Six years had passed
since Jarden Runcandel selected Ryyuzin Zaka.
The murmurs surrounding his selection had quieted long ago, yet its consequences still lingered like a faded rune etched into the walls of Storm Castle.
He had grown steadily—less a boy, more an observer.
No longer cradled, no longer coddled. His days were structured, his nights filled with quiet thoughts and whispers from the blade resting beneath his mattress. He had long since outgrown the indignity of wet cloth and clumsy babble, but pretending to be a carefree six-year-old?
Still exhausting.
'I've learned everything they've offered—and none of it matters unless I leave this place.'
Storm Castle.
A fortress of steel and tradition. A place where Runcandel children were isolated after their Selection to preserve their bloodline from assassination. Some whispered it was protection. Others knew it was preparation.
Jarden had memorized the history years ago.
The Kungen Clan. A failed assault. Nine dead children. An entire bloodline erased the following dawn. A massacre, followed by vengeance that reshaped the world map.
And so the rule stood: no child leaves Storm Castle until ten.
Not even a prodigy.
Not even a Runcandel who chose a blade the ancestors buried out of fear.
'What's more dangerous: an assassin from outside, or the power growing inside me?'
Even the elders didn't mention Ryyuzin Zaka anymore.
It had been accepted—but not understood.
Its hum came at midnight.
Its weight tugged at his breath during meditation.
Its dreams sharpened him more than the sword forms taught at dawn.
Yet no one spoke of it.
Not Rosa. Not Cyron.
Not even Utahame.
She only watched. Observed. Guided him subtly through verbal patterns and forgotten songs. She knew what he was becoming—even if the rest of the family hadn't guessed yet.
Jin trained elsewhere.
His presence was fire—intense, quick, bursting into every chamber like a future champion.
Jarden was still shadow.
But shadows move when the flame burns too bright.
Jarden POV
The atmosphere in Storm Castle lived up to its name.
Perched on the peak of Mt. Murakan—said to be the tallest mountain in the world—the castle was eternally assaulted by howling winds and thunder that cracked the heavens. Rain slashed the rooftops, lightning carved shadows into the stone, and the air itself felt cursed.
'A place made for warriors... not children.'
Jarden didn't say that aloud. But the thought had sat heavy in his chest for years.
There were few people here.
Three Runcandel children.
Five knights.
Two nannies.
Ten servants.
Not enough to drown the silence. Not enough to smother the weight.
Utahame rarely spoke these days. She had grown quieter as Jarden grew stronger—observing him more than guiding him. But she was watching, even now.
The twins arrived before he saw them.
Jin was the target, as always.
"Jin!"
That voice—smug and sharp—belonged to Daytona Runcandel, who came marching like he already owned the legacy his sword hadn't earned.
Beside him trailed his mirror—Haytona Runcandel, grinning like he'd stolen someone's secret.
The Tona twins.
History had not been kind to them in Jarden's memories.
Devil's spawn, many had said in the forums back on Earth. And here, living in real time, Jarden understood exactly why.
"Why are you alone without your incredible Barisada?" Daytona sneered. "Did you lose it? Kuhaha!"
Haytona chimed in, trying to sound clever.
They didn't succeed.
Jarden didn't intervene.
Not yet.
He watched.
Watched Jin tighten his jaw. Watched the frustration flare in his posture. Watched history begin to repeat.
In his previous life, Jin had endured this torment alone.
In this timeline, he wasn't alone anymore.
But still… Jarden stayed quiet.
He wasn't weak.
He wasn't afraid.
He was calculating.
Gilly was gone.
Ginny was somewhere else.
And Utahame had left Jarden by the northern stairwell, sensing something might unfold.
'They waited for this. Cowards who strike when no one is watching.'
His gaze dropped to the scroll tucked under his sleeve—a note from Utahame, written in shadow ink:
"Let your silence speak until it breaks the wind."
Jarden looked up.
The storm screamed outside.
And inside?
The storm was about to shift direction.
The Tona twins had been poking holes in Jin's patience for a year.
It started small—petty acts that passed beneath Ginny's attention. Doors locked mid-errand. Soup salted beyond taste. A trail of minor inconveniences that disguised cruelty as childish play.
But it escalated.
They tied a dead bird to Jin's doorknob.
Let a scorpion loose on his mattress from the garden.
Jin endured in silence.
For a while.
Now, he didn't.
From where Jarden stood—half-sheltered behind a pillar in the Storm Castle's northern hallway—he watched the brothers approach.
Long strides. Loud voices. Low intentions.
"Hm, I'm not sure where I put it," Jin said coolly. "Oh, maybe I stuffed it up your asshole?"
Snap.
Jarden blinked once, slowly.
A storm louder than the one outside was about to break in this corridor.
The twins froze—Daytona clutching the air like he wanted to punch words, Haytona gaping like Jin had spat acid.
Even monsters like them didn't expect foul language from the quiet one.
"What did you just… Did you lose your mind, Jin?"
"Wake up already. Your nanny isn't here to protect you today."
"Pffft."
Jin sneered—not arrogantly, but intentionally.
It was a declaration.
He wanted this clash.
Jarden understood.
The absence of Gilly wasn't luck—it was calculation.
Jin had waited longer than the twins.
For payback. For pride. For cleansing.
Jin stepped forward.
Five steps.
That was the distance.
And in Jarden's mind, a sequence formed.
'He's changed. This version of Jin is fire even before ten. And if I let this play out... he may extinguish one of them.'
Jarden didn't fear the outcome.
He feared the ripple.
Because bloodshed in Storm Castle—by family—would make waves too large, too soon.
He didn't intervene right away.
Jin had waited patiently for Gilly to leave. The Tona twins had schemed for the same moment. They thought they were clever.
But none of them were the only ones waiting.
Jarden had watched this unfold from the shadows.
He had no intention of stopping the fight—not initially.
Not until Jin's eyes began to shift.
When Haytona collapsed under Jin's fist, Jarden remained silent.
When Daytona took the next hit and saw flickers of aura dancing around Jin's knuckles, Jarden leaned against the hallway wall, arms folded beneath his robe.
That power wasn't ordinary.
It wasn't martial technique. Not Runcandel form. Not even raw talent.
It was something else.
Shadow-touched, Jarden thought.
A residual echo, maybe. Jin's body instinctively calling upon something he hadn't learned to control.
By the time Jin straddled both twins, fists falling in rhythm, Jarden had taken a few steps forward.
Thud, thud, thwack.
The hallway trembled, not from the impact—but from intention.
Jin wasn't releasing anger. He was asserting order.
Jarden knew that well.
And when Jin stood and muttered, "As long as you want to live," something inside him shifted.
The knight arrived. Shocked. Confused. Helpless.
Jin controlled the moment. Controlled the narrative.
Until they reached the grave.
The bird's grave still stood, untouched by the storm.
Rain struck Jin's shoulder. Thunder rolled behind him. The knight looked frozen as he placed the twins at Jin's command.
Jin didn't blink.
But Jarden had seen enough.
He stepped out of the rain and stood beside his brother.
"You've made your point," Jarden said quietly.
Jin turned. His eyes flickered with something unreadable.
"They're breathing. But their pride isn't," he replied.
"You crushed more than pride." Jarden looked down at the twitching boys. "They need a lesson, not a sentence."
"I didn't kill them," Jin muttered.
"And I'm not asking you to explain. I'm telling you—this is enough."
Rain soaked both of them. The knight stood still, unsure whether to intervene.
The storm around them screamed. But between Jin and Jarden?
Silence.
Jin stared for a moment longer, then turned his gaze back toward the mound.
"They buried that bird in scorn. I buried it in peace."
Jarden's voice remained steady. "Then let that be enough."
Jin exhaled once.
The command in his posture softened.
He turned and walked toward the castle gates—slower now.
Jarden lingered.
Not a flicker of power. No pulse of shadow.
Just presence.
Enough to change the ending.
The knight bowed, confused but relieved.
No one would question Jarden's intervention.
He hadn't stopped a fight.
He had reminded a future king where the line stood.
The knight soon realized that it was a command. He could see it from Jin's and jarden's attitude. It was the attitude of a Runcandel who was giving a serious order.
He could never have imagined that a 7-year-old could have such an imposing and kingly aura.
The knight had no right to refuse. Even if the command would harm another Runcandel, he still couldn't refuse it. In the first place, the Tona twins weren't awake to order him to refuse right now.
All he could do was follow the command of the Runcandel before him.
It wasn't up to him to consider the consequences of these orders, it was up to the patriarch and the elders. Even if the Tona twins were to die of hypothermia, the Runcandel Clan wouldn't put the blame on the knight.
Familial disputes and quarrels were common within the clan.
"I shall comply, Young Master."
He put the twins down in front of the grave. The two boys were still motionless, except for a few occasional twitches.
The Tona twins were rescued two hours later by Gilly and utahime, who was returning from her outing.
The two of them had acute pneumonia for a few days, and didn't dare to look Jin in the eyes until the day they left the Storm Castle.
At Black sea
The continent's eastern region, the unprotected area. Also known as the Black Sea.
Cyron had been meditating in this monster-infested land for a few days now.
He was merely sitting on the ground, but the nearby monsters wouldn't dare approach him, even the ones the size of buildings.
Soon, a man covered in the blood of countless monsters walked towards Cyron.
"Greetings to the patriarch. This is Khan."
It was the guardian knight who had obeyed Jin's orders and left the Tona twins out in the rainstorm ten days ago.
"Is something the matter?"
Cyron asked as he carefully opened his eyes.
"I have come to report about a dispute between the young masters at the Storm Castle."
"There's no way you'd disturb my training just because of a dispute between children. Speak freely."
Khan explained the details of the incident, and a smile grew on Cyron's face.
"So, did the twins die?"
"They did get acute pneumonia, but their lives aren't in danger. But they would have died if not for jarden's intrvention"
"Then they must've learnt an important lesson. I see. You may return."
"Understood."
Khan had desperately struggled against countless monsters for three whole days just to make this short report, but he didn't hold any resentment against the patriarch or the young master. He silently returned to the direction of the Storm Castle.
'I should go see the youngest for myself.'
And so, Cyron made an appearance at the Storm Castle one month later.