"I was broken by the top ten elites. Made to suffer and was tormented. It is my time. One by one they will feel my fury," Kai echoed within himself, each word pulsing with resolve and fury. His eyes snapped open with a bright gleam as he was being carried on a stretcher toward the school’s clinic. Blood no longer stained his body. His skin bore no bruises. His muscles, which had moments ago been lifeless, twitched with regained strength.“Stop,” he commanded with a loud voice. The enforcers carrying him froze mid-step. They were stunned by the sudden power in his voice. Councilor Locke turned from behind them and his eyes wide.“Kai?” he echoed within. Kai sat up straight, swinging his legs down. He stood on his own with no help. Gasps echoed across the courtyard as dozens of students watched. His flesh once broken was now unscathed. His body gleamed with power. The injuries that had crippled him just hours ago had disappeared like a passing dream. It was as if it never happened.

The night was still and the moon suspended high over Ironsphire Academy. It’s pale light illuminated the center courtyard where the lone tree stood. The very tree Kai had once been tied to, mocked and humiliated before the eyes of hundreds in the school. Now, it bore a different prisoner.Kai stood silently beneath it, his breathing steady and his fists relaxed. Tied high against the trunk was Lawson. He was unconscious and his limbs hanging limp with the rope binding him tightly. His body bore the humiliating inscriptions Kai had marked him with, "I am sorry I beat you up, Kai." "I am the oppressor.” "I am so sorry for my doings."Across his forehead in bold black ink was "Behold your hero." Kai stood there for a few moments breathing slowly. He stared at the symbol of justice he had just delivered, before going back into the dormitory through the dark.…….The next morning. The sun crept over the grounds of Ironsphire. Students began to walk out from their dormitories, walking la

Under the silver glow of the moon, the air within Ironsphire Academy vibrated with a heavy stillness. Shadows danced across the empty courtyards, and only two figures stood at the heart of the eastern plane. Kai Draven and Kilmanjoo, the infamous Dark Assassin.They stared each other down. The silence between them screaming louder than any battle cry.Kilmanjoo moved first. With blinding speed, he vanished into the dark and reappeared behind Kai. He slashed at his back with the crescent arc of his blade. Kai pivoted fast, narrowly blocking the strike. The force sent a shock down his arm.“You’re quick,” Kai muttered.“You’re slow,” Kilmanjoo sneered, launching another flurry of blows. His blade shimmered like death itself. He slashed again, once, twice, thrice with each time leaving small, and sharp gashes on Kai’s arm, side, and leg. Blood dripped as Kai staggered backward.But he didn’t fall. Kilmanjoo charged once more, this time aiming for Kai’s neck with a ruthless overhead swin

The morning light filtered lazily through the dormitory windows, but the peace and quietness shattered as three enforcers stormed into the room with their boots pressing the ground like war drums on the stone floor.“Kai Draven!” one of them barked. “Step out immediately!” His face was fierce. The students' heads within the dormitory turned and whispers rose.Kai emerged from his bunk slowly. His shirt was still half-buttoned with his eyes as sharp as that of the eagle. He stepped forward with a calmness that unsettled even the other students.Without warning, smack! A powerful slap landed across Kai’s face, jerking his head sideways. The dormitory gasped.Kai touched his stinging cheek and glared. “Why would you strike me?” His voice was icy cold. “You nutjob!” the enforcer snapped with his eyes blazing. “How dare you sneak into the elite quarters, beat them senseless, and hang them up like prey? Are you out of your mind?” His voice was brutal. Kai’s chest heaved, not from fear,

The dry wind of the Hall of Death was slowly dying down when a low and eerie rumble vibrated across the desert like a curse. The crack was from the cracked tomb not too far behind Kai. The spirit of Mordax Rex emerged with his eyes glowing with venomous light and guiltless rage. His massive form floated before Kai, clothed in low flames of light. “So,” Mordax snarled, “we meet again. You butchered me without mercy. For what reason, Kai?” His eyes widened. Kai’s lip curled. “You’re asking me that?” he scoffed, stepping forward with rain of red mist still staining his shoulders. “You imprisoned me, humiliated me, tried to crush my soul every single day. And yet you speak of mercy?” Mordax Rex growled, “What I did was discipline. You... you went too far! I didn’t deserve to die the way I did!” “Discipline?” Kai snapped, his voice rising. “You manipulated, tortured, and destroyed innocent lives! You turned Ironsphire into your personal playground of cruelty. Don’t act like a victim now