Kai never reached the Ashford Estate.Three blocks out, his instincts screamed loud enough to stop his feet cold. The street ahead sat empty, too empty, the kind of silence that had a shape to it.WHOOSH.A blade sliced past his cheek and buried itself in the brick wall behind him, still humming from the impact."Assassins," Kai muttered, already counting exits. "Wonderful. My evening was open anyway."Five figures peeled out of the alley shadows. Five more dropped onto the rooftops above. Fourteen total, all armed, none wearing the Human Defense Agency's insignia, which meant somebody wanted him dead badly enough to hire it out privately.One raised a rifle. "Kill him."Gunfire tore the street apart. Kai flipped on the Clone Mask mid-sprint, his face shifting into someone else entirely, and the half-second of confusion that bought him was all he needed.“Shadow Drift Step.” He vanished and reappeared behind the nearest attacker. *Mountain Fist* sent the man through a parked car's win

Kai couldn't sleep.He lay staring at the ceiling, the city's glow bleeding faint orange through the blinds, and no matter how many times he closed his eyes, the memory dragged him back under. The police station. The bruises on that woman's wrist. Sophia's laugh, the version that only existed now in his head. His master's voice, patient even when Kai gave him every reason not to be.And then, underneath all of it, the light.That enormous white light that had torn out of his own body and split the night open.He sat up and looked at his hands like they might explain themselves."That was the first time," he murmured.He barely remembered the actual moment, but the memory of it sat heavier in his chest than anything else from his childhood. He closed his eyes again, and let the past pull him all the way down.YEARS AGO"Again."Young Kai sat cross-legged on the floor, legs numb, dignity long gone.Elias stood over him, arms folded, looking entirely too pleased with himself."Master, I'

The blade came down and Kai met it with his fist.Bone against steel. Steel lost first — a hairline crack spidering across the edge — but the shockwave punched through his arm and into his spine, and his shoes screamed twin black lines into the asphalt as he skidded back.The machine didn't stop. It never stopped.Its arm folded in on itself with a wet mechanical shriek, joints rotating past anything human, and a second blade slid out where the first had been.Kai's eyes narrowed. "So you can regrow your teeth. Cute."TARGET ACQUIRED, it answered, and lunged.Shadow Drift Step —He was gone before the blade arrived, a smear of afterimage where his body used to be, and then he was behind it, fist already cocked.Mountain Fist!The strike landed square between its shoulder blades. The machine staggered two full steps, servos whining in protest, and Kai didn't let it recover.Iron Palm!The armor caved like a tin can. For one triumphant second, he thought he had it.Then the thing's ches

The ancient door opened only an inch.Kai stood frozen before it.Cold air poured through the gap, not ordinary cold. It carried Qi. Ancient, heavy Qi that made his skin crawl, the kind that felt older than the mountains themselves.The three assassins had stopped attacking. Even they were staring at the door, weapons lowered, faces pale.One whispered, "It opened."Kai heard him. "You know what this place is."The assassin's head snapped up. Fear flickered across his face, then something worse. Resolve."Kill him," he barked.Kai's eyes narrowed. "So you do know."They charged.Kai didn't wait. He stepped forward, Fierce Qi Step blurring his body through the gap between heartbeats. Mountain Fist crashed into the first assassin's chest, throwing him into the stone wall hard enough to crack it.The second swung a mechanical blade, humming with dark energy. Kai caught it bare-handed. Fierce Qi wrapped around his fingers like living fire.Crack!The blade shattered into fragments. Kai dr

Kai moved through the left passage, one hand trailing against the ancient wall, letting the stone's cold pulse settle him. Every few steps his spiritual sense flared out like a held breath released, searching.Nothing.Then—a thread. Faint, trembling at the edges.Aria's Qi.He stopped so suddenly Shen Tian nearly walked into him."She's close." Kai's voice came out rougher than he intended."Are you sure?" Shen Tian asked, though he already seemed to know the answer from the way Kai's jaw had locked."I'd know her Qi anywhere." He didn't just know it, he'd memorized it, the way it flickered when she was nervous, the way it used to warm whenever she looked at him and thought he wasn't paying attention. He'd noticed. He always noticed. "She's frightened."Shen Tian's expression tightened. "Then we move carefully. Fear makes people unpredictable. It makes you unpredictable, and you're not even the one in danger.""Meaning what?""Meaning you get reckless when it's her." Shen Tian said i