It started with a dream.
Not the comforting kind, wrapped in old memories or warm illusions—but a jagged, half-frozen thing stitched together with screams and silence.
Ren Kairo stood inside a crumbling palace made of ash and black glass. The world had no sky, only a sunless void overhead, and below him stretched a throne room shaped like a wound in space. Pillars bent in impossible angles. Torches burned without fire. And at the far end, rising above a dais of cracked obsidian, loomed a seat.
The Flame Throne.
It pulsed with heat he couldn't feel. Fire danced along its frame, not in red or gold, but in deep violet and whispering white—like a soul burning instead of a body.
[Voidheart Codex: Throne Trial Initiated – Flame Throne]
[Warning: Curse Present – "Wrathbind"]
[Note: Success grants dominion over the Ash Flame. Failure results in ego fracture.]
So it begins, Kairo thought, stepping forward.
Each footfall echoed like a heartbeat in an empty coffin.
The Codex didn't explain how you passed a Throne Trial because that would be merciful.Instead, it showed you your truth—and then dared you to survive it.The moment he reached the stairs, the throne flared, and the world broke.
Not shattered. Not split.
It burned.
Flames erupted from the walls, the floor, his own shadow. They weren't normal fires. These were memory flames, tearing through his mind with scenes he had buried under layers of silence.
The past returned—merciless and vivid.
A burning city.
Screams.
Kairo knelt in blood, clutching the corpse of someone he couldn't name. Smoke clouded his eyes, but the scent of scorched flesh clung to him. Around him, masked elders from the Five Great Clans watched like judges.
"You defied Heaven's Path."
"No one defies fate and lives."
Lightning split the sky.
Kairo raised his hand to stop it.
But it wasn't strong enough. He wasn't strong enough.
He died again.
And again.
And again.
[Wrathbind Curse Activated]
[Effect: Emotional magnification – uncontrolled rage during spiritual ignition.]
His heart surged with fury—at the clans, at the heavens, at himself but he didn't scream. Didn't roar. Didn't lose control.
Instead, Kairo breathed.
Ash Pulse.
Inhale. Exhale. Pulse.
He layered logic on top of rage. Will on top of pain. The flames screamed back, trying to consume his soul—but he didn't flinch.
"I've burned before," he whispered to the fire. "And I learned how to scream quietly."
The throne shifted.
It no longer sat in the void.
Now it stood in the center of a battlefield—his mind's battlefield—ringed by specters wearing his face. Each version of him wielded fire. One snarled with blood on his lips. One wept as he slaughtered. One begged forgiveness.
One stood silent.
[Trial Challenge: Choose your Flame.]
One of these was the path forward.
The others?
Curses wearing skin.
He stepped past the weeping self. Too fragile.
Ignored the snarling one. Too broken.
Paused at the silent version of him.
This one held no flame.Instead, he held ashes.
Kairo stared into his own eyes. Saw no rage. No pity. Just control—unflinching, cold, necessary.
[Ash Flame Selected – Silent Wrath Variant]
[Flame Throne Attuned.]
The void palace returned.
Only now the throne recognized him.
Its flames dimmed. Its form sharpened. The whispers stopped.
[You have claimed the Flame Throne – Variant: Ash Flame]
[Curse Reduced: "Controlled Wrath" – Emotional overflow can be converted into flame reinforcement during battle.]
[Skill Gained: Ember Veil – Cloak your body in soul fire that strengthens with anger. Can be suppressed.]
Ren Kairo opened his eyes.
He was no longer dreaming.
He was back in the outer sect latrine and his skin glowed faintly under the moonlight—embers dancing along his veins like tattoos of heatless fire.
He exhaled.
And for a moment, the world smelled of burning lies.
Two days later, the test came.
Not a spiritual challenge.
A human one.
"Outer Disciple Ren Kairo. You're summoned to the training ring. Now."
The guard didn't wait for a response.
Kairo stepped out of his cell, robe stained with ash, eyes clear.
A crowd had already formed in the sect's outer courtyard. Dozens of low-ranking disciples muttered about a theft, an insult, a duel requested by an Inner Court Elite.
Jiang Wu waited in the center, arms folded, fire dancing in his palm.
"Finally showed up, latrine rat," Jiang said, loud enough for the crowd. "I thought maybe you passed out sniffing your own trash."
Kairo stepped into the ring.
No smile this time.
Just silence.
[Opponent Analysis: Jiang Wu – Flame Root (Imperfect)]
[Weakness: Overloads Qi during anger spikes. Core still unstable.]
The elder overseeing the match looked nervous.
This wasn't a fair fight.
But no one objected because outer disciples didn't win.
They learned.
"Begin!"
Jiang attacked instantly. A snake of flame lashed toward Kairo's face.
He sidestepped.
Countered with a slap.
No Qi. Just raw insult.
Jiang's face twisted in rage.
He surged forward, summoning a wave of fire from his palm—several times stronger than his cultivation should allow.
Too much.
[Codex Triggered: Wrath Pattern Detected.]
[Counter Suggested: Ember Veil – Pulse + Deflect.]
Kairo exhaled.
Ash Pulse.
Ember Veil.
A cloak of gray fire shimmered around him—not hot, but impossibly sharp.
Jiang's flame struck it and split apart like water on stone.
Kairo moved through the flames like a ghost.
Then—Crack.
His palm struck Jiang's chest.
No flashy technique.
Just precision.
[Heart rhythm destabilized.]
[Qi circulation interrupted.]
[Core backlash—triggered.]
Jiang staggered. Vomited blood.
" This.. can't be..possible" said Jiang and collapsed.
Silence.
The crowd gaped.
The elder blinked.
No one clapped.
Because what they had just seen… didn't make sense.
Outer disciples didn't cripple inner disciples.
They especially didn't do it without drawing Qi.
Kairo turned without a word and walked away.
That night, the Codex stirred again.
[First Throne Claimed.]
[Path of Ash Initiated.]
[Next Objective: Mirror Throne Candidate Detected – Location: East Ridge Forbidden Pavilion.]
[Warning: Multiple factions involved. Truth distortion probability – 78%.]
Ren Kairo leaned back on his stone bed, staring at the ceiling.The fire within him wasn't hot.
It was calm.
Like an ember hidden under centuries of ash.
And now…It had begun to burn.