Chapter 8 – Flickers in the Veins
[System Alert: Foundational Breathing Technique – Basic Integration: 12%]
[Core Formation: In Progress]
[Stage: Initiate]
The cold morning air wrapped around Kael's skin like mist clinging to stone. Breath in. Hold. Out. Again. Around him, the students of Class A moved in synchronized cadence, chests rising and falling in waves, all following the rhythm Instructor Harn had drilled into them.
But inside Kael, nothing was calm.
Each breath stoked something wrong—like coaxing a fire that shouldn't exist. A tingling ran along his arms, prickling the hairs on his skin. The wind around him seemed to hush, as though listening.
Joran sat cross-legged nearby, his breathing slow, even. Steady mana pulsed gently from him—soothing, like rainfall on earth. Kael tried to match it.
His veins itched. Pressure coiled beneath his ribs. He clenched his jaw.
[Elemental Response: Fluctuation detected.]
[Breathing Integration stalled. Instability rising.]
"Stop."
Instructor Harn's voice cut through the stillness. All movement halted.
He walked between students, examining their postures, their flow. When he reached Kael, he crouched.
"Your breath is off," Harn said quietly. "Too much draw, not enough control. You're pulling more than you realize."
Kael looked down. His fingertips trembled. The ground beneath them had fine lines of dust, blown outward in a spiral pattern.
Harn narrowed his eyes. "Hold out your hand."
Kael did.
Harn placed a small green leaf in his palm. "Breathe. Keep it still."
Kael inhaled slowly, trying to smooth his pulse.
The leaf twitched.
A spark leapt from Kael's skin, and the edge of the leaf blackened.
Harn took it back, lips pressed into a thin line. "You're trying too hard. Foundation isn't force. It's flow."
From the edge of the training yard, a familiar voice drawled, amused. "Or maybe some people just aren't meant to flow."
Karn.
He leaned against a tree, arms crossed. His sleeveless tunic exposed the faint orange tattoos along his shoulders—feather-like markings that shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
The air around him was warm, unnaturally so.
Kael stood, his jaw tight. "Don't you have your own practice to fail at?"
Karn smirked. Behind him, a flicker of fiery wings shimmered—the outline of a flaming eagle rising in his shadow.
"I don't need to practice what's already perfect," Karn said. "Advanced Disciple. Core solidified. Elemental Bestial Affinity: Bound. Unlike you, 'Null.' Still playing at breathing."
Kael's fists clenched.
[New Combatant Scanned: Karn Veylor]
[Stage: Advanced Disciple]
[Affinity: Fire/Bestial (Flaming Eagle)]
[Core: Stable. Class Progress: Pending]
Joran stepped between them. "Let it go."
Karn's grin widened, but he walked away.
Later – Meditation Chambers
The room was dark, lit only by soft blue glyphs along the stone floor. Kael sat alone, legs folded, trying to calm the storm within.
Breath in. Hold. Out.
This time, he saw it.
In his mind's eye, beneath the surface of his breath, a storm horizon loomed. Black clouds circled, and jagged veins of lightning crackled through them. Wind spiraled around him, whispering words he couldn't understand.
He reached toward the lightning—
[Warning: Elemental Instability Detected]
[Dual-Affinity Conflict: Wind (Locked), Lightning (Suppressed)]
[Core Alignment: Delayed. Recommend Suppression Protocols]
Kael gasped, breaking the meditation. His body felt scorched from the inside. His sleeves were singed at the edges. A faint spark jumped from his wrist to the stone floor.
His breath shook. He wiped blood from his nose.
He wasn't just breathing mana anymore. He was waking something ancient.
Dormitory – That Night
Joran found him sitting at the edge of his bed, shirt off, studying faint silver-blue markings along his arms. Like lightning scars, too faint to be real.
"You're getting worse," Joran said, sitting beside him.
"I can't stop it. I breathe, and it moves. It's like… it wants out."
"You have to hide it. Until you're ready. Until you're strong enough to own it."
Kael looked out the window. The wind outside stirred, and distant thunder rumbled in the far-off sky.
"I don't think it'll wait that long."
📜 System Log – End of Chapter
[Name: Kael Caelum]
[Stage: Initiate]
[Core Status: Unstable – Dual-Affinity Detected]
[Affinities: Wind (Suppressed), Lightning (Suppressed), Water (Dormant)]
[Combat Skills: None yet formed]
[System Note: Unique class path detected – Auto-classification suspended]
[Warning: Do not expose affinities until Core stabilizes]