Nova — The Second Core Ignites
The Prime Sentinel's hidden core flared open like the iris of a mechanical sun.
Heat slammed into Nova's face.
The bridges shuddered.
The magma vein below churned violently, reacting to the incoming explosion.
Raze's shout echoed behind him:
"IT'LL TAKE THE WHOLE CAVERN WITH IT—MOVE!"
Kira sprinted across the bridge toward him—eyes wide, fear breaking through her usually perfect composure.
"Nova! Get back!"
He tried to move.
But the world narrowed—
a hum, deep and ancient, rising from the forge beneath his feet.
The Heartforge was waking.
A ringing—metal against metal, echoing across time—filled his skull.
Nova's vision blurred.
Flashes—
Fragments—
Smoldering echoes of the past.
A figure hammering at the Heartforge.
Sparks falling like stars.
Heat shaping something alive—something dangerous.
A whisper, not his own:
"Chosen. Awaken what sleeps in your blood."
A second voice—no, the same voice, older:
"Create what the world fears."
The explosion triggered.
The second core detonated.
Kira screamed his name.
And the Heartforge answered.
A column of red-gold energy erupted upward, swallowing the blast before it could spread. The shockwave slammed against Nova's chest, but instead of tearing him apart, it wrapped around him—protective, almost gentle.
The Prime Sentinel was ripped apart, its metal body liquefying into glowing trails that spiraled toward the Heartforge as though being devoured.
Nova fell to one knee, gasping.
Kira reached him, grabbing his shoulders.
"What—what just happened?!"
He stared at the Heartforge's glow reflected in her eyes.
"I… think it protected me."
"Forgive me if this sounds insane," Raze said, voice trembling, "but that forge felt you. It responded to you."
Nova didn't deny it.
Because the whisper still echoed in his bones.
Awaken what sleeps in your blood.
Create what the world fears.
A chill crawled down his spine.
He wasn't sure if the Heartforge had saved him—
or chosen him.
Sorra — The Storm Breaks Loose
The courtyard of Silvercrest Academy burned in gold and scarlet.
Commander Arcturus rose from the rubble, brushing cracked stone off his armor as though he hadn't just been blown across the courtyard.
Sorra's chest still burned with that impossible flame.
Nico helped her stand.
"Sorra… your brother's power just surged. I felt it."
She did too.
Nova's mana had flared—a giant wave, raw and ancient.
Arcturus cracked his knuckles, unfazed.
"So the boy awakens. House Grey truly was a mistake to let live."
Sorra's vision tunneled.
"You stay away from him."
"Your threat," Arcturus said calmly, "is noted."
This time Sorra didn't hold back.
Her hands ignited.
Wind whipped around her, spiraling into a vortex that crackled with flame and force.
Vale leapt in front of her, staff raised.
"Arcturus! Call off your forces or I WILL intervene."
"For a traitor bloodline?" Arcturus raised a brow. "You'd throw your life away?"
The headmaster didn't flinch.
"I would protect my students."
Sorra stepped forward, fire curling around her feet.
"You want House Grey?" she growled. "Then you'll have to go through me."
Arcturus's eyes sharpened—finally, a hint of respect.
Then—he attacked.
He moved like a red blur, faster than lightning. Sorra barely managed to block the first strike, the impact numbing her arm. She braced for the second—
But Vale intercepted, staff colliding with Arcturus's blade in a dazzling burst of silver energy.
"You will NOT touch her," Vale snarled.
Arcturus smirked.
"Very well. But you cannot protect her forever."
He flicked two fingers.
A squad of enforcers rushed the students still trapped in the far wing.
Sorra gasped. "No—!"
She sprinted after them—not thinking, just moving—
And her power exploded.
Wind slammed outward in a shockwave, lifting her off the ground. Fire spiraled with it, forming a vortex of red-gold storm around her.
A new element—something that shouldn't exist.
Vale stared in awe.
Nico stumbled back, shielding his eyes.
Arcturus's expression finally broke.
"…impossible."
Sorra hovered above the courtyard, hair whipping like a banner in the growing storm.
Her voice boomed with a force she didn't recognize:
"Touch my friends…
and I'll burn your entire Order to ash."
Arcturus narrowed his eyes—and began retreating.
"This isn't over. The Crown is far from finished with your bloodline."
Then he vanished in a streak of crimson light.
Sorra collapsed as the storm died, Nico catching her before she hit the stone.
"Sorra—Sorra! Breathe!"
She did.
But inside, she wasn't breathing at all.
She'd felt it.
Nova's pain.
Nova's fear.
Nova's power.
Something was happening to him.
Something huge.
She whispered, trembling:
"Nova… please hold on."
Nova — Echoes of the Forge
Back in the cavern, the Heartforge dimmed again—its eruption fading to a simmering glow.
But something had changed.
Nova looked down at his palms.
Lines of faint red-gold light ran beneath the skin, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.
Kira swallowed. "Nova… are you okay?"
He nodded slowly.
But the truth?
He had no idea.
Raze approached carefully, like Nova was a barely contained bomb.
"That energy… it wasn't magic. Not any kind the academies teach."
Nova didn't answer.
Because the whisper returned—soft but clear:
"Creation is your birthright."
His fingers tightened.
"I think," he said quietly, "the Heartforge woke something up."
Kira stepped closer—almost too close—her voice steady but shaken.
"Whatever it woke… we'll face it together. Okay?"
Nova met her eyes.
For the first time that day—
he felt something steadying in his chest.
"Yeah. Together."
But deep beneath the forge, something else stirred—
something ancient shifting in its sleep.
And neither of them noticed the faint silhouette watching from the shadows above—
eyes glowing, studying Nova with cold interest.