Chapter 41: Prelude to The Academy
The doors closed behind Caelus.
No one moved.
The silence he left behind was heavier than the situation warranted. All of them had just watched the third young master threaten a Grand Elder in the middle of a family gathering, then walk out as though he’d merely finished an unpleasant conversation.
Valerius’s son stood rigid beside his seat, both hands clenched tightly enough to whiten his knuckles. Around him, the other Vesperas exchanged whispers beneath their breath, some outraged, others stunned that Caelus had dared to speak so openly.
One of the other Grand Elders rose from his seat, his expression hardened with outrage.
"Grand Elder Valerius, this cannot be tolerated. He just threatened an Elder in front of the family."
Agreement spread through the room in low murmurs.
Valerius’s son stepped forward, anger tightening his expression.
"Father, he—"
Valerius raised one hand.
His composure had returned, but his eyes were cold enough to bury his earlier humiliation beneath something more dangerous.
"He is correct," Valerius said. "Directly threatening an Elder before the family is unacceptable."
He turned toward the elevated platform.
"Patriarch, I request that this matter be dealt with immediately."
The hall fell silent again.
Every gaze shifted toward the Patriarch.
He had not moved from his seat. The black fur around his shoulders framed him like a dark mantle of authority, while his face remained completely unreadable.
The Patriarch simply looked toward the doors through which Caelus had disappeared.
"Have you gone senile, Valerius?"
The question was delivered so calmly that it took the room a heartbeat to understand what had been said.
"Patriarch—"
"Even if you have," the Patriarch continued, his voice perfectly level, "you’re an Elder. He’s a direct-line descendant. My blood."
His gaze settled on Valerius.
The atmosphere changed.
Shadows gathered along the edges of the hall, thickening beneath the pillars until even the bright lamps seemed to have dimmed. The air grew dense enough to make breathing difficult.
A young descendant near the rear of the hall dropped to one knee without realizing he had done so. Another lowered his head, unable to meet the pressure directly. Several of the younger Vesperas struggled to remain standing.
Selene’s shoulders stiffened.
Her brother’s expression tightened.
Even the Elders straightened.
Valerius’s face had lost its color.
"What makes you think your authority stands above something that bears my blood?"
The Patriarch hadn’t moved.
"He will go to the academy and take the entrance examination."
Silence followed.
"If he does not rank first..."
"...I will kill him myself."
The pressure vanished.
The shadows withdrew from the walls, the lamps brightened, and the hall returned to normal so abruptly that several people drew their first full breath only after it was over.
The Patriarch rose, leaving the platform.
---
Caelus had no reason to delay his departure.
He had already packed what little he considered worth taking from the estate.
The sword his father had given him on the last birthday the family had celebrated for him was still in its place.
Caelus took it from its place and tested the familiar balance before securing it at his side. He had accumulated very little in this house that he actually wanted to carry with him.
Mira had followed his instructions and already packed. By the time Caelus stepped outside, she was waiting near the carriage with her belongings gathered beside her.
She looked excited.
She also looked nervous enough that she kept glancing back toward the estate.
Before entering the carriage, Caelus looked back at the estate.
The dark spires stood exactly as they always had.
His childhood came back in fragments rather than a single memory: corridors he had wandered as a boy, the training grounds where he had pushed himself until his body gave out, and the countless times he had tried to prove that he was worth more than the family had decided he was.
He remembered the voices from the hall.
The purge.
Valerius’s insult.
His father’s silence.
None of it changed his decision.
Threatening a Grand Elder in front of the entire family would have consequences. Caelus understood that perfectly well.
"Get in."
Mira nodded and climbed into the carriage.
Caelus followed, settling into his seat and giving the estate one last glance through the window.
"Head to the Imperial Capital, Eldoria."
The carriage rolled away from the Vespera gates.
---
Imperial Capital, Eldoria.
The capital dwarfed every city and territory in the west. Massive walls encircled districts that stretched into the distance, while towers and palaces climbed toward the sky around the central Imperial Palace of Draconis.
The palace dominated everything around it.
It looked like a monument built to remind the continent who ruled it.
Deep beneath the Imperial Palace of Draconis, far below the halls occupied by ordinary nobles, molten lava churned inside a vast stone chamber.
The surface glowed a deep crimson, releasing waves of heat powerful enough to reduce ordinary flesh to ash before it could reach the pool.
Steam rolled across the chamber.
Something moved beneath the lava.
Then a figure emerged from it.
Princess Anna rose from the molten pool as though she had merely finished bathing.
Her skin emerged blackened and smoking, the heat having charred it beyond recognition. The damage did not last. Burned flesh smoothed over itself, the blackened surface receding until pristine pale skin remained.
Charred strands of hair restored themselves one by one, darkening into a smooth wine-red mane that settled around her shoulders.
Then her eyes opened.
Red-gold irises surrounded narrow vertical pupils.
There was nothing human about the way she looked at the world.
A fitted martial-arts compression uniform formed around her as she stepped onto the stone, concealing her body from the heat still radiating from the chamber.
Her personal maid was already waiting at the edge of the chamber.
Elsa gave a practiced bow.
"Your Highness."
Anna frowned.
"Didn’t I tell you to call me normally?"
Elsa sighed.
"I can’t bring myself to do that, Your Highness."
"I could make it an imperial order."
"You’ve threatened that before."
Anna narrowed her eyes.
"And?"
"And we were back to ’Your Highness’ the next morning."
"That sounds like a personal failure on your part."
Elsa’s mouth twitched.
"Of course, Miss Anna."
Elsa’s expression became more businesslike.
"The academy’s entrance examination has been moved."
Anna’s brow lifted.
"That’s unusual."
"Very."
The academy was notoriously rigid about its schedule.
"Anything else?"
Elsa hesitated.
"There is one other matter. It’s about Young Master Caelu—"
"No."
Anna’s tone sharpened enough to stop her.
"Don’t talk about him."
Elsa stared at her.
"You ordered me to investigate him yesterday."
Anna’s jaw tightened.
That was unfortunately true.
Memories she hadn’t thought about in years surfaced anyway.
She had been younger then, when the noble families had gathered for her birthday. Caelus had been there among the children of the visiting houses.
Everyone else had treated her like a princess.
He hadn’t.
She had thought he was handsome, strange, and refreshingly unlike the children who spent their time trying to impress her. So she had approached him and asked if they could be friends.
He had looked at her as though she’d asked him to participate in something profoundly inconvenient.
"Sorry, but I don’t have time to play around with childish tantrums. Try with someone else."
She had cried afterward.
Later, when she learned that Caelus had been judged D-potential, she had been secretly delighted.
The arrogant boy who had rejected her had been destined to amount to nothing.
She had been looking forward to rubbing that fact in his face someday.
That had been years ago.
She had mostly forgotten about it.
Mostly.
Anna exhaled softly.
"Fine. What about him?"
Elsa’s expression tightened.
"There are rumors that he reached C-rank."
Anna’s eyes widened.
"What?"
She couldn’t believe it.
D-potential.
D-rank.
And now C-rank?
That should not have been possible.
Whatever Caelus had become, he was no longer the boy she knew.
Anna stared ahead, her irritation replaced by something else entirely.
Curiosity.
---
Across the continent, the same examination was drawing the attention of powers far beyond Eldoria.
In the Elven Kingdom, young candidates gathered beneath towering white trees while their elders inspected weapons, spellbooks, and artifacts. Some studied magical glyphs; others practiced beneath the watchful eyes of their families.
The academy would receive them soon.
Across the Beast Tribes, clans prepared in their own fashion. Young warriors trained until the ground beneath their feet cracked, while elders tested their endurance, instincts, and techniques.
The strongest were being pushed even harder.
No clan intended to send its weakest representatives to the academy.
In the great human houses, heirs reviewed formations, polished weapons, studied magic theories, and competed quietly with one another long before the examination had begun.
Family prestige was going with them.
So were expectations.
Their reasons for attending differed.
But every road led toward the same destination.
Primordial Academy.
---
Deep within the Primordial Academy, far from the students preparing to arrive, a lone figure stood beside a high window overlooking the grounds.
The academy stretched below in silent preparation.
Training fields were being cleared. Buildings were being repaired. Paths were being swept as staff moved through the grounds in preparation for another cycle.
The figure watched without revealing their face.
A quiet sigh escaped them.
"Another year."
_________
Vol.1 end.