a dark tide. Sideways glances, muttered curses, murmurs of admiration. Some students clenched their fists, jealousy burning in their veins.
Rin Aetherion's golden eyes narrowed, his aura flaring faintly. He stepped forward, fists clenched. "He… outscored me. At the first-year evaluation?!"
Daren Myrr's jaw tightened. His hands twitched, almost ready to lash out with a thread. "Impossible…"
Kaito's calm voice cut the tension like a blade.
"Hmph," he said lightly, almost dismissively. Crimson eyes scanned the crowd.
No sneer. No pride. No competitive display. Just calm. Silence.
The murmurs turned into awe and disbelief.
"Kaito Fei," Rin muttered under his breath. "He's set the bar impossibly high."
Beneath his skin, the Karma Thread pulsed quietly. The rankings, points, and admiration—they were meaningless. He already held far greater power, a quiet inevitability that no academy reward could touch.
Points? he thought, the word tasting faintly bitter. What would be the use of that… when I already have my Karma Thread, which can bring me fortune, influence, and balance beyond their feeble systems? Their Thread Points, their rankings, their whispers… all are sparks. I am the current.
Rin, Daren, Liora… nurtured from birth, trained to dominate. And they are Rank 2, abbove my rank. Even together, they cannot touch the inevitability I hold. Their strength, skill, prestige—all nothing compared to the knowledge embedded in my threads, in my calculations, in the centuries I carry within this mortal shell.
They envy me. I can feel it like a pulse in the air around them. They do not know that envy is irrelevant. Admiration, fear, jealousy… mere echoes. Their threads are short, finite, bound by mortal expectation. Mine… flows into centuries, into currents they cannot see.
Inside the faculty chamber, Instructor Havel leaned over a glowing thread map of the top students. His silver-threaded cloak shimmered as he studied Kaito's performance.
"This is… extraordinary," Havel murmured. "Surpassing Rin, Daren, and Liora—all nurtured from birth in high-ranking clans. And this Dustborn… adopted from the Ei Branch at age ten… surpasses them with no prior nurture."
Another instructor spoke cautiously. "Could he be a prodigy? Or… something else?"
Havel's eyes darkened. "I suspect… a spy from the Western Territories. His Vital Thread is unknown. His calculations… they are precise, deliberate. His presence is far too calculated to be ordinary."
The Headmaster entered, threads of energy flickering faintly around him as he observed the data.
"Havel," he said, voice firm, "we must watch him closely. This child could shake the academy… perhaps the world…. His unknown Vital Thread… it is a variable we cannot ignore. We must discover what he truly is."
Havel nodded gravely. "We will observe, discreetly. Test only when necessary. His thread senses are too acute for overt evaluation."
"Yes," the Headmaster said. "Surveillance, subtle probes… treat him as a variable. Let the students think he is ordinary. Kaito Fei must remain… a mystery until we understand him."
Outside, the academy buzzed with life, oblivious to the storm of threads quietly twisting around a single crimson-eyed boy.
Kaito Fei.
The threads whispered. The future trembled. And the storm had only just begun.