Universität der Ewigen Flamme – Subterranean Training Vaults
In the depths beneath the Flamebound Wing, where molten embers wept from the walls and arcane silence hung like smoke, Maximilian stood alone. His blade, Zeitbrecher, now fully awakened into its Stellarweave Chakram Mode, orbited him like a celestial moon. Its aura resonated with faint echoes of starlight, disrupting the very mana weave of the room.
He moved—not just with speed, but with intention. His aura bloomed, contracted, then split, manifesting fragments of projected selves in real time.NovelBuddy
[Skill Invocation: Quantum Split Discipline – Echoform Variant]
Each illusion was a hypothesis. Each movement, a correction.
He wasn't just training.
He was rewriting probability.
Character Interlude: Lirael Veinsturm – The Catalyst's Mirror
Above, in the Sonnenkatalyseum, the alchemical sanctum of the university, Lirael Veinsturm sat surrounded by unstable vials and dreamsteel containment crystals. Her latest attempt at a Flame-Catalyst Synthesis had failed—again.
But her focus remained locked on something deeper.
She remembered the way Maximilian fought—not with overwhelming force, but with deliberate fracture. Like someone afraid to show the whole truth.
She recalled his mana echo.Joyread
Not S+. Not even SS. Something else.
And it terrified her.
Not because it was monstrous.
But because it felt… familiar.
In secret, Lirael began crafting an Alchemetric Decoder—one capable of revealing true aura lineage.
Even if it meant betraying her oath to House Aldebrant.
Sovereignty Wing – Shadows Behind Thrones
Meanwhile, whispers curled like smoke around the Sovereignty Hall.
House Pyrolith, humiliated. House Emberwrought, furious. House Schwarzweiss—silent but watching.
A hidden meeting was convened by three Sovereign Houses and one foreign envoy from Universität der Nebelkrone, a rival arcane academy to the north.
"Maximilian Kriegswald cannot remain unaligned," Lord Rauven sneered. "His mere existence destabilizes the hierarchy."
"He is becoming an anchorpoint," whispered the envoy. "And we must either control the anchor—or sever it."
A plan was seeded.
A new trial. Custom-designed. One that couldn't be passed by strength alone.
Lore Drop: The Trials of Inherency
Every Trial at the University served more than one purpose. They did not simply measure strength, but nature—truth beneath illusion.
The Trial proposed to the council was one of the most sacred, rarely enacted:
The Trial of Inherency – a soul-weighing rite that exposes the true root of a candidate's power.
Originally created by the First Flame Deity, it was meant to identify heretics and divine impostors.
It would be enacted in three days.
The Flamebound Path would burn with truth.
Item Profile: The Aeon Coil
Name: Aeon Coil
Type: Temporal Focus Catalyst
Origin: Crafted by the Starforgers of Nivalesh, sealed beneath the Third Moon of Kalebarn.
Function: Stabilizes temporal rifts caused by high-tier Chrono-Class Skills.
Unique Effect: Allows user to sustain multiple timelines within a training simulation, extending effective combat memory by 8000%.
Status: Synced to Maximilian Kriegswald (Locked: Star Soul Signature)
Hidden Chamber – Maelis der Aschenträgerin
Elsewhere, beneath the ruins of an old Sovereignty archive chamber, Maelis stood before a flame-black mirror. Her aura—wild, flickering between divine and cursed flame—whispered secrets to the stone.
She saw the plans being laid. She saw Rauven's schemes. But her interest lay not in politics.
It lay in Maximilian.
She had once dreamed of fire that didn't destroy—but transformed. He carried that flame. But he also carried something older—colder.
She whispered into the emberlight:
"You're not just a ghost of starlight, Kriegswald. You're the last ember of something they burned long ago."
Behind her, a chained god stirred in its bindings—silent no longer.
End of Chapter 14: Flammenfäden und Schattenspiele – Threads of Flame and Shadowplay