The Proving Grounds were no longer a battlefield — they were a wasteland.
Broken trees jutted from the blackened soil like the ribs of a dying beast.
Smoke and ash clouded the air, carrying the scent of burned wood and blood.
Kael Ryuu stood at the center of the ruin.
His uniform was shredded. His gloves — the enchanted ones that had protected him — were gone, consumed by the volatile energies he had tried and failed to control.
Every inch of his body burned, his veins thrumming with unrefined String.
But he fought on.
A sea of Wraithborn swarmed him — lesser creatures spawned from the corruption of the String, each one howling for his death.
Kael's breaths came in ragged bursts as he cut and weaved between them, relying on instinct more than strategy now.
His arms screamed with every motion. His soul felt frayed, hanging on the edge of collapse.
The Wraithborn General loomed beyond them.
A twisted monstrosity of bone, blackened wings, and rippling malice.
Its aura alone pressed down on the world like an iron storm.
Kael faltered.
His vision blurred.
The world tilted — and the end seemed inevitable.
Until salvation arrived.
A howling wind tore across the battlefield, shredding the advancing horde like paper.
At its core, a figure in a tattered officer's coat, blade gleaming in the dim light.
Senn.
With a precise motion, Senn slammed his sword into the cracked earth.
The air exploded into a cyclone — a towering tornado of pure, cutting wind — lifting Wraithborn screaming into the sky.
Before Kael could even comprehend it, a surge of spiritual pressure blanketed the field.
Selai descended from the rubble of a fallen spire, her hair whipping wildly around her.
Chanting under her breath, she manipulated the battlefield itself —
stones, broken trees, and shattered steel debris rose into the air, orbiting her in a glowing storm before launching outward like divine artillery.
The Wraithborn ranks shattered under the onslaught.
But the General remained, advancing with terrifying inevitability.
That's when the air ignited.
Veyna appeared, hands wreathed in searing flame.
She thrust her palms toward Senn's tornado — and the spiraling winds caught fire, transforming the storm into a raging inferno that swept across the battlefield.
The ground itself cracked under the heat.
Even the corrupted String around the Wraithborn General flickered — but it held.
The General endured.
Senn, Selai, and Veyna prepared to engage it directly, but even their combined assault would not be enough.
Kael — bloodied, broken — lifted his gaze to the churning heavens.
He could barely stand. His arms hung useless at his sides.
But deep within him, the String stirred.
A whisper — no, a promise.
In that moment, Kael abandoned caution.
He lifted his bare hands, and the last of his strength poured out.
The String answered.
Elements roared to life around him:
Fire. Water. Earth. Stone. Spirit. Even the fragile pulse of Time.
Smoke and ash twisted upward, condensing into something massive — something alive.
A dragon took form in the sky.
Molten scales glinted in the firelight.
Spiritlight veins pulsed across its wings.
Its eyes burned with ancient power.
Kael rose from the ground, suspended by raw willpower and the String's last gift.
Below, Senn, Selai, and Veyna stared in shock.
Veyna's voice broke the silence, strained and sharp:
"He's not supposed to be able to do that yet!"
Far away, in the scrying chamber of the Academy, chaos erupted.
Captains gasped.
Instructors rose from their seats in disbelief.
Even the Headmaster, so often a stone-faced figure, leaned forward —
his eyes gleaming with rare emotion.
Above the battlefield, the dragon roared —
a sound that shattered the sky itself.
The Wraithborn General turned, realizing too late what was about to befall it.
The dragon opened its colossal jaws —
and unleashed a cataclysmic conflagration that swallowed the General whole.
The blast cratered the earth, hurling debris and fire high into the sky.
When the firestorm finally cleared, the Wraithborn General was no more.
Only molten glass and scorched ruins remained.
Kael hovered briefly, his body limp, his consciousness slipping away.
He fell — but never touched the ground.
Senn caught him midair, cradling him with the casual strength of a seasoned warrior.
Without a word, the captains gathered.
Skyships descended from the smoke-filled skies to extract the survivors.
The Proving Grounds were silent now, save for the crackle of dying flames.
And in the eyes of those who witnessed the battle —
a new truth began to take root.
Kael Ryuu was no ordinary Soulborne.
He was something else entirely.