The amphitheater carried a sense of ending today.
Not silence—
Finality.
Volcanic stone walls loomed heavier than usual, their jagged glass surfaces reflecting distorted silhouettes of the elite cohort as they filed in. Crimson tournament notices still glowed across student interfaces, casting faint red halos over uniforms and faces alike.
Brackets pending.
Fates aligning.
The air thrummed with suppressed dread.
Even the ward lattice overhead pulsed brighter—straining to contain the island's rising essence leaks.
Above, the murals of the Twenty-Two Lost Chains shimmered with unnatural clarity.
Fractured sovereigns stared down like judges awaiting a verdict.
---
Instructors Harlan and Vale stood together at the podium.
A rare joint session.
A signal this was no ordinary lecture—but a culmination.
Harlan's crystallized dread stump caught the light starkly, jagged facets gleaming like frozen screams.
Beside him, Vale's outline flickered—perception distortions warping his silhouette like heat haze over scorched earth.
"Terror as Chain fuel," Harlan began, voice echoing through stone ribs. "Your final warning before arena trials."
Holographic arrays ignited the chamber.
Historical fragments—restricted archives.
Prodigies.
Failures.
Monsters.
---
A flame bearer appeared first.
Young.
Brilliant.
His embodiment spiraled beyond control—fire erupting endlessly until flesh, mind, and Dominion combusted into a perpetual inferno.
The projection followed the aftermath:
A wandering blaze haunting rift corridors.
Mindless.
Eternal.
A cautionary relic.
---
Another figure manifested.
A nightmare user.
Shadows fed too deeply.
Too greedily.
They swallowed him whole—collapsing inward until nothing remained but whispering echoes that stalked former allies through dreamspace.
Students shifted uneasily.
"Embodiment demands command," Vale added, voice layered across multiple auditory planes.
"Terror fuels ascent. But indulgence chains the bearer."
The arrays shifted again—displaying sovereign silhouettes.
"True echoes of the Originals—Divine resonances—do not dissolve."
A pause.
"They align the Veil to themselves."
His gaze swept the cohort slowly.
"But only if hunger is mastered… not fed recklessly."
His eyes lingered—first on Zuo Flameheart.
Then on Xia Ying.
---
Zuo leaned forward instantly.
"My clan's Blazing embodiment masters fuel efficiently. Rapid consumption, controlled release—we burn terror without inversion."
Harlan grunted.
"Control fractures under pressure. Flame prodigies fall fastest."
A few students stiffened at the bluntness.
Zuo's jaw tightened—but he said nothing further.
---
Xia Ying raised his hand.
Measured.
Unhurried.
"Instructor Vale—if a sovereign echo exists… can it reverse Veil feedback?"
Vale's perception brushed him—subtle probe.
Deflected.
"Turn recognition into submission," Xia Ying continued, "rather than backlash?"
Vale held his gaze.
"Possible," he admitted.
"For those who conceal until command is absolute."
A faint murmur spread through the hall.
"The Veil submits to what it once birthed," Vale finished quietly. "But the bearer must stand sovereign… not servant."
Xia Ying pressed further.
"And signs of alignment?"
Vale's answer was oblique.
"Shadows deepen without cause. Fear inverts toward its source."
A breath.
"The abyss… yields."
---
Zuo cut in sharply.
"Flame forces obedience through brilliance. Shadows beg for it."
But the words rang hollow.
Repetitive.
Circling arguments he had already used—and lost with.
Harlan corrected him publicly.
"Repetition weakens embodiment, Flameheart. Precision sustains it."
A flush crept across Zuo's face.
Fists smoked faintly.
Cohort glances shifted—subtle, but lethal to pride.
---
They warn of chains as cages, Xia Ying thought calmly.
Every restriction is a blueprint for transcendence.
Terror is not fuel to fear.
It is the forge of apotheosis.
---
### Alliances Form
Lecture dismissal fractured the cohort instantly.
The central hall filled with shifting factions.
Tournament rules favored synergy—team brackets scored coordination, not just raw power.
Alliances formed fast.
Flame loyalists clustered around Zuo—loud, volatile, brittle.
Neutrals hovered—seeking stable cores.
Predators assessed prey.
---
Lin Mei found Xia Ying first.
Determined stride.
Eyes resolute.
"The tournament," she said, voice steady. "I'll support you fully—healing, shielding, whatever you need."
He inclined his head.
"Your aid has been invaluable."
She stepped closer.
"More than aid. I'll keep you standing… no matter the cost. You saved me from washing out."
Devotion burned bright.
To reinforce it—
A refined thread of shadow essence brushed her aura, soothing residual Flaw strain.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Trust deepened into certainty.
"Alliance accepted," Xia Ying said. "Core of three."
---
Wei Jun emerged moments later—tracker instincts guiding him unerringly.
"Cohort fragmentation confirmed," he reported bluntly. "Flame faction unstable. Neutrals drifting."
He folded his arms.
"Our trio is optimal. I've mapped bracket weaknesses already."
"Your intel leads strategy," Xia Ying replied.
Wei Jun nodded once.
"You lead Dominion theory. Mei sustains. I expose flaws."
A pause.
"Shared forbidden notes before. Reciprocity?"
Xia Ying produced a sealed fragment—perception flaw parallels drawn from Vale's newest scrolls.
Wei Jun pocketed it without hesitation.
"Alliance locked."
---
A handful of neutral students approached cautiously.
"Mind if we align with your block?"
Xia Ying smiled politely.
"Core synergy is fixed. Observe for future opportunities."
Aura seeds slipped outward—planting respectful distance without hostility.
They withdrew, satisfied… and subtly wary.
---
Across the hall, contrast sharpened.
Zuo rallied his faction loudly—demonstrating explosive flame bursts that scorched the stone floor.
But hesitation lingered among his allies.
Eyes avoided his.
Confidence brittle.
Fracturing.
---
### Eve of Trial
Private arenas ran through the night.
Wards strained beneath embodiment flares.
Zuo secured a clan-privileged chamber—reinforced volcanic glass, illusion dummies calibrated for elite flame output.
He trained obsessively.
Flame coronas erupted—blasts pulverizing targets.
He roared through forms, forcing dominance back into existence.
But the deepest Terror Aura seed—nurtured through sabotage, humiliation, doubt—
Bloomed.
---
Mid-embodiment, his flames flickered.
Unstable.
Illusory backlash manifested:
Phantom fire inverted—searing his own skin.
Pain ghosted across nerves.
Control slipped.
"No—!"
He quenched the flare—but reignition came weaker.
Doubt cascaded.
Clan legacy flawed?
Prodigy title hollow?
He destroyed three dummies in rage—but strikes lacked precision.
Sloppy.
Exhausted.
---
Unseen in the arena shadows—
Xia Ying watched.
His Adolescent Phantom merged with the darkness, borrowing sight.
Harvest flowed richly:
Self-loathing.
Shame.
Fear of public failure.
Thick threads compressed into his core.
When Zuo finally staggered out—uniform singed, aura frayed—whispers spread quickly.
"Flameheart heir cracking."
"Pressure breaking him."
---
Xia Ying's preparations remained silent.
Internal.
Absolute.
---
### Tower Reflection
Near midnight, he ascended a hidden observation tower overlooking the island.
Volcanic glow painted the surrounding seas crimson.
Storm walls churned beyond the academy wards.
Wind carried dread whispers upward.
He reflected.
---
The Academy—meant as a cage for prodigies—had refined him instead.
**Knowledge harvest:**
Lectures mapped all Twenty-Two Chains. Warnings of dissolution and alignment—blueprints for Veil command.
**Tool harvest:**
Lin Mei—devotion absolute.
Wei Jun—pragmatic intelligence.
Cohort seeds—future leverage ripening into obedience.
**Power harvest:**
Bully collapses.
Sabotage erosion.
Ambient fear.
Respect tinged with dread.
Dread Projection stabilized.
Phantom possession extended.
Aura pulses now storable… without limit.
Even the island itself fed him—leaks, horrors, forbidden archives.
They chained hunger.
He multiplied it.
---
Rich yield, he thought as shadows coiled obediently.
They forged alliances against the abyss.
I forged the abyss into allies.
The tournament will test their chains.
I will demonstrate freedom.
---
Interface messages flickered.
**Lin Mei:** *Ready for tomorrow. With you.*
**Wei Jun:** *Brackets confirmed. Favorable openings.*
Core solidified.
---
### Challenge Issued
Descending toward the dormitories, Xia Ying's path was cut off.
A figure stepped from corridor shadow.
Zuo Flameheart.
Alone.
Flames flickered erratically around clenched fists.
Eyes wild—rage, paranoia, desperation braided tight.
"Tomorrow," Zuo hissed.
"Solo brackets. You and me."
Heat warped the air between them.
"No shadows. No tricks. I'll burn your luck… your lies… to ash."
Xia Ying stopped.
Soft smile.
"As you wish, Flameheart."
A subtle Terror Feedback pulse reversed his flare momentarily.
Zuo's flames guttered.
A chill crawled up his spine.
He recoiled—just slightly.
Rage spiked to mask the fear.
He stormed past.
Fresh harvest collected cleanly.
---
Crimson tournament notices pulsed brighter across Xia Ying's interface as he resumed walking.
Opening ceremonies at dawn.
Eve falls.
Let flames rage in desperation.
I will claim the darkness that endures.