FIRST EXPEDITION

  The echoes of the roaring crowd still lingered in Ethan’s mind as he walked through the dimly lit corridors of the Academy. The Moon Transition Tournament had concluded, and while Aries had secured victory, Virgo had done the impossible—they had fought as equals.

  But as Ethan entered Professor Alaric’s office, he couldn’t shake the frustration curling in his chest.

  The room was quiet, lined with towering bookshelves filled with ancient texts and star charts. A large window cast pale moonlight across the wooden desk where Alaric sat, waiting. Solis, curled up on a shelf, flicked his tail idly, his silver eyes half-lidded but unmistakably watchful.

  Ethan shut the door behind him, his fists tightening. “You told me to fight my hardest,” he said, voice edged with controlled anger. “And yet… you planned for me to lose?”

  Alaric leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.

  “We planned for you to remain unnoticed,” he corrected, his voice measured. “And you did not fail, Ethan. You did exactly what was necessary.”

  Ethan clenched his jaw. “We could have won.”

  “Yes,” Alaric admitted. “And had you won, you would have made enemies far more powerful than any student on that battlefield.”

  Ethan exhaled sharply, forcing himself to calm down. He knew Alaric was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.

  His mentor folded his hands together. “Virgo’s rise in the tournament was unexpected. It was inevitable that you would shine, Ethan—you are unlike anyone in this Academy. But claiming victory would have placed an unavoidable target on your back.”

  Ethan frowned. “The king’s court.”

  Alaric nodded. “The nobles have already taken notice. Had you won, invitations would have flooded in—diplomatic ties, political maneuvering. The king himself may have requested to see you.”

  Ethan felt a chill at that. The king—the very man who had once ordered the extermination of every child born under Leo’s sign.

  “By keeping you in second place,” Alaric continued, “we gave Virgo its first true recognition… without drawing too much dangerous attention to you.”

  Ethan sat down, rubbing a hand through his hair. He hated feeling like a piece in a larger game, but wasn’t that exactly what he was?

  After Ethan left Alaric’s office, his mind was still clouded with lingering thoughts. His mentor had been right—winning the tournament would have made him a target. But still, the weight of it all settled heavily in his chest. He had tasted what he was capable of, yet it wasn’t enough. There was more—so much more—that he didn’t understand yet.

  By the time he reached his dorm, Orion was already deep asleep, snoring lightly from exhaustion after the long day. Ethan barely noticed. His body felt drained, his mind restless. He lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, letting everything swirl in his head.

  And then, he drifted into sleep.

  But this wasn’t ordinary sleep.

  The moment his eyes closed, he was somewhere else.

  An endless cosmic expanse surrounded him, vast and infinite. Stars pulsed like distant heartbeats, swirling in celestial dances around him. Beneath his feet, the constellations shimmered, forming and unforming as if responding to his very presence.

  And then, in the midst of the cosmic vastness, she appeared.

  Sophia.

  She stood there, glowing with a celestial radiance that set her apart from everything else.

  She smiled, her voice soft but filled with quiet power.

  “You did well, Ethan.”

  Ethan exhaled, some of the tension leaving his shoulders just from seeing her. “I lost.”

  Sophia shook her head, stepping closer. “No, you didn’t. You proved what Virgo is capable of. You’re beginning to understand the way the world works.”

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  Sophia’s silver eyes studied him, filled with something between pride and urgency. “I saw your breakthrough.”

  Ethan clenched his fists. “It’s not enough. There’s still so much I don’t understand.”

  Sophia’s gaze softened. “And that’s why it’s time to take the next step.”

  The space around them shifted, and suddenly, the stars aligned—forming a cosmic image before his eyes.

  A sun—fractured and scattered—its golden remnants pulsing faintly across a distant map.

  The Fallen Sun.

  “The Great sun did not simply vanish when Leo fell,” Sophia explained. “Its essence lingers still, shattered across this world. Some fragments remain hidden, dormant… waiting to be found. Others have already begun to corrupt the land.”

  Ethan felt his pulse quicken. He had seen what corruption looked like. The Moonborn Beasts. The unnatural disturbances. The places where magic twisted into something dark.

  “This is why,” Sophia continued. “The absence of Leo left a void. And in that void, something else took its place.”

  Sophia turned, and as she did, a familiar figure appeared at Ethan’s side.

  Solis.

  The twin-tailed cat sat there, his silver eyes watching Ethan with quiet amusement—like he had known all along.

  “Solis will guide you,” Sophia said. “He can sense the remnants. He will take you to them.”

  Ethan looked at Solis. The cat stretched lazily, yawning. “Took you long enough.”

  Sophia’s gaze darkened. “This will not be easy, Ethan. The remnants of the Fallen Sun are not simply lying in wait. Some are sealed away.”

  A cold shiver ran through him.

  Sophia stepped closer, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “There are forces in this world that feed on the imbalance. That thrive in the darkness left behind. And some constellations… have chosen to embrace it.”

  Ethan’s breath caught.

  Some of the twelve constellations—some of the great houses—had aligned themselves with the darkness.

  Sophia’s grip tightened, her silver eyes locking onto his. “You must be cautious. The road ahead will be filled with obstacles—not just beasts, but people. Some of them will be closer than you think.”

  Ethan inhaled sharply, her words sinking deep. “Then I’ll prepare. I’ll find the essences.”

  Sophia studied him for a long moment, then nodded.

  A flicker of sadness passed through her gaze before she whispered, “Be careful, little brother.”

  The cosmic realm began to fade, stars dissolving into nothingness.

  And as Sophia’s voice echoed one last time, it carried a final warning.

  “Trust no one who walks in the shadow of the stars.”

  Ethan’s eyes snapped open.

  The dim light of his dorm came into focus, moonlight spilling through the window. His heart pounded in his chest, Sophia’s words still fresh in his mind.

  He turned his head.

  Solis was perched on his desk, watching him.

  “You heard everything,” Ethan murmured.

  The twin-tailed cat stretched, flicking one of his tails. “Of course.”

  Ethan sat up, running a hand through his hair. “So… you can sense the Fallen Sun’s remnants?”

  Solis hopped onto the bed, settling beside Ethan. “I can do more than that. I can take you to them.”

  Ethan inhaled deeply, his resolve hardening.

  This was it.

  A new path had opened before him. One that would lead him beyond the academy, beyond the safety of what he had known.

  He had a mission now.

  The Fallen Sun awaited.

  ?The First Remnant - The Ruins of the Old City

  Ethan exhaled, steadying himself. The weight of Sophia’s words still lingered in his mind, but now something more urgent filled his chest—a new purpose.

  He looked at Solis, whose silver eyes gleamed in the dim moonlight. “You can sense the Fallen Sun’s essence?”

  Solis flicked his twin tails. “I already told you—I can do more than sense it.”

  Before Ethan could respond, the cat’s tails moved in a slow, deliberate circle. The air between them trembled. A faint ripple spread outward, like a stone dropped into a pond. Then—a tear in space itself split open before them.

  A swirling vortex of shimmering light and shifting stars appeared, casting eerie, shifting patterns across the walls of Ethan’s dorm. Beyond the portal, he could make out the silhouette of ancient ruins bathed in silver moonlight. The air smelled of damp stone, rusted metal, and something faintly burning—like old magic still lingering in the cracks of a forgotten world.

  Solis turned his gaze back to Ethan. “There’s a remnant of the Fallen Sun in the ruins of the old city, just outside the kingdom’s walls.” His voice carried an unmistakable edge of caution. “It’s faint, but it’s there. And it won’t be unguarded.”

  Ethan clenched his fists. He could feel his pulse racing, not from fear, but from anticipation.

  He had fought in the tournament. He had rewritten the battlefield. He had stood against the strongest students in the kingdom.

  But this… this was something different.

  This was the first true step toward unlocking the truth of who he was.

  He met Solis’s gaze. “I’m ready.”

  Solis didn’t break eye contact. “Once we step through, there’s no turning back until the job is done. No teachers, no Academy rules, no safety net. Just you, me… and whatever is waiting for us.”

  Ethan took a deep breath. “Then let’s go.”

  Solis gave a small, approving nod. “Good.”

  Then, with a flick of his tail, he leapt through the portal.

  Ethan followed.

  ?The Ruins of the Old City

  As Ethan stepped through, the air shifted.

  Gone was the controlled warmth of his dorm. Here, the air was thick with moisture, cold and heavy, laced with the scent of old stone and decay. He landed on uneven ground, boots scraping against cracked pavement.

  Before him stretched a ruined city—abandoned for centuries.

  The remnants of stone towers loomed overhead, their spires shattered and half-swallowed by creeping ivy. What had once been a grand plaza now lay in ruins, broken statues and faded banners scattered across the desolate landscape.

  And above them, the sky stretched vast and dark, the twin moons casting eerie light over the ancient remains.

  Solis padded forward, his form barely making a sound against the damp stone. “It’s deeper in. The essence is hidden beneath the ruins.”

  Ethan nodded and followed, his senses sharpening.

  Something feels… off.

  At first, it was just a strange sensation in the air. Then, as they walked, he noticed it—subtle at first, but undeniable.

  Shadows moved.

  Not from the wind.

  Not from the flickering moonlight.

  But from something else.

  Ethan narrowed his eyes, focusing his aura. The moment he did, the world’s code revealed itself. Lines of shifting text and intricate symbols spread across the stone walls, the ruins themselves humming with an ancient language.

  But beneath those lines, beneath the ordinary decay of time—something new had been written.

  The symbols weren’t just history.

  They were warnings.

  Something unnatural had taken root here.

  Solis’s tail flicked once. “I was right.” His voice was quieter now, more serious. “We’re not alone.”

  Ethan tensed, his aura pulsing instinctively. “What are we dealing with?”

  Solis’s silver eyes gleamed in the darkness. “You’ll see soon enough.”

  And then—the ruins came alive.

  The ground trembled.

  The air twisted.

  And from the shadows, they emerged.

  At first, they were nothing but shapes—dark, twisted figures that moved in ways that defied logic. Then, the moonlight revealed them fully.

  Corrupted creatures.

  Once-human forms, their bodies warped by the lingering energy of the Fallen Sun’s shadow. Their skin was cracked like scorched earth, glowing faintly with molten veins of cursed energy. Their eyes—empty sockets filled with shifting darkness—turned toward Ethan.