The rain returned three nights later.
It fell hard over Crescent City, drumming rooftops and washing neon signs into glowing streaks. Thunder cracked like bones overhead. Most citizens hurried home, umbrellas flickering with weak elemental shields, ignoring the patrol sirens that howled through the wind.
But Alex didn't rush.
He stood at the edge of a crumbled observation tower in RSA's outer sector, staring across the flood-lit arena below. The ground was scorched in spiderweb patterns, evidence of elemental combat tests. His breath steamed in the cold air, arms folded over his jacket.
Beside him, Kael checked a vibrating comm-piece. "They're here."
Alex nodded. "Who am I facing?"
"Two D-Rankers. One fire, one kinetic. Field-tested. This is a sanctioned clash—not lethal, but they won't hold back."
"And why the test?"
Kael gave a thin smile. "Council wants to see how deep your elements run. Lightning's rare enough. But space? They think you're hiding something."
"I am," Alex muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Kael smirked. "Don't get killed. You've got weird potential."
Below the Arena
His opponents waited under the pouring rain.
The first, a muscular girl with copper skin and flaming braids, cracked her knuckles. The air around her shimmered with heat. Fire licked her arms like tame serpents.
The second, taller and lankier, bounced on the balls of his feet. Stones floated lazily around his shoulders, orbiting him like moons. His kinetic field pulsed in rhythm with his breath.
They watched as Alex descended the platform stairs, face unreadable, hair already wet, eyes glinting with faint silver light.
The crowd in the upper tiers—RSA officials, techs, and a few masked observers—watched in silence.
Rain pounded the ground.
A buzzer sounded.
Fight.
The First Clash
Flames lunged first.
The girl thrust both hands forward and sent a twin stream of fire arcing toward Alex. The heat shimmered the air, searing a trench in the floor as it came. Her partner circled wide, hands out, manipulating small boulders into slingshot projectiles.
Alex didn't move.
Not until the last second.
Then—boom—he vanished in a flash of lightning, reappearing ten meters to the side in a shimmer of blue-white sparks.
Before the fire-user could recover, he flicked two fingers forward. A concentrated bolt of lightning surged out—clean, sharp, aimed not at her body but at the ground under her feet.
The ground exploded, sending her spinning back.
The kinetic user launched his first projectile.
Alex turned.
The rock hit a shimmer in the air and vanished—folded into nothing.
"What—?!" the kinetic user froze.
Alex raised a hand and reopened the spatial fold behind the man—sending the same stone flying back toward him from the opposite direction.
It clipped his shoulder and spun him to the ground.
The crowd stirred.
The rain didn't let up.
Blood Echoes
The fight escalated quickly.
The girl roared and summoned a burning whirlwind. Alex countered with a charged arc that split her flames like scissors through silk. The kinetic boy adapted fast, trying to trap Alex with pressure bursts—folding air and gravity to pin him.
But Alex was moving differently now. His steps weren't just fast—they were disjointed, skipping space in sudden pulses.
It wasn't teleportation.
It was distortion.
He left behind flickers of light as if time hesitated around him.
And with every move, he felt the star inside him pulsing stronger. Feeding. Guiding.
"This is no longer training," it whispered in his thoughts.
"This is claiming."
As the kinetic user charged one final rock—larger than the others, glowing with vibrational force—Alex extended both arms.
The space between them bent like liquid glass.
Then snapped.
A ripple burst outward in a perfect ring. Rain twisted away from him. Sound warped.
The rock collapsed in mid-air.
The match ended.
Aftermath
The girl groaned and sat up, steam rising off her skin. The kinetic user lay flat, arms spread wide, groaning, "Okay, okay. I yield…"
Alex stood still, breathing calmly, letting the rain soak him. Thunder rumbled far overhead.
Kael approached, his boots splashing through shallow puddles. "Well, damn. That was textbook. Except we don't have a textbook for what you're doing."
Alex didn't respond immediately.
His focus was inward. He could feel his internal world growing faster than ever—lightning storms forming in the lower atmosphere of that floating realm, while gravity wells—signs of spatial evolution—rippled across the terrain.
He was changing. And he could no longer stop it, even if he wanted to.
"I need more," Alex said.
Kael raised a brow. "Power?"
"Everything. Knowledge. Control. Before it devours me."
Meanwhile, Across the City
In an underground blood chamber beneath an abandoned cathedral, the vampire woman stood before an altar. Candles flickered against runes etched in silver. The room reeked of incense and old magic.
She was no longer alone.
Across from her sat an older vampire dressed in royal crimson robes with silver thread. His skin was darker than hers, eyes an eerie white.
"You marked the boy," the elder said flatly.
"Not officially," she replied. "A bite is not a bond."
"You broke protocol."
"I spared him," she corrected. "And now he's becoming something… unique."
The elder studied her carefully. "Does he know of his bloodline?"
"No. But his soul holds the mark of the Celestial Worldcraft. He has a world forming inside him. The pendant is real."
The elder stiffened. "Impossible."
She stepped forward, eyes glowing. "He'll awaken soon—truly. And when he does, the vampire clans won't be able to ignore it. He will surpass bloodline limits."
"And what do you want?"
"To claim him, eventually. For the Sael'Var."
The elder considered her request.
Then nodded.
"You have three moons. After that, if he refuses to bond, he becomes a threat. And the council will vote."
Nightfall at the Orphanage
Alex returned home late, exhaustion in every step.
The fight had taken its toll—not just on his body, but his mind. Using space in rapid succession had cracked something open inside him. His dreams that night were fractured and strange.
He saw the world inside him again, but this time it was warping. Buildings—ruins—rising from the ground. Lightning trees. Floating monoliths. Creatures in silhouette.
And in the sky, a giant star-shaped eye, slowly opening.
"Balance or destruction," a voice echoed.
"You cannot wield both chaos and form without cost."
When he awoke, sweat clung to his body. His eyes glowed faint silver in the dark.
The world was watching him.
And something deeper... was watching back.