The days after the Selection Rite were supposed to be a time of rest.
A time to heal.
A time to prepare for the coming Grand Tournament.
But Kaelen knew better.
True power never slept.
True threats never waited.
And destiny did not hand crowns to those who lingered.
Early Morning — Valewind's Old Training Fields
Kaelen stood in the mist, Sovereignblade Astryn strapped across his back, watching a small group of survivors gather.
Only seventeen students besides him had lived through the slaughter.
Now he would choose among them.
Not by popularity.
Not by noble birth.
But by the only measure that mattered: Will.
Eren Voss stood tall, his great axe resting against his shoulder, grin wide as a canyon.
Selina Heartgrove smiled softly, hands glowing faintly with restorative light.
Others joined:
Mira Duskfall — a quicksilver archer with keen eyes and faster reflexes.
Damon Ironsoul — a shield-bearer, silent but unbreakable.
Lyra Windspire — a wind mage, reckless but brilliant.
Five to start.
Five who had refused to break.
Five who had bled and endured.
Kaelen nodded once.
"You're here because you didn't kneel when the world demanded it."
"You're here because you're ready to carve your own path."
"Not as tools of guilds. Not as pawns of nobles."
"But as Sovereigns in your own right."
The group straightened, pride burning in their eyes.
They understood.
They chose this.
System Chime:
[Proto-Guild Formation: Initiated.]
[Guild Name Required.]
Kaelen thought for a moment.
Then smiled.
He spoke aloud:
"Guild Name: Pathbreakers."
Pathbreakers — those who tear down the chains of fate and forge new destinies.
The System flared golden.
[Proto-Guild: Pathbreakers Created.]
[Founding Members: 6]
[Guild Buff: Sovereign Resolve (+10% Combat Effectiveness when fighting impossible odds.)]
But fate wastes no time testing new resolves.
That afternoon, a messenger arrived from the Institute leadership — not Commander Ardyn this time, but a cold-faced agent wearing the gray-and-black crest of Valewind's secret internal order.
The messenger spoke without ceremony:
"A test awaits. Not announced. Not public. Ordered by unseen hands."
"Outside the Institute walls, a hidden Guild Challenge has been arranged."
"Astralis agents. Obsidian Hollow mercenaries. Rogue students. You will face them all."
"Survive — and you prove you deserve to enter the Grand Awakener Tournament."
"Fall — and you are forgotten."
That night — The Broken Ruins
The arena was a dead zone miles from Valewind — a shattered fortress lost to time, its stones cracked and half-sunk into the earth.
Kaelen and his fledgling Pathbreakers arrived under a blood-red sunset.
And waiting for them — dozens of enemies.
At least forty fighters, all armed, armored, and burning with killing intent.
Some wore Astralis Academy crests.
Some bore Obsidian Hollow scars.
Some were freelance guilders looking for blood money.
All shared one goal:
Crush the Pathbreakers before they could rise.
Kaelen stood at the front, Sovereignblade gleaming under the dying light.
He didn't flinch.
He didn't speak.
He simply pointed his sword forward.
The Pathbreakers moved to formation without needing to be told.
Eren and Damon took the front — the Shield Wall and Berserker.
Mira and Lyra circled wide, ranged support and elemental control.
Selina formed the core, ready to heal, ready to anchor.
Kaelen…?
He would be the blade that broke their lines.
The battle began with a roar.
Enemies surged forward like a flood.
Kaelen launched into them — a hurricane of mana, steel, and Sovereign will.
Arcane Step blurred him forward.
Blink Shot blasted enemy mages apart.
Sovereign's Combo Strike tore through armored knights like wet parchment.
All around him, the Pathbreakers fought as one:
Eren cleaving through lines like a thunder god.
Damon absorbing blows meant to kill ten men.
Mira dropping assassins from impossible distances.
Lyra weaving wind barriers and razor gales.
Selina saving the wounded at the brink of death.
But then — a second wave appeared.
Not human.
Not beast.
Something worse.
Twisted Aberrations — monstrous creatures born from corrupted mana experiments — surged from hidden caverns below the ruins.
Six-limbed horrors, dripping shadow-matter, screeching with inhuman rage.
Kaelen cursed under his breath.
The Guilds hadn't just sent killers.
They'd set a death trap.
System Chime:
[Emergency Event: Corrupted Dungeon Rift Detected.]
[Elite Monster Wave Incoming.]
Kaelen planted his feet.
He raised Sovereignblade Astryn high.
The blade caught the last rays of the blood-red sun, burning with a silver fire.
His voice rang out like a war horn:
"Pathbreakers!"
"We hold the line! We break the world before it breaks us!"
"FORGE THE PATH!"
A roar answered him — fierce, unstoppable.
And together, they charged into the coming storm.