Ten years.
That's how long it had been since he took his first trembling steps into the courtyard of blades.
Ten years of repetition and refinement.Of bruises, breathless sparring, and bloodied palms.Of stifled mana, whispered theories, and silent comparisons to the giants he called siblings.
At first, they didn't see a prodigy.
Just another Ardyn child. The seventeenth.
But time changed things.Not all at once. Not in fanfare.But slowly, steadily—until even their eyes began to linger when he passed.
Age: Thirteen.
Kael stood before the tall mirror in his chamber, fastening the deep gray tunic embroidered with the crest of House Ardyn—an obsidian phoenix over a silver ring.
His reflection had changed.Broader shoulders, carved by years of swordwork.Eyes colder now, sharper—though still too thoughtful for a child.Mana channels, though still forming, were clear and unusually responsive. His tutors said as much with raised brows and rare nods.
He wasn't the strongest of his siblings.Not yet.
But strength was inevitable.
What he had—was momentum.
Today would be his first true step forward.
"Awakening Day," he whispered to his reflection.
The Awakening Arena loomed like a monument to discipline and destiny.
A vast coliseum carved from pale crystal and stone, its inner walls pulsed faintly with embedded mana veins—shimmering lines that breathed like sleeping dragons. The Arena wasn't just a stage. It was a judge.
Tiered platforms encircled the central cradle, packed with spectators: nobles in silken robes, Academy instructors, Awakening graduates, visiting envoys from distant continents. And in the center of it all stood the candidates.
Kael was one of them.
A dozen others had arrived earlier—some wide-eyed with nerves, others smirking with practiced bravado, many trembling despite themselves.
Kael stood still.
Hands relaxed at his sides. Breathing measured. Not calm—controlled.
In the old world, Awakening came with fire, panic, and raw survival.It was a scream, not a song.You didn't awaken.You evolved, or you died.
But here?
It was clean.Curated.Like mana itself had learned to breathe.
He felt the eyes on him before he saw them.
Far above, on the upper platform—Selene stood with arms crossed, pride glowing behind her calm gaze.
Lucien was nearby, unreadable as ever. His presence alone was rare.
And there, at the highest point in the coliseum, behind obsidian glass, stood his father.
Valerius Ardyn.The 19th Patriarch.A mountain of shadow and silence.
He said nothing. He did not move.
But Kael felt it.
The weight of being watched.
You'll see, he thought, narrowing his gaze. All of you will.
The ceremony began.
One by one, the candidates stepped forward onto the Mana Cradle—a crystalline disc at the Arena's center, designed to read one's core and catalyze the Awakening.
Each step triggered a lightshow—bursts of elemental mana flared into the air: flames, wind currents, ice blossoms, lightning spirals. Sigils floated above each, declaring their awakened affinity and rank.
Applause followed each display. Cheers. Murmurs of approval.
Kael waited in silence, the last name called.
His turn.
He stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the Cradle, the light dimmed.
Then—shuddered.
A low, vibrating hum spread outward.A ripple.Black. White. Violet.Colors that should not blend—but did.
Then—
Silence.
The Arena held its breath.
Suddenly, a force inverted the air around him—mana collapsed inward, pulled into Kael like a breath held too long——then exploded outward again, not in chaos but in perfect containment.
A translucent sphere of quiet energy enveloped his form.No element.No wild flares.Just stillness.
Then, above his head, the sigil formed. But it bore no color.
No flame.No wind.No affinity at all.
Just two words.
OMNIMANARANK: SPARK — LEVEL 1
The silence turned brittle.
Gasps rippled across the Arena like aftershocks. Instructors leaned forward. Envoys whispered. Even the Elders, ancient and usually unmoved, exchanged glances.
Ten.
There were only ten known living Omnimana users in the world.
Now—eleven.
And he was thirteen years old.
From the highest box, Valerius Ardyn finally stood.
He did not speak.He did not clap.He simply watched, unreadable.
Kael stood beneath the sphere, eyes half-lidded, body relaxed.
He could feel it now—his mana.Not like fire or lightning.But like a tide: deep, still, waiting.
It had been silent all his life. Dormant. Uncooperative.
Now, it spoke.
Still young. Still unshaped.
But obedient.
For a moment, the entire arena held its breath.
The mana had settled. The platform had dimmed.And Kael Ardyn—just thirteen—had been declared the 11th Omnimana user of this era,and the 1011th in all of recorded history.
A ripple of awe spread outward like a stormfront.
Instructors whispered behind clasped hands.Noble representatives leaned forward, expressions sharpening.Among the students, some stared at him with envy, others with poorly masked fear.
For a breathless instant, no one knew what to say.
Above them all stood Valerius Ardyn, Lord of House Ardyn—Kael's father.
His gaze was unmoving. His expression unreadable.
And yet… something shifted.
The corners of his mouth twitched—Not quite a smile.Not approval.Just the faintest, fleeting acknowledgment.
Then, without a word, he turned and walked away.
Kael remained beneath the Cradle's faint glow, heart steady.
So even he took notice.Good.But don't look at me like I've arrived. I'm still climbing.I always will be.
He glanced at his hand, where traces of mana still pulsed faintly beneath the skin.
Omnimana.
The rarest known affinity. The most powerful.And the most merciless.
Omnimana allowed the wielder to synchronize with all elemental mana types—known and unknown. But only those with unshakable will and immense control could harness it without succumbing to its chaos.
Only 1011 individuals had ever been recorded with this affinity.Only 11 lived in this era.Six of those were from the current generation.Three of them—including Kael—were headed to the same destination:
Arcanis Academy.
Where the elite awakened deeper truths.Where rivalries turned into history.Where mana shaped legends—or broke them.
And where Kael Ardyn's true journey would finally begin.