Morning arrived beneath storm-colored skies.
Heavy clouds stretched across the heavens above the Imperial City, rolling slowly like an approaching tide that threatened to swallow the sunlight whole. The wind carried a faint chill through the towering streets of the capital, weaving between crystal-lit buildings and fluttering banners hanging from noble towers.
Yet despite the dark skies overhead, the city had awakened long before sunrise.
No one slept peacefully on the final day of the National Championship.
Not students.
Not nobles.
Not merchants.
Not even the countless ordinary citizens packed into the lower districts of the empire's capital.
Because today, the finals would begin.
And the entire empire waited to witness history.
