Aelira stood once more at the front of the marble platform. Her robes shimmered faintly with symbols that shifted and vanished, as if refusing to be remembered. The light from the tall crystal windows fell upon her like divine judgment.She turned toward the class, her expression calm but sharp enough to silence a crowd of warriors.“Now that you have been introduced to the Primordial Flame and the Void,” she began, “you must understand why these things matter to you. The Flame’s energy flows through all realms, including the one within you. But to grasp it, to wield it, your body alone is not enough.”Her words hung like lightning waiting to strike.“You must cultivate the spirit.”A few students shifted uncomfortably. Cultivating the spirit wasn’t a concept most of them were ready for, body, energy, core... those they understood. The spirit, though? That was the unknown. The unknown battlefield.Kirin listened closely, his mind sharp. He hadn’t explored this new realm he’d stepped i

The corridor leading through the Indra Faction was quieter than Kirin expected. The air hummed faintly, as though energy itself bowed to the presence of Master Rael. Every step the man took was slow, deliberate, yet Kirin could feel the world responding to it, like gravity bent a little wherever he went. Kirin followed behind, still feeling a bit dizzy from whatever void Rem had dragged him through.Rael’s robe shimmered faintly with lines of silver light that shifted with every movement. His hair was white, not the dull gray of old age but the gleaming white of storm lightning trapped in human form. The man didn’t look like he aged at all. If anything, he looked immortal, like time refused to even breathe near him.“So,” Rael said at last, breaking the silence. “Tell me, Kirin Arcanus, what have you learned from the Institute?”Kirin straightened immediately, not wanting to sound foolish in front of one of the most powerful masters of the Indra Faction. “I’ve learned... a lot, actual

Kirin woke the way a man wakes after drowning with an abrupt gasp, his body jerking forward, eyes wide, breath shallow. For a second he didn’t even remember where he was. All he saw was stone walls, a soft glow of fading runes, and a cold floor pressing into his palm.Then reality returned like a slap.The spirit body, the separation, the collapse of the array. The unbearable pressure in his mind. Rael’s voice echoing like rolling thunder...He inhaled sharply and got to his feet so fast he almost stumbled.Master Rael didn’t even flinch.The elder was seated casually on a cushion across the room with a steaming cup of tea in hand, watching Kirin with the calm amusement of someone observing a child who’d just woken from a nap.“Finally awake,” Rael said, raising his cup. “You lasted longer than expected. Good... Very good.”Kirin blinked. “Why… why was I passed out in the corner?”“I moved you,” Rael replied bluntly. “You face planted after your spirit remerged with your body. Very un

Kirin left Master Rael’s chambers with a strange heaviness in his steps, not excitement, just something taut in his chest that stretched every time he tried to breathe normally. The stone pathway felt colder than usual, maybe because the truth he had just heard still clung to him like frost.Rem? Celestial Domain Realm?He still couldn’t believe it.He walked down the long corridor of polished obsidian tiles, hands tucked into his sleeves, trying to replay every interaction he’d ever had with that man. Nothing made sense. Rem always acted so casual, so plain, so unimpressive. The most trouble he ever caused was appearing out of nowhere like a ghost that enjoyed jump scaring people.Kirin was halfway through that thought when...“Yo.”Kirin didn’t even flinch anymore.He simply sighed and turned around.Rem stood behind him with the same relaxed posture, arms folded, expression unreadable. Like materializing behind people was his favorite hobby.“You know," Kirin said, “at this point I

I thought I was ready for anything. I mean, after everything I’d lived through, everything I’d fought, everything I’d survived… what was one cursed mountain?Rem didn’t warn me. I should’ve known. He walked ahead like he was taking a casual morning stroll, hands in his pockets, not a single spark touching him. Meanwhile, the sky above the mountain was a solid sheet of roiling black clouds, the kind that looked like the heavens were grinding their teeth.The moment my foot crossed the boundary stone at the base of the mountain, the entire sky shifted.Like it noticed me.Like it knew me.And then it hit me.A bolt tore down from the clouds so fast I barely saw the flash. It slammed into me like a hammer swung by a god. My entire body snapped back, and the world became white noise. I didn’t even scream — I didn’t have time.I just collapsed face-first into the dirt, everything buzzing, mind shaking like it was being rattled by invisible hands.I gasped, chest burning. “What— what was th