The academy buzzed with energy.
After the Trial of Black Flame, students spoke in whispers about Kael, Mikaho, and Fynn.Some admired them.Some feared them.
But not everyone felt the same.
Zehr's Fire
Zehr sat quietly under a tree, his sword lying across his knees.He stared at the blade, lost in thought.
He remembered the day Kael saved Mikaho.
He remembered how he had hesitated — even taken a step back when the demon attacked.
That memory burned him more than any flame could.
"He's different," Zehr said to himself."But I… I can be different too."
Arden, the quiet boy with sharp eyes, sat beside him.
"Still thinking about Kael?" Arden asked, smirking.
Zehr didn't reply.
"He's strong. You don't have to be him. Just be stronger than yesterday," Arden said, tossing a fruit up and catching it.
Zehr clenched his fist.
"I don't want to follow him… I want to stand next to him. Or maybe, one day, ahead of him."
Arden looked at him silently. Then nodded.
"Good. That fire in your eyes... keep it burning."
Training Days
The academy increased its training after the last trial.
Instructors said the demons were growing stronger. Something was coming.
All students were now being taught about:
Demon Weakness Points
New Weapons (like energy-tipped blades and demon-sensing gauntlets)
Tactical Movement and Emergency Escape Routes
Kael trained harder than before. Mikaho, as always, was graceful but deadly in combat.
Even Fynn, who used to joke around, now fought with serious focus.
Still, everyone noticed a change in Kael.
He had grown quieter.
Sometimes he'd look at the mountains with a strange expression — as if waiting for something. Or someone.
The Black Sword's Call
Late at night, Kael would sometimes sneak back to the hidden room.
The black sword still lay there, untouched.
He hadn't taken it. Not yet.
But each time he visited, he felt its pull growing stronger.
One night, the sword whispered in his mind:
"You are not just meant to fight demons... You are meant to end them."
Kael gasped and stepped back.
"I'm... not ready," he whispered.
But deep down, he wondered if he'd ever be ready.
The Watcher
Far away, in the cold forest near the edge of the island, a man watched the sky.
It was Ashen.
With one hand missing, his sword was strapped tightly across his back. His eyes were sharp.
Beside him, a young girl from another village asked, "What are you looking at?"
Ashen smiled slightly.
"The sky. It's changing. And when the sky changes… blood follows."
The girl shivered.
Back in School
During class, a girl asked the teacher, "Sir, why do we have to learn all this if we're going to die anyway when the demons rise?"
Everyone turned.
The teacher, Master Shin, looked at her calmly.
"Because some of you… are not meant to die."
He looked directly at Kael.
Kael didn't flinch.
Mikaho looked at Kael's face.
She saw something there.
A storm. A silence. A secret.
Final Scene
That night, Zehr trained alone under the moonlight. His hands were bloody from sword practice, but he didn't stop.
"I will not be forgotten."
Meanwhile, Kael stood by the window in his dorm room, holding a scroll from the hidden room.
There were two names on the scroll.
One was scratched out.
The second said: "The Forbidden Wake"
Kael didn't know what it meant yet.
But he knew one thing:
This story... was much bigger than anyone had told them.
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A sudden test. A betrayal. And the first signs of something waking beneath the island.