The Great Hall of the Vane Manor was loud with the clinking of silverware and false laughter.
The banquet was lavish. Roasted spirit beasts, wine aged in amber casks, and fruits that glowed with Qi.
At the head table sat the Patriarch, the Elders, and the honored guests from the Frost Sect. They ate with delicate manners, discussing politics and alliances.
At the far end of the hall, at the "children's table," sat Kaelen.
He was alone.
He wasn't eating delicately.
He held a roasted leg of a Fire-Boar in one hand. He tore into the meat with a savagery that made the nearby servants flinch.
*Crunch.*
He didn't spit out the bones. He chewed them. His **Steel Bones** (Stage 8) ground the animal bones into calcium dust, which he swallowed.
"Disgusting," a voice drifted over.
Kaelen didn't look up. He recognized the perfume. Frost Lotuses.
Elara stood across the table. She held a glass of wine, her knuckles white.
She had come to gloat. Or perhaps, to seek closure. She expected the Kaelen who used to write her poetry. The Kaelen who cried when she left.
"You're eating like a starving dog," Elara said, her voice low. "Do you have no dignity left?"
Kaelen swallowed a mouthful of gristle. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He finally looked at her.
"Dignity doesn't fill the stomach, Elara."
Elara frowned. "You think you're tough now? Because you found some brute strength? Because you learned to hit hard?"
She leaned in, her eyes pleading for him to understand her superiority.
"Jian Chen is a genius. He has comprehended the *Dao of Ice*. You are just... meat. Strong meat, but still meat. Withdraw from the tournament, Kaelen. Take the money Jarek offered. Leave."
Kaelen picked up a grape. He rolled it between his fingers.
"You think you left me for a dragon," Kaelen said softly. "But you really just traded a cripple for a corpse."
"What?"
"Jian Chen is already dead," Kaelen said, popping the grape into his mouth. "He just hasn't stopped moving yet."
Elara slammed her glass down. "You are insane! I tried to save you!"
She stormed off, returning to the head table where Jian Chen was laughing loudly at a joke the Patriarch made.
Kaelen watched them.
*Enjoy the meal,* he thought. *Fatten yourselves up.*
***
Midnight.
The banquet was over. The guests were asleep in the guest wing.
Kaelen stood on the roof of the West Garden pavilion. The wind whipped his black robes.
A shadow detached itself from the darkness.
**Viper.**
She knelt on the tiles behind him. She was breathing hard, sweating.
"Report," Kaelen said.
"It's worse than I thought," Viper whispered. "The Frost Sect delegation... they aren't just here for the tournament. While everyone was eating, I tracked their servants."
She pulled out a map of Silver City. She marked four spots with red ink. North, South, East, West.
"They planted **Spirit Bore Spikes** at the four cardinal points of the city. These aren't defensive arrays."
Kaelen looked at the map.
"They are extraction pumps," Kaelen realized. "They plan to destabilize the Dragon Vein and siphon the energy into a storage vessel."
"If they activate those spikes," Viper warned, "the resulting earthquake will swallow half the city. The Vane Manor sits directly on the fault line. We will all be buried."
"When?"
"The Tournament Finals," Viper said. "When the crowd is loudest. When the ambient Qi is most chaotic. That's when they'll trigger it."
Kaelen looked at the sleeping city. Thousands of people. Families. Children.
He felt... nothing.
He wasn't a hero. He was a Demon Lord. The lives of insects didn't concern him.
But the **Dragon Vein**?
That was *his* food.
"They want to steal my lunch," Kaelen smiled. It was a cold, sharp expression.
"Let them," Kaelen ordered.
Viper blinked. "What? But the city—"
"If I destroy the spikes now, the Frost Sect will know we're onto them. They'll flee," Kaelen explained. "I want them to activate it."
He turned to Viper.
"I want them to do all the hard work. I want them to drill the hole. I want them to pull the energy to the surface."
Kaelen clenched his fist.
"And just when they think they've won... I'm going to eat it all."
"But the Tournament..." Viper hesitated. "Jian Chen is Stage 5 Condensation. He has an Ice Sword artifact. Can you beat him?"
Kaelen looked at his hand. The grey sheen of **Steel Bones** pulsed under his skin.
"Viper," Kaelen asked. "Do you know what happens when you hit steel with ice?"
Viper shook her head.
"The ice shatters."
Kaelen jumped off the roof.
"Go to sleep. Tomorrow is a busy day."
***
The next morning.
The **Silver City Coliseum**.
It was a massive stone arena capable of holding ten thousand people. Today, it was overflowing.
Banners of the Vane, Li, and Zhou families waved in the wind. But the highest banner belonged to the **Frost Sect**.
The crowd roared as the fighters walked out.
There were thirty contestants. The young elites of the city.
Jian Chen walked out last. He wore shimmering white armor. He waved to the crowd like a king. Flowers rained down on him.
Then, the announcer's voice faltered.
"And... uh... representing the West Garden..."
The heavy iron gate creaked open.
*SCRAPE.*
*SCRAPE.*
Kaelen walked out.
He dragged the **Nameless Slab** behind him. The noise cut through the cheers like a knife on a chalkboard.
He stopped in the lineup. Directly next to Jian Chen.
The crowd murmured. *The Cripple? The Trash? Why is he here?*
Jian Chen didn't look at him. He spoke to the air.
"I see you didn't run," Jian Chen said. "Brave. Stupid."
Kaelen looked up at the VIP box.
He saw the Patriarch. He saw Elara. He saw the Third Elder, who was bandaged and glaring hatefully.
Then he looked at the ground beneath the arena.
He could feel it. The hum of the **Dragon Vein**. The pulses from the four spikes the Frost Sect had planted.
The table was set.
"System," Kaelen thought. "Activate **Battle Mode**."
> **[Battle Mode Engaged]**
> **[Adrenaline: Max]**
> **[Pain Nullification: 100%]**
> **[Objective: Dominate.]**
The announcer raised a magical microphone.
"Let the Annual Silver City Tournament... BEGIN!"
Kaelen lifted his Slab.
He grinned at Jian Chen.
"Ladies first."