Novels by Kaevryn

“Kaevryn Veyr.”His name rang across the examination hall.Kaevryn stepped forward. Hundreds of students watched from the marked seats while instructors stood around the testing grounds. The final-year assessment had three stages: cultivation measurement, physical performance, and practical combat. A student could excel in one and still fail overall.The cultivation examiner placed a crystal against Kaevryn’s palm. It glimmered faintly.“Peak Body Forging,” the examiner announced.A few students turned to look. Peak Body Forging was respectable, but several candidates had already reached Aether Gathering. Kaevryn heard a quiet laugh from somewhere behind him.He withdrew his hand without reacting.The first stage was finished. The physical tests came next.Kaevryn crossed the sprint track with controlled strides, keeping his breathing steady instead of wasting energy at the start. His time was good, though not the best. In the strength test, he focused on transferring force through hi

The months passed faster than Kaevryn expected.His phone became part of his routine. It woke him before sunrise, stored his training records, displayed school notices, and helped him compare each Core session with the time that passed outside. He confirmed what he had suspected: time inside the Shattered Core moved differently. He could spend hours training there while only a fraction of that time passed in his room.He still attended classes, completed assignments, trained with Lucien, and slept enough to recover. The Core could give him more practice, but it could not make exhaustion harmless. Whenever the pressure behind his eyes grew too strong, he stopped.Inside the silver space, Kaevryn refined the process of Body Forging. He began with small amounts of Aether, guiding them through familiar pathways before gradually extending the circulation. Each successful session strengthened his foundation.He kept detailed notes on his phone and reviewed them before entering the Core. If

Kaevryn's phone vibrated against the desk.He opened one eye. A blue notification hovered above its glass screen, showing a message from Lucien.You're late. Training court. Ten minutes. And don't pretend you didn't see this.Kaevryn sat up and checked the time. The device displayed the morning schedule, school notices, and a reminder about the approaching final-year assessment. He dismissed the reminder.He had made progress inside the Shattered Core's space, but he still hadn't entered a cultivation realm. Sensing Aether and guiding a trace into his body were only the first steps. If he wanted to stand among candidates for Celestial Academy, he needed a foundation strong enough to survive the demands ahead.He dressed, slipped the phone into his pocket, and headed out.Lucien was already waiting at the training court.“You're two minutes late,” Lucien said.“Your message said ten minutes.”“And you arrived in twelve.”Kaevryn raised an eyebrow. “You should consider a career in admin

Kaevryn returned home with one thought fixed in his mind: sensing Aether was only the beginning.For days, he had struggled to notice the faint current. But the moment he tried to draw it closer, the sensation slipped away.He opened his notebook and reviewed his observations. Forcing the current made it disappear. Relaxing his breathing helped him notice it. The brief resonance from the Shattered Core had also made the sensation clearer.That last detail mattered.Kaevryn shut the notebook, sat on the floor, and focused on the fragment within his spirit origin.The Core answered with a familiar pulse.Silver light swallowed the room.He appeared on the smooth ground beneath the strange grey sky. Aether currents flowed through the space, invisible to him at first. But now his awareness caught them: faint streams crossing the air and passing through the ground like rivers beneath clear water.He had sensed them before. This time, he could recognize them.Kaevryn stood very still, afrai

Kaevryn woke with a dull ache behind his eyes.For several seconds, he remained still, examining his thoughts the way he might examine an unfamiliar weapon. The exhaustion from the Core had faded during the night, but a faint heaviness remained. He could remember defeating the phantom clearly. He could also remember the strange currents surrounding him afterward. Aether.He had sensed it for only a moment. That was not enough to cultivate, but it was proof that his attempts had not been completely useless.He sat up and began the breathing exercise taught in class. Instead of reaching desperately for the sensation, he recalled the instant it had appeared. He relaxed his shoulders, slowed his breathing, and waited. Nothing happened. Kaevryn opened his eyes, considered what he had done, then tried again. This time, he paid attention to the difference between searching for Aether and noticing it.A faint brush touched his awareness. It vanished almost immediately.He smiled despite h

Kaevryn shut his bedroom door and sat on the edge of his bed. His body could barely keep up with a basic sparring exercise. Knowing how to fight was not the same as being able to fight.He closed his eyes and tried to sense Aether again. He followed the breathing exercise taught in class, searching for the faint current he was supposed to feel. Nothing came.Then a familiar pulse stirred beneath his chest.The sensation seemed to come from the strange fragment buried deep within his spirit origin. It was not like the Aether he had been trying to find. The pulse came again, and his room blurred around the edges.For one frightening moment, he felt as if he were falling. Then his feet struck something solid.He stood in a vast space beneath a grey, starless sky. A smooth silver surface stretched in every direction, and distant shapes rose from the darkness.“Where am I?”A low vibration passed through the space.A figure stood several paces away. Its body was shaped like a person, forme