Chapter 1 - 0
Light seared into the room, a relentless flood that carved every shadow into stark relief. Five chairs clawed a jagged circle from thencrete floor, each cradling a girl—hips thrust forward, bare skin gleaming under the glare. Their tops clung like battle scars: charred leather, glinting silver, sodden rags plastered to their torsos. Below, nothing shielded them—exposed, raw, trembling. Black silk blindfolds swallowed their eyes, and dull metalllars choked their necks, leashing the powers that once torched cities and split skies.
"Today's training session is for 'Surprise Endurance Conditioning' ". Kael dictated it aloud with a smile.
Their hands gripped the chair arms, knuckles blanched to bone-white, an unspoken law etched into their rigid frames: don't move them. Kael prowled the circle, boots whispering against the strain-thick air. Dark hair veiled his eyes, a faint smirk tugging his lips—unreadable, dangerous. Theyuldn't see him, but his presence hit like static,iling tight around their throats.
He paused behind the first—a wiry spitfire with crimson hair streaked ash-gray, spilling wild past her scarred shoulders. Jagged burns raked her pale skin, a map of her old chaos. Her breath snagged as his hand hovered—then cracked down, a whip-sharp slap against her ass that split the silence.
"Ah~~" she rasped, voice rough and starved, hips jolting forward. Her hands stayed clamped, nails biting steel. The sound rcheted, and the others flinched, blind but bound to it, breaths stuttering in sync.
Kael's fingers lingered, digging into her scarred flesh. His power—Empathic Resonance—ignited, flooding her with heat, a molten wave that drowned her edges. "Mmm~~" she moaned, sweat slicking her brow, thighs clenching as her spine arched. The others squirmed, faint ripples of her fire licking at their senses.
He stepped away, circling to the next—a statuesque figure with platinum-cyan hair razored short, skin so pale it shimmered like frost. A silver-trimmedat hugged her chest, but her hips glowed bare, defiant in the light. No strike this time—just a finger, slow and deliberate, tracing her spine. Steam hissed where heat met her chill.
"Nh~~" she bit out, voice brittle as breaking glass. Her head tipped back, lips splitting open. "Kael..." The word slipped free, nails gouging the chair arms. The air thickened, the others tasting her thaw through his touch.
Then the small one—jet-black hair fraying from a loose ponytail, gaunt face shadowed with scars. Her shroud hung threadbare, barely veiling heriled frame. Kael leaned in, breath grazing her ear. She flinched, blindfold quivering. "Nh~~" escaped, soft and sharp.