The Academy of Fire was alive with noise.
Banners of crimson and gold fluttered above the coliseum, their edges shimmering with enchantments that pulsed like living flame.
The tournament grounds, usually quiet training fields, had been transformed into a grand stage of combat. Tiered stands stretched high, packed with students, instructors, nobles, and sponsors.
Their voices blended into a single thunderous roar that rolled like a living sea.
The annual Academy Tournament was more than tradition it was power, politics, and destiny.
Victors gained prestige losers were forgotten.
At the shadowed entrance gate, Alex stood still while the noise hammered through the air. The morning sun slanted across the stone corridor, painting golden stripes on the ground.
His fingers twitched restlessly inside his chest, he felt it the slow, rhythmic pulse of another heartbeat that wasn't his own.
Shadowflame.
It was faint, deep in the soul-bond he shared with the dragon he had sworn to keep hidden. Sometimes it felt like breathing beside him; sometimes, like a gaze from within the dark.
Are you watching me? he thought.
The pulse quickened once, as if in answer.
A whisper flickered across his vision.
[ Bond Synchronization : 12 % ]
[ Status : Dormant — Observation Mode ]
The reminder calmed him. The dragon was still asleep, but aware.
Outside, the announcer's voice thundered through the wards. "Gather close, ladies and gentlemen! The first round of the Grand Academy Tournament begins!"
Cheers exploded fireworks of mana burst overhead, painting fiery sigils across the sky.
Alex breathed deeply, steadying himself. His uniform felt too tight his palms were slick but his eyes burned with focus I'm not the same as before let them laugh today I stand again.
He stepped toward the gate just as another student exited a girl grinning in triumph, her twin-bladed spear flickering with lightning the crowd chanted her name.
She barely noticed Alex as she passed, brushing his shoulder.
"You're up next," she said casually, not unkindly. "Don't freeze out there."
He managed a thin smile. "I'll try."
Behind her, a rune circle flared to life the gate creaked open, sunlight flooding in.
The announcer's voice boomed. "Next participant.Alex, the late awakener!"
Laughter rippled through the stands, cruel and eager. Nobles leaned forward, whispering. The boy with the sleeping dragon.The failure of the ceremony.
Alex ignored them he stepped into the light.
The arena stretched wide before him, a vast circle of enchanted sand that shimmered faintly under protective barriers.
High above, banners whipped in the wind heat rose from the runes etched into the ground.
Across the arena stood his opponent a tall figure with sharp features and fiery red eyes. Elen of House Damaris his crimson robes flared as heat rippled around him. The flames that coiled along his shoulders obeyed his will like serpents hungry for blood.
"Facing him," the announcer continued, "Elen, prodigy of House Damaris, master of the crimson flame!"
The cheers this time were deafening.
Elen smiled thinly. "Well, well the late-bloomer shows his face ."
Alex didn't reply his focus narrowed, heart steadying to the rhythm of that hidden pulse.
[ System Notice : Quest Activated ]
Quest — Survive the First Match.
Condition : Defeat or Endure against Kaelen.
Reward : Dragon Synchronization + 2 %.
His jaw tightened. This wasn't just pride it was growth.
Elder Seraphiel rose from the judges' dais. "Contestants," he called, voice echoing across the wards, "begin when ready."
The central rune circle flared, signaling start.
Elen struck first.
A blazing serpent of fire erupted from his wand, shrieking through the air. The heat hit like a physical wall Alex threw himself sideways; sand hissed under his boots the serpent crashed into the barrier behind him, bursting into sparks.
Laughter followed from the stands.
"Running already?" Elen taunted, flames wreathing his wand. "I thought you wanted to prove yourself!"
Alex's breath burned in his chest. He lifted his hand, conjuring a small flame. It flickered weakly compared to Elen's inferno.
But when the next blast came, he didn't dodge.
He met it.
The tiny flame pulsed, expanding into a thin sheet of fire that split Kaelen's torrent in two. The explosion washed over him but didn't consume him.
Gasps echoed even Elen blinked in surprise.
"What?"
Alex lowered his smoking arm, the small flame still trembling in his palm it wasn't strength; it was precision. The shadowflame within him stirred faintly, guiding his focus.
Control, not force, a whisper brushed his thoughts. Cut the flame, don't fight it.
He steadied himself, eyes narrowing. "My turn."
He swept his hand across the air. The spark in his palm stretched like a blade of light and shadow, slicing through Elen's next spell. The two fires collided, scattering into motes of red and black that danced like dying stars.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then the crowd erupted. "Did you see that?!" "He cut through Elen's fire!"
Elen's expression darkened rage boiled in his eyes. "You think you can mock me with tricks?"
He thrust his wand skyward, drawing from the runes beneath the sand. Pillars of fire burst upward, enclosing Alex in a circle of heat. The temperature spiked until the air shimmered.
"Let's see your little spark survive this!" Elen roared.
Flames crashed inward.
Alex closed his eyes the heat clawed at his skin, the smell of scorched sand filled his lungs. Somewhere deep inside, he felt the heartbeat again stronger, faster.
Lend me strength. Just a little more.
Shadows laced through his flame, turning its color darker, sharper. When the inferno descended, he thrust both hands forward.
A wave of black-crimson fire erupted outward, not large but impossibly dense. It sliced through Elen's attack, devouring it from the inside the collision ripped the air apart with a thunderous boom.
Dust and sparks filled the arena.
When the smoke cleared, Alex stood at the center cloak torn, face streaked with soot, but still standing. His hands trembled, his spark reduced to a faint ember.
Elen stared, disbelieving.
The crowd went wild. "He's still standing!" "He endured the firestorm!" "The late awakener lives!"
Even the nobles who had jeered earlier leaned forward, eyes wide.
Elen's fury twisted his face. "You miserable" He lifted his wand again.
Elder Seraphiel's staff struck the ground a thunderclap silenced the noise.
"Enough." His voice was final. "The match is decided. By rule, endurance counts as victory. Alex advances to the next round."
Cheers thundered like a storm. Alex swayed, exhaustion washing through him, but he managed a bow. His chest still thudded with that double heartbeat the dragon's pulse echoing his own.
Elen glared daggers at him. "This isn't over, late-bloomer. Next time, I'll burn you down to ash."
Alex straightened slowly, meeting his eyes. "We'll see."
He left the arena through a side gate the noise faded into muffled echoes. Sweat cooled on his skin, leaving chills down his spine. He leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
[ Quest Complete : Survive the First Match ]
Reward : + 2 % Synchronization.
[ Current Sync : 14 % ]
A warmth spread through his chest for an instant he felt it approval a faint rumble, almost a purr, from deep within the bond the Shadowflame dragon was pleased.
You saw that, didn't you? he thought.
A low pulse answered.
"Alex!"
He looked up Mira was hurrying down the corridor, her short cloak fluttering her eyes were wide, half disbelief, half joy. "That was incredible! You actually blocked Kaelen's Infernal Coil!"
He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Barely. I'm just glad I'm still alive."
"You didn't just survive," she said firmly. "You made him look like an amateur."
He managed a faint grin. "Don't let him hear you say that."
Her expression softened. "Still… be careful. I don't know what you're hiding, but the way your flame looked there was something strange in it Darker, almost alive."
Alex froze for a second, then forced a shrug "Probably just the lighting."
Mira didn't look convinced, but she let it go. "Whatever it is… don't lose yourself in it. Okay?"
He nodded. "I won't."
She squeezed his arm before running back toward the stands.
When she was gone, Alex stood there a moment longer The faint shadow still coiled around his wrists before fading back into his skin.
"Alive," he whispered. "We did it."
The pulse in his chest slowed, steady and calm, as if the dragon had gone back to sleep. But its satisfaction lingered like warmth in his blood.
High above, the Headmaster watched through the barrier crystal. His expression was unreadable.
"That boy's flame…" murmured one instructor beside him. "It changed color."
Seraphiel's eyes narrowed. "No ordinary mutation.something ancient moves within that light keep this quiet for now."
The instructor hesitated. "You think it's dangerous?"
Seraphiel's lips curved faintly. "All great power begins as danger."
His gaze returned to the arena, where Alex's footprints still smoldered faintly in the sand.
Hours later, the dormitory was quiet the moonlight spilled through the window onto the pedestal where a dragon slept within shadows.
Alex sat nearby, wrapping his hands with bandages, every muscle aching.
"You saw it all, didn't you?" he murmured.
The egg pulsed faintly, red light tracing its veins.
A whisper drifted through his mind faint, almost fond.
You fought you endured the flame obeyed.
Alex smiled weakly "Yeah… but it almost burned me out."
Then grow stronger, the voice breathed The world will fear what it cannot understand.
The light faded the room fell still again.
Alex leaned back, staring out the window at the stars. Cheers still echoed faintly in his memory, blending with the whisper of the dragon's pulse. He knew this victory was small, fragile but it was real.
"For the first time," he whispered, "they saw me."
He closed his eyes, exhaustion finally claiming him.
In the darkness, deep within the bond, a dragon's ember-eyes opened briefly watching, guarding, waiting.