Morning sunlight filtered through the infirmary windows, casting long, sharp lines across the sterile floor. James sat up slowly, the Aether drip no longer attached to his arm, though the dull ache lingered beneath his skin like bruised heat.
He hadn't slept. Not really.
Every time he closed his eyes, he heard the voice again.
> My flame… awaits you…
It hadn't been a dream. The words were too sharp. Too real.
And then there was the screen.
Solar Core System.
James whispered the words aloud, testing how they sounded in his mouth. No response. No flicker. No interface. Just silence, and the soft hum of a nearby Aether monitor.
Maybe he imagined it.
He threw his legs over the edge of the bed, wincing at the stiffness in his calves. His boots were neatly placed beside the cot, cleaned and polished—a courtesy from someone on the infirmary staff. He tugged them on without thinking.
The moment his second foot hit the floor, something pulsed in his chest.
Not a heartbeat. Something behind it.
He froze.
Then came the whisper of static—barely audible, like wind brushing a flame.
[Solar Core System – Connection 4%]
> Vital Source… Stable
Entity Status: Dormant (Hibernation State)
Initial Trait Unlocked: Core Link – Passive Strength +1
The screen blinked, hovered for a moment… then vanished again.
James's fingers trembled slightly. Not from fear.
From adrenaline.
"…So I didn't fail."
He exhaled shakily. He wasn't sure what was happening, but it wasn't nothing.
He wasn't a Dormant.
Not really.
---
By the time James stepped outside the infirmary, the academy grounds were humming with life again. Morning drills had begun on the upper terraces. Students in gray-and-gold uniforms moved in formations—sword arcs slicing the air, Aether-infused motions leaving trails of light. Mages practiced incantations, glyphs flashing beneath their feet. Drones hovered nearby, recording progress.
James walked unnoticed through the central corridor. No one looked his way. No one spoke. The silence wrapped around him like fog.
Then someone slammed into his shoulder.
"Watch it, dropout."
James turned sharply.
Vale Thorne.
Top of the elite track. A Knight-Class student with a noble family name and a permanent sneer carved into his face.
"Still here?" Vale said, glancing down at him like James had tracked mud across the floor. "I figured you'd be in the general dorms by now."
James clenched his jaw.
He started to walk past.
Vale stepped in front of him.
"You blew the Conduit, Solkaris. People talk. No Awakening. No Class. No future. So tell me—what's keeping you here?"
James met his eyes.
He didn't speak.
Didn't flinch.
Vale scoffed. "Tch. Eyes like a golden beast, guts like a Dormant."
He moved past.
But James—
He didn't feel angry.
He felt… steady.
Centered.
And beneath it, the warmth in his chest pulsed again.
> Passive Strength +1
He hadn't even realized it, but his body didn't ache anymore.
And when he curled his fingers into a fist—
He could feel it.
Just a flicker of something new.
---
The general assignment office was a small glass dome near the southern training fields. It was usually empty.
Today, a bored-looking attendant sat behind the desk, chewing on a stylus.
"Name?"
"James Solkaris."
The stylus stopped moving. "Ah. Right. The conduit boy."
James said nothing.
The attendant tapped on a slate.
"Reassigned to Class D-9. Dormants and General Studies. No Class, no Affinity. You're welcome to apply for retesting after the next moon cycle. But I wouldn't hold your breath."
James took the slate.
Room assignment. Schedule. No weapons training. No cultivation guidance. No duel eligibility.
He turned to leave.
"Hey," the attendant called after him.
James paused.
"…For what it's worth," the man said, shrugging, "I've seen weird readings before. Sometimes the system just needs time. Or trauma. Or luck."
James nodded once. "Thanks."
---
His new dorm was older than the rest—tucked into the far edge of the academy ring, where the maintenance towers cast long shadows over cracked courtyards.
D-9.
The building hummed with old wiring and flickering lights. Inside, the air smelled faintly of metal and damp stone. His room was little more than a cot, a desk, and a dented locker.
He sat down on the edge of the bed.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
Then—
[Ding.]
The interface returned.
[Solar Core System – Sync 5%]
> System Note: Bond Status – Latent
Linked Entity: Crimson Egg (Lifeform Unknown)
Mutual Growth Status: Active
Core Loop Initialized…
Tracking Progression: Strength – 2 | Endurance – 2 | Will – 3
Next Threshold: 10% Sync – First Phase Trigger
James stared.
Then leaned back slowly against the wall.
A dragon's egg?
Buried. Sealed. Connected to him?
None of it made sense.
But the warmth in his chest—the pulse he'd felt since the Awakening—that wasn't imagination.
And for the first time since yesterday…
He smiled.
Just barely.
---
Far beneath the academy, hidden beneath wards, stone, and silence, the egg pulsed again.
Stronger than before.
Its shell was cracked at the tip now. A tiny fissure. Barely visible.
But enough.