The Ten Major Clan Heirs:
Kael Aric Vorian (Age 12, Nebula Weaver) – Intersex
Heir Apparent of Clan Vorian
Aether-space manipulation, temporal reversal, innate inner world (Tier-6, triple star resonance)
Valen Castiel Vaelstrom (Age 14, Early Constellation Lord) – Male
Lightning affinity, storm dominion, Tier-7 bloodline inheritance
Selian Myrrh Ravenor (Age 11, Nebula Weaver) – Female
Illusion-casting, ghost-sight, silent movement
Darian Draco (Age 13, Constellation Lord) – Male
Fire dual resonance, draconic force
Yvenne Reyes (Age 13, Constellation Lord) – Intersex
Shadow-star hybrid, aura dampening, blade of silence
Therron Drakorith (Age 12, Late Nebula Weaver) – Male
Draconic might, war chants, volcanic breath
Sorei Solmere (Age 13, Nebula Weaver) – Female
Radiant light, celestial defense arts
Nyrix Janus (Age 11, Nebula Weaver) – Male
Moon-star illusions, clone mirroring
Alura Sirenai (Age 12, Mid Nebula Weaver) – Intersex
Tidal resonance, aquatic manipulation
Tenebris Nocturne (Age 12, Early Nebula Weaver) – Male
Obsidian-star stealth arts, void-step, assassin strikes
The summons had come wrapped in astral silk, an invitation born of a celestial decree. A legendary weapon of unknown origin, rumored to have belonged to a fallen Cosmic Paragon, had been unearthed within the Aether Reach. This weapon, pulsing with dormant star essence, chose its wielder through trial and not lineage. Only the scions of the ten major clans were deemed worthy to compete. Any outsider who dared to claim it would bring annihilation upon their lands.
Each heir arrived on beasts whose bloodlines once terrorized Astralis, creatures brought to heel only by the ancestors of the ten great clans. These beings, echoing with ancestral might, resonated with their riders' essence:
Kael Aric Vorian descended on a Voidstep Phoenix, wings trailing silver starlight and distortions of time.
Valen Castiel Vaelstrom soared astride a Storm Griffin, each wingbeat crackling with thunder.
Selian Myrrh Ravenor emerged from shadows upon a Ghostmane Manticore, silent as moonlight.
Darian Draco arrived on a blazing Hellfire Drake, smoke and molten fury in its wake.
Yvenne Reyes guided a twin-headed Shadow Serpent, cloaked in midnight mist.
Lirael vaen Rau-Wolfe bellowed in atop a Crimson Flame Titan, its steps cracking the skies.
Alura Sirenai coasted on an oceanic Tidal Leviathan, harmonizing with distant waves.
Sorei Solmere radiated atop a luminous Radiant Qilin, a beacon of dawn.
Nyrix Janus balanced with elegance on a Twin-Moon Pegasus, illusions shimmering around them.
Tenebris Nocturne crouched atop a Voidstep Chimera, cloaked in layered shadows.
The venue, the Trial Hollow of Aether Reach, was a nexus of crystal islands suspended midair, connected by ancient formations and rune-chains that pulsed with celestial resonance. Elders had transformed the hollow into an amphitheater of cosmic weight.
Only cultivators at the Constellation Lord level or above were permitted into the viewing terraces. Among the elite were two Galaxy Sovereigns and a single Quasar Queen, observing from ethereal thrones that hovered above. Their gazes bore the gravity of eons.
Empires, sects, and minor clans filled the projection galleries. Disciples whispered in awe, envy, and longing as the heirs descended, the pride and pinnacle of their generation.
Then the air twisted with malevolence. Rurik, the Serpent Sovereign, birthed from fallen planes, uncoiled from a rift in space. Its colossal form had obsidian scales etched with ancient sigils, and twin golden horns spiraling skyward darkened the arena. It's hiss fractured the very fabric of reality, sending lesser cultivators into unconsciousness. From venom-dripping fangs, death gleamed.
Rurik didn't lash out in primal rage. It studied the heirs, intelligent, calculating. Then it moved.
Kael and Valen moved as one, a symphony of devastation. Kael, a master of aether-space manipulation, tore rifts into reality; Valen, his lightning javelins blazing, hurled storms with precision. Their harmony defied their age. They struck and withdrew, narrowly avoiding a tail swipe that obliterated a floating island into dust.
Elsewhere, chaos reigned. Selian and Tenebris, stealth incarnate, ambushed Darian and Yvenne. Selian's illusions fractured space. Shadows bent, light twisted, and reality blurred. Tenebris vanished and reappeared behind Yvenne, his void-forged dagger slicing through muscle. Yvenne gasped, blood misting the air.
However, Darian and Yvenne were seasoned in battle. Flames burst from Darian's fists, searing with twin-resonant fury. Yvenne, bleeding but unbowed, retaliated with strands of scorching sunlight, every movement honed to lethal precision.
Sorei and Alura mounted a defensive counter. Radiant light and aquatic force clashed with Rurik's crushing might. For a heartbeat, they sealed one of its heads in a luminous cage but Rurik's roar shattered the formation, warping gravity and hurling them like broken dolls.
Nyrix and Lirael played to confusion. Clones of Nyrix danced between the serpent's coils, confounding it. Lirael's war chant ignited his flames, every note fueling his volcanic breath. When a fang darted toward him, Nyrix intercepted it, taking the wound meant for his comrade, a grievous price.
As the battle escalated, Rurik's form changed. Its scales thickened, then shimmered as it entered its astral form. Void halos pulsed around its head, obsidian wings unfurled, and astral energy surged. Even the floating platforms buckled. One collapsed, and sent Kael's Phoenix reeling to save him.
Kael, staggering amidst the collapsing spatial field, faltered. Sound-attacks disrupted his control over space. Rurik lunged void energy wreathing its maw, fangs poised.
A heartbeat before impact, Kael's eyes blazed. Time bent.
He triggered Time Reversal.
Seconds unraveled. The battlefield blurred backward. Then Kael hovered midair, seconds before the fatal strike.
Simultaneously, Valen gathered his essence. A thunder-javelin, massive and unstable, formed in his hands. So massive it started damagging his hands. He hurled it toward Rurik's exposed astral eye only for Kael to be in its path.
Kael cursed, then acted. A temporal rift tore open, and the javelin vanished into folded dimensions. It reemerged striking true.
The javelin pierced Rurik's eye.
A shriek shook the void. The beast thrashed.
Kael didn't hesitate. Fueled by adrenaline, he traced a complex time-seal, binding Rurik in a collapsing star prison, a sphere of compounding gravity and temporal freeze.
Rurik wasn't slain. But he was bound.
The heirs, bruised and battered, stood victorious. Silence replaced chaos.
Across Astralis, reactions erupted. Clans debated, boasted, or panicked.
The Vaelstrom elders, pale, had flinched when Valen's javelin nearly struck Kael. An attack on a Vorian heir, even mistaken, would carry consequences. Relief spread when Kael emerged unharmed.
Ravenor's elders laughed, proud of Selian's cunning ambush.
From her throne, the Quasar Queen whispered, a sound that carried across worlds:
"It has begun. A generation of monsters. Who will come out on top at the end?"
And across Astralis, a rumour echoed:
Kael could manipulate time. To a terrifying degree.
He was not a genius. He was a storm. A paradox. A monster.