Winter arrived in the Royal Dominion Academy but with a biting, iron chill that turned the stone spires grey. The air turned sharper, stinging the lungs with every breath.
Training was completed. The countdown to graduation had begun.
For most students, the Grand Trial of Dominion was a celebration, a final chance to show off for recruiters, earn a high-ranking post in a noble house, and drink wine until dawn.
For Kairos Vedaryan, it was a warpath.
Passing wasn't the goal. Rank 1 was the only option.
Rank 1 meant the title of "High Knight."
It meant he could legally carry a blade in the capital of Solaris.
It meant he could stand before King Raezon as a champion.
The morning of the tournament, the locker room smelled of oil and nervous sweat.
Velanor sat on a bench, taping his knuckles with white linen. He looked at Kairos.
Kairos was standing by the window, staring at the Solaris carriage parked in the courtyard below. He was completely still. He hadn't spoken a word since sunrise. His wind aura was so tightly controlled it felt like the air pressure in the room had dropped, making it hard to breathe.
"You're going to kill someone if you aren't careful.." Velanor said quietly.
"I'm going to win." Kairos replied. His voice was a flat line.
Luna adjusted his glasses, checking the mana crystal on his staff. "Remember, Kairos. Anger is a fuel, but it burns dirty. Don't let it blind you."
Kairos turned. He strapped his sword belt on the leather worn, the buckle simple steel.
"I'm not angry, Luna." Kairos said, looking at his friends. "I'm desperate. There is a difference."
The arena was a colosseum of white stone, infused with violet barrier magic to protect the spectators. Thousands of people filled the stands, nobles from Zephyros, scouts from many kingdoms, and generals from the borderlands.
They cheered for the favorites. They cheered for the nobles.
Kairos walked out into the blinding winter sunlight. The roar of the crowd was deafening.
He scanned the VIP box instinctively. The Solaris Generals were there. Men in gold armor with red cloaks. They looked bored.
Then he looked at the noble section.
Seyana was there.
She sat in the front row, dressed in formal travel clothes - a heavy blue cloak over a white dress. She looked pale. Beside her stood a Royal Herald from Solaris, checking a pocket watch, tapping his foot impatiently.
She wasn't there to celebrate. She was there to say goodbye.
Their eyes met across the vast distance of the arena.
I see you, her eyes said.
I am fighting for you, his eyes answered.
"First Match!" the announcer bellowed, his voice amplified by magic. "Kairos Vedaryan vs. Rauthen Storm-Caller!"
Rauthen was a lightning mage from the Tempest Coast. He was tall, arrogant, and talented. He stepped onto the sand, electricity arcing visibly off his skin.
"So, the peasant thinks he can fly," Rauthen shouted, spinning a staff that crackled with blue energy. "I heard your little princess is leaving today. Maybe you should run too."
He simply walked to the center of the ring.
"Begin!"
Rauthen didn't hesitate. BOOM.
Lightning exploded across the arena, a jagged spear of pure energy aimed right at Kairos's chest. It moved at the speed of light.
But Kairos wasn't there.
He stepped into the wind. He moved like a shifting shadow, reading the concentration of mana in Rauthen's muscles before the spell was even cast. He ducked under the arc, the heat of the lightning singing his hair.
Rauthen fired again a chain of bolts.
Snap-snap-snap.
Kairos weaved through them. He looked like a leaf caught in a gale and impossible to track. He closed the distance in silence.
Rauthen panicked. "Stay back!"
He slammed his staff down, summoning a Storm Shield - a dome of electrified air
Kairos stopped. He drew his sword.
He used physics. He compressed the air around his blade until it vibrated with a high-pitched scream.
Wind Cutter.
He slashed.
The invisible blade of air hit the Storm Shield. It sliced through the mana like a hot knife through butter. The shield shattered into sparks.
Kairos stepped through the debris. He stopped his blade a millimeter from Rauthen's throat.
"Yield." Kairos whispered.
Rauthen froze. The lightning died in his hands. He looked into Kairos's eyes and saw a void. He saw a man who would cut through him to get to the exit.
"I... I yield!" Rauthen shrieked, collapsing to his knees.
The crowd went silent. Then, slowly, they began to cheer but for a predator.
The rounds progressed. The challenges grew harder.
"Next Match: Handicap Round. Kairos Vedaryan vs. Harold of the Crag and Yufen of the Gale!"
A 2-vs-1 match. The crowd murmured. Harold was a defensive earth user. Yufen was an offensive wind user. Shield and Spear.
"He can't win this one." a noble whispered. "He'll get pinned."
Kairos stood in the center. He closed his eyes for a second.
The flow of mana, Seyana's voice echoed in his memory. Don't fight it. Guide it.
"Come." Kairos said.
They attacked together. Harold launched a wall of rock to crush Kairos from the left, while Yufen flew into the air, raining down invisible wind blades from above.
Kairos leaped toward the rock wall.
He ran up the vertical stone surface, defying gravity with wind steps. He dodged the air blades, which smashed into the rock beneath him, shattering the stone.
He reached the top of the pillar and launched himself into the air.
He was flying.
"What?!" Yufen shouted, trying to adjust his aim.
Kairos grabbed Yufen's ankle mid-air. He didn't strike him. He used his own momentum to spin, turning Yufen into a human projectile.
"Earth meets Wind." Kairos voice in low sound of pain.
He threw Yufen straight down.
CRASH.
Yufen slammed into Harold, who was trying to cast a spike spell. The impact knocked the wind out of both of them.
Kairos landed softly between them. He tapped both of their chest plates with the flat of his blade.
"Dead. And dead."
"Match over!"
Another victory. Clean. Brutal. Intelligent.
He looked up at the stands. Seyana was gripping the railing, her knuckles white. She looked proud, but terrified.
The sun began to dip, casting long, blood-red shadows over the colosseum. The air turned frigid.
The final round arrived.
The announcer stepped forward, looking at his scroll with wide eyes.
"The final battle… is a three-way melee!"
The gates opened.
"Luna Zephyros."
"Velanor Banner."
"Kairos Vedaryan."
The audience gasped. The three best friends. The "Triad of the Wind."
They walked to the center of the ring. The silence between them was heavy, but not with animosity.
Luna laughed breathlessly, shaking his head. "Well… this sucks."
Velanor cracked his knuckles, a feral grin spreading across his face. "It was bound to happen, boys. There is only one throne."
Kairos took a deep breath. He looked at the two people who had supported him when he was nobody.
"I have to win." Kairos said. It was a plea. "I need the Rank."
Luna adjusted his glasses. "We know why you need it, Kairos. You need the title to enter Solaris without being arrested."
Velanor drew his dual daggers. "But we aren't going to give it to you. If you want to save her, you have to prove you're strong enough to do it. If you can't beat us... you'll die in Solaris."
"Prove it." Luna commanded, raising his staff. "Show us the King of the Academy."
"Begin!"
The air exploded.
Velanor charged with brutal speed, enchanting his body with wind to move like a blur. Luna struck from range, firing precision bursts of compressed air that hit like bullets.
Kairos was in the middle.
He parried Velanor's dagger—clang! and ducked under Luna's shot.
He out-thought them. He moved like water. Seyana's element. He lured Velanor forward, taunting him. Velanor swung a massive, wind-enhanced haymaker. Kairos didn't block. He dropped to his knees, sliding under the punch.
Velanor's fist kept going straight toward Luna.
"Hey!" Luna shouted, aborting his spell to erect a shield.
BOOM.
Velanor smashed into Luna's shield, shattering it and knocking Luna off balance.
Kairos didn't waste the second. He swept Velanor's legs. As Velanor fell, Kairos used his back as a springboard to launch himself at Luna.
Luna tried to fire a blast. Kairos cut through the spell with his sword splitting the mana itself and stopped the blade at Luna's chest.
"Yield, brother." Kairos panted.
Luna looked at the sword, then at Kairos's desperate eyes. He smiled. "Go get her..,"
"I yield.", Luna bowed.
Kairos spun around. Velanor was getting up, growling.
Kairos sheathed his sword. He held up his hand.
He gathered all the wind in the arena. The banners whipped wildly. The dust swirled into a cyclone. He condensed it all into a single sphere in his palm.
"Gale Force: Zero."
He blasted the air pressure right at Velanor. It pinned him to the wall of the arena with the force of a hurricane.
Velanor struggled, laughed, and then slumped. "Okay! Okay! Uncle! You win!"
The barrier dropped.
Kairos stood alone in the center.
The arena thundered. The applause was deafening. Flowers rained down.
Kairos looked up. Seyana stood in the stands. She touched the spot on her chest where the pendant was hidden. She nodded once. A silent congratulation. A silent goodbye.
Night fell. The Great Hall glittered with banners.
Commander Elderan, the Head of the Academy, stood on the podium. He held a golden medal and a scroll sealed with the Royal Crest.
"Kairos Vedaryan," Elderan announced, his voice booming. "Step forward."
Kairos walked up the steps. He looked older than his years. He was bruised, tired, but standing tall.
"For dominance in combat, for tactical brilliance, and for mastering the Grand Trial... I name you Rank 1. The King of the Academy."
He pinned the medal on Kairos's chest.
"You have the right to request a commission in any Royal Guard." Elderan said. "Zephyros? Solaris? Sylphyros? Where will you go, son?"
The hall went silent. Everyone waited for him to choose the prestigious Zephyros Guard.
Kairos looked at the medal. Then he looked at the open doors of the hall. He knew Seyana was walking through those doors right now.
"I request a transfer," Kairos said clearly. "to the Elite Vanguard. The Forward Operating Base."
The crowd gasped. The Vanguard wasn't a cushy palace job. It was the front line. It was where soldiers went to die or to become legends. It was the fastest way to gain military rank and political power.
"The Vanguard?" Elderan frowned. "Why?"
"Because I need to be a General." Kairos said, his eyes burning. "And I don't have time to wait."
Outside the Great Hall, the snow was falling softly.
The Solaris carriage stood waiting. The horses stomped, breathing steam into the cold air.
Seyana stood by the door. The Royal Herald was urging her to enter.
"Princess, please. King Raezon is expecting you. The proposal from Prince Brandon has arrived. We cannot delay."
"One moment." Seyana said sharply.
She turned as the doors of the Great Hall opened.
Kairos ran out. He was still wearing his tournament gear, the gold medal shaking on his chest.
He stopped ten feet away. The guards put their hands on their swords, blocking him.
They stood there, separated by duty and steel.
"You won" Seyana whispered, her voice carrying over the wind.
"I won." Kairos nodded. "I got the Rank."
"Good, I need to go.." she said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Because my father... he has chosen someone for me. Prince Brandon."
The name hung in the air like a curse.
Kairos stepped forward, ignoring the guards. "Let him try. Let them all try."
"I have to go, Kairos." she choked out. "If I don't go now, they will come for you."
She stepped into the carriage. She paused at the window, looking at him one last time.
"Don't die in the Vanguard." she commanded softly.
"Don't say yes to him." Kairos replied.
The door closed. The carriage rolled away, disappearing into the white mist of the mountains.
Kairos stood there until the sound of the wheels faded. He touched his medal. It felt cold.
"I'm coming." he whispered to the dark. "I'm coming."
From the shadows of the bell tower, a figure in a grey cloak watched the scene unfold.
He adjusted his spyglass, zooming in on Kairos's face. He saw the pain. He saw the rage.
A skeletal bird landed on the spy's shoulder.
He unrolled his black ledger.
Subject: Kairos Vedaryan.
Status: Grand Champion.
Action: Heading to Vanguard.
Target: Seyana Solaris (Heading to Capital).
Note: The separation is complete. The boy seeks power to challenge a King. This will cause chaos.
The spy grinned. His eyes glowed with a faint, sickly green light.
"Chaos," the spy whispered, "is exactly what my Lord ordered."
He dissolved into mist, following Kairos's path into the dark.