The fmes whispered as they died, licking at the circle’s edge before vanishing entirely. The runes pulsed one st time, then sank into silence.
Kael Ryuu stood alone, smoke curling around him, glove aglow with faint embers.
Trial passed.
He didn’t smile.
The arena was still as the revetion sank in.
“The Fme Sigil?” a student murmured from the outer ring. “That one?”
“Alone?” someone else choked. “That’s a multi-candidate trial!”
A dozen sets of eyes turned toward the only student who had dared stand near that particur sigil… and who had turned away.
A red-haired student from House Ignis stormed forward, jaw clenched and fury bubbling beneath the surface.
“You took it.”
Kael blinked. “You walked away.”
“It wasn’t yours to take!”
“No one cimed it.”
“You’re not Fme.”
Kael tilted his head. “Maybe the Fme disagreed.”
The Ignis student swung out an arm—just a shove, nothing more—but Kael didn’t budge. The runes stitched into his gloves shimmered with a flicker of unstable energy, sparking briefly with contained heat.
The Ignis boy stepped back instinctively, wary now. Kael let the silence hang, then walked past him without another word.
---
Captain’s Council – That Evening
The chamber buzzed with restrained tension. The captains of the eight houses sat in a semi-circle, each wearing their house colors and Crest emblems.
Captain Ryven’s eyes burned like coals. “Fme does not accept outsiders.”
Captain Sei of House Anima sipped her tea calmly. “Then perhaps Fme is changing its mind.”
Ryven shot her a look. “That boy stole a sigil.”
Captain Thorne, master of Aeonis and Time, chuckled dryly. “You can’t steal what is freely given.”
Captain Verra of Umbra leaned in, smirking. “Besides, maybe your students should’ve been faster.”
Captain Lira of Gciem raised a brow. “Or braver.”
Ryven growled. “He tampered with the trial. Those gloves—”
“—Have already passed enchantment review,” Sei interrupted smoothly. “Everything he did was within the academy’s bounds.”
Ryven smmed his fist into the table. “That sigil is not meant for Crestless students.”
Sei finally looked up, eyes sharp and steady. “He’s not Crestless.”
The room fell silent.
Captain Solen of Lucentia folded his arms. “You mean—?”
“I mean,” Sei said quietly, “he’s mine. And Anima stands by him.”
---
That Night – Kael’s Workshop
BOOM!
A small explosion rocked the tower wing.
Master Illovar burst into the rune b, robes fpping wildly. “Kael!”
He stopped in the doorway, taking in the bckened walls, scorched runic parchments floating gently to the ground… and Kael sitting in the middle of the bst zone, hair frizzed and eyebrows singed, looking like he’d lost a war with a lightning bolt.
“Timer runes,” Kael mumbled. “Still unstable with temporal drift… added too much feedback on the st yer.”
Illovar blinked.
“You tried to add time dey on a fme sigil?”
Kael shrugged. “In theory it would reduce bst radius.”
Illovar’s eye twitched. “In practice, it exploded.”
“Minor inconvenience.”
“I’m calling the alchemy department. And a warding priest. And maybe a cleric. Don’t move.”
Kael just smiled weakly as the old master walked off muttering. Another burnt scroll floated down beside him.
---
Later That Night
Alone again, Kael sat with the Fme Sigil etched faintly into the rune of his glove. It pulsed—not with heat, but with promise.
Inside him, something stirred.
The Void Crest on his back responded subtly, like a breath beneath his skin.
“You called,” a voice echoed softly in his mind.
Kael didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
---
Author’s Note:
Kael just made a very public statement—and the other houses aren’t going to forget it. His road to the tournament just got a lot more complicated… and dangerous.
Thanks for reading! If you’re enjoying Ashen Crest: Rise of the Soulborne, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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Till next chapter—let the fmes judge us all.
