The Darkness System: Rise of the Broken Sovereign

To learn a King Grade or above technique normally required years of comprehension for an average cultivator. Even for a genius, months upon months. But for Kael, comprehension of techniques seemed to flow naturally, especially shadow and darkness-based ones. He suspected it was because of the Astraeon bloodline, that dormant 10% that resonated with fundamental forces in ways his conscious mind didn’t fully understand.

He tucked the book under his arm and made his way back to the lower floor to rejoin the others.

Time was up.

The transport ride back was quiet. Most students slept. The exhaustion of the tournament, the party, and the library visit had finally caught up with the remaining students from four academies. Kael was the exception. He sat with the ancient book open on his lap, rereading the third form for the fourteenth time, his mind dissecting every sentence, every implication, every possible application.

The ships the IGF provided traveled faster than light, bending space around themselves, collapsing distances that should have taken weeks into hours. Most academies were located in the Skyfall Galaxy, one of the safest and most politically stable regions in known space. The journey from IGF Central took twelve hours.

Twelve hours to cover a distance that should have taken months. The engineering behind the drive systems was something beyond normal understanding.

Planet Orion materialized outside the viewport. Familiar crystalline towers. Streets of light. The mana density of the academy hit him like a warm wave as the transport descended through the atmosphere.

They were welcomed like royalty.

Students who had remained at the academy during the tournament flooded the landing pad. Word had spread. Not just through official channels but through the live holographic broadcast that had been transmitted to every academy in the Skyfall Galaxy and beyond. Millions had watched. Millions had seen Kael lead Heaven’s Gate to first place.

The crowd that gathered at the gate was enormous.

”KAEL! KAEL! OVER HERE!”

”THAT’S HIM! THAT’S KAEL VORN!”

”HE’S EVEN MORE HANDSOME IN PERSON!”

Girls pushed against the security barriers, reaching toward him. Some were from Heaven’s Gate. Others were visiting students from allied academies who had no business being on the platform.

Kael navigated the crowd with the rest of the group.

Now that he was back, the harassment intensified.

He was already famous among the students as a top 10 in the academy. Cassian was in a visible relationship with Yenna and seemed uninterested in attention. Karacus was unapproachable by nature, his normal social interaction felt like a predator sizing up prey. Mason only cared about fighting and training. Caelan only cared about the sword.

Kael seemed like the only approachable one. Handsome. Powerful. First place captain. And, crucially, not radiating the killing intent of a dragon-kin or the single-minded intensity of a sword demon.

He was basically harassed in the few days he came back.

”Mr. Vorn! Would you like to have dinner with our study group?”

”Kael! I made you a scarf! Please accept it!”

”Can you sign my tournament betting slip? I bet on you to win and you did!”

He accepted the scarf, declined the dinner, and signed the betting slip with a flourish that made the girl faint.

Three days after their return, the announcement came.

The announcement hall was packed. Every student in the academy filled the seats, buzzing with anticipation. The Vice Principal stood at the podium, her expression carrying that particular mix of satisfaction and authority that meant she was about to deliver news she had been sitting on for a while.

”Due to the rushed academy session,” Dubois began, her voice cutting through the murmurs, ”second year began immediately after first year concluded. There was no six-month holiday between years as is traditional.”

Groans echoed through the hall. The six-month holiday between academy years was practically sacred. Students planned their breaks months in advance. Training retreats. Family visits. Romance.

”However,” Dubois continued, and the single word shifted the atmosphere entirely, ”because of the compressed schedule, the normal six-month holiday after the completion of second year has been extended. Instead of six months, you will receive a one-year holiday.”

The groans vanished. Replaced by stunned silence, then eruption.

”ONE YEAR?!”

”A FULL YEAR?!”

”ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

Students leaped from their seats. Some cheered. Some cried. Two students fainted. A third-year in the back row ripped his shirt open and started doing push-ups out of pure joy.

Kael sat still, letting the noise wash over him. A full year. Time to train. Time to prepare for the inheritance ground.

This wasn’t a vacation. This was an opportunity.

A few days later, the Skyfall Galaxy port buzzed with activity.

Kael stood on the landing platform with Aria at his side, Isabella beside her with her usual composed expression, and Sebastian a few paces back with a face like he was chewing on broken glass. The bastard looked like he’d swallowed something poisonous and couldn’t spit it out.

Rue and Sage waited at a separate gate, their transport to the Fox Clan territories departing in an hour. Rue hugged Kael fiercely before leaving, her small body pressing against his chest, her colourful eyes bright with emotion she didn’t try to hide as she kissed him.

”Don’t forget us,” she murmured.

Sage’s goodbye was different. She grabbed his collar, pulled him down to her height, and kissed him hard enough to leave his lips tingling.

Kael, Sebastian, Isabella and Aria boarded the transport for the Vorn family estate in the Nova galaxy. The Nova galaxy was a significant distance from the Skyfall galaxy, even with IGF ships that bent the rules of physics. The journey took two days.

Kael spent most of it with the Thunder God Technique open on his lap, reading the second and third forms until the words blurred and he had to close his eyes to rest his overworked comprehension.

When the transport finally began its descent toward the thirteen worlds, Kael looked out the viewport at the familiar stars of home and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

Whatever waited at the estate, he was ready for it.