The scent of polished steel and sharp ambition was Kaelen's earliest memory, not of comfort, but of expectation. He was a son of House Valerius, a prominent Baron family in Eldoria's Eastern Region. While not one of the four Ducal Houses, House Valerius was renowned for its generations of shrewd strategists, disciplined knights, and its deep, almost religious, affinity for fire-based Essences. Their sprawling, fortress-like estate, Highforge, was a monument to their martial prowess and their rigid adherence to tradition. From birth, Kaelen Valerius, the eldest son of the first wife, was groomed for a singular purpose: to inherit the mantle of the Baron, and to wield the raging flame of a formidable Essence.
His mother, a beautiful woman whose quiet strength seemed a stark contrast to the family's fiery reputation, passed away when Kaelen was six. He remembered little of her, save for the cool, soft touch of her hand and the odd, silent companionship of a small, horned rabbit that she kept in her private chambers. Its fur was the color of moonlight, its horn a delicate spiral, and it was the only creature that didn't seem to demand something of him. After her death, the rabbit, Luna, became Kaelen's quiet confidant, a secret comfort in a house that grew increasingly cold.
His father, Lord Darius Valerius, a man forged of iron and ambition, remarried swiftly. The new Lady Valerius, a sharp-eyed woman named Seraphina, brought with her a calculating gaze and, soon after, three children of her own. And that's when Kaelen's nightmare truly began.
While Kaelen endured grueling sword training, excelling in discipline and technique, the true test of a Valerius heir lay elsewhere: Essence Resonance. Every month, a new batch of Heartstones—some meticulously acquired from Tier 1 Ember-Lizards, others from Tier 3 Hellhounds—would be laid before him. He would press his hand to them, close his eyes, and pray for the familiar warmth, the surge of power his father described. But nothing. Always nothing. A cold, empty void where his family saw only raging flames.
"Still nothing, Kaelen?" Lord Darius's voice would rumble, tinged with disappointment. Seraphina's lips would thin, her gaze a silent, cutting judgment.
Meanwhile, Kaelen's younger half-siblings, barely children themselves, seemed to effortlessly integrate fire Essences. His half-brother, Theron, at only eight, could make embers dance on his fingertips. His sister, Lyra, at ten, could ignite a training dummy with a casual flick of her wrist, her small hands sparking with a chillingly bright flame. They were the true Valerius, lauded by their father, doted on by their mother. Kaelen became the object of scorn and ridicule, mocked as a "hollow vessel," a failure unworthy of his birthright.
"He is a waste of our resources, husband," Seraphina would hiss, her voice like grinding stones, carried through the thin walls of his bedchamber. "No Essence. No future. He is a blight on the Valerius name."
Kaelen retreated, his only solace the rigorous discipline of the sword, and the silent, comforting presence of Luna. The Moonhorn Rabbit was a peculiar creature. It never spoke aloud, of course, but its eyes held an uncanny intelligence. Sometimes, when Kaelen was at his lowest, Luna would nudge his hand, and he'd feel a strange, subtle warmth, a fleeting sense of peace that nothing else in Highforge could provide. He didn't know what Luna was, only that she was his mother's, and now, his.
As he approached his fifteenth birthday, the legal age for Essence integration and academy enrollment, the pressure became unbearable. The family's annual Resonance Ceremony was his last chance. The grand hall of Highforge was packed with extended family, minor nobles, and hardened military officers, all eager to witness the heir claim his power. A magnificent Tier 3 Blaze-Hound Heartstone, pulsing with fiery energy, sat on a velvet cushion. Kaelen's hands trembled as he reached for it. He closed his eyes, pleading with the Aether, begging for the connection.
He held it. He felt… nothing. The Heartstone remained inert, a dead stone in his palm.
A collective gasp swept through the hall. Lord Darius's face, usually stern, sagged with a profound disappointment that cut Kaelen deeper than any blade. Seraphina, however, wore a triumphant, cruel smile.
"This charade ends now," she declared, her voice ringing through the stunned silence. "He is a hollow vessel. A shame to this house. He does not deserve to stand among us."
Lord Darius, his jaw tight, nodded slowly. "Kaelen Valerius," he rumbled, his voice devoid of warmth. "By my authority as Lord of House Valerius, and by the ancient laws of Eldoria, I disown you. You are no longer son of this house. You are no longer Valerius. Begone from these lands, and never return."
Stripped of his name, his status, his inheritance, Kaelen was cast out from Highforge. He was allowed to take only one possession: a small, horn-tipped wooden cage, inside of which sat Luna, her amber eyes reflecting his own despair. He walked out of the massive gates that had been his prison, leaving behind the only life he had ever known, carrying only a broken heart and a silent rabbit. He changed his name to Kaelen Ignis that day, "Ignis" meaning "fire" in an ancient tongue, a defiant, bitter jest at the family who rejected his lack of it.
He sought shelter in the nearest thicket, the cold night air a stark contrast to the stifling heat of his family's hearth. He had trained his body, but his spirit was shattered. He barely registered the distant sounds of hooves.