Chapter 1: The Trash Boy of Ironcrest The clang of steel echoed through the walls of Ironcrest Fortress. Swords clashed, men roared, and victory was carved through blood. But Kiny wasn’t part of the chaos. He was beneath it—in the dark, narrow servant tunnel, scrubbing blood from the stone tiles with frozen fingers. Another splash of cold water hit his face as the bucket tipped over. "You're slower than a limping donkey!" barked Mistress Berla, the head servant, her cane slapping the back of his shoulder. "Do you want to be thrown to the training grounds as a sparring dummy?" Kiny gritted his teeth. He was used to this. For the last 17 years of his life, he had been “the useless orphan,” the one brought in from the wasteland border. A servant. A shadow. The fortress’s punching bag. He kept scrubbing. “King Drayden’s nephew arrives today,” Mistress Berla sneered. “Don’t even brea

Chapter 3 Pain flared through Kiny’s shoulder as consciousness returned in brutal waves. He groaned, blinking through the pounding in his skull. Dim torchlight flickered across stone walls. Chains rattled as he tried to move. Where…? The cell was cold. Iron shackles bound his wrists to the wall, though loosely. His clothes were soaked in dried blood, and a foul taste coated his mouth. But what shook him most wasn’t the pain. It was the silence in his head. The system had gone quiet. No voice. No updates. For the first time since the fight with Valen…he felt alone. A heavy iron door creaked open. Boots echoed down the corridor. Three guards entered, led by a tall man with silver-threaded robes and a golden circlet resting above his sharp eyes. Kiny tried to sit up straighter, his body protesting every inch. “You’re awake