As Lu Yang walked along the academy's winding paths, he found himself deep in thought about his situation and what he should do next.
'The academy was going to give up on me sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.'
Lu Yang had learned from his parents, when he was young, that nearly everyone in this world gained the ability to summon a martial shadow on their twelfth birthday. Those who summoned were called first-level martial apprentices.
As long as a Martial Apprentice could summon their shadow, they could grow stronger by battling formidable monsters, relying solely on the support of their shadows.
Some summoned their shadows in their sleep, while others did so while awake, but there had never been anyone like Lu Yang, who was unaware of their shadow's existence.
The day Lu Yang summoned his shadow, as he wandered through the town, he noticed people pointing at his back in fear, and it was at that moment he turned to see his shadow for the first time.
The shadow stood nearly six feet tall, carrying a sword at its waist. It moved silently, like a person, and seemed to gaze at a book-like object in its hand.
The shadow, which appeared completely black, had large, nebulous eyes that shone with a faint glimmer of intelligence.
While the townsfolk initially reacted with fear and astonishment to this humanoid figure, things changed when one of them noticed that someone was always walking just ahead of the shadow.
When the villagers looked at Lu Yang on a clear day with the sun shining overhead, the only explanation for the absence of his shadow at his feet was that the humanoid figure following him was his martial shadow.
At that time, the incident caught the attention of the entire town, and even a martial peak practitioner from the nearest large city came to see Lu Yang and his shadow.
The martial peak practitioner who saw Lu Yang's shadow reacted with excitement, claiming the shadow was one of a kind.
"Child, shadows are typically divided into two categories: ordinary and special. This is the first time in my life I've seen a shadow that doesn't fit into either classification."
The martial peak practitioner had told Lu Yang that if he reached first-level martial senior apprentice before the age of seventeen, he would be accepted into the academy in the city.
Before returning to the city, the martial peak practitioner warned the town academy, saying, "This young man must not come to harm!"
At that time, even though Lu Yang was suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his family's death, he gained the support of the city academy thanks to the shadow he had summoned.
This caused jealousy among the townsfolk, and even the town lord and the academy director, who thought they had a hand in Lu Yang's family's death, warned the townspeople to protect him.
Today, as Lu Yang was expelled from the academy, he realized he had lost his only source of security.
As he walked toward the descending path from the mountain, he found it increasingly strange that he saw more and more people but thought little of it, focusing instead on how he would leave the town before dawn.
When he reached the main road descending from the academy into the town, Lu Yang noticed the students around him gesturing and speaking animatedly.
"Look...! Isn't that burning place the town lord's house?"
"Isn't that the Lei family's place on the other side? There's smoke coming from the Lei family's house too. What's happening?"
"I don't know, but I just saw the academy director rush toward the town with a few people after the fire broke out at the Wu family's." One of the young students spoke with a questioning expression.
"Wow! This must be a war between families."
While the academy students were intrigued by the incident, Lu Yang turned toward the town, a cold expression on his face as he gazed in a specific direction.
Although those around him didn't notice, a tremendous chill lingered in his black eyes, which reflected the flames.
At that moment, as if responding to Lu Yang's emotions, his shadow appeared beside him.
However, this time, unlike before, the shadow didn't pull out a book; it stood still for a moment, glanced at Lu Yang, then slowly walked down the mountain.
As Lu Yang and his shadow descended the mountain in silence, a breathless servant rushed into the lord's chamber in the town.
"My lord! My lord!"
"What's going on? Why did you burst into my room like that?" The lord snapped at the servant.
"My lord, there's... there's a fire at your house."
At that moment, another servant rushed in hurriedly and said, "My lord, there's a fire at the Lei family's house."
"What?!" The lord jumped up in a panic, dropping the book he held as he pointed to one of the servants. "You go inform the captain of the town guards immediately!"
Turning to the other servant, he instructed, "You run to the academy and inform the director!" Grabbing his spear, the lord dashed outside.
On the other side of the town, at the Lei family house, the family leader, Lei To, was sipping his tea when he was disturbed by the noise from outside. Annoyed, he stepped outside to see what was happening.
Upon exiting, he saw everyone rushing around with buckets in hand and flames rising everywhere, causing him to exclaim, "What's going on?"
Lei To stood frozen for a few seconds before grabbing one of the running servants by the arm. "What's happening?"
"Master, a fire broke out in two different parts of the house for no reason." The servant replied before rushing off with his bucket.
At that moment, a middle-aged man with a mace in each hand ran up, saying, "Master, there's a fire at the Wu family's house too."
"This can't be a coincidence. Quickly gather everyone who can fight, post guards at the doors, take the rest and meet with me on the main door!" Lei To commanded, turning away from the man with the maces.
"Master, what about the Wu family?" the mace-wielding man called after Lei To as he walked away.
"Inform the town lord of the situation. After assessing things, tell him we'll come to help."
"…"
Lei To found the situation suspicious and wanted to act, but not knowing the enemy's intentions, he couldn't risk leaving his family to aid the town lord.
While the Wu and Lei families dealt with the suspicious fires in their houses, the leaders of the Han and Lee families, who had caused the fires, were gathered around a table in a small hut located in a secluded area of the town, discussing plans while looking at a map of the town laid out before them.