Kael cleared his throat, cutting through the tension thick in the air like a blade.
The temperature in the Dreamrealm had subtly shifted—Selene's smile was growing too smug, and Yue's eyes were just a spark away from combusting.
He needed to take control.
"I've been thinking," Kael began, voice steady.
"I have this ability now.
I can mark anyone of equal or lower rank.
Once marked, I can pull them into this Dreamrealm—anytime, from anywhere."
Selene turned to him, eyes lighting up.
"That's incredible. You're so good, Kael," she said sweetly—then shot Yue a victorious glance.
Kael felt her pride like a pat on the back.
Yue said nothing.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her tobacco pipe.
Dreamweaver was her sword, after all.
She knew its forms better than anyone—but still, hearing it used like this stung.
Kael pressed on.
"So I've decided… we're going to build something.
An organization.
One that operates here, inside the Dreamrealm."
Both Selene and Yue stilled.
Their gazes locked on him.
"I'm serious,"Kael continued.
"Think about it—what's the biggest problem mages face as they advance?"
Selene didn't even blink.
"High-rank spells.
They're locked away—hoarded by churches, temples, noble clans, sects.
Even magic stores barely offer anything above Rank 3.
And if they do, it costs a small kingdom."
Yue exhaled a sharp breath of smoke.
"And once you join them, you're shackled.
You do their dirty work, bleed for them, and maybe they give you access to something rare.
Even then, you're bound by mana contracts so tight, you can't leak a single word without your insides screaming.
It's a cage made of paper and power."
Kael nodded slowly.
"Exactly. But here?" He looked around the obsidian hall, shadows flickering from the ghostlights overhead.
"Here, in the Dreamrealm, those contracts mean nothing.
They're tied to the physical world.
This place is a dream."
He leaned forward.
"We can pull in disciples from different factions—rivals, enemies, allies.
Let them talk.
Trade. Share secrets, forbidden techniques, ancient spells.
Things no one's supposed to know."
Silence dropped over the room like a falling blade.
"Their organizations will never know," Kael finished quietly.
"Not in this lifetime."
Selene blinked once.
Then nodded slowly.
"That's… actually brilliant.
We could uncover things they've kept buried for generations.
Secrets even their inner circles don't dare write down."
Yue stared at Kael for a long moment—silent, unreadable.
…I had this ability too, she thought.
But back then, spells weren't monopolized like this.
I didn't need to think like he does!
She looked away, a puff of smoke curling from her lips.
"You're dangerous, Kael. I like it."
That set off a storm.
The three of them dove into a heated debate—ideas, logistics, recruitment, ethics, betrayal, potential loopholes.
They tore apart the plan and rebuilt it from the ground up.
Selene suggested using illusions to mask identities.
Yue proposed questions—who to approach, and who to never trust.
Kael just tried to keep up.
Thirty minutes later, Kael slumped in his throne, groaning.
"My head's going to split open.
Maintaining this place… I can't hold it much longer."
Yue stretched, graceful as a cat.
"You'll handle it better once you hit Rank 3.
That's when most elite disciples become worth pulling anyway."
Selene nodded.
"We'll wait. Prepare."
Then she paused, thoughtful.
"But what do we call it? This… organization of ours?"
The air grew still again.
Yue's golden eyes flicked to Kael.
Selene followed.
Kael sighed, rubbing his temples.
Why is naming things always my job?
He closed his eyes.
Thought.
And then—
"…Let's call it Dark Heaven."
A beat of silence.
Then Selene's lips curled upward.Yue's expression shifted—half smirk, half something colder.
"Dark Heaven," she echoed softly.
"Poetic. Sinful. And no one will ever see it coming."
Kael sat back in his throne.
A small, dangerous smile played on his lips.
"Good."
Selene leaned back, a smile playing on her lips.
"So… we're the first members."
Yue exhaled smoke.
"Even Kael counts, I suppose."
Their laughter echoed through the Dreamrealm—brief, reckless, human.
None of them knew it then.
But that moment marked the beginning of something vast.
Something that, one day, would make the gods look down in fear.
Dark Heaven had taken its first breath.
###
After the Dreamrealm faded, Kael returned to his study.
The candle on his desk had burned low, its wax pooling over forgotten notes and half-opened scrolls.
Shadows danced across the walls, flickering like silent conspirators.
He sat in silence, eyes scanning the pages before him—histories, bloodlines, treaties, hidden wars.
If he was going to survive this world, he couldn't just fight it.
He had to understand it.
Break it open from the inside.
That's when he saw it.
An envelope.
Unmarked.
Slipped between reports like a whisper tucked into a scream.
Kael opened it, his fingers suddenly cold.
He read it once.
Then again.
And the breath left his lungs.
"…It's confirmed," he muttered.
Yue drifted into view, silent as smoke. "What is?"
Kael laid the parchment flat on the desk.
His voice was low.
"Veyran's army. It's real."
Yue's brow furrowed. "How many?"
"Over a hundred Rank 2 mages. Gathered. Armed. Quiet."
She straightened.
"In the western province?"
Kael shook his head.
"No. That's why no one found them. They're not here."
He tapped the parchment.
"They're in the northern province."
Yue blinked.
"But your father is the Duke of the west.
If they were there… wouldn't he have noticed?"
Kael's voice was flat.
"He was looking in the wrong province."
He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing.
"And if the camp is in the north… then the northern Duke is protecting them."
Yue's expression turned unreadable.
"Wasn't he your father's ally?"
Kael gave a tired, bitter smile.
"In the noble world, allies are just future enemies with good manners."
He stared at the letter again.
"The camp is sealed.
No one enters. No one leaves.
All food, water, and supplies are managed internally.
They're building something.
Preparing."
Yue's voice dropped. "For war."
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he reached for a fresh scroll and began writing.
Maintain distance.Monitor the supply routes.No contact. No interference.Wait for movement.
Then report.
He sealed it, pressed his signet into the wax, and sat still for a long moment.
The candle crackled beside him.