GROUP 7: Eclipse Division: The Origin, page 13
(Pretty sure it translated to, ‘Your mouth is too powerful.’)
I leaned back, adjusting my glasses, laptop screen glowing against the afternoon light.
“Back to work then.”
Aura curled up at my feet again, her tails wrapping around like a fluffy infinity symbol. I smiled faintly and started typing — calibrating Akira’s Ecliptite arm biometrics from afar, pretending the world was normal for five quiet minutes.
46. The Truth Burns
“Reeeallyyy?”
Professor Virelle tilted her head the opposite direction, those magenta eyes narrowing like twin lenses, scanning every nerve in my face.
“That’s your truth?”
I nodded quickly, my best “please don’t inject me again” smile barely holding.
She turned toward Cassian Thorne — the acid bath guy — clearly tempted to have him double-check. His fingers twitched slightly, but then he shook his head, once. Slow.
Right.
He wasn’t just afraid of breaking rules — he was afraid of who enforced them.
If the World Government could erase a telepath for overreaching, I didn’t want to imagine what they’d do to a fake Aetherborn.
I wanted to be the kind of person they feared.
Not the other way around.
“So,” she began, pacing around me in slow, deliberate circles, “you’re an Aetherborn who somehow had an awakening at twenty-four. Past the age of ninety-nine point nine percent of recorded awakenings. You somehow survived, and now you’re here… wanting to become a hero to give thanks to the World Government for what they did for your father — which was letting him serve in the wars — and repay your… debt?”
The words tasted like venom.
Not hers. Mine.
She raised a brow, waiting for me to stutter.
“Yup,” I said, popping the p. “That is correct, ma’am.”
Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit.
Her expression didn’t change — she just studied me with mild curiosity, like a scientist watching a mouse try to play piano.
“Well then,” she said at last, “I’d have to say this is a first. You’ll be the oldest of The Awakened in the Entrance Exams this year.”
(The Awakened — initiates of the Chronos Academy Entrance Exams. Those who survive become The Ascended — the newest students of the most prestigious Aetherborn Academy in the world.)
“But your educational record…” she tapped her screen, “far surpasses most applicants. You seem to have quite the knack for Aetherborn theory and field synthesis. And according to your resume…” — she paused — “…you know Ju-Jitsu?”
Freaking Kai.
But also… love Kai.
The truth?
He was a genius.
He’d found a way to inject purified Aetherborn blood into my system — bags of it. I never asked where he got it from; apparently he had “connections.” (Which in Kai’s world means “someone shady with an oxygen tank and a smile.”)
And somehow… my body didn’t reject it.
It absorbed it. Like it had been waiting for it.
For about five hours, depending on training intensity, I was basically running on god mode — white, glowing blood, enhanced healing, energy like lightning in my bones.
The average Mindborn or human can use trace drops of Aetherblood to heal wounds — external application only. Any attempt to inject it? Instant rejection. Organ shutdown. Sometimes death.
So when Professor Virelle withdrew her talon, and we all watched white, glowing blood drip from my arm instead of red—
The room fell silent.
Even Cassian’s eyes flickered, the faintest hint of curiosity breaking his statue face.
As for how I lied through Truth Venom?
My best guess: my system didn’t digest it — it converted it.
Stored it somewhere. Maybe even synthesized it into a new form.
Knowing my luck, probably into a pill that Kai will one day name something like “Pyra-Fusion: Venom Edition.”
But right now, it just… passed through me. Like Divine Drano.
(If you don’t know what Drano is, congratulations. You’re living a good life.)
“Uh—Yes!” I said, forcing confidence. “Ten years. Started training at six. State champion at eighteen.”
Please don’t look that up. Please don’t look that up. Please don’t look that up—
Virelle smiled faintly.
“Hm. That could be useful, now that you’re Awakened. And no one gets through my venom. Not even Aetherborn.”
She flicked her gaze to Cassian.
“Cassian?”
“Yes, Madame.”
His tone was professional — but his eyes glowed just a fraction brighter.
He definitely had a crush on her.
“Take him to his first test.”
Wait—
“Will do.”
Wait wait wait—
Before I could even move, his telepathic grip snapped around my muscles.
My body stood, against my will.
“Come with me,” Cassian said.
“Now.”
I stumbled forward, the echo of my shoes sounding like the countdown to my funeral.
“I—I thought the tests started tomorrow!”
No answer.
I looked around desperately, trying to spot Kai through the glass corridors. Maybe Aura. Maybe anyone.
Nothing.
Just me.
My heartbeat.
And the faint hum of the elevator that carried us upward through what felt like infinity.
When the doors slid open, a rush of hot air hit me.
The four-football-sized field beyond glowed red-orange, like the inside of a sun.
A tall figure stood in the center — shirtless, body shimmering with heat distortion. His skin burned faintly gold, tattoos shaped like molten runes spiraling across his arms. The air around him shimmered, oxygen bending from sheer temperature.
Cassian’s voice echoed inside my skull:
“Your first test will be against Kael Solryn.”
He paused.
“Otherwise known as… Heat.”
Ohhhh sh—
47. divinal dog park problems.
Divinal Park.
A place so majestic it made even the gods’ gardens look like public bathrooms.
Everywhere I looked, creatures of impossible colors and species strutted around like it was Fashion Week for mythological beasts. Flamingos made of plasma, wolf-cats with crystal tails, a literal baby leviathan playing in a pond the size of a swimming pool. And right there in the middle of all this divinal chaos—
Aura.
Sniffing the grass.
Tails wagging.
Looking for the perfect spot to do her royal business.
Ah—yes. What may very well be the universe’s strongest Aether-hybrid… taking a poop.
If that’s truly what she is (we still don’t know if she’s actually a Divinal, Akira won’t let me run the test—pleeease convince him??)
I sighed, leaning on the park fence, trying not to think about the irony that somewhere inside the Academy, my best friend might be fighting for his life—while I was standing here with biodegradable bags waiting for divine droppings.
Aura finished her business like she was signing an autograph and trotted off toward the play zone — a massive enclosure made of transparent Aether-Glass walls, glowing runes etched across them like constellations. Inside, dozens of other Divinals ran, flew, barked, and sparkled at each other.
I unclipped her leash.
“Alright, girl, go make some friends. No biting off heads this time, yeah?”
She barked once — translation: “No promises.”
Within seconds, she found a new playmate.
A giant wolf-dog Divinal with feathery silver wings, glowing streaks of light running through his fur. He looked like he’d been carved from moonlight and mischief.
They sniffed each other (as ancient tradition demands), circled, then suddenly broke into full-speed chaos. Dust clouds. Growls. Wings flapping. Barking. Flying at light speed. Rolling through the dirt like two demigods re-enacting a war scene.
I facepalmed.
“Oh great. I’m gonna have to wash you again, aren’t I?”
Aura didn’t care. She was too busy suplexing the poor wolf.
That’s when I heard a voice behind me.
“Hey there,” a girl said.
I turned around — and immediately felt my IQ drop ten points.
She was tall, dressed in Academy sweats, with a long white braid and bioluminescent freckles under her eyes. The kind of smile that could make angels lose tenure.
“That your Divinal?” she asked, nodding toward Aura, who was currently pinning the winged wolf to the ground in victory.
“Yup,” I said proudly. “That’s Aura. Certified genius, destroyer of chew toys, emotional support war machine.”
No. I can’t be this weak.
The girl laughed. “She’s adorable. You uh, need somewhere to wash her? I’ve got a shower in my dorm.”
She said it innocently enough, but—
My brain short-circuited.
My eyes went wide.
“I—” I held up both hands like a defense attorney. “I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!”
She blinked. “What?”
“I have a girlfriend!” I repeated, louder, like a man yelling his truth across galaxies. “A Nezirathian! From Aezirath! We communicate through mindlinks and light frequencies! She has three hearts and zero time for Earth girls!”
The girl just stood there. Mouth slightly open. Processing.
“…Okay,” she said finally, stepping back slowly. “Good talk.”
And she walked away — fast.
Along with her giant wolf-dog with wings.
I exhaled, clutching Aura’s leash like a sword of chastity.
“Let’s go, girl. Some of us still have morals.”
Aura looked up at me, ears drooping, then glanced at her new wolf friend as if saying goodbye.
“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, dragging her out of the park. “He was cute. Don’t look at me like that.”
As we walked back through the floating gardens of Chronos Academy, I couldn’t help but glance at the towering spires ahead — the ones glowing with crimson light. That was the exam arena.
I checked my watch.
An hour had passed.
No messages. No calls. No explosion yet.
I sighed.
“Man, what’s that idiot up to…”
Aura grunted softly, almost like she agreed.
Somewhere far above us, thunder rolled across the academy’s sky.
I smiled nervously.
“Oh yeah. He’s definitely fine.”
48. Heat
Kael Soryn.
It’s a name I know very well.
Hell. It’s a name the whole world knows very well. They say he’s a descendant of Ngai himself — Kenya’s supreme creator god.
I say he’s got way too much power for a twenty-one-old.
At 18, he was youngest Aetherborn ever to take on a billion-dollar Blood-Bounty and win — his induction into Chronos Academy was a unanimous decision.
And although he is young — and now a billionaire — he gives back. He sends money home, funds clean-water projects, seeds clinics and food programs so that the village he came from, and the villages around it, don’t have to worry about clean water or food ever again.
He’s actually a great kid.
…Or maybe he’s doing this all as a cover up for the fact that he parties a bit too much.
Look, I don’t care what you do with your life. If you come from humble beginnings and pay back your dues tenfold, that’s awesome. I just think sometimes people forget that fire doesn’t only warm — it burns.
And Kael Soryn? He burns through everything. Limits. Expectations. Barriers. People.
Two of those people being innocent bystanders to a rescue mission. Everyone heard about it — for about an hour — before all the footage got scrubbed from every social platform, every news station, every billboard and holo-screen in the world. They tried to erase it, but people remember.
It was a simple hostage mission. Go in, rescue, get out.
But Kael had to do more.
He had to show off. I mean, look at his name: “Heat.”
Once he got in, burned the traffickers to a crisp, and got the hostages out, he flew to where the drone cameras were and did his signature Infernal Pulse — a contained explosion released from his heartbeat; every pulse spread rings of fire from each arm that resonated with his emotions — the angrier or more passionate, the larger the blast radius.
But mix that with partying and trashing your system with far too many substances for even an Aetherborn to handle… well, you’ve got the ingredient list for disaster.
His “contained” explosion reached a nearby car where two fans were recording him, supposedly in a safe zone Kael KNEW not to go near. And because his fire is Aetheric, it bypassed the metal shell and ignited the gas tank. The car exploded.
Luckily — and thank whatever gods care to listen — an Aquyra hero from Mexico, 24, Ixchel Marín, was on standby in case anything went wrong with a young hero like Kael. Ixchel — named after the ancient Mayan goddess of healing, water, and the moon — is known for speed, healing, and water manifestation. She created a giant wave to catch the car and morphed it into a giant water sphere — a bubble of healing water — and while the passengers, the fans, were slowly lowered to the ground, she healed them and saved them from scars and long-term physical damage. Unfortunately, they haven’t found a cure for trauma yet.
Granted — Kael issued a public apology and paid for their new car. But his partying didn’t stop, like he was trying to drown something in booze and noise. It caused problems again and again.
Ixchel began to take the spotlight from him.
I guess that took a toll on Kael.
Bigger, grander showcases of power in front of every camera fans might see.
Bigger mistakes.
Bigger cover ups.
Nonetheless, he is powerful — and he still has that cocky edge.
That “don’t hold back, rookie” attitude.
And all I want to do now is put him in his place in front of all these cameras.
In front of this pathetic school they call an academy.
49. Live fire.
I was halfway through Aura’s evening walk when my wrist-comm buzzed.
Usually that means another “urgent” message from F.A.R.T. Labs about missing samples or somebody accidentally microwaving a plasma vial again. But this—
this was different.
The headline glowing across my screen nearly made me drop my coffee:
LIVE NOW: CHRONOS ACADEMY ENTRANCE EXAM – AWAKENED AKIRA AKUMA VS LEGACY HERO HEAT!
I froze. Aura stopped, tilted her head.
“...Wait,” I muttered, scrolling. “No. No, no, no, no—THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE TOMORROW!”
I zoomed in on the holo-stream thumbnail, and there he was — my best friend, Akira Akuma, center of a roaring arena, lights blazing, the words ‘LIVE BROADCAST’ flashing at the top right like some cosmic joke.
Aura barked. Loudly. Twice. Her eyes began to glow faint cyan, tails swishing like a comet.
“I know, girl! I KNOW!” I said, voice cracking. “We were supposed to prep more Aetherblood tonight! He’s not stabilized yet! His body’s gonna—oh my gods, he’s actually doing this.”
I stared at the countdown clock in the corner of the stream:
00:00:10… 9… 8…
“No, no, no—”
3… 2… 1…
The Official raised their hand, and at the word “One”, thunder erupted from his arms and into the sky. Not digital sound. Real, planetary thunder — enough to shake the park beneath us.
The camera zoomed out, showing the Chronos Academy Amphitheater — a football stadium multiplied by four, ringed with hovering platforms and floating banners shimmering with Sector colors and mascots. Lightning cracked down from the clouds, striking the center stage like a god declaring attendance.
Even from here — several miles away in the Academy’s outer gardens — I could see it. The flash, the tremor, the ripple of power that made the air taste metallic.
Aura barked again, louder, fur bristling, her eyes blazing brighter than before.
“Yeah,” I breathed, heart pounding. “He’s in there.”
I pocketed my comm and broke into a sprint.
“Aura, MOVE!”
She bolted ahead, paws skimming the marble path as blue light trailed behind her like twin comets. We tore through the Divinal Gardens, past stunned students staring at the thunder rolling over the floating city.
Every second, another boom echoed. Every flash lit the sky a new color.
By the time we reached the outer gates, the air was shaking. The crowd’s roar from the amphitheater sounded like an ocean breaking through heaven itself.
I caught my breath and looked up.
“Sports…” I muttered, watching the lightning crown the stadium.
“…get a lot crazier when you throw gods into them.”
Aura howled — and together, we ran faster.
PHASE 15: ENTRANCE EXAMS
50. Split Second
He came at me instantly — no warning, no hesitation, just raw fire and fury.
The moment the match began, Kael Soryn became a supernova. Flames erupted from his body like a solar storm, and for a split second, the world disappeared in gold. If I hadn’t thrown my Ecliptite arm up to block, I would’ve been a pile of ash and regret. The blast cracked the stadium walls.
So this is Heat.
Good.
Because now I’ve got my way in.
The only chance I’ll get to slip a pill in without the officials noticing — without the cameras catching it — without the world finding out what I truly am.
A human.
I bolt across the arena, smoke licking my heels, and duck behind one of the marble pillars where the drone lenses can’t follow.
“What’s the problem, scaredy cat!?” Kael’s voice booms across the amphitheater. “Running away so soon!?”
