The sky above the Ember Corps' training grounds was **burning gold**.
Literally.
Flame runes floated in the air, swirling overhead like birds made of molten script. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the entire courtyard pulsed with heat as if dawn had been trapped in a bottle and smashed open over the field.
Kye stood at the edge of the stone plaza, watching other **trainees** arrive.
Most were younger than him—fifteen to seventeen. Noble-born by the looks of their uniforms, with smug faces and spotless gloves. He counted at least three house crests stitched into the cloaks: Voss, Erenhal, and Mirthwin.
He saw no smiles. Just silent stares.
They recognized him.
Not as Kael.
But as the **one who wasn't supposed to still be alive**.
---
A sharp blast echoed across the field.
BOOM!
The noise came from a long, narrow tower just off to the right. Then again. BOOM! BOOM!
Each blast made the runes in the sky twitch and pulse brighter.
Then the tower doors slammed open.
Out walked a man.
Massive. Shirtless. Covered in runes **burned into his skin** instead of inked. His beard was braided with red metal rings. His eyes burned amber like furnace coals. And strapped across his back was a **hammer** the size of a tombstone.
He didn't walk. He **stomped**.
Everyone went silent.
He stopped in front of the group, dragged his hammer off his back, and planted it into the stone.
"Good morning, candle wax."
No one dared laugh.
He turned slightly, voice booming like thunder through the training field.
"I am **Overseer Darneth.** And congratulations… you've made it to **War Mage Conditioning**. You may think that makes you special."
He leaned in.
"It doesn't."
He pointed at one of the students—a tall girl with white gloves.
"Cast a flame."
The girl raised her hand and summoned a small fireball. It hovered, obedient, like a tame beast.
Darneth nodded. "Nice. Pretty. Now—**burn it.**"
The girl blinked. "What?"
"Burn it. Destroy the flame you created."
She hesitated.
He moved in front of her like a storm. "**Burn it.** Now."
She flinched, focused—and tried.
The flame sputtered. Warped. Died.
Darneth turned to the rest of them.
"This is what most of you don't understand. You think magic is **creation**. That's a mistake. *Creation is soft.* Creation is noble."
He raised his hammer.
"**War mages destroy.** You don't light fires. You erase them."
> *"You are not chosen to protect. You are chosen to survive. To out-burn your enemy. To strike where spells are weakest. And if you hesitate..."*
He slammed the hammer into the ground—
**BOOM.**
The stone beneath their feet cracked.
"Then you die."
---
They began training immediately.
No warm-up. No lesson plan. No introduction.
Darneth called it: **"Trial 0: Flame Reversal"**
Each student was placed in front of a magical construct—a mirror made of obsidian glass. In it, they would cast their most basic flame spell… and then be **attacked** by their own reflected magic.
The task? **Break the reflection's spell faster than it breaks you.**
Kye stepped forward when called, eyeing the mirror warily.
He wasn't even sure how to *cast* a real spell yet.
Just instinct.
Darneth sneered. "Ah, the paradox prince. Let's see if your trick from the other day was a fluke."
The mirror in front of Kye pulsed.
From it, a reflection appeared—his **own face**, lit with flickering red flame.
> **\[Paradox System: Flame Reversal Trial Initiated]**
> *Opponent: Mirror Construct – Reflective Elemental Copy (Stage I)*
> *Weakness: Unstable intent signature – requires direct will targeting*
Kye exhaled.
"Alright. You want a spell?"
He focused.
The Ember Vein burned in his core.
Not like a river—but like a match trying to become a torch.
He held out his hand and **remembered** how it felt to throw Cairn Voss backward. That surge. That rejection of power. That **refusal** to break.
> **\[Instinct Spell Constructed – Name Assigned: Ember Reject]**
> *Effect: Reverses external flame signature into internal pressure burst.*
His palm glowed.
The mirror-Kye threw a flame lance.
Kye stepped into it—and **punched the flame**.
The world flashed **red**.
**BOOM.**
The mirror shattered in half, its pieces sizzling in mid-air.
The rest of the field stared in stunned silence.
Darneth's hammer slowly lifted.
"…Pass."
---
By the end of the day, **half the trainees failed**. Two had to be carried out. One wept on the floor until Darneth had him dragged away.
Kye stood, exhausted, sweat soaking his plain shirt, pulse still racing.
And yet…
He felt **alive** again.
Not just because he passed.
But because, for once, **Kael's body wasn't in control.**
**He was.**
---
Later that evening, back in his quarters…
Kye sat by the window, watching the flame lilies sway in the wind.
The silver cube Velden had given him—**the Witchfire Fragment**—still sat unopened beside his bed.
Tomorrow, he'd face it.
But today, he had taken a step that Kael had never dared.
**He fought himself… and won.**
> **\[Paradox System: Flame Walker Aptitude – Advanced Level I Achieved]**
> *New Trait Gained: Burnproof Instincts – Automatically resists internal backlash from unstable flame magic.*
> *You don't burn when you push your limit. You adapt.*
Kye smiled faintly.
"Not bad," he whispered. "Not bad at all."