The teachers in the hallway stood frozen as Jai walked past. One of them gulped, a bead of sweat tracing a path down his forehead. His eyes were wide, darting toward Jai's retreating back.
"A dragon?" the teacher whispered, his voice trembling. "Do you realize what you're saying, Elanor? If a dragon is spotted, the Kingdom's decree is absolute: death. How could the daughter of Beatrice Chenwongo—the woman who is the law—be allowed to even look at one?"
Elanor wiped his brow, looking regretful for having spoken. "I only repeat what is whispered in the dormitories. But the result is the same. Rena Chenwongo is... a ghost in her own home. They say she is the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth—black hair like a moonless night and eyes like rubies. But beauty is a cruel joke when you have no power. In this world, beauty without strength is just a flower waiting to be crushed. No noble would marry a 'hollow' woman, even one with the blood of Beatrice."
He sighed, watching Jai disappear around the corner. "To be born a Chenwongo and have no Tier... it is a fate worse than death. Especially if that rumor about the child is true."
Inside the classroom, the atmosphere was thick with the scent of old parchment and the hum of suppressed magic.
"Did you prepare for the test, or were you too busy being a genius?"
Nick leaned back in his chair, a cocky grin on his face. Beside him sat Krex, whose dark, earthen skin and blue eyes gave him a formidable appearance.
"You think the 'New Sovereign' isn't ready?" Krex snorted. "He probably memorized the scrolls while we were still eating breakfast."
Nick laughed. "True. He's the king of this world. We're just the peasants living in his shadow. We have to show the proper respect, don't we, Jai?"
Jai sat at his desk. His head was throbbing—the remnants of that golden-blooded dream of Yaowang Ming clawing at his skull. The joking voices of his friends felt like needles. His ocean-blue eyes, usually as calm as a summer sea, were now dark and turbulent.
"Shut up," Jai said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
"Oh, come on, Jai, we're just—"
"I said, shut the fuck up," Jai snapped, turning his cold, piercing blue gaze on them. "My head is splitting open. If another word comes out of your mouths, I will rip your tongues out right here. I don't care who's watching."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Nick and Krex froze. They knew Jai wasn't just being moody; when a Chenwongo spoke like that, the air itself sharpened. They grabbed their books and scrambled to the far side of the room.
Jai stared at his trembling hands. Why is my blood boiling? Who was that man in the dream?
After the academy bells chimed, Jai stepped out into the cool afternoon air. A massive black carriage waited. It was a masterpiece of dark wood and silver filigree. At the reins sat a man who looked like a ghost of a warrior—Jai's uncle.
The man had white hair and a jagged scar where his left eye should have been. He adjusted his spectacles, smiling warmly as Jai approached. Despite being a 'failure' with low magic, he was the only one who truly pampered Jai.
"Rough day, Jai?" his uncle asked as the carriage began its rhythmic clip-clop over the cobblestones.
"Just a headache, Uncle," Jai replied, leaning back against the velvet cushions.
"Your eighteenth birthday is tomorrow," the old man said softly. "Is there anything you want? A new sword? A rare beast-core?"
Jai looked at the man's scarred face. He knew his uncle was kind, but he also knew his uncle's position was fragile. In the Chenwongo family, if you weren't strong, you were a servant.
"I don't want anything," Jai said quietly. "Just take care of yourself, Uncle. Your blessings are enough."
The carriage wound its way up the long driveway of the Chenwongo estate. The house was an immense structure of grey stone that glittered like diamonds in the setting sun. Ivy climbed the walls like emerald veins, and the scent of damp earth and pine needles filled the air.
As Jai entered, his mother, Mable, was waiting. Even in her casual robes, she radiated the aura of a Tier 4 Ascendant.
"Practice well tonight, Jai," she said, her blue eyes searching his. "Your father is working late. The Time and Space rifts are unstable. As a Tier 3 Primordial Vein user, the Emperor relies on him too much."
Jai nodded and headed to his room. He thought about the Tier system—the brutal ladder of human existence.
He knew the Tiers by heart: From the Tier 10 Ignitors up to the Tier 4 Ascendants like his mother. Then the leap to Tier 3, the Grand Seers, whose blood turned Obsidian black and who walked the path of immortality.
And then there was his grandmother, Beatrice.
She was Tier 2, Eclipse Borne. A woman whose blood was Ivory Gold—the same color as the blood of the man in Jai's dream. She mastered all eighteen elements, from Fire and Water to the terrifying Void.
If the price of power is pain, Jai thought, staring at his reflection, how much pain did she have to endure to reach the gold?
The next morning, the smell of Blue Lilies and fresh coffee pulled Jai from a dreamless sleep.
His mother stood by his bed, wearing a stunning blue gown. "Wake up, Jai. Today, you are eighteen."
Jai took the coffee, his heart heavy. He walked out onto the balcony, overlooking the gardens where exotic, glowing flora pulsed with magic.
He was the "Golden Heir," believed to be the reincarnation of Emperor Dominatrix. He had already mastered nine different elements—Fire, Water, Ice, Thunder, Light, Wood, Wind, Metal, and Gravity—all before his Awakening.
But as he looked at the horizon, a cold fear gripped him. He thought of his Aunt Rena. She was the daughter of the strongest woman in the world, yet she was nothing.
What if his core was a lie? What if the nine elements he studied refused to answer him?
"I will not be like Rena," Jai whispered, his ocean-blue eyes turning as hard as ice.