The arena fell silent.Reign Bozeman stood in the center, his eyes fixed on Elias as the morning light spilled across the stone floor. Around them, hundreds of members of the Azure Organization watched from the surrounding seats, while the twelve elders observed from the raised platform above.Chad sat among them with his arms crossed, his expression hard.His son had trained for this moment his entire life.Reign had been introduced to martial arts before he could properly read. He had spent years refining his body, controlling his Aether, and fighting opponents who would have crushed ordinary warriors without effort.He had never been defeated by someone his age.And now he was expected to defeat the man who had just been named the successor to Master Zucker.Reign slowly raised his hands.“Are you ready?”Elias stood several feet away, his hands resting casually at his sides.“I’ve been ready.”A murmur passed through the crowd.Reign’s eyes narrowed.There was no fear in Elias’s e

The arena remained silent.Reign stood with his head lowered, his right arm hanging loosely at his side. The last traces of Aether had disappeared from his body, leaving him exhausted but unharmed.Across from him, Elias waited patiently.He wasn’t mocking him.He wasn’t celebrating.He simply waited.Reign slowly looked up.For several seconds, he said nothing. His pride told him to keep fighting, but his body already knew the truth. He had used everything he had, including the technique his father had forbidden him to use unless there was no other choice.Elias had stopped it with one hand.There was nothing left to prove.Reign finally took a breath.“I concede.”His voice wasn’t loud, but the entire arena heard him.A wave of murmurs moved through the crowd.Reign Bozeman had admitted defeat.Chad’s expression immediately hardened.“No.”Reign looked toward him.Chad rose from his seat.“You’re not conceding anything.”“Father…”“You’re a Bozeman.”Chad’s voice carried across the

By late afternoon, Elias was standing in the private study overlooking the ocean when Zia walked in.She was carrying a thin black folder.That alone caught his attention.Zia usually preferred digital reports, especially when dealing with sensitive information. A physical folder meant someone had either wanted the information kept completely offline or didn’t trust the network it had come through.Elias looked up from the documents on his desk.“What did you find?”Zia closed the door behind her.“The investigation into your family has started producing results.”Elias leaned back.“Go on.”“We traced several old financial records connected to your father’s company. Most of them are ordinary business transactions, but there was a separate trail that doesn’t make sense.”She placed the folder on the desk and opened it.“There were transfers between several companies your father had dealings with. Nothing illegal on the surface. The companies were legitimate, the accounts were active,

Elias moved through the darkness outside the Voss residence with almost no sound, his eyes fixed on the faint movement beyond the garden wall. The assassin had already repositioned himself after realizing the first shots had failed, but Elias could sense exactly where he was. Whoever the man was, he had chosen his position carefully, using the trees and shadows to remain hidden from the estate’s security cameras. That might have worked against ordinary guards. It wouldn’t work against Elias.The assassin noticed him a second too late.A figure suddenly appeared behind him.He spun around and fired.Elias tilted his head, allowing the bullet to pass beside him, then stepped forward and struck the man’s wrist. The rifle fell into the grass. The assassin immediately reached for a knife hidden beneath his jacket, but Elias caught his arm before the blade could clear the sheath.“You’re not very good at running,” Elias said.The man twisted violently, trying to break free.Elias tightened

The vault had been sealed again, but Elias couldn’t bring himself to leave the photograph behind.He carried it upstairs along with the documents they had recovered, while Elara followed closely behind. Zia remained at his side, already sending copies of the relevant information to Azure’s intelligence division for analysis.The three of them returned to the study.Elias placed the photograph on the desk.For several moments, nobody spoke.The picture was old, its edges faded with time, but the people in it were still clearly visible. There were six men standing together outside what appeared to be a private estate. Their clothes were formal, their expressions serious, and none of them looked like ordinary businessmen.Elara leaned closer.“I’ve seen this photograph before.”Elias looked at her.“When?”“My grandfather kept it in his study. I remember seeing it when I was a child, but he never explained who the people were.”“Do you recognize any of them?”She pointed toward the man s