Shadowbound: The Awakened Fool

The tournament resumed like a storm, rebuilding its pressure.

The single duels grew more intense. Injuries mounted. Spectators now arrived early to claim their view of the elite matchups. And above it all, the final bracket began to tighten.

Only twelve duelists remained.

Five schools. Two wild cards. And one participant added, with almost no public profile, his face only recently added to the roster.

Name: Cael SorenAffiliation: Onyx Shard Academy (Northern Region)Rank: UnlistedAge: 17Affinities: UnknownAspect: Undeclared

He wore gray.

Spoke to no one.

Fought once and finished the match in six seconds without using a single spell chant.

The evaluators made no comment.

But in the viewing galleries, Elira Dawn frowned.

"He's not a student," she murmured.

Kairo stood beside her, arms folded.

"He's a shadow," he said quietly.

She looked at him sharply.

But he was already watching the field.

Match 1 – Dalron Vex vs. Iren Valce

Iren Valce was a ranked fire-staff duelist from Western Crest Academy.

Dalron Vex didn't care.

The moment the match started, Dalron's iron-armored rhino aspect appeared, crashing into the stone with thunderous weight. The ground shattered beneath him. His opponent's flame shields folded instantly under brute force.

Dalron didn't use spells.

Just pressure.

And fists wrapped in plates of matured elemental earth.

The fight lasted twenty-three seconds.

"Victory: Dalron Vex."

He didn't celebrate. He simply left the field.

Match 2 – Ren Vale vs. Cael Soren

Freya watched with narrowed eyes as her younger brother stepped onto the field.

Ren cracked his neck once, then spun his staff once through the air and smirked.

His wind aura gathered around him tight and quick, faster than before. His last match had been clean, his timing improving rapidly.

"Alright," he muttered, grinning at the silent boy in gray across from him. "Let's see what we're working with."

Cael didn't respond.

Didn't even blink.

The moment the match began, Ren moved first.

Fast.

Wind gathered around his feet as he zigzagged forward, bouncing between air bursts and launching a flurry of ranged pressure arcs, sharp wind blades angled to test Cael's mobility.

Cael didn't dodge.

He just stepped through them.

The blades missed.

Not because they were blocked but because they were… displaced.

Elira's eyes narrowed. "He's using a spatial delay."

Kairo didn't blink. "That's not academy-taught magic."

Ren changed tactics fast.

He vaulted over Cael, spun midair, and launched a compressed air bomb behind him, a spinning projectile meant to create a vacuum explosion on contact.

It hit.

Smoke flared.

But when it cleared

Cael was standing in the same spot.

His hair wasn't even tousled.

Ren landed, panting slightly.

Cael raised one hand.

Just one.

No chant. No glyph. No casting circle.

The air folded.

Ren's eyes widened.

His wind barrier compressed around him not by force, but by manipulation.

Reversal spell, Kairo realized.

Cael reflected Ren's mana.

The shockwave hit Ren from all sides. He staggered, pushed to his knees.

Still, he grinned. "What... was that?"

Cael didn't answer.

He simply walked forward.

Each step slowed time around him, not literally, but perceptually. Like even movement bent to his control.

Ren stood up fully.

"Nope," he said, coughing blood. "Still fighting."

He charged again.

The next strike was clean. Staff raised, wind trailing behind it.

Cael caught it with two fingers.

And snapped it in half.

The fight was over.

But Ren didn't fall.

He stood there, one knee down, hands shaking, unconscious on his feet.

The referee moved.

"Victory: Cael Soren."

Freya stood silently as her brother was carried off the field by healers. She didn't cry.

But her flame flared hotter than usual.

Kairo sat alone in the inner lounge. He hadn't spoken since the match ended.

Not even when Arvan passed by and paused beside him.

"He's not from Onyx Shard, is he?" Arvan asked.

Kairo looked up slowly. "No."

"Then who?"

"A Celestial Prodigy."

The phrase hung in the air like thunder before a strike.

Arvan swallowed.

"That means"

"He's with the Agency. The real one. The ones who train in veil dimensions."

"But he didn't even use an aspect…"

Kairo closed his eyes.

"That was his aspect."

High above the Colosseum, behind a series of enchanted curtains, the Magisterium delegates spoke in hushed tones.

"He's too unstable."

"We should've restricted him from live combat."

"This is part of the simulation process. Keep him in until the final ten."

"What if the flame aspect awakens early?"

A pause.

Then one voice said:

"That's exactly what we're waiting for."