CHAPTER 10 — THE SPARK INSIDE TARON
(Taron Blaze's POV)
Night had fallen over the mountain valley, but Taron Blaze could not sleep.
Every other disciple lay wrapped in their blankets or meditated in silence, but his heart thundered like war drums. His hands trembled slightly, not from fear… but from the strange warmth pulsing beneath his skin.
What was that light?
That spark inside me…?
He clenched his fists, staring at them in the dim lantern glow.
For years, he had believed his fate was already written:
He was the prodigy of Azure Sky.
The strongest of his generation.
The one destined to rise highest.
Then Kael appeared.
Kael — the boy who was nothing — suddenly awakening a power no one understood.
No… I won't be overshadowed.
Not by him.
Not by anyone.
He stood and walked deeper into the forest, away from the tents, until the only sound was the whisper of leaves.
Then he inhaled—and called upon the thing that had flickered inside him earlier.
Nothing happened at first.
But then—
A spark.
A pulse.
A dull throb in his chest.
Like a heart within a heart.
Taron gasped as faint lines of silver-white light crawled over his skin, threading along his veins like living fire.
His vision blurred—
—and another world unfolded before him.
---
The Bloodline Awakens
He stood in a void of swirling ash and wind.
A figure appeared ahead—blurry, massive, cloaked in storm clouds.
Eyes like burning silver.
A voice like thunder whispering directly into his mind.
"Descendant of the Cinderfang Line…"
Taron's breath caught.
Descendant? Cinderfang? What… what is that?
The figure stepped closer, its aura so overwhelming he almost collapsed.
"For generations, your blood has slept."
"Buried. Suppressed. Forgotten."
"But now… it stirs."
The world trembled.
Silver fire erupted around the figure—wild, explosive, unstable.
Not gentle like Kael's astral glow.
Not disciplined like qi.
Not refined like spirit energy.
This was raw destruction.
A predator's fire.
"You carry the Ember-Devourer Bloodline."
"Born from the ancient Cinderfang Beast—the one that feasts on light, devours flames, and turns fury into power."
Taron staggered.
Bloodline?
A divine beast?
His hands shook uncontrollably.
"But… why me? Why now?"
The figure's form crackled like breaking mountains.
"Because another has awakened."
Taron froze.
Another…
Kael.
The voice continued:
"His path is older, deeper… more dangerous than yours."
"But do not fear him."
"For while his Astral Vessel Lineage bends the heavens—"
A pause.
The storm flared violently.
"—your Ember-Devourer Bloodline burns the heavens."
A shiver raced down Taron's spine.
The two bloodlines were different—fundamentally opposite.
KAEL'S BLOODLINE — Astral Vessel Lineage
A lineage connected to the Astral Realm.
Silent, ancient, unfathomably deep.
A vessel that draws star-force, creation energy, and cosmic might.
TARON'S BLOODLINE — Ember-Devourer Lineage
Born of a primordial beast.
Violent, explosive, consuming.
A power that grows stronger the more it devours and conquers.
One shaped the heavens.
One burned them.
Then… we're rivals by destiny.
The storm around the figure began to collapse inward.
"Awaken slowly, child. Your body is not ready."
"But soon… you will understand the hunger."
Taron felt the world rip away—
and he was thrown back into his body.
---
Back in the Forest
He collapsed to one knee, panting.
Sweat dripped from his chin.
His skin still glowed faintly with silver-white cracks of energy before fading.
The embers inside him simmered quietly.
Taron stared at his trembling hands.
"…So I'm not weak."
A smile, thin and sharp, tugged at his lips.
"I'm not second to him."
But the smile faded just as fast, replaced with something else—something complicated.
Because even with this new power…
He still felt Kael ahead of him.
Distant.
Unreachable.
"…Not for long," Taron whispered.
His bloodline pulsed in agreement.
---
Return to the Trials
At dawn, horns blared across the mountains.
Taron stepped out of the forest, composure regained, eyes sharper than ever.
Kael stood ahead, preparing for the third trial.
Taron's gaze locked on him—not with hatred anymore, but with a new understanding:
We're both monsters. Different kinds… but monsters all the same.
Master Shen Rokan noticed the shift in Taron's aura and his brows furrowed.
"…Two awakenings in one generation?"
"That is… impossible."
But the third trial waited.
THE TRIAL OF MOTION — THE GREAT ASCENT
A battle of speed, technique, survival, and instinct.
Kael inhaled.
Taron cracked his knuckles.
And for a moment—just a moment—
they understood each other.
Rivals.
Opposites.
Unavoidable.
Destined.