Chapter 9
Ashvale: Crimson Fang
The arena quieted as the next name echoed across Eclipse Ground.
"Kade Ashryn of Ashvale."
From the Ashvale side, a lone figure stepped forward.
Kade didn't rush.
Didn't posture.
His boots touched stone with deliberate calm, dark cloak shifting slightly with each step. His presence felt… contained. Like something sealed under pressure.
Across from him, the ground trembled.
Stone cracked open as Thorn Calder of Deeproot rose from the earth itself.
Broad-shouldered, bare-armed, Thorn carried no visible weapon. He didn't need one. The stone responded to him instinctively—roots of rock coiling around his legs, veins of green mana pulsing through the arena floor.
Thorn rolled his neck once and grinned.
"Blood and trees," he said. "Didn't think Ashvale would send you."
Kade stopped at the mark.
Grey eyes lifted—cold, measuring.
"Didn't think Deeproot would send someone like you."
The bell rang.
The ground exploded.
Stone spikes burst upward beneath Kade's feet, jagged and fast. He slid back just in time, coat slicing open as a spike grazed past.
Thorn pressed his palm down.
The arena answered.
Roots—thick, stone-reinforced vines—snaked across the surface, spreading like a living maze, cutting off movement.
Kade inhaled slowly.
A thin red glow traced along the veins of his right hand—not dripping, not spilling—contained, precise.
Blood magic.
But controlled.
He sliced his palm lightly with a finger.
The air shifted.
The roots froze mid-motion.
Kade flicked his wrist.
The blood lifted—not liquid, but sharpened into threadlike lines, glowing dark crimson. They shot forward, weaving between roots, slicing clean paths through the stone growth without wasting motion.
Thorn's grin widened.
"So it's true."
He stomped once.
The ground surged upward, forming a massive stone arm that swung down toward Kade with crushing force.
Kade didn't dodge.
He stepped in.
The blood threads snapped together, forming a curved blade around his forearm. He cut upward—
The stone arm split cleanly down the middle.
Shock rippled through the stands.
Thorn's expression hardened.
He spread both arms.
The arena turned hostile.
Stone pillars erupted, collapsing inward. Roots lashed from every direction, trying to bind, crush, overwhelm.
Kade moved.
Not fast like Stormhold.
Not heavy like Stonefist.
Exact.
Each step placed where it needed to be. Each movement accompanied by blood shaping itself—forming barriers, slicing lines, redirecting force.
A root caught his ankle.
Thorn pulled.
The ground dragged Kade toward him violently.
For the first time, Kade frowned.
Blood surged up his leg, reinforcing muscle and tendon. He twisted mid-pull, slammed his palm to the ground—
The blood sank into the stone.
Thorn's eyes widened.
The arena trembled—not from Deeproot's power—
—but from Ashvale's.
Crimson lines spread beneath the surface like veins, overriding Thorn's control. The roots hesitated. The stone groaned.
He clenched his fist.
The blood erupted upward in controlled spikes—not impaling, not brutal—forcing Thorn backward, breaking his stance.
Thorn roared and charged, stone armor forming around his arms as he swung with full force.
Kade met him head-on.
Blood wrapped around his arm, forming a reinforced strike.
The collision cracked the arena.
But Thorn stumbled.
Just one step.
It was enough.
Kade moved past him in a blur, dragging a crimson line through the air. He stopped behind Thorn and snapped his fingers.
The blood threads tightened.
Stone bindings wrapped Thorn's limbs—not crushing, but locking.
He tried to move.
Nothing responded.
The Eclipse rune flared.
Thorn exhaled slowly… then laughed.
"…Damn."
He dropped to one knee.
"Yield."
The bindings dissolved instantly.
"Victory—Kade Ashryn of Ashvale."
Ashvale erupted—quiet cheers, sharp nods, respect earned rather than shouted.
Kade stepped away without celebration, blood already retracting, palm healed as if nothing had happened.
From the stands, Ray watched in silence.
And for the first time—
The Eclipse reacted twice to a single fighter.
The ground remembered Kade Ashryn.
And that was far more dangerous than applause.Kade walked off the arena floor without looking back.
The blood had already vanished from his skin, the crimson glow gone like it had never been there. To the crowd, it looked effortless.
To those who knew Ashvale—it wasn't.
He stepped into the shadowed edge of the stands.
Master Elaris waited there.
She hadn't moved during the fight. Not once. Dark robes, posture relaxed, eyes sharp enough to cut stone. Her gaze lingered on the arena a moment longer, as if listening to something beneath the surface.
Then she spoke.
"You used less than a third."
Kade stopped beside her.
"They were watching," he replied.
Elaris glanced at him—not disapproving, not pleased.
"Good," she said. "Let them underestimate restraint."
Kade hesitated, then lowered his voice.
"The ground resisted me at first."
A pause.
Elaris's fingers tightened slightly around her staff.
"As it should," she said. "Eclipse Ground remembers older hands."
Kade nodded once. He didn't ask more. Ashvale trained questions out of you.
He turned.
"You're up Ray"He said
There stood a few paces away, half in shadow, black coat draped loose, chipped sword resting in his right hand like it belonged there. The hilt—black and white—caught the light for just a moment.
His face was still hidden.
But the presence wasn't.
Kade looked at him, eyes steady.
"You ready?"
Ray's lips curved—not wide, not loud.
Somewhere beneath Eclipse Ground, something shifted.