Chapter 16: A Catastrophic Reaction
The Great Hall of Balor was a cathedral built to honor power. Soaring arches of white marble disappeared into the shadowed ceiling hundreds of feet above. Towering tapestries depicting the legendary deeds of the Founders, Kaelus and Valerius, hung between massive, fluted columns. The air was heavy with the scent of burning incense and the collective, anxious breathing of every major noble in the kingdom.
Hundreds of them filled the tiered balconies that ringed the hall, their silks and jewels a vibrant, shifting tapestry of color. They were not here for a celebration. They were here for a valuation. The Rite of Covenant was the great marketplace of the nobility, where the next generation was weighed, measured, and judged.
"Look, there's the Jukai heir," a merchant lord whispered from a balcony, pointing with a jewel-encrusted finger. "They say his Titan's Grasp is already the strongest in three generations."
"Forget the Jukai," a sharp-faced baroness from a Kurogane vassal house sneered. "Lord Tiberius has the strength of his mother's clan. He will crack the stone in two."
Kairo stood amidst the procession of children, a small, unassuming figure in white silk. He let the river of whispers wash over him, his face a perfect mask of childish awe as he stared into the oppressive blackness of his own world. His Aether-Sense, pulsing in short, controlled bursts, painted a more accurate picture. He saw the wireframe ghosts of the crowd, felt the nervous, excited hum of their combined Aether. And in the center of it all, on a raised dais, he felt the Heartstone. It resonated with a deep, calm, and immense power, a sleeping god waiting for a worthy prayer.
The court herald, a man whose voice was amplified by his own Aether, struck a bronze gong. The deep, resonant sound silenced the hall.
"Let the seventy-seventh annual Rite of Covenant commence!" he boomed. "First among the Great Houses… Prince Leo Jukai of the Royal House!"
A wave of applause rippled through the hall. Kairo felt the shift in the Aether as Prince Leo, a shining beacon of confident, heroic energy, stepped forward. The boy bowed gracefully to his father, Arbiter Daiki Jukai, who watched from a grand, throne-like seat overlooking the dais. The Arbiter's face was a mask of kingly reserve, but Kairo's senses could feel the powerful, proud warmth radiating from him.
Leo ascended the few steps to the dais and placed his hand on the Heartstone.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a light bloomed from the stone. It was not a flicker; it was a pillar of rich, verdant green light that shot towards the ceiling. The light was not harsh or violent. It was warm, vibrant, and filled with a feeling of boundless life. The very air in the hall seemed to grow richer, healthier. The wilting flowers in the ladies' corsages perked up. It was the signature of the Jukai's Covenant of Life, displayed with a power that stole the breath.
"Adept-tier manifestation!" a scholar in the crowd gasped. "At his age! Unheard of!"
The hall erupted in genuine, thunderous applause. Leo removed his hand, a humble smile on his face, and returned to his place, the new golden standard against which all others would be measured.
The herald let the applause die down. "Lord Tiberius Akashi of the Ducal House Akashi!"
The mood in the hall instantly shifted. The applause was scattered, more polite than enthusiastic. Tiberius strode forward, not with Leo's grace, but with a conquer
The mood in the hall instantly shifted. The applause was scattered, more polite than enthusiastic. Tiberius strode forward, not with Leo's grace, but with a conqueror's swagger. His powerful frame radiated an arrogant, aggressive energy. He didn't bow. He gave a short, dismissive nod in the Arbiter's direction and slammed his palm onto the Heartstone with enough force to make the dais tremble.
If Leo's test was a sunrise, Tiberius's was an explosion.
A furious, jagged pillar of crimson-tinged gold light erupted from the stone. It wasn't warm or life-giving. It was a raw, violent spectacle that made the air in the great hall feel hot and oppressive. It was the light of a raging forge, a thing of pure, destructive force. The pillar was wider and more chaotic than Leo's, flickering and spitting with unstable energy at its edges.
A collective gasp swept through the crowd. This was raw power on a scale they had rarely seen from a new initiate.
"What an Output!" someone on the balcony shouted. "He's even stronger than the Jukai prince!"
"He doesn't have the prince's purity," another voice countered, a veteran noble with a trained eye. "But that ferocity... it's undeniable."
Tiberius drank in the reaction, a smug, triumphant smirk spreading across his face. He threw a challenging glare at Leo, whose own expression was one of impressed surprise. This was power that couldn't be ignored. He had made his statement.
But Kairo, standing silently in the procession, saw the truth. His Aether-Sense, filtered through the analytical lens of the Founder's Codex, didn't just see a brilliant light. It saw the messy, chaotic signature behind it.
[Aetheric Signature Detected: Unstable Chimera Covenant.]
[Analysis: High Output, Dangerously Low Purity. Volatility rating is critical. The Aether is a chaotic fusion of multiple beast essences, not a true Bloodline Covenant. A cheap imitation built for spectacle.]
A cold smile touched Kairo's thoughts. It was just as he'd suspected. Tiberius was a fraud, a powerful one, but a fraud all the same. His strength was a house of cards, and Kairo now knew exactly where to find the weakest point in its foundation.
Tiberius removed his hand and swaggered back to his place, basking in the mixture of fear and respect from the crowd.
The Rite continued. One by one, the children of the Great Houses stepped forward. A boy from House Kurogane produced a respectable pillar of deep crimson light. A girl from the merchant House Gin'u conjured a shimmering, silver-gold aura that felt... persuasive.
Then, the herald called a name that made Kairo focus. "Lady Anya Akashi, of the Akashi Cadet Branch."
Anya stepped forward with a calm, regal poise that belied her age. She placed her hand on the stone with a quiet, deliberate grace. The result was a stark contrast to both Leo and Tiberius. It was not a massive pillar of light. It was a single, impossibly thin, and perfectly straight beam of pure, refined gold that shot toward the ceiling like a laser. It didn't have the raw power of the others, but its focused intensity and absolute stability were breathtaking in their own way.
"Such control..." murmured the same veteran noble from before. "That is not the power of a warrior. That is the mark of a master artisan. A strategist."
Anya showed no emotion at the impressed whispers, simply giving a cool nod and returning to her father's side.
Finally, the procession of children began to dwindle. The great names had all been called. Only a few lesser nobles and footnotes remained.
The herald cleared his throat, his eyes scanning his list, his voice losing some of its booming enthusiasm. He paused, a flicker of surprise on his face, as if he expected the name not to be on the list.
"Lord Kairo Akashi of the Ducal House Akashi!"
A hush fell over the Great Hall. It was not a respectful silence. It was a sudden, suffocating quiet filled with morbid curiosity. Every whisper stopped. Every gaze in the vast chamber, from the highest balcony to the lowest floor, swung to fixate on the small, unassuming boy in white.
They all remembered his last Rite. The pathetic flicker. The public humiliation.
Kairo felt the weight of a thousand pairs of eyes, a thousand scornful thoughts. He felt his mother's hand on his shoulder, trembling slightly.
This was it. The stage was set. The Failed Son was being called upon to fail again.
He took the first step forward.