The Darkness System: Rise of the Broken Sovereign

The ship’s interior felt warm after the frozen void. Students lay sprawled across couches and floor, some still coughing, others wrapped in blankets the med-bot had distributed. Isabella sat propped against a wall, an oxygen mask pressed to her face, eyes closed.

VP Dubois stood at the center, arms crossed, that terrifying smile still playing at her lips.

"Congratulations, Captain." Her eyes found Kael. "You have taken a step into forming your own domain. I’m surprised. That was out of my expectation. I only wanted to test and strengthen your physical stats, but you went even further." The smile widened. "Looks like I won’t be disappointed in my decision of choosing you as the captain."

"Thank you, ma’am."

"You’re welcome."

A hand shot up.

Yenna Frostveil sat upright, frost still clinging to her hair and eyelashes, but her expression was sharp and focused.

"Vice Principal Harlow—is this also a domain seed?"

The temperature in the room plummeted.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.

Ice erupted across the floor in a ten-meter radius, spreading from Yenna like a frozen disease. Frost Zone—the domain technique she’d used in Jabia City, refined now, denser, more controlled. The cold was oppressive—not just temperature but intent, the promise of absolute zero made manifest.

Students scrambled backward. Sage’s tails puffed up. Mason’s solar energy flickered involuntarily.

"Ah—" Cassian casually stepped out of the frost zone’s reach with a cup of tea in his hand. "A bit cold, don’t you think?"

Yenna ignored him, eyes fixed on Dubois.

The Vice President studied the frozen circle with evident approval. "Yes. Wonderful. It seems you have also formed a domain seed." Her gaze swept across the assembled students. "How delightful. It seems your group is really filled with monsters."

The frost receded. Yenna’s shoulders relaxed slightly. She was really competitive.

"Alright." Dubois moved toward the exit. "We’ll soon arrive."

One hour passed in a blur of recovery and quiet conversation.

Kael sat with his eyes closed, processing the domain seed forming in his Sea of Consciousness. It sat there like a heavy marble—dense, potential-filled, waiting to be expanded. The 30-meter radius he’d achieved in space was nothing compared to what a full domain could accomplish. But it was a start.

Thrum.

The ship’s engines shifted. Kael felt the deceleration through his body before he heard the announcement.

"Approaching destination. All passengers prepare for landing."

He opened his eyes and moved to the nearest viewport.

His breath caught.

A planet filled the frame—massive, impossibly massive, its surface a patchwork of gleaming cities, wild forests, and swirling clouds that seemed to move with purpose. Orbital stations ringed it like a crown of metal and light, hundreds of them, each one large enough to house a small city. Ships of every design moved between them—military vessels, cargo haulers, personal craft—creating rivers of light against the darkness of space.

Dubois had appeared behind them, hands clasped. "This is IGF Central—the administrative heart of the Inter-Galactic Federation. More cultivators pass through this planet in a single day than exist on most worlds."

The ship descended through the orbital layer, atmosphere screaming against the hull, and landed with a gentle thump in a designated zone.

Through the viewing ports, Kael could see other ships. Dozens of them, each bearing different sigils and crests. Some he recognized from the academy list. Most he didn’t.

"Not all academies have arrived," Dubois noted. "But enough have. Come."

The building before them defied description.

Towering didn’t cover it. Monumental came closer. It rose from the cityscape like a mountain of glass and metal, its surface reflecting the triple suns in prismatic displays. Thousands of people flowed in and out of its entrance—cultivators, merchants, officials, beings of every race Kael could name and several he couldn’t.

A woman with green hair and rectangular glasses approached them with a smile.

"Welcome to the Inter-Galactic Federation, Miss Harlow." She bowed slightly. "I will be the guide for Heaven’s Gate Academy. The rest are upstairs."

Dubois nodded. "Alright, you kids go." She turned to Kael and pressed two things into his hands—a folded map and a black credit card. "You can visit the Nine-Star Trading House. You can also use 100,000 credits each. Anything more, and you will staying outside the ship back to the academy. I’m sure some of you don’t need it since you have at least hundreds of thousands of credits." A pause. "Buy what you want. I will be going upstairs now for the meeting. The pin is 4-7-2-9."

She walked away without looking back.

Kael examined the credit card. Sleek black metal, no visible markings, but when he tapped it, a holographic display appeared:

IGF TEMPORARY CREDIT CARD Balance: 10,000,000 Credits User: Kael Vorn

He frowned, then pulled up his personal credit balance from his wristband.

Academy Gold Tier stipend: 100 credits monthly. He’d barely spent it—food, occasional rune materials. Over nearly two years, that accumulated to roughly 10,600 credits.

From the Vorn family: Nothing. Not a single credit. The Patriarch’s message was clear—you were discarded, you stay discarded.

But the Guardians...

Kael scrolled through his transaction history, eyes widening slightly.

Monthly Guardian stipend for five months: 500 credits each. That was 2,500.

Then the increase after Hevaria: 5,000 credits monthly for three months. Another 15,000.

Monthly total: 17,500.

Morir mission rewards: 160,000 credits.

Hevaria mission rewards: 200,000 credits.

Holy shit.

Kael stared at the final number.

Total Personal Credits: 388,100

He’d known the Guardians paid well. He hadn’t realized they paid this well since he hardly checked his credit card.

Nine-Star Trading House.

The name hung above the entrance in letters three meters tall, forged from some metal that shifted color depending on the angle. Gold. Silver. Platinum. The building behind it stretched upward and outward, consuming an entire city block with its sheer mass.

Security was tight.

Armed guards flanked every entrance. Scanner arrays hummed with invisible frequencies. Kael felt at least three different detection techniques sweep over him as they approached—one for weapons, one for cultivation base, one for... something else he couldn’t identify.

Inside, the trading house was a labyrinth of wonders.