đź“– THE ERA: The New Era
Chapter Seven – Cracks Beneath the Mask
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🏫 Von: Matching the Shadows
The tournament continued — round after round.
Von stood still on the edge of the sparring field, arms crossed, watching names flicker across the screen. No one was cheering for him. His last match had been quick — too quick.
Too clean.
"Luck," someone muttered behind him.
"He probably caught Derrik slipping," said another. "That was no real match."
Von pretended not to hear.
But he'd noticed it too.
Eyes. Watching him. Not just the usual stares — instructor-level, sharp, experienced gazes measuring him like a puzzle piece placed in the wrong box. His instincts — those still-echoing whispers from his sealed bloodline — pulsed faintly like a warning.
He couldn't afford more suspicion. Not now.
So in his second match… he adjusted.
His opponent was a fast-strike type. Wind element. Class B again. Von held back, controlled every move like a dancer pretending to stumble — enough to still win, but not by much.
Sweat dripped down his face as he accepted the win with a shaky breath he didn't need to fake.
Applause was muted. A few claps.
"He's just lucky again."
"Yeah, barely scraped that one."
Only a handful of instructors looked unconvinced. One scribbled notes quietly. Another whispered to a peer.
Von stepped off the field and exhaled slowly. His heartbeat was steady — but his thoughts weren't.
They're watching me. They know something's off.
Still, the sealed core in him remained dormant. Silent. Sleeping… but not forever.
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🛠️ Kai: Blueprints and Broken Laws
Back in the underdeck of the Verge, Kai had the spirit core laid open on a bench — wires and crystalline threads drawn out like veins under surgery.
He wasn't just experimenting. He was building something the city council had outlawed ten years ago.
Spirit-tech hybridization on humanoid frame cores. A way to merge defensive and offensive systems into a wearable, reactive frame that adapted to the user's combat stress.
If it worked… it would be the first Spirit Core Combat Frame since the last Spirit War.
And illegal. Highly illegal.
But Kai wasn't just doing it for research.
He wanted to protect Von.
He didn't know why — not fully — but something about his brother's presence screamed unseen depth, like an iceberg half-buried beneath fog. Von might be pretending, but Kai knew power when he saw it.
Even if Von never asked… Kai would be ready.
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🎠Inside the School — Whispers Rising
Elsewhere in the Academy's staff wing, Instructor Tyel tapped her holo-slate twice, zooming in on slow-motion footage.
Von. Movement frame by frame.
She leaned back. "That's not luck," she murmured.
Headmaster Rhine crossed his arms. "No spirit flaring. No kinetic charge. No overchanneling of bones or breath. And yet..."
Tyel looked over. "Could he be… naturally evolved?"
"No. It's control. Discipline. From somewhere else."
A third figure, cloaked, stepped into the room.
"If he's what I suspect…" the man said, "then we need to tread lightly. The Heroes Organization doesn't want another incident."
"Do we inform the core team?"
"Not yet. Watch him. Nothing more."
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🧠Von: Alone in the Storm
Later that night, Von stood alone under a city bridge near the water's edge, hoodie up. Spirit-lights flickered across the river like dying fireflies.
He closed his eyes.
They're closing in.
But he still didn't feel fear.
Only readiness.
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đź“ś End of Chapter Summary
Von intentionally controls his win margin to reduce suspicion but still ends up under quiet surveillance.
Other students begin to believe he's just "barely good enough," while a few instructors suspect something deeper.
Kai continues building a forbidden spirit-frame, aiming to prepare for a threat neither of them fully understands.
In the background, officials begin noting Von's oddities, but no action is taken yet — only observation.