Chapter 34: The World Without Kai
The tournament grounds had long been cleared. The echo of roaring crowds faded into memory. But for Ren, something far more potent lingered — the absence of his closest companion.
Three months.
Kai was gone.
Not a letter. Not a whisper. Not even a ripple of KI to trace. Instructor Vale had activated every contact she had. Emberlight scouts scoured the Verdant Wilds. Even the council had grown nervous, wondering if the boy they had once called "black horse" had been taken, or worse… defected.
But Ren knew. Deep down, he knew.
Kai wasn't gone.
He was preparing for something.
⸻
Ren stood atop Emberlight's eastern cliff path, the morning winds brushing through his short, tousled hair. The scar on his right arm — earned during the Verdant Wilds mission — pulsed slightly under the sun's heat. It was a quiet reminder that strength wasn't inherited. It was chosen.
Every morning now began the same.
Meditation. Shadow boxing. Studying Kai's old training logs.
And then… teaching.
Without Kai, Ren had become a pillar for the younger initiates. He didn't have Kai's raw power or battle IQ, but he had heart — and the students felt it.
"Strike! Don't hesitate!" Ren barked at a young trainee. "Your enemy won't wait for you to be brave. Make your body move before your fear catches up!"
The boy winced but stepped forward. His punch landed true.
"Better," Ren said, a small smile tugging at his lips.
From afar, Vale watched with arms crossed. Her usual sharp expression had softened over the past few weeks.
"He's holding it together," she murmured.
"He's growing," muttered Arin, Emberlight's quartermaster, beside her.
Vale glanced sideways. "He's becoming something. But he's still watching the path Kai left behind."
Arin hummed. "A shadow or a star, Vale. We'll see what he chooses."
⸻
Later That Night
Ren sat alone beneath the sparring grove tree — the same one where Kai used to run drills under moonlight. His fists rested on his knees, lightly bruised from the day's sparring.
A note sat in his lap. Unopened.
The last one Kai left behind.
He hadn't read it. Not yet.
Not until he earned the right to stand beside Kai again.
A rustle behind him broke the silence.
"You're still here," said a voice.
Vale stepped forward, carrying two steaming cups of broth.
"You didn't need to come all the way out," Ren said, quietly.
"You didn't need to take over teaching the juniors. But you did," she replied, handing him the cup. "We all grieve in different ways."
Ren took a slow sip. "He's not dead."
"No," Vale said. "But something is dying."
Ren blinked at her.
Vale's eyes hardened. "The Kai we knew. The one who smiled, joked, who trained you under moonlight. He's shedding that skin. Whatever he's becoming… won't be the same."
Silence lingered between them like fog.
"I'll be ready," Ren finally said, "for him, and for what comes after."
Vale nodded once. "Then start tomorrow. You'll begin training under my full regimen."
Ren's eyes widened. "But—"
"No more half-lessons," she cut in. "You want to chase a legend, you'd better learn to climb the mountain."
A long silence stretched between them — until Ren stood.
"I'll meet you at the sparring ring. Dawn."
Vale smirked faintly. "Good."
⸻
Elsewhere…
Far from Emberlight.
Beyond the reach of scrying stones and spirit contracts.
In a place where time felt heavy and space bent with each breath—
Kai stood shirtless in a vast chasm of broken sky and glowing stone.
His muscles twitched under the strain. Veins of silver light spiderwebbed his arms. Around him, the world itself warped — cracks of unreality bleeding colorless energy as if the space had forgotten what it was supposed to be.
He exhaled slowly.
Reality trembled around him.
" Almost there " He smirked.