Two Teenagers Broke the World
No one remembered to cheer.
No one dared move.
The duel between Lucien Thorne, Crown Prince of the Empire, and Kael Riven, a newly enrolled first-year with no known background—
Had shattered reality.
What was supposed to be an elite spar between talents had become a myth in the making.
A conjured sun.
A cleaving slash that ripped through its core.
And the two boys—charred, bloodied, bones shattered—still punching each other with bare fists long after their bodies should have given out.
The Public Knows This Much:
Kael Riven
Seventeen.
No ID, no noble lineage, no record of magical or martial schooling.
First appeared when he registered for the Imperial Academy entrance exams.
ID was issued on the spot.
Claimed to be a commoner who grew up "in the outskirts."
That was all.
But that wasn't enough anymore.
The Empire Demands Answers
"How does an untrained commoner slash through forbidden solar magic?"
"How does a Crown Prince summon celestial fire at 17?"
"Why did neither die?"
Nobles whispered.
Soldiers trembled.
Teachers reviewed every combat theory and found nothing that explained what had just occurred.
Aura and Mana do not mix.
That was the law.
The foundation of their world.
And yet—
Lucien, trained in the finest magical arts, had pushed past what even Archmages considered safe.
Kael, with no bloodline, no master, no academy, had fought like he'd been born on the battlefield.
"If a boy from nowhere can match the Crown Prince… then what does that make the Prince?"
"And what else has the Empire missed?"
Imperial Healing Chambers
Lucien Thorne lay in a sea of golden light. His breath was ragged, his mana core barely holding together.
Three Saint-rank healers kept him tethered to life.
He had smiled when he fell, lips bloodied, eyes half-blind.
A warrior's smile.
Kael Riven lay silent, wrapped in enchanted bandages and heavy isolation magic.
Aura users heal fast—but not after using all of it.
He had nearly died from internal collapse.
And yet…
Both boys had survived.
And both had smiled.
In every noble household, in every mage guild and merchant lounge, one name was on everyone's lips:
Kael Riven.
Was he an experimental weapon?
A lost heir of some ancient bloodline?
An illegitimate royal?
A demon in human skin?
But the nobles weren't just frightened of Kael.
They were afraid of Lucien.
If this was the Crown Prince at 17, then what kind of Emperor would he become?
One that could burn a city down in anger?
One that could summon a star just to win a duel?
What kind of world would they live in under a ruler like that?
Selene sat on the academy rooftop, moonlight brushing across her cloak.
The file in her hand was empty.
Kael Riven's background was as shallow as a puddle.
But Selene had better sources than the academy.
She had money.
She had political reach.
And most importantly—she had curiosity.
And tonight, her curiosity led her to a sealed orphanage record.
A lost village.
A forgotten name.
Kael's Truth – Hidden from the World
Born to a prostitute who tried to force noble blood into her child.
When the blood test failed, she was discarded—along with her infant son.
She blamed him. Beat him. Starved him.
Then at age six, she sold him to a slave trader.
Four years of chains.
Pain. Obedience. Training.
Taught to kill. Not to think.
Age ten: A miracle.
Bandits attacked. Slaves ran.
Most died.
Kael lived.
He disappeared into the Beast Forest, where monsters fed on the weak.
There, he learned to hunt.
There, he awakened aura—
Not from teachings. Not from scrolls.
But through the raw instinct of wanting to survive.
No master. No friends.
Just blood. Just silence.
Six years alone.
Until now.
She lowered the file slowly.
Her chest ached—not from fear, not from pity.
From something deeper.
"He shouldn't have survived."
"But he did."
She stood, eyes fixed on the moon.
"You don't need a noble name, Kael Riven."
"You already broke the world without it."