Narrator: While the whole capital is focused on the race, let's see what our frea—I mean, what our young geniuses are doing.
Celyn Clan Quarters – South Solaren
Elder: "Lord Celyn! Lord Celyn!"
Montas: "Why the hell are you barking like a dog? I was watching the Karnivox race. You spoiled the mood."
Elder: "Lord Celyn... Crown Prince Aurin is here."
Montas: "What?! Where is he? Bring him to my chamber immediately!"
Elder: "He is already there, my lord."
Montas hurriedly went to see Aurin. Inside, he found Aurin sitting arrogantly on the Clan Head's seat. On the floor, Kevin was kneeling with Aurin's foot planted firmly on his head.
Montas was burning from the inside but controlled his anger.
Montas: "Prince Aurin, what is the meaning of this? I cannot accept you humiliating the heir of the Celyns so openly."
Aurin: "Then what about you humiliating me? The Crown Prince of this empire."
Montas: "Your Highness, when did we even think about that? That is a blatant betrayal of our loyalty!"
Aurin (Enraged): [Stands up and stomps the table, shattering it] "Loyalty... What loyalty? Using my name to cause a ruckus everywhere. You call yourselves my supporters, but you don't even care about my honor. Don't trigger my anger, or you will regret it."
Montas: "But Prince Aurin, that was not ordered by me. You know the century-old debt between us and those Cinders. Our members naturally burst out in anger and fight while crossing paths."
Aurin: "You call yourself a Clan Head while you can't even control your own members? Even your elders fought there like low-life thugs. You are a disgrace to the legacy of the Farburns!"
Montas (Rising voice): "Your Highness, one more word—"
Aurin (Yells): "What can you do, huh?!"
Montas (Controlling himself): "I'm sorry... Your Highness. I will properly control my clan members from now on."
Aurin: "And this piece of trash wants to be my retainer while disrespecting the sacred ceremony the ancestors created? I'm taking him with me to teach him something more valuable than hatred. Give the Clan Heir position to a kid with actual potential."
Montas: "Your Highness, I may be powerless to offend a Prince like you... but I will definitely complain to the First Empress."
Aurin: "Do whatever you can. I feel for those Cinder Clan bastards who have to face my brother's anger."
Aurin dragged Kevin out of the Celyn quarters. Montas let out a scream of rage so loud the entire estate could hear him.
Montas: "What the hell are you looking at?! Go summon all the bastards that brawled in Mithran Street!"
Cinder Clan Quarters – North Solaren
All the Elders and the Clan Head, Houren, were gathered in the meeting hall, collectively watching the Karnivox race telecast.
Cinder Elder 1: "Shit, that guy... as a hunter, I think no one will win this year."
Cinder Elder 2: "Well, that's fortunate. Since we are banned this year, I thought our two-year streak would have been broken. But if no one wins, we have a chance to hit a hat-trick next year!"
Everyone was laughing. Then—BOOM—the doors were smashed open.
Cinder Clan Member: "Lord Cinder... Prince Rocian is here..." [Falls unconscious]
Elder 1: "Who is this weakling passing out just from meeting a Grandmaster?"
Suddenly, two terrifying Mystic Stage auras poured in. The elders were pushed back, releasing their own Mystic Stage auras to resist. Then, a Visionary Stage aura appeared.
Houren released his own Visionary aura but could only defend; the incoming pressure was far stronger than his.
Rocian entered the hall, dragging an unconscious and bloodied Ray. Rocian's chain-dagger was wrapped around the boy's neck. Behind him followed two Mystic Stage knights and a huge Visionary Stage knight covered in full Imperial Army plate armor.
Houren saw his clan member bloodied and became enraged.
Houren (Shouts): "Rocian! How dare you!"
Knights (Raising swords): "How dare you raise your voice to the Imperial Prince!"
Rocian: "Stop. He's a fool who believes being my uncle means he has the right to be casual with me. Show me proper respect."
Houren: "Rocian, you just went to the academy for three years and now you order your uncle?"
Rocian: "Kneel."
Houren: "What... you—"
Rocian: "Kneel."
Elder 2: "Prince Rocian, this is too much—"
Rocian: "Shut him up."
Knight: "Yes!"
The knight leaped forward, casting a high-tier Combustion Spell on his fist and punching the Elder in the face, sending him crashing through the furniture.
Rocian: "Do not speak in my presence without permission or you won't have a tongue to speak with hereafter. Now, Clan Head of the Cinder Clan, Houren Cinder... show me proper courtesy."
Houren knelt with a hard expression.
Houren: "I greet the Second Prince of the Empire, His Highness Rocian Ignis."
Rocian: "Now, bring me that weakling of an elder who brawled in the street a few days ago."
Houren: "Bring him here."
The Profound Heaven Stage elder—the weakest elder in the Cinder Clan—came forward, shivering in fear.
Rocian: "Kill him."
Bald Elder (Begging): "Your Highness, please have mercy! Please! AAGGHHHHHHH!"
The Visionary knight stepped forward, grabbed the elder by both arms, and tore him apart into two halves.
Rocian (Angry): "You worthless bastards. Fighting like thugs in the streets, you dare to disgrace the sacred battle ceremony for your petty dispute? You think your clan rivalry is some sort of noble blood debt? No. It's actually shameless. You bastards split the whole clan apart for trivial reasons, fighting over it for centuries like fools. You are not carrying some sort of promise; you are just continuing the humiliation for the ancestors of the Farburns by being brainless idiots."
Every Cinder there felt humiliated by Rocian's words.
Rocian: "And this fool (Ray)? He was ready to die in the ceremony, right? Look at him now—I showed him death. I will take this 'self-proclaimed sword' of mine. He's just scrap metal. I will forge this trash into something decent."
Rocian: "Let's leave."
Houren: "Prince Rocian... from today onwards, I have no nephew. I will tell Krona what happened here—how you humiliated the Cinders."
Rocian: "You think Mother will help you? If she had come, she would have killed you instead."
Rocian and the Imperial knights left as the entire Cinder clan watched them with heavy eyes.
Narrator: Meanwhile, in a hidden, lush canyon miles outside of Solaren City...
Osmian opens his eyes, which are glowing a brilliant white.
Osmian: "Flame Comet!"
A spiral of white flames condenses, moving like a comet with a trailing tail. It strikes the rocky walls of the valley, shattering the stone and creating a massive crack.
Osmian: "Finally... success." (He pulls out a scroll) "What other spells are there...?"
Jaden (Watching from above, clapping): "Incredible. You just became a Heaven Stager yesterday, and now you're already here practicing Heaven stage spells? Heh."
Osmian: "You're the Principal of Ashes Academy, right? My Principal has a crush on you."
Jaden: "Yes, it's me... ah—what? Wait, what?!"
Osmian: "Hehehehe!"
Jaden: "That's the first thing you say after meeting me? What a weird kid. Kain will really like you."
Osmian (Cute angry): "Eeeh? That guy beat the shit out of me!"
Jaden: "Well, he is weird, just like your white flames."
Osmian: "True. I still don't know how I got my flames, though."
Jaden: "Since you got them at a young age, you have a lot of time to grow. Emperor Adrian only awakened white flames after he was forty years old. Unfortunately, he couldn't attain Evolution in his lifetime. But you can. Do you feel the changes?"
Osmian: "Yeah. My mana is way denser after attaining the white flames. My spells are stronger than normal—like they have a default amplification."
Jaden: "Those are just the basic traits. You will find its unique properties soon enough."
Osmian: "Oh yeah... I wanted to ask. Why is Kain's surname Fostan?"
Jaden: "Well, he came to Fostan when he was three years old. He was attacking everyone with lightning spells."
Osmian: "Lightning?"
Jaden: "Yes. He is from Thundergun. The city guards were chasing after him back then. I had just brought my mother's pardon, so we moved to Fostan as well. He was the 'hot news' all over the city. Since he was just a kid, he was scared of the new environment, attacking everyone with low-tier spells that barely did any damage. But the concern was... he used a peculiar White Lightning."
Osmian (Curious): "White Lightning...?"
Jaden: "Yes. Since it was rare, we were afraid of shadow organizations using him for misdeeds. The city guards asked for my mother's assistance. She was from Thundergun, and even though her mana veins were cut off, she could still release a slight amount of lightning energy. That was the only thing Kain was familiar with, and that's how we gained his trust. He followed us home. To see him, everyone in the city paid a visit with sweets, candy, and toys. He became familiar with everyone. He was slept and fed by every family in Fostan. It's no lie to call him the 'Son of Fostan.' That is when the Ministry of Administration finally agreed to recognize him as a citizen of the Empire. We gave him the surname Fostan rather than leaving him as an orphan."
Osmian (Teary-eyed): "Aww... what a heartwarming story. People in the South are really sweet. Meanwhile, I had a very rough life in the North."
Jaden: "Well, the Southern front suffered more than the North in the wars, so naturally, people down South are more empathetic toward each other. It's not anyone's fault."
Osmian: "Well, this really makes me want to be friends with Kain now."
Jaden: "That's what I'm talking about. Also, which academy are you from?"
Osmian (Cheeky): "You just want to confirm which academy my Principal is from, don't you?"
As they continued their banter, Kain was standing atop a tall tower, looking down at the city. His white cape blew violently in the wind as a Flame Hawk flew past him.
Kain looked down from the tower, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a group of suspicious men moving through the dark alleyways near the racing track.
Thug Leader: "You there, go around and place this rune on the other side of the road. These are Trap Runes that create a sound frequency sensitive to Karnivoxes. Once they come near, they will scream and go wild in pain, disrupting the race. We can just pin the blame on the Cinders or the Celyns."
Thug 1: "Yes, boss!"
The thug ran off toward the track.
As the Thug Leader continued giving instructions to the others, he suddenly heard a muffled groan. He whipped around.
Thug Leader: "What—?!"
He saw Kain. The white-masked boy stood there, his katana already buried deep in Thug 1's chest. Kain pulled the blade out, letting the corpse slump to the ground.
Thug Leader (Pointing): "KILL HIM!"
The thugs rushed forward. Kain Blinked—a flash of movement—passing right through their line. He reappeared instantly in front of the leader, his blade swinging in a silver arc that severed the leader's pointing hand clean off.
Thug Leader: "AAHHHHHH!"
The leader tried to cast a fire spell with his remaining hand, but Kain Blinked again. He reappeared mid-air, delivering a brutal kick that sent the leader flying against the stone wall. Before the man could fall, Kain slammed his sword through the leader's shoulder, pinning him to the wall like an insect.
The other thugs froze, paralyzed by fear.
Kain didn't stop. He Blinked again, appearing behind a thug. Point-blank, he unleashed a Profound-Heaven Flame Blast. The explosion shattered the thug's head instantly.
One by one, every time Kain Blinked, another corpse hit the floor. Screams echoed through the narrow alley, but they were completely overshadowed by the roar of the crowd on the main road just meters away.
Narrator: Just like that... all the freaks live even their normal lives in a freakish way.
NEXT CHAPTER --------- THE SCHEME OF UNKNOWN