The transformation changed everything.Power flowed through Draven like liquid starlight, rewriting every cell in his body, every thought in his mind. But it wasn't just power—it was understanding. The accumulated wisdom of War God Tianlong, the knowledge of techniques that had been lost for centuries, the weight of responsibility that came with carrying such strength.I can feel it all. Every battle Tianlong ever fought. Every technique he ever mastered. Every moment of doubt and triumph.This is what it means to inherit a legend.But the individual trials weren't over. Even as the power flowed into him, Draven found himself facing a different kind of test.The memory of my awakening ceremony. My moment of greatest shame.But this time, I'm not facing it alone.The spectral forms of academy heroes surrounded him, their presence warm and supportive. They weren't judging him—they were showing him that he'd never been alone, even in his darkest moments."The hollow prince," Captain Marc

The information came in a scribbled note, passed to Draven by a nervous first-year student."Someone paid me to give you this," the kid said before scurrying away like he'd delivered a bomb instead of a folded piece of parchment.Great. Now I'm getting secret messages. Because life wasn't complicated enough already.Draven unfolded the note carefully, half-expecting it to burst into flames or release some deadly poison. Instead, he found a simple message written in elegant script:"Echo Heart fragment. City auction house. Tonight."Just eight words, but they hit him like a physical blow.Echo Heart fragment? There are more pieces?The pendant against his chest warmed slightly, as if responding to the mere suggestion of its kin. Ever since returning from Sakura Valley, the Echo Heart had been more active, more responsive to his thoughts and emotions.Like it knows something I don't."What's that?" Jin asked, appearing beside him in the academy courtyard.Draven quickly folded the note

The Plum Flower assassins moved like nothing Draven had ever seen. Each motion was perfectly fluid, their limbs trailing afterimages like living petals. They didn't just attack—they flowed, transforming from solid fighters into swirling patterns of deadly precision. Even the apex predator in Sakura Valley wasn't this coordinated. Beside him, Isabella's blade flashed as she attempted to defend herself. She was good—better than most academy students—but against these opponents, her movements looked clumsy and predictable. "Stay behind me," Draven called out, parrying a strike that would have taken her head off. "I don't hide behind anyone," she shot back, narrowly avoiding another attack. Stubborn. Great. Just what I need right now. But her stubbornness couldn't match the assassins' skill. One of them slipped past her guard, his palm strike catching her squarely in the chest. Isabella flew backward, slamming into a wall with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs. Someth

The silence stretched between them like a blade.Isabella stood unflinching under Draven's stare, her posture relaxed but alert—the stance of someone trained to appear harmless while being anything but.She played me. All of it was an act."You're Plum Flower Clan," Draven said finally."Not exactly," Isabella replied. "My relationship with the clan is... complicated."The Patriarch chuckled, a sound like dry leaves rustling. "Indeed. The merchant family Isabella belongs to has served as our eyes and ears in the outside world for seventeen generations."Seventeen generations. That's some serious family commitment."So you were never in danger," Draven said, the pieces falling into place. "The assassins wouldn't have hurt you.""They might have," Isabella said with a shrug. "The clan doesn't tolerate failure, even from allies."Chen, still kneeling where Draven had defeated him, scowled. "She exaggerates. We would never harm a member of the Ironwood family."Ironwood. Not just any merc

The chamber they were placed in was elegant but unmistakably a prison.Polished wooden floors, delicate paper screens, even a small garden visible through a narrow window—all of it designed to create an illusion of freedom. But Draven had spotted the subtle reinforcement spells worked into the walls, the way the door had been sealed behind them, the guards posted just beyond earshot.Comfortable captivity is still captivity.Isabella paced the perimeter of the room, her expression a careful mask that revealed nothing of her thoughts. She had remained silent since they'd been escorted here, after the Patriarch had ordered a formal duel to resolve the "unfortunate misunderstanding" about Draven's use of their sacred technique."They're going to make an example of you," she finally said, her voice low. "The clan doesn't tolerate outsiders mastering their arts."Encouraging."What exactly does this duel involve?" Draven asked, sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the center of the room. T