Three days had passed since the re-evaluation test.
Just three days…
But the academy was no longer the same.
The name “Sami Koh” was no longer whispered with mockery.
He was no longer the student who entered the academy as a Rank D.
Now…
Every student at the Resonance Academy knew his name.
Rank S.
The student who rose from the lowest rank to the highest in just six months.
But the most terrifying thing…
Was not the rank.
It was the fact that no one knew how he did it.
On the fourth day…
An ancient bell tolled in the academy.
The bell of the Sacred Duel.
A sound heard only after the rank evaluation tests.
Inside the Great Hall…
There was a massive gate made of ancient black stone.
Its carvings dated back to the era of the First Empire.
Above it was written: “He who enters here does not fight only his opponent…” “But fights the truth he hides within.”
This place was called: The Sacred Duel.
A place only accessible to students who had passed the re-evaluation test.
Not to test strength alone.
But to test control.
Because the Aura that its master cannot control…
Will consume them before it defeats their enemy.
Sami stood before the gate.
Beside him was Celine.
She was silent.
But her eyes never left Sami for a moment.
Six months ago…
She saw a lost student.
Today…
She was seeing something else.
Something even she couldn’t explain.
On the opposite side…
Kaelen entered.
His long spear rested on his shoulder.
His golden aura surrounded him.
Rank A+.
One of the strongest first-year students.
He smiled confidently.
“So…” He looked at Sami.
“You’re really going to accept the challenge?”
Sami did not answer.
Kaelen laughed.
“Strange.” “Six months ago, you couldn’t even form a weapon.” “And now you want to stand before me?” He raised his spear.
“Rank S or not…” “There is a difference between someone who gained power…” “And someone who was born to deserve it.”
Silence fell.
From the stands…
The students waited.
Everyone wanted to see one thing.
Does Sami truly deserve Rank S?
On the professors’ platform…
Headmaster Aurelius was watching.
But beside him…
There was someone else.
A massive man wearing military armor.
His hair was gray.
His face bore dozens of scars.
The Imperial General.
Someone who reached Rank S ten years ago.
One of the Empire’s mightiest warriors.
He looked at Sami.
Then he said: “There is something strange.” One of the professors asked him: “What?” He didn’t take his eyes off him.
“This child…” He paused.
“Doesn’t look like a Rank S student.” “Then what?” He was silent for a moment.
Then he said: “He looks like…” “…Something that was asleep.”
Inside the arena…
Kaelen raised his spear.
“Let’s see, then.” The Pulse Aura exploded.
A massive golden aura filled the place.
Its sound was like the roar of a beast.
He said: “I will show you the difference between us.”
The speed was immense.
Some students didn’t even see him move.
He appeared in front of Sami.
The spear thrust directly toward his shoulder.
But…
Before it landed.
It stopped.
Not because Sami moved.
Not because there was a barrier.
But because Kaelen felt something.
Something behind him.
Something gripped his heart.
His body froze.
His eyes widened.
For a moment…
He didn’t see Sami.
He saw…
A war.
A black sky.
A land filled with corpses.
Screams.
Flames.
Thousands of souls who died hating the world.
Then…
He felt hands.
Invisible hands.
Wrapped around his heart.
As if something was grabbing his soul and eating his fear.
He whispered: “What is this…?” His spear trembled.
For the first time in his life…
Kaelen was afraid.
Even in front of his father.
His father…
The Imperial General, Rank S.
The man who fought ten years of wars.
The man who had never seen his son tremble before anything.
But now…
His son was trembling before a mere presence.
Kaelen looked up slowly.
Sami hadn’t moved.
He hadn’t done anything.
He was just standing there.
But behind him…
For a split second…
Kaelen saw something.
A shadow.
The shadow of an emperor sitting on a throne.
Then, it vanished.
Kaelen took a step back.
“No…” “This is impossible.” He tried to force his hand to move.
“I am…” “I am Kaelen Valor.” He clenched his fist.
“I will not be afraid of a mere student!” He raised his spear again.
But his hand…
Did not respond.
It was shaking.
At that moment…
Headmaster Aurelius furrowed his brows.
His eyes weren’t on Sami…
But on Kaelen.
Something wasn’t normal.
The golden Pulse Aura that Kaelen was famous for was no longer stable.
It was trembling.
As if it feared getting close to its opponent.
The Headmaster whispered in a low voice: “This… is impossible.” A professor approached and asked in astonishment: “What is it that you see?” Aurelius didn’t answer directly.
He kept staring at Kaelen, then said slowly: “This isn’t a confrontation between two auras…” “It is a confrontation between two wills.”
In the middle of the arena…
Kaelen was trying to advance.
But his feet…
Wouldn’t move.
There were no bindings.
No immobilization technique.
No gravity field.
And yet…
His breathing accelerated.
His fingers trembled.
His pupils contracted.
“Move…” He whispered to himself.
“Move!” He gripped his spear with all the strength he had.
But his arm didn’t respond.
And for the first time since he took up a weapon…
He felt fear.
It wasn’t a fear of death.
Or defeat.
But a primal feeling…
Older than instinct.
As if every cell in his body was screaming: “Do not approach.”
In the stands…
The General, Kaelen’s father, stood up without realizing it.
The look of calm vanished from his face.
His eyes widened slowly.
He had seen this expression…
Only once in his life.
Ten years ago…
In the final days of the border war.
When his soldiers stood before something that made a thousand warriors lose their will to fight before the battle even began.
But he had sworn that day…
That it was just a hallucination caused by exhaustion.
But now…
The same feeling had returned.
He murmured in a voice barely audible: “This isn’t Aura…” “Nor is it spiritual pressure…” “…So what am I feeling?”
As for Kaelen…
He could hear his own heartbeat like war drums.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Then…
Amidst the silence…
He imagined he heard the sound of footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching from behind him.
He wanted to turn around.
But he couldn’t.
His body was completely frozen.
He felt…
As if a cold blade was resting against his neck.
It didn’t cut him.
But it only needed to move one centimeter…
For everything to end.
He screamed with all the will he had left: “Attack!” But his body…
Refused.
And in the next moment…
His fingers slowly slipped from the spear.
The weapon fell to the arena floor.
The metal rang with a sharp sound.
That sound…
Was louder than any scream.
Because it announced something no one believed they would ever see.
Kaelen… dropped his weapon with his broken will.
Silence fell.
No one laughed.
No one cheered.
Even the air seemed to have stopped moving.
Then…
Headmaster Aurelius stood up from his seat all at once.
His expression changed for the first time in years.
He was no longer looking at the duel.
But at Sami.
With the eyes of a man who realized he was standing before the unknown.
He said in a low voice, yet it carried the weight of a fateful decision: “This child…” “…Will bring disaster to this academy.”
And deep within Sami’s consciousness…
Valdrak opened his eyes slowly.
He smiled a slight smile.
And said: “It has awakened…” “The Will of Kings.”
Lyra shrugged her shoulders and laughed.
“This is merely a drop.” As for Seraphine…
She looked at Sami with tenderness mixed with awe.
And said: “When an Emperor begins to remember himself…” “The hearts of others tremble before their bodies even move.”