"The Codex Circuit is not a weapon.""It is a philosophy carved into blood, bone, and breath.""And it is the reason your ancestors were feared by gods and kings alike."
Kael sat motionless beneath the whispering vents of the Delta Archive—one of Regis Institute's long-abandoned sub-levels. He had slipped away through the storm tunnels earlier that night, using a misaligned access panel only someone with Aegis guiding them could find.
No security. No cameras. Just stone, silence, and the flickering interface of a broken world.
The terminal before him hummed to life, lit by a faint white glyph—a half-circle nested inside a triangle, etched in radiant crimson.
Kael recognized the symbol.
It was the same as the faint scar he'd found on his left shoulder after his transformation.
"That is your Bloodmark," Aegis said. "Proof that the Codex has awakened within you."
Kael reached out slowly.
His fingers brushed the glyph.
And the floor beneath him shifted.
The world fell away.
He didn't drop, didn't stumble—just transitioned.
One breath, and suddenly he stood in a place that couldn't exist.
A vault of endless halls, suspended in light. Floating diagrams of the human body spun around him—some labeled in ancient glyphs, others flashing with complex equations and ability metrics. Dozens of translucent statues lined the corridor, each one shaped like a warrior in mid-combat. Their expressions were calm. Focused.
Each bore the Vire mark on their chest.
"Welcome to the Codex Memory Core," Aegis said. "A fragment of your ancestral path. Hidden in your genes, locked until your mind was ready."
Kael turned slowly.
"What is this?"
"A library. Of all that was lost. Of what you must reclaim."
One statue stepped forward—then shattered into golden particles, reassembling into a hovering diagram before Kael's eyes. It showed a human form—Kael's form—divided into three spheres: Instinct, Structure, and Flow.
Each sphere was further broken into Ten Rings, etched with glowing markers.
"This is your Circuit," Aegis said. "Your path of evolution. Not random growth—but guided, intentional expansion."
Kael stared, breath caught in his throat.
"There's… ten levels?"
"Ten per sphere. Thirty total. Few in history ever completed more than fifteen. Your father reached seventeen before he died."
Kael clenched his fists.
"My father—he used this?"
"Yes. As did your grandfather. And his mother before him. All warriors of the Vire Line were initiated into the Codex. You are the last."
The diagram spun, highlighting Ring One of Instinct.
Kael felt a subtle shift within him—like a key had been turned inside his ribs.
He felt it.
A clarity. A calmness to his reflexes. A quiet coordination behind his thoughts.
"You've already unlocked your first Ring. This happened during your transformation. But now you can train them consciously. Build them."
Kael nodded slowly. "What happens when I finish a sphere?"
"Completion of a full sphere results in Synthesis. Your body and ability merge into a harmonized system—enhancing not only strength, but perception, intuition, and survivability."
Kael stepped closer to the diagram.
"What happens if I complete all three?"
Aegis paused.
Then answered:
"Then you become what the ancients called a Prime Ascendant."
"A being capable of breaking the Ability Ceiling. Of surpassing even the Class S rank limit imposed by this world."
Kael's heart pounded.
"You mean… there's more beyond the S Rank?"
"There always was. But the world locked it away. Labeled it myth. Buried it in ashes and fear."
"But if you survive… you will not only awaken it."
"You will redefine it."
Kael left the archive an hour later, mind still spinning.
The moment he emerged into the main sector hallway, someone was waiting for him.
Lira.
She didn't speak right away.
Just crossed her arms and said, "You're late."
Kael sighed. "I know."
"You left without telling anyone again. You disappear for hours. Days, sometimes. And when you come back, you're different."
She stepped closer.
"Not just stronger. Changed."
Kael looked down. "I'm sorry."
Lira shook her head. "I'm not asking for an apology, Kael. I'm asking for truth."
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
And for the first time, he told her.
Not everything. But enough.
About the pendant. The AI. The training. The voice that now guided him. The system beneath his skin that had awakened and refused to sleep.
When he finished, Lira didn't speak for a long time.
Then she whispered, "So you're not just evolving. You're remembering."
He blinked. "What?"
"You're becoming something this world tried to erase. Something it hates."
Kael didn't deny it.
Lira nodded to herself.
Then she said, "Good."
He looked at her in surprise.
She smiled.
"Because this world needs shaking. And if it's you who does it… I'd rather stand beside you than behind you."
Kael exhaled. "You're not afraid?"
"I'm terrified," she said.
Then added: "But I trust you."
Over the next week, Kael began working through the first ring of Structure, under Aegis's guidance.
He adjusted his breathing during combat. Practiced shifting tension between muscle groups in micro-bursts. Slept in rotating circadian cycles. Altered his diet, water intake, posture, even blinking rate.
Everything became intentional.
Every hour a piece of a puzzle.
He felt it each time a change clicked into place: a surge of cohesion in his movements. The way he could catch a dropped item mid-air without thinking. The way his bones no longer ached after hours of sparring.
"You've completed Ring One of Structure," Aegis confirmed. "Two percent increase in mass retention, three in kinetic tolerance."
Kael couldn't stop smiling.
It was working.
He wasn't just getting stronger.
He was becoming complete.
But Regis was changing, too.
Cadets talked in hushed tones about security increases.
About elite squads being activated.
And about a name that now echoed through the halls like a storm warning:
Kael Vire.
He hadn't declared his family. Hadn't claimed his lineage.
But someone had.
A mysterious report had surfaced, detailing biometric spikes and core irregularities only found in erased bloodlines.
Rumors ignited.
Speculation festered.
And one name kept appearing beside his in whispered conversations:
Silas Caellum.
Late one evening, Kael received a message on his terminal.
Encrypted. Untraceable.
He opened it.
One sentence.
"I want to see what makes you special. Meet me at Apex Tower. Midnight."
No signature.
But he didn't need one.
He could feel the weight behind the words.
Silas was calling him out.
And Kael wasn't about to turn away.