The morning sun rose over Oakhaven like a bruised orange, casting long, jagged shadows across the Training Grounds of the Iron Petal. This was an ancient arena, a circular pit of packed earth surrounded by tiered stone benches where the village's elite and commoners alike gathered to watch the disputes of the youth. In a world where your Crest-Mon and your Prana determined your social standing, a duel was more than a fight—it was a legal contract written in sweat and spirit.Konja Munka stood at the edge of the pit, checking the linen wraps on his knuckles. His hands were steady, but his stomach was a knot of nerves. He wore his faded indigo training gi, the back emblazoned with the faint, washed-out crest of the Munka family—a coiled dragon clutching a glowing orb."You're actually here," a voice said.Konja turned to see Mina Sol. She wasn't alone. Standing beside her was a boy Konja recognized from the outskirts of the village named Renzo. Renzo was lean, with messy green hair and a permanent bandage across the bridge of his nose. Hovering near Renzo's shoulder was a Leaf-Blight, a mantis-like creature that clicked its scythes rhythmically."I didn't think you'd show up to watch me get pulverized, Mina," Konja said with a dry, self-deprecating chuckle."I'm not here to watch you get pulverized," Mina said firmly, handing him a small glass vial filled with a shimmering blue liquid. "This is a distilled Spirit-Herb. It'll help your Prana recovery if the fight goes long. And this is Renzo. He... well, he thinks you're crazy, but he respects the hustle.""The Munka name used to mean something," Renzo said, his voice raspy as if he'd been shouting over mountain winds. "I want to see if there's any of that old Dragon-Blood left in you, or if you're just a cook who's in over his head. Don't let that silk-wearing brat win.""I guess we're about to find out," Konja muttered, tucking the vial into his belt.The Arena FloorA loud, resonating gong echoed through the square. Elder Kaito, the village arbiter, stepped onto the central dais. He was a man who looked like a gnarled oak tree, his presence heavy with the weight of decades of martial arts mastery."The challenge is set!" Kaito announced, his voice carrying to the furthest rows. "Konja of the House of Munka versus Baron of the House of Vane. The stakes: The right to vend in the Lower Sluices against a year's worth of commercial tithes. Combatants, center yourself!"Baron Vane stepped into the pit with the predatory grace of someone who had never known a day of hunger. He had replaced his silk gi with reinforced Drake-Scale Armor that shimmered with a metallic sheen. Beside him walked Ignis, his Flare-Hound. The creature was twice the size of Zale, with fur made of literal embers that dropped sparks onto the dirt."Last chance to forfeit, Konja," Baron sneered, loud enough for the growing crowd to hear. "Go back to your charcoal. If I start using my family's Secret Techniques, I might accidentally burn that pathetic blue squirrel of yours to a crisp."Zale, perched on Konja's shoulder, let out a high-pitched bark of defiance. The small creature's fur began to static, blue sparks dancing between its ears like miniature forks of lightning."Zale isn't a squirrel," Konja said, dropping into his fighting stance—the Low-Tiger. "He's a Munka. And we don't forfeit."The Clash Begins"Begin!" Kaito shouted, dropping his hand.Baron didn't wait. He moved with explosive speed. "Vane-Style: Ember Dash!" he roared. He disappeared in a blur of orange light, reappearing inches from Konja's face. His fist was a glowing coal, radiating intense heat.Konja's eyes widened. Fast!He barely managed to bring his forearms up in a cross-block. The impact felt like being hit by a runaway carriage. The heat scorched his sleeves, and the force sent him skidding back across the dirt, his boots carving deep furrows in the ground."Is that all?" Baron laughed, not giving Konja a second to breathe. "Ignis, Flame-Burst!"The Flare-Hound barked, and a sphere of concentrated fire shot from its mouth."Zale, Volt-Shield!" Konja commanded.The little blue fox leaped in front of Konja, spinning like a top. A dome of crackling electricity formed just as the fireball hit. The explosion sent a cloud of steam and dust into the air. The crowd leaned forward, trying to see through the haze. Inside the smoke, Konja was breathing hard. My Prana levels are too low to keep shielding, he realized. I have to get close. I have to use the Iron-Palm.He burst through the smoke, catching Baron by surprise."Martial Art: Tenderizing Strike!" Konja yelled. He threw a flurry of punches—not aimed at Baron's head, but at his pressure points. One. Two. Three. Each hit landed with a dull thud. Baron grunted, trying to parry, but Konja's years of training with heavy meat-mallets had given him a rhythmic, relentless speed."You think these love-taps hurt?" Baron snarled. He grabbed Konja's wrist, his grip burning through the cloth wraps. "I am a Vane! My Prana is the sun itself!"Baron's aura flared, turning from orange to a blinding white-gold. The air around them began to shimmer with intense heat. "Crest-Synthesis: Solar Flare!""Konja, get out of there!" Mina screamed from the stands.Baron slammed a knee into Konja's midsection, then followed up with a spinning back-kick that sent Konja flying into the stone wall of the arena. Konja hit the rock with a sickening crack and slumped to the ground, unmoving.The AwakeningEverything went quiet for Konja. He could hear the ringing in his ears. He could see Zale running toward him, looking terrified. He could see Baron walking slowly toward him, hand raised for a final, finishing blow.Am I really just an Ordinary? Konja thought, his vision blurring. Is the Munka name just a ghost?Then, he felt it. A warmth deep in his stomach, right where his center of gravity sat. It wasn't the searing, destructive heat of Baron's fire. It was something cooler, deeper—like an underground river. It was the Hidden Potential his grandfather had always whispered about.Konja's eyes snapped open. They weren't brown anymore; they were a piercing, electric silver."Zale... let's show them the true recipe," Konja whispered.Zale didn't just bark; he roared. The small fox began to glow with a brilliant white light. Its body elongated, its tail splitting into three shimmering strands of energy. This wasn't a full evolution, but a Prana-Burst Transformation.Konja stood up. The ground beneath his feet cracked under the sheer pressure of his new aura."What is this?" Baron stopped, his face pale. "Your Prana... it's spiking! It's over 5,000 units! That's impossible for a street-vendor!"Konja didn't answer with words. He blurred. He appeared in front of Baron. His hand was flat, moving like a blade."Munka-Style: First Gate—Open!" Konja roared.He struck. It wasn't one hit—it was a hundred hits in the span of a second. Every strike sounded like a thunderclap. Baron's drake-scale armor shattered. Ignis tried to intervene, but Zale, in his new energized form, intercepted the hound with a Thunder-Fang that sent the dog reeling.Konja finished the combo with a palm strike to Baron's chest. A shockwave of blue and white energy ripped through the arena, blowing back the hair of everyone in the first three rows. Baron Vane flew backward, skidding across the dirt until he hit the far wall, unconscious.The AftermathThe silence in the arena was absolute. An "Ordinary" boy had just defeated the son of a High-Restaurant family using a technique no one had seen in a hundred years.Konja stood in the center of the pit, his silver eyes slowly fading back to brown. The energy left him all at once, and he dropped to one knee, gasping for air. Zale reverted to his small, fox-like self and collapsed onto Konja's lap, exhausted.Elder Kaito stepped down, his eyes wide with shock. He looked at the crater where Baron lay, then at the shivering Konja."The winner... is Konja Munka," Kaito announced, his voice trembling slightly.The "Lower Sluices" section of the crowd erupted. The street vendors, the cooks, the ordinary people—they were cheering so loud the stones seemed to vibrate. Mina leaped over the railing, followed by a stunned Renzo."You did it! You actually did it!" Mina cried, throwing her arms around Konja.Konja blanched, his face turning redder than Baron's fire. "I... I think I'm going to throw up," he managed to say, though a small smile touched his lips.Renzo looked at the crater. "That wasn't just Prana, Konja. That was a Bloodline Awakening. You've started something today. The high families... they aren't going to like that a Munka is rising again."As the crowd swarmed the pit, Konja looked up at the Upper District. He saw shadows standing on the balconies of the high restaurants—powerful figures watching him with cold, calculating eyes. He had won the battle, but he realized now that Oakhaven was just a small corner of a much more dangerous world.
