The return to Valewind Institute should have been a parade.
In another world — one of lesser dreams and smaller ambitions — Kaelen and the Pathbreakers would have been celebrated with banners, cheers, and medals.
But this was reality.
And reality feared what it could not control.
The Return
The gates of Valewind creaked open under the gray morning sky.
Kaelen led the Pathbreakers through the main plaza, Sovereignblade Astryn sheathed across his back, cloak tattered but proud.
Students stopped and stared.
Instructors whispered among themselves.
The survivors of the massacre — the chosen few — walked together, heads high, scars gleaming like badges of honor.
But Kaelen could feel it.
The shifting undercurrent.
The fear.
The resentment.
The old powers of Valewind — the noble-backed guilders, the hidden order loyal to Astralis — watched from the shadows.
They had hoped Kaelen would die.
He hadn't.
He had grown stronger.
And now he was impossible to ignore.
Later — The Summons
Commander Ardyn sat behind his heavy oak desk, a battered map of the kingdom spread before him.
His expression, for once, was serious — almost grim.
He gestured Kaelen inside without preamble.
"You're making waves, Drayce," he said, voice low.
"Big ones."
He tapped the map where Valewind sat — then where Astralis Academy gleamed like a diamond in the center of the kingdom.
"Astralis has petitioned the Royal Council to limit Valewind's tournament slots."
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
Ardyn chuckled humorlessly.
"You're a commoner, Drayce. No blood ties. No noble sponsor."
"To them, you're an anomaly. Worse — you're a threat."
He leaned forward, voice dropping even lower.
"Make no mistake — they will try to break you before the Grand Awakener Tournament."
Kaelen nodded once.
"Let them try."
Ardyn barked a laugh.
"Good answer."
He tossed a heavy scroll across the desk.
Kaelen caught it.
The Royal Seal — a silver phoenix entwined with a crown — blazed across the wax.
"Your official tournament invitation."
"Welcome to the true battlefield."
The Grand Awakener Tournament
Across the kingdom, the Royal Proclamation echoed:
Top 100 young talents.
Full continental broadcast.
Fame, fortune, and future titles on the line.
Secretly: A chance to recruit future kingsguard, archmages, sovereign heirs.
The world shifted its gaze toward Valewind.
Toward Kaelen Drayce.
And toward the storm rising behind him.
Meanwhile — Astralis Academy
Aria stood alone atop the Crystal Spire, hair whipping in the wind, the city sprawling far below her.
In her hands, the Royal Invitation shimmered faintly with power.
But she felt no pride.
Only urgency.
Already, assassins had come for her twice.
Already, whispers circled that she would be leashed or eliminated if she refused noble chains.
She clutched the silver locket at her throat — a simple thing, gifted long ago by a boy born under the wrong stars.
Kaelen.
Her heartbeat steadied.
I won't let them destroy you.
I won't let them destroy us.
She turned away from the city and back to the training grounds, where her private faction — the Starborn Rebellion — waited.
If the nobles wanted a war…
They would get one.
Back at Valewind — That Night
Kaelen stood atop the battlements, the cracked-crown sigil faintly glowing against his tunic.
The stars stretched endless above him.
He gripped Sovereignblade Astryn.
The blade whispered to him now — not in words, but in ancient feelings.
Path. Battle. Crown. Destiny.
Not for power.
Not for pride.
But because the world needed something more than kings and nobles.
It needed a Sovereign.
System Chime:
[Grand Awakener Tournament Arc Initiated.]
[Personal Questline Unlocked: Forge the Pathbreakers into a Guild of Sovereigns.]
[Warning: Black Moon Guild operations accelerating.]
[Hidden Dungeon Events will now appear during Tournament.]
Kaelen smiled grimly.
Let them come.
He would face Astralis' chosen heirs.
He would face Obsidian Hollow's murderers.
He would face the monsters, the dungeons, the assassins.
And he would rise.
One battle at a time.
One step closer to the crown the world refused to give.