THE ERA: THE NEW ERA

Chapter Two: A Name Among the CloudsThe corridors of Skyward Academy bustled with the clamor of student chatter, sneakers squeaking against polished stone floors, and the echo of distant announcements. Yet for Von, the noise barely registered. His eyes remained fixed on the floating display in front of the academy's main atrium: a swirling pillar of blue light, the Academy Merit Stream, where students' names and ranks flickered like stars against a deep digital sky.He wasn't on it.Not yet.His golden eyes shimmered faintly as he looked up at the pillar, letting the holographic mist brush against his cheeks. The academy's artificial clouds floated overhead, part of the atmospheric system that made Skyward feel like it was hovering among the heavens. Students who ranked highly earned the right to live in the upper districts — literal cloud-tier dorms.Von stayed in one of the lower floors. Not because he wasn't capable. But because he hadn't revealed what he was."There you are," said a voice.Kai.Von's foster brother jogged up beside him, a mechanical drone following in tow. Dressed in a half-jacket layered over a grease-stained shirt, Kai always looked like he'd walked out of a garage rather than a classroom. His eyes lit up beneath his goggles. "You're seriously spacing again. You know they just announced the next Combat Simulation Assessment?"Von nodded. "Yeah. I heard."Kai gave him a look. "You planning on scoring points this time, or still going for the invisibility badge?"Von gave a sly smile. "We'll see."He couldn't explain to Kai that his sealed energy tugged at him every day. That when he trained too hard, the world began to shimmer and twist — like a curtain being drawn back too soon. Or that dreams had started haunting him again: ancient voices speaking a language his mouth somehow understood, visions of golden gates and burning skies.Later that afternoon…In the academy's underground training chambers, Von stood in the middle of a silent arena. A virtual combat dummy flickered to life in front of him, taking on the shape of a towering armored beast."Tier 3 challenge. Begin."The beast lunged. Von dodged sideways, barely a blur, then struck with enough speed to dent the dummy's neck armor. Still holding back, of course. If he didn't, the entire room might crumble. He'd tested the limits once before.And gotten banned from that wing for a week.Kai was watching through the security monitor above. So was someone else.Dr. Nessa Orion, the school's elite combat instructor, stood silently beside Headmaster Juno in the surveillance room. Her sharp silver bob gleamed under the cold lighting."He's not using even twenty percent," she murmured. "And the AI flagged him as Tier 1 baseline?"Juno narrowed his eyes. "He's hiding something.""Or waiting."The Next DayNews spread fast: a new transfer student was arriving — someone sent directly by the Hero Council.Von didn't care.Until he saw her.A girl with hair like wildfire and a spirit so potent that the energy shimmered behind her like a phoenix's wings. Her eyes locked with his the moment she entered the assembly hall, and in that instant — something stirred in Von's core.Not a feeling.A memory.That night, Von sat beneath the stars behind the academy gardens, alone. The seal on his chest — invisible to all but him — pulsed once.Then again.He opened his hand. The energy flared faintly across his palm. The whispers in his dream grew louder.The New Era had begun.