Kiru was a half-elf who lived along the outskirts of the Kingdom of Blades. Raised by his mother, he dreamed of becoming a powerful cultivator warrior. His mother had taught him well and, he was making great strides. Unfortunately, he was prone to getting into fights, and after he started one with the local duke’s son Ambrose, his body was left crippled and his fire mana core shattered. Hope was not all lost for Kiru however, though he didn’t know it yet. After Ambrose sent an assassin to finish Kiru off, he and his mother fleed their small village to hide in the woods.

It was there Kiru learned that he was the son of the previous king, Ruken Chromebane. Ruken was labeled as a tyrant who manipulated others using a taboo mana, mental mana. Kiru learned from his mother that Ruken was wrongfully accused but did in fact posses the power to cultivate mental mana. It was a power that was passed onto Kiru. He was a psion. Kiru also learned of his inheritance and responsibility.

The Great Alliance made up of various nations on the continent had once fought a war centuries ago against Nidhogg and his dragon army. It was known as the Draconic Campaign. The Great Alliance pushed them back, but Kiru learned that it was only due to the secret powers of the psions that ruled the Kingdom of Blades. Now, with a psion no longer on the throne, the dragons are set to return to bring ruin and devastation to the cultivators of the continent.

At only sixteen Kiru was given nine years to figure out a way to use mental mana to make him walk, reach the heights of cultivation, recover his father’s lost artifacts spread throughout the various nations of the continent to make him stronger, and reclaim his rightful throne before the dragons return. Though daunting, Kiru pushed forward with the aid of his mother and a familiar he gained, William the imp. He eventually discovered a way he could move, Telekinesis. Using that technique Kiru practiced moving his body around like a puppet, even going so far as to call his path the Path of the Puppet Master. He still couldn’t feel anything below his neck, but he could still go about things semi-normally. After two years of steady cultivating and practice away from civilization, Kiru had reached greater heights than he had before.

Unfortunately, the assassin’s guild was still on a contract to kill him. Kiru’s mother sacrificed herself to save him and eliminate the threat, leaving him only with her armor and enchanted storage ring to remember her by. Realizing it was time, the newly minted Gold-ranked cultivator left isolation to join the Royal Academy. It was the nearest place where one of his father’s items was located.

The psion managed to keep his cultivation type a secret and got entry into the academy under the label as a fire mana cultivator and a Defunct – a cultivator who couldn’t use any techniques. He discovered that there were many agendas going on among the cultivators there, and he needed to be careful not to draw too much attention amidst the political climate inside the school. Kiru learned that his father’s item was below the stadium that held the yearly “Warrior Games,” and it was only accessible once a year to participating students who were part of a team of four. Over the school year, Kiru managed to gain allies for his team, and even grew to trust them enough with his secret heritage.

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There was Brunhilda Lightsworn, a dwarven paladin within the Order of Valhalla who served the Vasir. She served the minor deity, Hlin, goddess of protection, and Brunhilda aimed to help her become a major deity within the pantheon. Next was the gold drakonid rogue, Zhaden of Clan Ironclaw. Unlike most gold drakonids, he used Dream Mana instead of fire mana, creating powerful illusions. His goal was to elevate his clan’s status among his race by joining the elite peacekeeping force within the Great Alliance known as The Fangs. Last among them was Mutt, a blind orc who loved two things more than any other, hunting and fighting. He had been experimented on by an immoral cleric at the Academy, and swore loyalty to Kiru for saving him. Mutt was a powerful fighter, and all he really wanted was to have stronger and stronger fights.

The four cultivators formed a team called Pandemonium, and with the backing of Niajar J’sarko, the academy’s head librarian they became a force to be reckoned with. Even more so, Kiru had training from a skilled Defunct, Giiyam, a stoic half-orc groundskeeper and the only Defunct to have ever won the Warrior Games. Giiyam taught Kiru how to fight with the exotic hook blades or fu tao, using the Cruel Mantis style. Along with Telekinesis, Kiru gained two more techniques: Telepathy and Subjugation. He also discovered that when William is recalled inside his core, he had perfect recall. The last part aided him in learning extremely well and fast, helping him to be fluent in numerous languages and taking in over a thousand tomes’ and scrolls’ worth of information.

Pandemonium fought hard and did eventually succeed in winning the games amongst the first-year combatants. Kiru even got some well-deserved payback against Ambrose who was also participating by somehow turning the noble’s lightning-based technique back on him with a well-placed punch.

Their trials weren’t over though. Before Kiru could claim the first of his father’s artifacts from the prize room beneath the stadium, there were two more obstacles. he had to not draw the suspicion of van Blaine, the murderous usurper who killed his father. The psion was barely successful, but he wasn’t able to avoid the king’s awareness entirely, forced to have a conversation with the winged-cultivator and pretending to promise to serve in his guard. The next challenge was the former headmaster, Niazen J’sarko, Niajar’s brother. The elf lost his position to the librarian due to Kiru’s victory and wasn’t happy about it.

Niazen revealed that he’d had the heads of two dead psions surgically grafted to him years ago and planned to add Kiru’s to his collection. Kiru and the rest of his friends would’ve surely died had not Giiyam come to save them. The half-orc revealed that he had once served Ruken and would do so for Kiru as well, sacrificing himself to allow Pandemonium to escape. Kiru protested but was carried away. He did get his father’s artifact fortunately, an orb of psylime. It was a metal that was controlled by the psion’s Telekinesis and formed a wickedly sharp blade.

With the item in hand, Kiru was greeted by a projection of his father and encouraged to continue his quest. The psion and his friends agreed on the importance of Kiru’s mission and they all fled south towards Mutt’s homeland, the orc nation of Imakandi to find the next artifact.