📖 THE ERA: The New Era
Chapter Six – Ash Behind the Curtain, Sparks Before the Stage
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🛠️ Kai: The Meeting in the Undercity
The elevator creaked down into the Verge's forgotten veins — a place of flickering lights, rusted rails, and ghosted spirit energy that still clung to the walls like broken promises.
Kai stepped out, a plasma baton tucked under his coat. He didn't trust the message. But curiosity won.
He walked toward the coordinates.
A figure was already waiting — tall, cloaked, wearing a mask etched with old circuit sigils. The air behind him shimmered faintly with a spirit-field emitter.
"You're the one called Echo Forge," the voice said — distorted but calm.
Kai didn't answer.
The figure tossed a small case forward. It opened mid-air.
Inside: a miniature spirit core encased in refined mana metal — ancient tech from before the wars. One that could potentially amplify spiritual conduction without attunement.
Kai blinked.
"I want your help refining this," the voice said. "Your designs show promise."
Kai whistled. "And what's in it for me?"
"A prototype blueprint you've never seen. One your father helped bury."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "You knew Orin?"
The figure didn't reply — only turned, vanishing into mist. The core remained floating.
Kai pocketed it, mind spinning.
He didn't know it yet, but he had just stepped into a shadow war of the old world.
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🏫 Von: The Unwanted Spotlight
Back at the academy, the air buzzed with energy.
An announcement had just echoed across the floating screens all over campus:
> [URGENT: Local School Tournament — Begins Today]
— Due to sudden budget reform and Hero Organization directives, a preliminary ranking battle will be held NOW to determine sector eligibility.
Students exploded into whispers and chaos.
Von was walking through the courtyard, earbuds in, when someone bumped into him.
"Oh, sorry—wait, you're Von, right?" It was a sharp-eyed girl with electric-blue streaks in her hair. "Didn't think you were in our year. You joining?"
Von blinked. "Joining what?"
She pointed. Behind her, instructors were already setting up barriers and spirit-measure sensors.
"Tournament. Every student's included. Even the silent ones."
Von gave a flat look. "...Perfect."
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🧠 Inside the Arena: A Misunderstanding
The matches were being selected randomly — 1v1 sparring, with instructors judging for precision, control, and spirit use.
Von barely had time to sigh before his name flashed:
> [ROUND 2: Von vs. Derrik Hailson]
"Oh come on," someone muttered. "Derrik's a Class B. Who the hell is Von?"
Derrik swaggered into the field, tall and armored with a visible core-reactive gauntlet. His flame-element glimmered faintly as he activated it.
"You sure you wanna go through with this?" he asked.
Von gave a tiny shrug, stepping into the circle. "I'd prefer not to be here at all, so..."
The match started.
Derrik rushed in — fast, heavy. Spirit flame roared toward Von.
And then — Von stepped once.
It was barely visible.
A subtle flicker. A movement that looked like luck.
Derrik's attack missed. Von tapped his shoulder mid-spin. The larger boy stumbled, tripped over himself — and landed outside the boundary.
> [VICTORY: VON]
Silence.
Then murmurs. Then claps.
"Was that… did he dodge…?"
"I didn't even see—"
Von walked off calmly, earbuds back in, like nothing happened.
Only one person — a senior instructor — had eyes narrowed.
> "That movement wasn't ordinary. That boy… he doesn't move like a novice."
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📜 End of Chapter Summary
Kai enters a dangerous agreement tied to Orin's past — gaining tech that might awaken sleeping forces.
Von accidentally becomes known through a school-wide tournament after dodging a powerful attack effortlessly — drawing quiet suspicion.
This begins the arc of fame chasing Von even as he runs from it.
The sealed power remains still. Dormant. But the world is closing in.