Power didn''t only come from strength.


    It came from fear. From loyalty. From names.


    Caelan knew that now.


    The tournament’s aftermath had changed everything. The name "Vaal" wasn’t just a whisper—it was a currency. And Ghost… Ghost was becoming a myth. A bloodied shadow in the underground that made entire hunting squads step aside. Two legends. One boy.


    But to climb higher, he needed distance. Separation. Layers.


    So he did what no cadet had ever dared to do: He played both sides of the board.


    He hired an actor.


    Vaal had to be seen. Had to breathe. Had to walk through the underground. So Caelan found a washed-up noble kid from another city. A fallen prodigy turned actor-for-hire. Handsome, clean-spoken, arrogant. Perfect.


    He paid him well, kept him drunk, fed him lines.


    "Smile like you fund assassins. Speak like you’ve never bled."


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    The actor obeyed. And so, Vaal appeared in black markets, funded raids, sat in velvet chairs, whispered advice into warlords’ ears.


    Meanwhile, Ghost moved in silence. Raided. Killed. Bled.


    One created wealth. The other fed the machine.


    And the Academy?


    Caelan returned every day like a ghost among them. Still mocked. Still lowborn. Still "nobody."


    Until the smart ones began to notice the pattern. Every time Vaal funded a job… Ghost completed it.


    And yet—no one could prove a thing.


    He started playing political games.


    Leaking false contracts. Funding low-tier mercenaries to attack noble trade routes, then paying for their funerals as Vaal. Gaining trust from nobles while burning their networks as Ghost. Sending threats to warlords, then buying their loyalty through a middleman.


    Every step was war. Every lie was a weapon.


    He wasn’t just fighting people anymore. He was fighting the idea of nobility itself.


    Vaal appeared in the court of minor kings, hosting auctions, praising noble lineages. Ghost, in the same night, cut down their caravans in the forest.


    He started whispering ideas.


    Rumors that Vaal and Ghost were rivals. That they hated each other. That Ghost had once failed to kill Vaal.


    He even faked an ambush on "Vaal"—hiring mercs to attack the actor while Ghost saved him.


    The underworld lost its mind.


    Two demons. At odds.


    And in the middle of it all… Caelan watched. And smiled.


    No one knew he was both mask and face.


    He didn’t want thrones. He wanted power. Enough to never be mocked again.


    But even power has a price.


    And in the next Black Fang Trial…


    Ghost and Vaal would both be expected to choose a side.