Her fists launched toward me without any more words, a clumsy, telegraphed punch that posed no threat. I could sense how weak it was before it even connected, so I didn’t bother dodging or blocking. Instead, I let her small fist collide with my jaw. The force was pathetic—a mere tap, really—but it was enough to make her recoil.

I watched, somewhat amused, as she stumbled back, clutching her hand as if she’d hit a brick wall. Tears welled up in her eyes, glistening under the soft light, and for a moment, she looked utterly defeated. The pain in her hand was likely far worse than anything she’d inflicted on me.

How is that my fault?

"Um, sorry? But I have no idea who you are," I said, leaning against the doorway. I gestured for her to come inside, but she stood frozen in place, staring at me as if trying to solve a complex puzzle.

"Don’t mess with me, Damon, I—"

"Hold up," I cut her off, raising my hand to stop her mid-sentence. "My name's Jai. Jai Boone. I just passed the entrance exam less than twenty minutes ago. I think you’ve got the wrong guy."

Her face, once a mask of fury, faltered as confusion took over. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she took a hesitant step forward, squinting at me as though trying to peel away layers of illusion. Seconds stretched into what felt like minutes as she studied my face with a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.

Then, suddenly, her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. Without a word, she turned on her heel and bolted, slamming the door behind her with enough force to rattle the walls.

"The hell was that about?" I muttered, rubbing my jaw where she’d hit me. It hadn’t hurt, but her reaction certainly left me puzzled. "How do you mess up that badly?"

Shaking my head, I kicked off my shoes and made my way to the bed, throwing myself onto the mattress with a sigh. As soon as I hit the bed, I sank into it like it was made of clouds. The pillow cradled my head perfectly, molding to my shape, while the mattress felt like the softest thing I'd ever touched. It was like lying on a blob of slime—firm enough to support me but soft enough to let me sink in comfortably.

Sleep threatened to take me almost instantly. My eyes fluttered closed, and for the first time in a long while, I felt myself drifting into what promised to be the best sleep of my life.

But of course, peace didn’t last long.

"Hey!" A voice snapped me awake, causing me to jolt upright, my fists instinctively clenching in a defensive stance.

"Ah!" I yelped, jumping out of bed, heart racing.

Ben stood in the doorway, hands raised defensively, his eyes wide. "Whoa! Sorry, man! I didn’t realize you were about to knock out."

"You're good," I mumbled, forcing myself to relax as I sat back down on the bed. "I just laid down anyway."

"Didn’t mean to scare you," Ben said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just checking in."

"No worries," I yawned, stretching out my arms. "How’d you get in here, though?"

"Oh," Ben scratched his head, glancing around the room. "I was, uh, feeling around the wall in my room, and then... my palm started glowing blue, and the wall opened up to your room."

"Of course," I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes open. "Magic doors. Makes sense."

There was a brief pause as the room fell into a comfortable silence, but that didn't last long either. Ben wasn’t the quiet type, apparently.

"So," he began again, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to my bed. "Where are you from?"

I sighed, realizing sleep wasn’t happening anytime soon. "I don’t know. I’ve got amnesia. Or at least, a form of it."

Ben blinked, staring at me like I’d just told him I was an alien. "Wait, really? You... don’t remember anything? Why are you here then, if you don’t mind me asking?"

I shrugged, my fingers absentmindedly tracing the cool metal of the shackles still locked around my wrists and ankles. "Not really. Just bits and pieces. I woke up in a prison cell a while back, and since then, I’ve been figuring things out as I go. Some nice people in a hidden village took me in for a while, told me I should come to this academy, so... here I am."

Ben let out a soft, awkward chuckle, clearly thinking I was joking. "Ha, that’s... quite the story."

I didn't bother correcting him. Explaining the truth would only complicate things, and I was too tired to care about setting the record straight. Silence hung between us again, but Ben, being who he was, couldn’t leave it alone.

"So... what about you?" I asked, turning the conversation away from myself. "No offense, but you seem kind of... soft for a place like this."

He chuckled nervously, shifting his position on the floor. "None taken. Honestly, I didn’t really want to come here in the first place. Both my parents are legacies—former students here—so they kind of pressured me into it. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for you."

"Me?" I raised an eyebrow, now fully awake. "What do you mean?"

Ben swallowed, clearly uncomfortable. "Well... during the entrance exam, I sort of... stood off to the side. I mean, I got pushed around a lot, but no one really paid attention to me. When you started challenging those big-shot kids, everyone was too busy watching you or fighting each other to notice me. I just... lucked out, I guess. I made it to the top ten without doing much of anything."

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I listened as he explained, but as he spoke, an odd, pulsing headache began to form. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but something about his words stirred an uneasy feeling in the back of my mind.

"Hmm," I hummed, pressing a hand to my temple.

"What typing are you?" Ben asked, cutting through my thoughts. "An Oriv, maybe? And what’s with the shackles? Are they some kind of enhancer? They don’t seem—"

"Whoa, slow down," I interrupted, raising a hand. "One question at a time."

"Right, sorry." Ben fidgeted awkwardly. "Just... what typing are you? That’s the first question."

"I haven’t awakened my Heartile yet," I admitted, glancing down at the shackles. "These are from prison. I can’t take them off."

Ben’s eyes widened in shock, and he glanced nervously between my face and the shackles as if realizing for the first time that I wasn’t joking about the prison part.

"You were actually in prison? Why? Did you... kill someone?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I don’t know. Told you, I’ve got amnesia. But I don’t think I killed anyone."

"Okay, okay," Ben said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Forget I asked. Let’s just... move on. But how did you fight the Princess of Frost without your Heartile? You beat her with just physical strength?"

"Princess of Frost?" I repeated, furrowing my brow. "The white-haired girl? Why do they call her that? Her power’s temperature control, not ice."

"Well, yeah, but she mostly uses cold. She’s known for dropping temperatures, not heating things up."

"That’s... dumb," I muttered. "But whatever. And yeah, I haven’t awakened any Heartile. I’ve tried, but nothing works."

Ben stared at me like I was some kind of anomaly. "What kind of monster are you?"

"Hey, it’s not my fault I’m strong," I snapped, though I softened when I saw how wide-eyed he still looked. "I didn’t mean it like that. But, uh, yeah, back to my question—what are the Eight Great Families?"

Ben composed himself before responding, his expression thoughtful. "Right, the Great Families. Well, they’re basically the eight most powerful families—or organizations—in the world. Their main descendants get all the attention because they’re usually prodigies, but the families are mostly made up of hired muscle and lesser branches. The real strength comes from their resources and influence."

I nodded, though I felt a bit underwhelmed by his explanation. I’d expected something more exciting, something mystical or grand. Instead, it was just... politics and wealth, which was neither mystical or grand. It was just plain boring.

The room fell silent again as Ben and I both ran out of things to say. I considered telling him more about my time in prison or my amnesia, but I didn’t have the energy to go into detail. Besides, I doubted Ben’s brain could handle much more. The guy was already overwhelmed.

"Hey," Ben suddenly piped up again, "why don’t I try getting the shackles off?"

I looked at him, surprised. "You think you can?"

"Yeah," he grinned, standing up. "It’s worth a shot, right?"

A surge of excitement rushed through me at the thought of finally getting rid of the shackles. My wrists and ankles had been weighed down by them for so long, and the idea of finally being free made me feel lighter already.

Ben held up his hand, and a small flame ignited at the tips of his fingers. "Just hold still. I’ll try not to burn you."

I nodded, holding my breath as he brought the flame closer to the metal shackle around my neck. The heat was intense, but bearable. The metal began to glow and soften, melting away bit by bit. Minutes passed, and eventually, with a sharp crack, the shackle broke apart and fell to the floor with a dull thud.

I reached up, rubbing my neck where the shackle had been. The skin was raw and slightly burned, but it felt amazing to be free.

Ben, drenched in sweat, grinned at me like he’d just performed a miracle. "And then there were four."

I blinked, confused by the obvious reference, but I didn’t have time to ask before he moved on.

"Let’s get the rest of them off."

"That’d be helpful," I agreed, my excitement growing.

----------------------------------------

“So how’d it go?”

“I didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, madam. Though he called himself by a different name. I believe something unforeseen has happened to him.”

“Yes I noticed that as well. The shackles and the fact that he didn’t use his Qi were indicators of something going wrong. We have to help him recover, atleast back to his original state. It’s too early for him to know everything.”

“What do you suggest we do, madam?

“Tell Sun and Star to take him under their wings, to teach him slowly. And find out where Moon has been these past few months. Once our liege recovers to the state he woke up in, he’ll look for Moon first.”

“Understood. Though, is Sun really the wisest choice? He’s not exactly stable madam.”

“I know he can be immature, but he was like a son to our liege. He wouldn’t dare to lead him astray, much let anyone else try anything. Plus, he’d prevent Star from slipping up and saying something he shouldn’t.”

“Understood. Glory to the king.”

“Glory to the king.”

----------------------------------------

“God this feels amazing.”

I felt like a new man. The shackles were finally all off, and my body felt lighter than it’s ever felt. Ben was nearly passed out from exhaustion, though he still offered a dry smile. I helped him up and back into his room, before returning excitedly.

I hadn’t told Ben, but as soon as the shackles came off, I felt it. My Heartile. Well it was either my Heartile or heart burn, but I was trying to be optimistic. I saw down cross legged on the floor, my eyes closing as I tried to tune out my surroundings.

My breathing slowed as my heartbeat grew louder. I began to feel the air hitting my skin, the blood flowing through my veins, the ground underneath me, all in ways I had never felt before. Then came the warmth. A warmth like no other, spreading through my body, filling it with power like no other. I felt unstoppable.

The scene behind my eyelids closed, as the darkness slowly began to shift and turned into a faint yellow light, I was almost there. My Heartile was awakening.

“Jai Boone! Open up!”

I ignored the words. I was so close, I couldn’t allow for anyone or anything to disturb me. Not now.

The blue light grew stronger and stronger, my heartbeat growing faster proportionally. The warmth soon turned into a roaring vortex of flame, spreading through me at rapid speeds, circulating and empowering me.

“Jai Boone! We know you’re in here! Open the door!”

No. Not yet. I’m there. I can do this.

The world grew silent.

Then it exploded.

My eyes shot open as my body floated, a surge of energy bursting out of my body.

“You have five seconds, then we’ll break the fucking door down!”

My body landed softly. I did it. I was reborn, shedding the skin of who I was before. Who cared about the past. The future that was opened up to me now was one full of excitement. I didn’t care about answers or questions, I had something much more fun in mind.

Walking over to my door, I opened it with a large smile, now facing a group of four masked figures.

“Hello.”

“Tch, you’re lucky. Any long-”

He was cut short as my fist flew into his face. I knew this new feeling. Satisfaction. I wonder how much more of it I would feel by beating the rest of them.

Time to find out.