Day Two of the Tournament — Disruption
The air above the dueling fields shimmered as the second round began.
Kain was seated in the combatant's balcony, robes of onyx and deep crimson flowing around him like woven blood. His hands were bare, revealing scars from spells cast without gloves.
A man in white robes walked into the arena.
The crowd stilled.
His presence was not that of a student.
"I am Inquisitor Velian of the Sanctum High Seat. By authority of the Church of the Ember Sun, I have come to request a duel by divine challenge."
Everyone knew what that meant.
When the Church suspected someone of heresy, forbidden alchemy, or dark magic—they issued a duel.
If you won, you were "purged of suspicion."
If you lost—you were executed in private, no matter how minor the crime.
The target?
Kain.
⸻
Kain Steps into the Ring
He descended the stone stairs like he owned the arena.
In truth, he felt like he did.
Eliette watched from the upper deck, knuckles pale with tension.
Rhiannon, expression unreadable, turned to whisper to a court mage beside her.
Lucas, watching every step.
The crowd was murmuring.
"Why is the Church targeting a student?"
"He's just a duelist—"
"They say his alchemy breaks divine limits…"
Kain entered the ring.
Velian's sword was ceremonial—blessed steel with sunstone inlays. Not built to kill. Built to judge.
"By what charge?" Kain asked, voice level.
Velian's eyes were cold. "Bloodcraft. Beastbinding. Shadow-speech."
"All hearsay," Kain said.
"Then the Light shall prove your innocence."
Kain stepped forward.
No weapon. No armor.
He raised one hand—and his palm caught fire.
Not red. Not gold.
Violet fire. Writhing like a serpent. The crowd gasped.
"Very well," he said.
"Let magic bear witness."
⸻
The Fight — Magic vs. Divinity
Velian opened with a Sunbolt Lance—a spiraling javelin of pure light.
Kain did not dodge.
He countered with a Plundered Glyph—a hybrid spell that split the lance mid-air and dissolved its light.
The arena gasped.
He twisted mana through his fingers. Shadowflame Chains coiled across the field, forming a trap lattice.
Velian leapt through it, calling down Divine Rain—beams of white fire.
Kain vanished.
Shadow Step + Mana Slide.
He appeared behind the inquisitor and whispered: "Your god is late."
Then he unleashed magic like a war hymn.
• Hexfire Spiral (Plundered): melting defenses
• Fleshbind Reinforce (custom): immune to lightburn
• Mana Disruption Pulse (theoretical): canceled Velian's divine channeling
• Ash Coil Surge (experimental): turned ground to liquefied mana
Velian collapsed.
Sputtering. Smoking. Burned.
Kain didn't strike again.
He looked at the crowd.
"You came to judge me," he said, raising a hand high.
The violet fire formed the shape of a halo.
"I judged you."
The crowd didn't cheer.
They watched, stunned, as Velian was dragged away unconscious.
⸻
Later — Summoned by His Father
Back at the Norigusho estate, Kain stood before the massive dragonbone doors of the main hall.
They opened without a word.
Lord Albrecht Norigusho waited at the war table. He was alone.
"You humiliated the Church," he said. "Publicly."
Kain said nothing.
"You've made enemies of the High Seat."
Still nothing.
Albrecht looked up.
Then he smiled.
"You'll need more gold soon. Your mercenary company is expanding. I've already routed an extra fifty thousand to an unlisted account."
Kain blinked.
"You knew?"
"I've known since the day Aldane bought four tons of trollbone from illegal necromancers."
Kain stepped closer. "Why didn't you stop me?"
Albrecht exhaled. "Because you were finally doing something worth the blood in your veins."
Kain stared.
Then, slowly, Albrecht rose and poured two glasses of darkroot wine.
He offered one.
"I did worse, when I was your age. But I didn't have your mind."
"You're not disappointed."
"I'm impressed. You've done what no heir of mine ever could."
"You've called me a stain."
"And you've proven me wrong."
Kain took the wine. Sipped.
His father clinked glasses.
"Let them watch, son. Let them fear. The world only ever kneels when it's afraid."
Kain said nothing.
But something cold and thrilling moved through his chest.
For the first time…
His father was proud.
⸻
Whispers Reports In
Far away, in a blood-slick sanctum beneath a monastery, Whispers knelt.
"He's not just dangerous," she said. "He's creative. He mixes magic like a musician plays strings. He doesn't just cast. He composes."
"What is his threat level?" the Serpent Guild master asked.
She paused.
Then answered:
"Uncertain."
"Why?"
"Because he's not done becoming."
⸻
Kain's Room — The Plunder Breakthrough
He sat before his mirror.
Naked from the waist up.
His body was not what it once was. Not just stronger.
But cracked with potential.
He looked into his own eyes.
Then whispered.
"Plunder."
And mana sparked into the mirror.
Not a memory. Not a style.
A glyph.
A fully-formed magical technique—one he had never seen. One stolen from Velian the moment he broke his channeling.
Sun Splitter — a divine-tier mana burst, inverted.
He stared at his hand.
I can Plunder spells.
Not just people. Not just beasts.
But magic itself.
He grinned.
A real one.
For the first time, he didn't just believe he would survive the novel.
He believed he could write the next one.
⸻
Final Scene — The Princess Watches the God Walk
Rhiannon stood on the tower.
She watched the Arena.
She watched him.
"I created you," she whispered.
But even as she said it… she didn't believe it.
She could feel it.
He was no longer part of the story.
He was becoming the author.
⸻
TO BE CONTINUED…