2025-09-05 05:15:07
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Chapter 44: Shadow Visitor
The dormitory at night was never truly silent.Even with the curfew and the Council’s guards patrolling every corridor, Arcadia breathed through its stones. The old walls carried the echoes of storms, the restless tossing of students trapped in their beds, whispering rumors until sleep claimed them.But Kai heard none of it.He sat at the edge of his bed, the candle on his desk burning low, shadows stretching long against the walls. The mark beneath his collarbone throbbed faintly, a pulse that wasn’t his heartbeat. It stirred whenever the world grew quiet, as if silence gave it permission to speak.His hand hovered over it, never touching, never soothing. He didn’t need the reminder. He knew what the Circle wanted. He knew what the Council was doing. He knew what the whispers were turning him into in the minds of every student here.Rafe. Tyrant. Monster.The chains inside him rattled with every thought.The candle sputtered. Died.Darkness settled across the room.And that was wh
Chapter 43: Tournament Interrupted
The next morning arrived gray and dreary, almost as if the sun itself didn't want to participate in the turmoil brought to Arcadia.The courtyard usually filled with loud voices echoing around from shouts and students preparing for duel practice was silent. Benches lay overturned in confusion from the night before's panic; scorch marks still burnt the flagstones; the banners that flew formally over the arena had wilted, half-burnt.Kai stood on the railing directly outside the dormitory, fingers grasping the cold iron. Using the same eerie stillness he used in combat, he observed the grounds. Every guard in sight wore a double, freely engaged in patrol motioning in stiff formations with their weapons drawn even though there were no visible enemies.But the air itself relayed a different history. A history laden with fear, laden with distrust, tension wound so tightly that with a spark, the tension would surely release explosive amounts of energy.The Grand Duel Tournament had been s
Chapter 42: The Professor’s Secret
The corridors still reeked of smoke.Kai moved through them like a blade half-drawn—silent, sharp, every step a promise. The detonations had quieted, but Arcadia still trembled. Students had been shoved into dormitories, the wounded carried toward the infirmary. Guards lingered with their grips white on their weapons.The fire wasn’t gone. It lingered in the air, in every stare that followed him. Whispers pressed against the walls like a curse:The Tyrant lives.Lina kept pace beside him, her face pale under streaks of soot. Ash blackened her fingers from dragging first-years out of rubble. She held his sleeve like she feared if she let go, he would vanish back into shadow.But Kai wasn’t walking toward safety. Not the dorms, not the infirmary. His path pulled him elsewhere.And judging by the steady tread behind him, someone knew.The professor was waiting.⸻Professor Halvors stood in the empty classroom like a man summoned for judgment. Usually his robes were precise, his tone clip
Chapter 41: Fire In The Halls
The explosion hit before the crowd could even scream.Stone split beneath Kai’s boots, the impact rattling up his legs as crimson chains slammed into the arena floor. Shards of rock tore through the air, pelting the stands.The robed figure advanced through the smoke, blood magic pulsing around him like a heartbeat. His voice cracked with fury.“You’ll choke on your past, Tyrant.”Another chain ripped from his arm—splitting into three. One for Kai’s throat. One for his chest. One to tangle his legs.Kai didn’t dodge. He surged in. His dagger met the first chain with a hiss, shadows eating into the magic until both vanished in sparks. The second chain grazed his shoulder, burning straight to the bone. White pain flared through him, but his stride never broke. He cut the last chain before it wrapped him.Above, fire burned across the storm clouds. Words big enough to fill the sky:THE TYRANT LIVES.The crowd didn’t cheer. They tore into chaos—some screaming for his blood, others screami
Chapter 40: The Circle’s Message
The words burned across the heavens.THE TYRANT LIVES.Not written in ink. Not illusion. Fire itself carved the message into the roiling storm clouds, so bright it scorched afterimages into the eyes of everyone who dared look.The bells of Arcadia rang at once, an iron chorus shaking the towers. Students poured into the courtyards, faces pale with awe.Professors barked orders. Guards rushed toward the arena.But none of it silenced the one truth echoing over the academy—Rafe, the Tyrant, lived again.And every eye would turn to the one who wore his shadow.Kai stood in the garden, rain plastering his hair to his face, blood dripping freely from his wounds. Lina still clung to his arm, her body trembling. She looked to the sky, then to him, then back again, as if unable to reconcile the two images.“They’re calling you out,” she whispered. “The Circle… they know you’re here.”Kai’s jaw clenched, his gaze never leaving the burning words above. The shadows at his feet writhed restlessl
Chapter 39: A Kiss In The Rain
The storm had loomed all afternoon. Dark waves rolling over the horizon. The pressure had built to some point, each breath warm with the heavy humidity of rain that refused to fall.Without a word! And, with the winner barely acknowledged, Kai exited the arena. His opponent was sprawled unconscious against the stone floor, having been sent down with a single blow that produced neither cheers nor jeers — only silence, as if the crowd didn’t know if it should fear him or doubt him.He didn’t care.Shadow clung like a second skin to his boots, his cloak drawn low over his head. He needed space. The fight had ended clean, but too clean. It felt staged. As though someone had pulled back, waiting for something worse to happen later.And that unease hadn’t left him.Lina trailed after him, her footsteps quick on the stone. “Kai, wait!”He didn’t slow. The corridor curved along the outer wall of the arena, and slits of narrow windows let in the gray light. Rain pattered on the glass — fir
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