The day after the clan gathering, Kaelith shut himself inside the training chamber.
The walls were lined with mirrors of obsidian, reflecting his frail body back at him. In his previous life within this cycle, he had never trained seriously. Fear of failure had chained him, while scorn from his siblings had crushed what little spirit he had.
But now, the soul inside this weak vessel was not the same.
Now he was Kaelith Varion.
He began with the basics — biotical training. Push-ups, squats, strikes, balance drills. His body screamed in protest after only minutes, but he silenced its cries. For hours he repeated the motions until his muscles tore and his bones ached. When night came, he did not sleep. Instead, he meditated, guiding faint wisps of spiritual energy into his veins.
On the second day, he skipped food. Hunger gnawed at him, but he fed on will alone. On the third, he trained without water, letting his thirst sharpen his spirit like fire tempers steel. By the seventh day, his hands bled from striking stone pillars, but his fists grew steady. By the fourteenth, his body was nothing but wounds and bruises — yet he stood straighter than ever.
He cultivated through pain, through exhaustion, through the endless weakness of his mortal shell. And though progress was slow, he climbed.
Because Kaelith remembered.
He remembered thousands of lifetimes. He remembered how to breathe spirit into flesh, how to circulate energy through broken veins, how to bend will against the body's limits. Knowledge that once took disciples decades to master, he accomplished in days.
Still, even with his wisdom, he could not leap beyond the laws of cultivation. The path was long, and strength demanded time.
And so, slowly, steadily, the Withered Branch began to grow.
---
The Hierarchy of Power
On the twenty-first day, as Kaelith meditated in silence, his mind returned to the structure of strength — the hierarchy the Aurelius family drilled into every heir. Power was measured in Tiers, divided from lowest (10) to highest (1A).
Tier 10 – Mortal Sparks
The weakest stage, where one awakens the faintest trace of spirit energy. Children, servants, and commoners linger here their entire lives.
Tier 9 – Rooted Embers
The first step toward true cultivation. Energy can be stored in the flesh, though fragile and unstable. Still considered very weak among clans.
Tier 8 – Forged Veins
Spiritual energy strengthens blood and bone. The body becomes a weapon, though fragile compared to elites.
Tier 7 – Spirit Convergence
Cultivators form their first Spirit Core. Energy begins to flow steadily. At this stage, one can be considered a true martial artist.
Tier 6 – Battle Tempering
Flesh and spirit fuse. Wounds heal faster, strength multiplies, and combat skills bloom. Elite soldiers and disciples dwell here.
Tier 5 – Soul Manifestation
The spirit begins shaping reality. Weapons may ignite with spiritual flames, voices may shake the air. Those who reach here are respected.
Tier 4 – Ascendant Path
The cultivator's presence alone bends the battlefield. They can crush weaker foes without lifting a finger.
Tier 3 – Domain Lords
At this level, one forms a personal Domain, bending the laws of reality in a limited area. Few ever reach this stage.
Tier 2 – Demi-God Sovereigns
Power flows like rivers of divinity. Each strike can level mountains. The Aurelius patriarch himself was said to stand here.
Tier 1B – False Divinity
Cultivators ascend beyond mortality, brushing against the edge of true godhood. Their names echo across multiverses.
Tier 1A – True Demi-Gods
The peak before godhood. Only legends reach here, and their will alone can alter destinies.
Above these ranks stood the gods themselves — untouchable, eternal, and merciless.
But Kaelith vowed he would surpass even them.
---
On the twenty-eighth day, Kaelith sat cross-legged in the training chamber, sweat pouring down his face, veins glowing faintly with unstable light. His body was on the brink of collapse, yet his spirit surged like firestorm.
Now…
The final barrier shattered.
His veins throbbed with energy as his spirit stabilized. He had broken into Tier 9.
He exhaled slowly, opening his eyes. They gleamed faintly, no longer dull like the boy's they once were. Though still weak in the eyes of his clan, he had reached the threshold.
A Withered Branch no more.
But to the Aurelius family, Tier 9 was still laughable. To his father, to Draven, to Selene — it was nothing but a child's step.
Kaelith smiled faintly. Let them laugh. A seed does not fear the mountain. A seed only needs time to grow.
And as the day of the Academy's first trial approached, Kaelith Varion prepared not as the weakest son… but as a storm waiting to be unleashed.