The moon over the Academy was a pale, dying thing, smothered by clouds. It cast no light on the path Kairo walked - only shadow. Fitting, he thought. Power never thrived in daylight.
He slipped through a cracked wall behind House Veyr's east courtyard, past dead ivy and broken bricks, into the lowest cellars beneath the school grounds.
The catacombs.
Forbidden to all students. Older than the Academy itself. They said the dead from wars long erased by history were buried here - blooded nobles whose names were scrubbed from every book.
Kairo wasn't here for bones.
He was here for something deeper.
[New Ability Acquired: Crimson Grasp]
[You may now manipulate externalized blood as living tendrils.]
[Warning: Overuse may consume life force. Use wisely, Sovereign Candidate.]
He reached the lowest chamber - a round vault with a cracked altar and faded murals. On the walls: images of blood stretching like red vines, wrapping around warriors, ripping through beasts, dragging down gods.
And in the center, a single iron circle carved into the stone floor. Old blood still stained the cracks.
Kairo knelt.
His hands trembled as he focused on the cut along his wrist - one he made deliberately, carefully. A slow trickle of red dripped down to the floor.
"Come on…" he whispered.
The blood pooled. Nothing happened.
He grit his teeth, pouring more focus into it. Feel it. Command it. You are not the vessel. You are the Sovereign.
The blood pulsed.
And then - it moved.
Like a finger twitching, the crimson puddle responded. It trembled, shifted… rose.
A tendril of blood snaked upward from the floor like a serpent awakened. It floated before him, wavering in the air, awaiting command.
He flinched - but didn't stop.
With narrowed eyes, Kairo focused again. The tendril twisted, curling into a spiral, then split into two whip-like strands.
It felt unnatural. Powerful. Alive.
[Blood Manipulation: 5% Sync Achieved]
[Tendrils Active: 2]
[Life Force Drain: Minimal]
He smiled.
Then his knees buckled.
Pain lanced through his chest like a hot spear. He gasped, the tendrils faltering.
[Warning: Life Force Strain Detected]
He collapsed to one knee, clutching his ribs. The cold of the stone floor returned to him, harsh and uncaring.
So this is the cost.
It wasn't just about blood. The Sovereign Core didn't gift power freely. Every step forward took something from him. It was a hunger - always demanding, always whispering.
Still gasping, he dragged himself to the altar and sat back.
He looked at his own blood, now soaking the stones.
And he laughed - quiet, breathless, bitter.
"Good," he muttered. "If it hurts them half as much as it hurts me… it's worth it."
Later That Night
He returned to his dorm long after midnight, sweat-drenched and shaking, every muscle sore.
No one saw him return.
But not everyone slept.
High above the training courts, in a spire lit only by a single red lantern, three robed figures stood behind a veil of smoke.
"He accessed the Grasp already," whispered the tallest one. "Untrained. Unbound. He may be the one."
"Or a mistake waiting to happen," said the second. "Unchecked Sovereigns always burn."
"And yet," murmured the third, "isn't that what we need?"
They turned back to the mirror, where the image of Kairo - kneeling in the catacombs, blood swirling - flickered.
"Let him bleed a little more," said the first. "The true test begins soon."
Back in his chamber, Kairo stared at his hands. His pulse still raced. His blood still responded to his call - he could feel it, coiled just underneath the surface.
He was becoming something else.
Not noble.
Not monster.
Something in between.
[Sovereign Core: 9%]
[New Ability Unlocked: Crimson Grasp]
[Tendrils Mastered: 2 / Potential: 5+]
[Rune Slot Unsealed: Passive Ability Available for Engraving]
But still—he was alone.
No mentor. No guide. Just whispers in ruins and a system that drank him dry.
Still, as he lay on the cold mattress, staring up at the ceiling, his lips curved into a sharp, tired smile.
He would carve a path up.
Through stone.
Through blood.
Through anyone.
In the dark underbelly of the Academy, where forgotten gods once bled, a new monster was learning how to shape his own veins into weapons.
——
The Sovereign's Curse
Kairo's body hadn't healed since the last trial.
His bones still ached from the fight, and the tendrils he'd summoned in the catacombs had drained something deeper than blood - something he couldn't name. Yet, the Sovereign Core pulsed inside him like a second heart, always beating, always hungering.
He lay in his chamber, eyes shut.
Then the world split.
[Blood Core Synchronization: 10% Reached.]
[Sovereign Memory Echo Initiated.]
[Warning: You are not prepared.]
The chamber dissolved around him. Light warped, space folded, and suddenly—
He was standing in an ocean of ash.
A ruined battlefield stretched as far as he could see. Skulls littered the charred ground. The sky above was crimson, torn with lightning that flashed silently, like the world had forgotten how to scream.
A throne of bones stood at the center.
And seated on it…
A man.
His skin was cracked like volcanic stone, and blood seeped from lines etched across his arms, chest, and face. His eyes glowed red—not with anger, but with sorrow.
"You're early," the man said. His voice echoed like it came from the depths of the earth. "But the system has chosen you anyway."
Kairo stepped forward. His voice felt small.
"Who are you?"
The man stood.
And the world shuddered.
"I was Sovereign. Once. Before I failed."
Kairo's breath caught. "You… failed?"
"I didn't bleed fast enough," the man said. "I didn't evolve. The system devoured me - piece by piece. Turned my blood into poison. My memories into knives."
He raised a hand. His fingers were claws now. Not human. Not creature. Something in between.
"You think this path is strength?" the man asked. "It's a curse. The more you take, the more it takes from you."
Kairo looked around. The ground writhed.
Skeletons moved.
Twisted figures began rising from the ash—former enemies, their bones blackened, their flesh wrong. They marched toward the throne, not to fight… but to serve.
"They were mine," the Sovereign said. "Every enemy I killed. The system claimed them. It resurrected them beneath my blood."
Kairo staggered back.
"You controlled them?"
"No." His voice was cold. "The system did. I became a puppet, and my blood… was the string."
The risen soldiers knelt around the throne, their hollow eyes staring at nothing.
"Lose control, Kairo," the Sovereign whispered, "and your blood will become their grave. And you their king."
Suddenly—
The world snapped back.
Kairo gasped awake, drenched in sweat.
His fingers were shaking. His chest burned where the birthmark pulsed brighter than ever. Crimson veins glowed just under his skin.
The Sovereign Core had grown.
[Sovereign Core: 10% → 12%]
[Warning: Core Instability Detected]
[Passive Ability Unlocked: Blood Echo]
[If blood control exceeds 50%, slain enemies may rise under Sovereign Will.]
Kairo stared at the message.
This wasn't just power.
It was dominion.
It was madness dressed as a gift.
He stood, stumbling to the mirror on the far side of his chamber. His reflection looked pale - eyes sunken, veins glowing faint red like roots beneath his skin.
He barely recognized himself anymore.
"I'm not ready," he whispered.
The system whispered back:
Grow. Or be consumed.
Elsewhere…
In a candlelit chamber, three masked figures from the Red Veil cult met again.
"He's reached 12%," one of them said. "Faster than we expected."
"The curse has begun," murmured another. "If he loses control, the Academy will drown in red."
"Then we push him further," said the tallest. "Let's see how much blood his soul can hold before it collapses."
Back in his room, Kairo sat silently.
Was this what Claine and the other nobles were protected from? They were born with clean bloodlines, trained gently. Not forced into cursed evolution.
Not hunted by their own power.
But maybe, just maybe… that was the difference.
They were born with power.
He was born to take it from them.
If my blood is cursed… then let it curse them all.
•
•
•
Author's Note:
We've hit a turning point, Sovereign readers. Kairo is no longer just gaining power - he's realizing the terrible cost of it. Blood Echo opens up the horror side of the system: if he kills too many too fast, he could awaken something inside himself that cannot be undone.
What would you do in his place? Use the power anyway? Or try to fight the system?
💉 Drop a Power Stone if you're enjoying this evolution
🩸 Comments = more story fuel
👁️ Next chapter will reveal who's truly watching Kairo from the shadows…
—Blood and ruin,
Author Fay