After the confrontation in the ancestral vault, House Virdane was no longer quiet. Rumors of awakening flames, of forbidden power, of Kael—the Ninth Son—reached corners where silence had once ruled.
Kael sat alone in the training courtyard under the dying light. The ember shard wrapped in cloth pulsed faintly beside him, unreadable. Its warmth hadn't faded, but the meaning behind it remained elusive.
> [Status Update – Kael Virdane]
Class: Initiate (Unassigned Path)
Level: 12
Traits: [Shadowflame Resilience Lv.1], [Instinct of the Lost Flame Lv.1]
Skills: None active.
Condition: Stable / Unresolved Class Evolution.
He traced a circle on the stone floor with the edge of his boot. He hadn't chosen yet.
"Still undecided?"
Kael turned. It was Seriah, the third sister. Her long hair braided in the style of the western nobles, her violet eyes full of quiet strength.
"I saw what you did," she said, taking a seat beside him. "The vault—what you faced there. It wasn't just family secrets."
Kael shook his head. "No. It was something older. Something that doesn't care about the name Virdane."
Seriah offered him a piece of dried fruit. "You know they're watching you now. Tyrean, Father… even the outer families. They smell change."
"I don't want a war."
"You may not want it," she said, "but you're standing where it begins."
---
Elsewhere, Tyrean sat in the high chamber of flames, in council with his closest followers. Holograms floated—Kael's name highlighted among sigils and threat levels.
"He's untrained, but unpredictable," muttered a Bladed Knight.
"Exactly what makes him dangerous," Tyrean said coldly. "Keep the surveillance discreet. Let him walk freely, but record everything."
> [Surveillance Order Initiated – Subject: Kael Virdane]
Authorized By: Tyrean Virdane – Duel Monarch – Lv. 67
---
That night, Kael returned to the shattered chamber where he first found the ember. Vel was there, running her fingers across the scorch marks on the wall.
"You ever wonder," she said, "why that thing reacted to you and not your brothers?"
Kael shrugged. "Maybe I'm already broken."
"Or maybe you're the only one still carrying a real oath."
The ember pulsed again—this time with a faint whisper only Kael could hear:
"Paths bend to will... or to ruin."
> [Class Path Alert: Oathbreaker Echoblade – Awakened. Conditions met.]
Synchronization: 35%
He didn't select it yet.
Instead, he left the shard in the chamber, embedded in the broken altar, as if returning something he never asked for.
---
Back in the main wing, his youngest half-brother, Derren, trained furiously. Derren was brash but loyal—a rare trait among noble blood.
> [Status – Derren Virdane]
Class: Blazing Vanguard – Lv. 16
Traits: [Rush of Flame], [Heir's Resilience]
Condition: Motivated / Overtraining.
He glanced up as Kael passed. "If you ever need someone to burn a path through problems, I'm your torch."
Kael smirked faintly. "And what if the problem is me?"
Derren grinned. "Then I'll aim for the arms, not the heart."
---
In the cold silence of his room, Kael finally activated the interface again.
> [Trait [Shadowflame Resilience] sync rising: 40%]
[Class Path Recognition: Delayed]
He didn't choose tonight.
But he knew—something darker had already noticed him.
And it was coming.