Ashes of the star forge

The underground arena was loud with anticipation.

Lian stood at the edge of the fighting floor, waiting for the barriers to fully activate. The opponent Lirien had selected waited on the opposite side — a solid mid-level fighter with a heavy staff and a reputation for durability rather than lethal aggression. It was meant to be a controlled match. A chance to reinforce his foundation without pushing him back to the edge of death.

Elara watched from the upper walkway, her expression tight. Lirien stood beside her, calm as always, violet eyes tracking every movement in the pit.

The holographic display flashed the start signal.

Lian stepped forward—

A violent explosion of force tore through the upper levels of the arena.

The reinforced ceiling panels near one of the private boxes shattered inward. Debris and twisted metal rained down onto the seating areas. Screams erupted as the crowd scattered. Barrier fields flickered and strained under the sudden impact. A heavy figure dropped through the breach, landing hard on the fighting floor with enough force to crack the reinforced surface.

The man rose slowly.

He was tall and broad, covered in dark, scarred combat augs that ran from his neck down both arms. A heavy plasma rifle was mag-locked to his back, and a brutal vibro-axe hung at his hip. His face was partially covered by a battered helm, but the cold, professional eyes behind it swept the arena with clear purpose. A glowing bounty marker hovered faintly near his shoulder — active and locked.

The pressure that rolled off him was crushing.

Stellar Circuit Star 5.

The difference in power was immediate and absolute. Lian’s breath caught as the man’s Qi presence slammed into the space around them like a physical weight. Even the late Core Condensation fighters in the crowd staggered. Elara’s face went pale. Lirien’s violet eyes narrowed slightly — the first real sign of focus she had shown since arriving at the hub.

The bounty hunter’s gaze locked onto Lian.

“Found you,” the man said, his voice rough and amplified by his helm. “The void-eyed brat and the half-aug girl. There’s a heavy price on both your heads. Dead or alive... but dead pays cleaner.”

The arena collapsed into chaos.

Spectators scrambled for the exits. Local enforcers shouted orders, but the sudden appearance of a Stellar Circuit Star 5 bounty hunter in the middle of an unsanctioned fighting pit created immediate disorder. The barriers around the main floor fluctuated wildly under the pressure of his aura alone.

Lian’s body tensed. The black liquid inside him surged in response to the overwhelming threat, but even that felt small against the gap in power. This man was not like the arena opponents. He was not even like the representative at lowered levels. This was a true higher-realm hunter.

Elara was already moving, vaulting down from the upper walkway with her thunder blade drawn. The moment she entered the range of the man’s pressure, her knees nearly buckled. Still, she forced herself forward.

The bounty hunter raised his plasma rifle with casual ease.

Lian moved first, knowing hesitation would mean death.

He crossed the distance in a surge of reinforced speed, the black liquid hardening his muscles and bones as he closed in. The hunter didn’t even bother to dodge properly. He simply tilted his body, letting Lian’s fist — coated in the black substance — slam into a heavily auged forearm. The impact that would have staggered a Star 1 opponent did almost nothing. The man looked down at Lian as if mildly annoyed.

Then he backhanded him.

The force was catastrophic.

Lian’s world exploded into white pain as he was launched across the fighting floor. He slammed into the far barrier hard enough to crack it, blood spraying from his mouth. Something in his chest and shoulder gave way with sickening cracks. His vision swam. The black liquid scrambled to keep his body from shutting down.

Elara reached the man a second later, her thunder blade flashing with arcs of blue lightning. The bounty hunter parried the strike with the flat of his vibro-axe, the collision sending a shockwave outward. He twisted, caught her wrist with his free hand, and hurled her across the pit like she weighed nothing. She hit the ground hard and did not immediately rise.

The hunter turned back toward Lian, raising the plasma rifle.

“Stay down,” he said. “I’d prefer the clean kill.”

Lirien moved.

She did not run. She simply stepped off the upper walkway and descended as if the air itself carried her. The pressure of the Star 5 hunter washed over her without visible effect. Her small face remained expressionless, but her violet eyes had gone cold.

“You will not touch my Master,” she said softly.

The bounty hunter’s helmet tilted. For the first time, he seemed to reassess the small silver-haired girl standing between him and his targets. His Qi flared higher, the weight of a true Stellar Circuit Star 5 pressing down on the entire arena.

Lirien raised one small hand.

The air distorted.

An invisible force slammed into the bounty hunter with enough power to drive him backward several meters, his boots carving trenches in the reinforced floor. His armor sparked violently. He snarled in genuine surprise and pain, planting his feet and raising both the plasma rifle and the vibro-axe—

The entire section of the arena shuddered as heavier enforcement barriers finally slammed into place. Reinforced doors sealed. Automated high-grade turrets dropped from the ceiling, locking onto the armed intruder. The local enforcement AI had finally classified the situation as a high-level external threat.

The bounty hunter cursed, clearly recognizing that the situation had shifted. With a final glare at Lian and Lirien, he activated a short-range displacement device. Light flared around his body. A second later, he was gone — escaped through the same breach he had created before the full lockdown could trap him.

Silence did not return.

Alarms continued to blare. Injured spectators were being pulled from the debris. The fighting floor was scorched and cracked. Lian lay on the ground in a spreading pool of his own blood, his breathing ragged and wet. Elara forced herself up onto one elbow, her face tight with pain and fear.

Lirien approached them both, her small form calm amidst the chaos.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders

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