The spiritual pressure slammed into Aiden, eyes going wide as he was driven to one knee, his rainbow flames flaring desperately around him. The arena’s polished stone cracked beneath his feet, spider-webbing outward as Jin’s overwhelming presence pressed down on everything within a hundred meters.
There’s no way! His mind reeled, hardly able to even acknowledge the crowd jumping to their feet in sudden enthusiasm. This spiritual flow is individualized? How does she have that much control?!
He forced his gaze upward, spotting Jin floating in the air, legs crossed, leering down at them as if she were a cat, having cornered mice. The power she released was like a massive hand pressing down on every fiber of their souls, and the insane part was that the output varied to each one of them.
His causality sense screamed warnings simultaneously in a dozen different directions. Every probability thread he could perceive painted the same terrifying conclusion: the Korean girl floating above them wasn’t the same bored dragon who lounged around campus making sarcastic comments.
This was something beyond cosmic, a being who understood the fundamental architecture of reality itself, all wrapped in the deceptive package of a bored teenage girl.
But immediately, one thought fixated in his instincts that something dramatic had changed since he’d last seen this girl fight, and not just anyone but Eric.
She should be hurting herself since she hasn’t even hit her teenage years as a Dragon Founder, yet, it’s as if that limiter was completely removed! How?
“How…can you use your powers so freely?” he managed to gasp, noticing the others around the platform struggling just as much as he, professor or student alike.
Across the platform, Aelion had conjured a shimmering barrier of crystalline light, his tattooed arms weaving complex patterns as sweat beaded on his brow. It appeared utterly useless against Jin’s force, though, cutting through it as if it weren’t even there.
The fae’s jade eyes blazed with concentration, but Aiden could see something else there—not just terror at being outclassed, but a calculating intelligence that was cataloguing every aspect of Jin’s overwhelming display. He knew as well as Aiden that this was just the opening sample.
The other six contestants were somehow faring far worse. Professor Thaddeus, the minotaur, had dropped to all fours, his massive frame trembling under spiritual pressure that threatened to crush his very soul. Elder Caelia, one of the most respected dryads in Avalon, was using every ounce of her considerable power just to maintain a barrier of living wood that creaked ominously under the strain, attempting to soak up the force and redirect it into a sphere that was heavily unstable.
Beneath the arena floor, faint geometric patterns glowed through hairline cracks in the stone; Grand Chancellor Elowen Moonshadow’s protective magic itself was being exposed.
“Really?” Jin’s bored tone held a slight smile that carried to every corner of the arena. “Some of you are actually managing to stay conscious. I expected a bit more from a few of you, but others have slightly exceeded my expectations,” she noted, making a simple gesture that caused those who had fainted to vanish in sparkling clouds. “Color me impressed.”
His usual approach—careful restraint, measured responses, never revealing his true capabilities—crumbled in the face of Jin’s overwhelming power. For seventeen years, he’d lived by a philosophy of control, of never unleashing his maximum, since it could be dangerous—Alva told him that. That restraint had kept him safe, kept others safe from the catastrophic potential of uncontrolled causality manipulation.
But restraint wouldn’t work here. Jin would crush him if he didn’t use everything he had.
This was what you were up against, Eric? No, that was a constrained Jin. This…is something else entirely!
Aiden forced himself upright, rainbow energy spiraling around him like a protective cocoon. But this time, instead of the carefully controlled flames he usually maintained, he let his true nature show. Colors that had no names erupted, probability threads that bent reality in impossible ways.
Not a simple fire, but living mathematics—equations of possibility given form, causality itself made manifest in brilliant light. The unique rainbow wasn’t just pretty colors; each hue represented a different aspect of probability manipulation, from the crimson threads of inevitable outcomes to the violet streams of pure potential.
If I want to win whatever game Jin’s playing, I need to meet her with everything I’ve got!
The colossal, collapsing star that hung over him began to ease as he bent reality itself to fold like an umbrella. Sure, Jin could just redirect her attack to a different angle, yet she wouldn’t; he could feel it.
Aiden stabilized his breathing, his colorful irises blazing as he met her golden, smiling gaze, knowing she was waiting for a specific moment before making her next move. Jin was pushing for something, and as time—no, reality itself—slowed, Aiden’s gut twisted into knots when the answer flooded his senses.
Aelion… She wants me to work with Aelion?
The dragon’s smile widened as the fae boy dropped to one knee, unable to find a workaround for the raw foundational power Jin was focusing on him—power that transcended this omniverse, much less multiverse. Jin knew how to use her heritage’s unique abilities instinctively through her mother’s memories, unlike Sora, Kari, and him.
“Oh, good, the firebird’s brain still works under pressure. You understand.” Her teeth showed, sharper than they should be. Her eyes reflected something that might have been satisfaction as she analyzed his transformed flames. “I was beginning to wonder if Huma’s blood in you had been completely watered down. And this is why he is one of the pillars, next to my mother.”
Aiden took a deep breath and made up his mind. There was no other way. Jin was an immovable object and an unstoppable force. Whatever she was drawing upon to stabilize this level of power didn't matter right now. The objective was clear.
Vanishing in a flash, he moved through the path of least resistance through spatial tunnels, something he typically did naturally, yet, for the first time, there were roadblocks he had to maneuver around—Jin’s doing.
In that brief moment of condensed reality, he flew through spiritual dragon’s teeth, dimension-shattering snaps echoing behind him as the Korean playfully nipped at his tail feathers until he landed right beside Aelion just as his shield failed.
Palm clasping the barely-conscious fae’s shoulder, Aiden fed his flames through his soul, bringing him back into the fight.
“I don’t think we’re meant to win this alone…”
Aelion breathed as the pressure lifted, caution in his gaze while examining Jin’s reaction. “That’s unexpected… How are you able to counter her? I can’t even identify what sort of magic or weave she’s using.”
“Because she’s not using anything like that,” Aiden mumbled, releasing his grip and maintaining his flame connection as Jin patiently waited, like an orca circling a seal trapped on a sheet of ice. “Just like Sora, Jin’s powers are linked to the foundational reality of Existence itself. The difference is that she knows how to use them.”
“Well, that doesn’t bode well for us,” the fae replied with a strained smile, straightening and rubbing one of his tattoos that faded away. “This is her plan, then? Get us to work together?”
“Something like that. Congratulations on passing the first trial,” Jin stated, gestured casually with one hand. The pressure eased just enough for the other contestants to function without passing out. “So, what did you learn? I know some of you are trembling beneath their bark, Elder Caelia. Best not let that blow up…”
The two visiting fae nobles—Lord Silvermoon and Lady Starweaver—had already been disqualified, blinking in shock from outside the ring. Meanwhile, the quaking dryad Elder instantly began weaving defensive root barriers that erupted from the arena floor with explosive force to circle the sphere she was attempting to keep from turning into a nuke.
“This is…far too dangerous, Founder Jin! There are elements in this I cannot keep contained forever. When one escapes, it will…”
“Blow up half the academy?” Jin innocently chortled. “You should be honored it took that kind of force to keep you busy! Try to keep it in check, won’t you? And you know there is always an equal and opposite reaction, professor… Best to get that checked out sooner rather than later,” she darkly chuckled.
Professor Thaddeus immediately leaped into the air to engage Jin with a roar, massive fists wreathed in brown earth magic. It landed against the back of Jin's head with a focused pulse that sent shockwaves through the air. Thaddeus’ eyes widened in shock as his own attack rebounded—his arm exploding in a spray of blood and bone.
Jin lazily moved her hand to point a finger at the recovering professor, the man using his other hand and channeling his internal force to regrow his own limb; a pulsing defensive barrier materialized around him as he laughed.
“I haven’t felt outclassed for quite some time. This will be—”
Only, he never got the chance to continue.
“You tried.” With a single jab of her pointed finger, a giant hole exploded through the minotaur’s chest, causing the crowd to gasp. The revealed magical weave of the Grand Chancellor twisted and writhed as if struggling to keep up, sweeping the professor into a dazzling swirl of fog to heal him. “And then…there were three.”
Aelion worked around his neck and glanced his way as Jin was occupied with the professor and Elder. “I see. If she’s using powers similar to The Darkness and Founder Fae Magic, then I may have an answer to it that we can use. And your flames can help…”
Aiden’s eyes tracked Aelion’s movements as he ran his fingers down one of his remaining tattoos, causing it to flash purple. Suddenly, his flames were drawn into it, twisting and turning within a design around forces that Aiden hadn’t sensed inside the mysterious fae until now, somehow making incompatible magical forces work in harmony.
A honeycomb shell of mixed forces materialized around them, Aelion himself looking surprised it had worked. “So it is compatible? I knew it. She can act as a bridging force…”
He just combined three different types of magic that shouldn’t mesh together, and made them flow like they were meant to be… Wait, ‘she’ can act like a bridge? Is he talking about Sora, Jin, or someone else?
“Interesting technique, artificial prince, but woefully misunderstood,” Jin called out lazily, her attention shifting to Elder Caelia’s increasingly unstable containment sphere. “You figured out how to use a Founder’s causality flames as a catalyst that unites your magic with desire itself. Very clever, but mostly singular to your unique circumstances.”
The dryad’s bark was literally cracking under the strain, her face contorted with desperate effort as the magical bomb in her grasp pulsed with dangerous energy.
Artificial prince? Another bomb dropped, he noted with a grimace, glancing toward the struggling woman.
Aelion’s more confident smile faltered, and he made another gesture that Aiden recognized upon casting a spell; it was similar to Noelia’s silencing wards in the hotel.
“I would appreciate it if you kept what knowledge you have about me to yourself, Founder Jin. Is this how you protect your students?”
She drifted closer, snapping her fingers. The unstable sphere appeared above her finger like a basketball, spinning around and shocking the elder as it was yanked out of her control.
“Oh, I don’t care to be a teacher. It’s just a means to an end. It isn’t like this job will be filled after today. But tell me, construct—who taught you that particular trick? Because that’s not standard fae magic, and it’s certainly not something you should have been able to figure out on your own,” she noted, lightly tapping the barrier between them and causing segments to flash in what Aiden figured were danger signs of breaking.
Aelion’s jade eyes hardened, but Aiden could see uncertainty flickering beneath the surface; this Jin wasn’t asking meaningless questions but demanding answers. “I…discovered it through experimentation. The resonance patterns of these flames suggested compatibility with any force, so…I tried it on something I’ve been pondering. That’s it.”
Stolen story; please report.
“Mmm? Sure, the bridge was Aiden’s flames,” she acknowledged, golden eyes gleaming as they darted to him, “but what exactly did you bridge?”
Aiden noticed the restlessness of the crowd, discontent and frustration building with the silencing spell being used to dampen their conversation. Yet, that didn’t matter to him. He wanted to know what Jin was talking about.
Aelion’s silence stretched uncomfortably long, his eyes darting between Jin’s predatory smile and Aiden’s growing suspicion.
“I’m…not following what you want me to say. The resonance patterns suggested compatibility, that’s it,” Aelion said carefully, but his voice lacked conviction.
“Mhm! Mhm! Compatibility…with what? Are you calling me an idiot? An idiot you can so brazenly gaslight?” Jin stated, her smile growing more impatient and a dangerous, hyper-dense wave of draconic energy erupting from her.
“We already established Aiden’s flames can bridge almost anything if you know how to use them, but think logically here…a bridge, are you following? A bridge needs two points to connect. Yes? Yes. So what was the second point, artificial prince?”
Aiden felt his causality sense screaming warnings as he studied the way Aelion shifted away, a lump dropping down his throat while glancing at the elder, who was still recovering. And as Aiden scanned deeper into the shell around them, he probed for material and felt it—something organic, something that felt achingly familiar.
“The catalyst,” Aiden realized, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Something to anchor my flames from your desire to…something that weaves desires into reality.”
Jin’s nostrils flared delicately, like a predator catching a scent. “Oh, I can smell the emotions bubbling up from here, boys, and…another scent. Something…copper-colored and impossibly potent, I’d wager.”
Elder Caelia, still shaky from her magical exertion, looked between them with growing confusion as she struggled to move closer, remaining guarded. “What are you three talking about? I am very concerned about how you have opened this tournament, Founder Jin.”
“Oh, you know this is exactly what your leaders want. Now, show him,” Jin commanded, her voice carrying absolute authority. “Show the firebird what you’ve been hiding in that little tattoo of yours—spatial magic is advanced. You're most talented…by design.”
Aelion’s honeycomb barrier flickered as his composure finally cracked. As his sleeve rode up and a particular shape shimmered, a small vial materialized—it contained strands of copper-colored hair that gleamed like spun metal.
Sora’s hair.
“So that’s why you’ve been stealing Sora’s fur?! To gain power and use her like a key to the universe?” Aiden breathed, his rainbow flames exploding outward in protective fury.
The honeycomb barrier shattered under the pressure of his rage, Elder Caelia stumbling backward as magical backlash rippled through the arena. Aiden’s causality powers painted a dozen different ways to reach Aelion, each one ending with the artificial prince broken and bleeding.
“You’ve been violating her—exploiting her power without her knowledge?” Aiden snarled, his voice carrying harmonics of power that made the arena’s protective barriers strain and crack as the silencing shell was burned away. “Making Existence think she’s the one casting your spells. Using pieces of her like some kind of—”
“Research!” Aelion interrupted desperately, his composed facade finally cracking completely as his silver magic formed increasingly complex defensive patterns. “I needed to understand what made her different to understand how I’m different—what rendered her unique among vulpes Founders could relate to how I’m unique among fae. I seek not to harm her!”
“Research.” The word came out like a curse, dripping with all the protective fury that had been building in Aiden’s chest; he’d thought it was just that he had a crush on Sora, but he’d never thought it would be like this. “You’ve been treating her like an animal to placate and get close to to harvest genetic material without her knowledge or consent!”
Jin’s laughter rang out across the arena, sharp and delighted. “Perfect! Now that we’ve got the emotional confessions out of the way…”
She paused, studying the three of them with amusement before snapping her fingers. A shimmering barrier of silence descended around their small group like a soap bubble, far stronger than Aelions and more sophisticated than even Noelia’s—the oppressive weight of sound dampened for them abruptly, but was still heard.
Beyond the barrier, the crowd erupted in frustrated murmurs and animated whispers. Aiden could see spectators leaning forward in their seats, straining to catch even a glimpse of what was happening. Some were pointing excitedly at the scorch marks his flames had left on the arena floor, while others gestured wildly at the remnants of Aelion’s shattered honeycomb barrier, the energy lingering despite being mostly broken.
Rather than growing disappointed by the sudden quiet, the audience seemed to be feeding off the chaos. Their excitement was building like pressure in a kettle, especially as word spread through the stands about the upcoming battles and if they’d all be like this today.
“Much better,” Jin said with satisfaction, rolling her shoulders as if she’d been carrying a heavy weight. “Can’t have the whole academy hearing about family secrets and genetic theft, can we? They’re blissfully ignorant as it is.”
Elder Caelia was still staring at Aelion with a mixture of horror and professional outrage, her bark continuing to darken as the implications sank in. “Founder Jin, this is…” She gestured helplessly at the vial of copper hair. “This level of violation goes beyond simple academy infractions. This could be grounds for formal charges with the Fae Courts themselves. We were explicitly told, when it comes to Founders—”
“Oh, Elder,” Jin interrupted, her tone carrying the patience of someone explaining something obvious to a child. “Getting all worked up over bureaucratic nonsense when we have much bigger fish to fry.” She gestured dismissively, as if Aelion’s violation of Sora was merely a minor administrative oversight. “Tell me, what’s worse—a desperate artificial being trying to understand his own existence, or the centuries-long conspiracy that created him in the first place?”
Elder Caelia blinked, and Aiden was right behind her with that revelation, momentarily thrown off balance. “I… What conspiracy? Aelion was found in the Shadow Pits by the High King himself. I’m…not sure what you are trying to imply,” she carefully articulated, likely now worried if this conversation was tantamount to treasonous.
Aelion’s face turned ashen. “How do you know so much about—”
“Shhh! Shhh! All in good time, and exactly my point, Elder.” Jin’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, still spinning around her sphere of deadly spiritual force that could strip beings down to their very Intelligence. “You’re so focused on the small picture that you’re missing the forest for the trees. Speaking of which…”
She turned to address Elder Caelia directly, her casual demeanor shifting into something more businesslike. “I’m going to need you to oversee some upcoming challenges while I’m…preoccupied and away from campus. You’ll be the ranking faculty member here, which…is why I chose you to be in this arena! Aren’t you thrilled?”
The dryad’s bark paled visibly, taking on an almost gray hue as places in her flowery hair withered. “But I cannot be the highest-ranking elder here. What about Elder Rosewood? Where is she? She’s the Dean of Magical Disciplines, surely she should—”
“Oh, Abigail?” Jin’s smile turned genuinely sinister, showing too many teeth. “She’s rather…preoccupied at the moment, I’d say, handling The Darkness.”
Aiden wasn’t quite sure what that was meant to imply. Was she taking care of some outbreak…or utilizing The Darkness itself? Jin didn’t offer an explanation.
“In any case, I have a very important date with High King Oberon, you see. Something about answering some rather pointed questions that even I need some clarity on.”
Elder Caelia’s eyes widened in alarm, her root-like fingers digging unconsciously into the arena floor. “Founder Jin…what game am I being caught in? I’m just the Elder of Intermediate Botanical Magic. I teach students how to grow healing herbs and the spiritual essence of nature, not…whatever court politics this is delving into.”
Jin studied her for a long moment, and Aiden could almost see the dragon calculating behind her scrutiny. “That is a good question. What kind of game are we all caught up in? This goes beyond simply Avalon, my dear woman, and is the kind of game where you don’t really have a choice.
“But I’ll ask you straight,” she chimed, “are you willing to help if student and faculty safety is genuinely at risk? Not just academy regulations or paperwork, but real, immediate danger to the people under your care, Ms. Botanical Flower Lady?”
Elder Caelia straightened, her professional instincts overriding her fear. Whatever else she might be, she was clearly someone who took her responsibilities seriously. “Of course. If lives are truly at stake, then regulations can wait.”
“Excellent answer.” Jin nodded approvingly. “You’d fit perfectly in a chaotic good setting, as Green might have said… I miss those simple times, ripping apart trolls over territorial disputes. Good times. Good times. Whelp! I had a feeling you were the right choice for this.”
She turned back to Aiden and Aelion, cutting through the lingering tension between them with casual authority. “Now, boys, I’m pulling rank because, well, I can! Haha. You can figure out your trust issues and moral qualms on your own time. I’m sure Sora will give that big, foxy-eyed stare that will melt your hearts at some point. Right now, you’re going to run a little errand for me.”
Aiden felt his protective instincts flare again. “If this involves Sora, she should—”
“Oh, brother! Does anyone remember I’m a 2nd Generation Dragon Founder who got caught up in this drama because I wanted to show a frosty maiden a sunny place? If I care to look, my eyes see the very fabric and threads of Existence, people! Everything involves Sora!” Jin interrupted flatly. “That’s the problem, and whose fault is that, I wonder, Mr. Bird? But first, let me paint you the bigger picture.”
That immediately lodged Aiden’s tongue in his throat. She had him there.
Elder Caelia leaned forward, now fully engaged and listening intently. “What kind of errand requires these very young and inexperienced children? This sounds like something we should engage the faculty on.”
Jin’s expression grew serious, the playful mask dropping away to reveal something more primal. “The kind that only inexperienced children can deliver… There are seven doors beneath this academy in Sela’s district, Elder. Doors that the administrative core knows well. Each one sealed with different types of magic, each one leading to repositories of knowledge and access that predate not just Avalon, but the entire structure of your multiverse since…well, it didn’t form naturally.”
That left a stitch in Aiden’s side at what Jin was implying.
She gestured toward the northern edge of the arena, where ancient spires rose against the sky like accusatory fingers. “There is so much more to this realm than any of you realize. So much hidden beneath this—the old Honeydew ruins—yes, Sela’s former kingdom. Most of those faculty in the know think it’s just archaeological remnants, and the High King and High Queen relocated the section of her kingdom here. They’re wrong.
“The doors connect to archive systems that exist beneath the fabric of this illusory reality to the place that existed before,” Jin continued, her voice taking on cosmic weight. “Living repositories of power and knowledge, accessible to those who know how to tap into them…or who have the genetic key. And someone has been using them to play a game that spans centuries. The question is…who exactly? That’s the mystery I’m looking into. Well, it’s sort of a side mission, but a fun distraction, nonetheless,” she casually waved off.
Elder Caelia’s face actually split for a moment before repairing itself, her bark taking on a sickly gray pallor. “I…think I am going to puke rot.”
“How bold! Just face away from us, if you could,” Jin snickered. “So far as I can see, something has been collecting data on every powerful supernatural entity within this multiverse, despite it being created by the Fae Founders, it’s…quite different.
“I have my suspicions, but they’ve been cataloguing their abilities, their weaknesses, their psychological profiles. Creating comprehensive archives that go far beyond simple information storage and delve into the spiritual core and essence of souls themselves.”
Jin’s teeth flashed, giving Aelion a wicked wink. “I can’t be sure if it’s they who built these artificial Founders, like our prince here, manipulating bloodlines, orchestrating events, or if they are separate factions and goals that happen to fit together into the bigger picture. But isn’t that worth checking out?”
Aiden’s brow furrowed, linking together everything Jin was laying out. “So, their goal would be Sora, wouldn’t it be? Maybe even to get to Mia? She has to know about all of this, which…means she has a plan. Except, when so many Founders and other Singular Beings are present, even the First Generation would have a hard time forecasting the outcome.”
The dragon popped her tongue and showed a half smile as her head tilted. “Actually, I sort of lied when I said everything was about Sora. I mean, fundamentally, sure, but there is another thread pulled into Sora’s orbit that this force latched onto… Kari.”
Aiden felt his causality sense stirring, showing him fragmentary glimpses of spiraling paths: Kari entering an underwater city of darkness, her brawl with Eric, heartache, and internal hate that threatened to shatter her heart. Yet, he centered on one of those directions in his newly unleashed powers, the one where he was going with Aelion to this hidden area would lead to her making it past these shadows closing in around her.
“…Okay. What—”
Before he could respond, a thunderous impact shook the arena as someone landed on the platform with a show of force. The crowd exploded into deafening cheers.
Aiden slowly turned, heart seizing as he saw a very familiar, tall man straighten, slowly brushing dust off his shoulders with the relaxed confidence of someone who owned every space he entered—Eric had arrived.
“Well, well,” he called out, amber eyes sweeping over their group with casual interest as he approached Jin’s sound barrier without a hint of fear. “It’s nice having real Founders nearby. What a respectable show you’re putting on, Jin! Love the smell of blood. Really sets the mood. And looking good, as always.”
He was even larger than Aiden remembered—easily over two meters of pure muscle, radiating that natural alpha presence that made everyone unconsciously defer to him.
His gaze shifted to Aiden, and a genuine grin spread across his face. “And there’s my little brother, finally showing some real fire. Sora’s really bringing it out in you.” He gestured at the scorch marks covering the arena floor. “I felt those flames from across campus, Bro. That’s some serious heat you’re putting out now.”
Eric’s attention moved to assess the others—the weakened Elder Caelia, who was visibly shrinking under his scrutiny, and Aelion, whose artificial nature Eric’s trained predatory instincts immediately catalogued. Unlike Kari, Eric lived and breathed every teaching their mother tried to instill.
“Interesting company you’re keeping. He almost smells…like a Founder,” Eric noted, that casual smile never leaving his face as he sized up Aelion with the same calculating gaze he’d given Sora. “Definitely artificial. The fae on him smells right. I’m thinking…The Mórrígan? Ah! Knew it. Fascinating work. I wonder what he tastes like,” he muttered, licking his lips. “Maybe I’ll get a sample later.”
He turned back to Aiden, genuine pride warming his voice. “But seriously, Bro—I’m impressed. You’ve been holding back on me for years, haven’t you?”
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