The arena was silent now.
The final blow still echoed in the minds of everyone watching. Students. Professors. Nobles.
Nclai's opponent a noble, A-rank, loud and cruel, lay unconscious, half-buried in the cracked tiles of the dueling floor. There had been no grand flames. No desperate struggle.
Just precision. Calm violence.
It was over in seconds.
Professor Ileron didn't clap.
He didn't speak.
He simply turned his back and walked away.
The officials fumbled over the declaration. Medics rushed the unconscious noble off the platform. Whispers climbed the upper stands –about the bloodline, the name, the thread. About how Nclai had barely moved.
He stepped out of the ring like someone leaving a room, not a fight.
...
Later...
In the eastern wing beneath the Grand Stair, Nclai was led into the Hall of Echoing Merit.
A circular chamber.
Walls lined with floating crystal screens showing the academy's most honored duelists.
The center glowed faint red from a large core.
Out of a large core it glowed faint red in the center.
It's Ancient, Still.
But seems to be watching him
Some voice spoke in the walls.
Automated. Cold. Yet… respectful.
"Finalist: Nclai Azrael. Qualification complete. Tournament designation: Crimson Star Candidate."
The central node split open.
A crystal floated upward. Obsidian-locked, glowing faintly red.
...
System Notification
Crimson Crystal of Recognition: Acquired
Sync Ratio: 17.4% → 20.1%
Trait Resonance Intensified
...
He reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the surface, the Codex activated.
Codex Path Available
Select One:
– Crimson Thread Immersion
– Sanguine Reflex Mastery: Level II
– Unlock Subtrait (???)
...
Each one pulsed differently.
Crimson Thread glowed steady.
Sanguine Reflex sparked sharply.
The third was cloudy, neither locked nor ready.
It breathed. Like it was waiting.
...
Footsteps behind him.
Nclai didn't turn.
"I thought you'd be dead," Lyra said, breath catching as she entered. Then added, "Or at least limping."
He stayed quiet. His eyes still on the crystal.
She stepped beside him, taking in the options.
"You're choosing now?"
"It's not fast," he said, finally. "It's the right time."
She raised an eyebrow. "You sound like an old man."
No laugh. But the corner of his mouth shifted.
"So," she said, folding her arms, "what's it gonna be, terrifying bloodline monster?"
Nclai didn't answer right away.
He just stared at the pulsing glow in front of him.
Each path a piece of something deeper.
Each thread pulling from the marrow.
And then...
He moved.
His hand hovered once more.
And he made his choice.
...