"Look… and understand."The voice was deep, ancient—like it didn't come from a man, but from something that no longer belonged to this world.Before him, a figure cloaked in shadows, barely visible amidst a sea of light. A solid silhouette, with only one thing truly clear: the sword it held.
It was dark.So dark, it seemed to absorb the light itself.A blade that didn't slice the air—it devoured it.
And then, the man raised the weapon in one hand, diagonally.— "Do not forget." —he murmured, with a certainty that struck like an echo.The cut fell.It didn't touch Vex.It didn't even graze him.And yet… it split him.
He screamed. Screamed as if he'd been torn apart from the inside.As if death had touched his soul.As if his flesh had shattered… even in a place where flesh does not exist.
He woke up.— "AHHHHH!"Room 03 lit up with the red flash of the emergency system at his cry.Vex shot up, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving like he'd run for hours.
Kaen jumped up instantly, trident in hand, eyes glowing with battle instinct.— "What was that?"Elois, tangled in his sheets, fell out of bed.— "Are we under attack?! Where?! Who got in?! Am I dead?! Did I die?!"
Vex clutched his chest in panic.Nothing.No wound. No mark.Only the memory of an impossible cut.
— "It was just… just a dream," he murmured. "A nightmare, I think. Haha… that's all."The laugh was hollow.Empty.
Kaen stared at him for a few seconds.Elois too, still more confused than reassured.
— "Well, make sure it doesn't happen again, brother," Elois grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head again. "If I die screaming, let it at least be after a romantic kiss with a noble from Éter—not from a midnight scare in my underwear…"
Kaen exhaled through his nose and lay back down, though his gaze lingered on Vex a moment longer.But Vex…Didn't sleep again.
Morning came.The moons began to fade from the sky as the first light of dawn painted Olympo's white walls.
Vex was already dressed.It was 5:00 AM.Aric's class didn't begin until 6:45.But he couldn't wait.
Kaen saw him leaving from his bed. He said nothing… but frowned.
The private training hall was empty.The morning's humidity still clung to the stone floor.
Vex entered in silence, his training sword slung across his back.He stepped to the center and closed his eyes.
And then… remembered.That voice.That shadow.That sword that wasn't a sword…It was judgment.It was oblivion.It was death.
"What was that…? A memory? A vision? Or… a warning?"
He drew his sword.Raised it clumsily.Tried to mimic the motion.Once.Nothing.Again.Still nothing.A third time.No change.
He sighed.Dropped the sword.Sat down.Closed his eyes.
Breathed.Deep.
He recalled what Altair had said."Don't force it. Feel it. Let the body move before the mind.""Like picking up a glass of water."
He stood.Felt the weight.Felt the silence.
He raised the sword, the image of the shadowed figure burning in his mind.
He didn't think.Didn't desire.Didn't fear.He just surrendered.
The white cracked rune lit up like a heartbeat.And then… he did it.
He struck.A diagonal slash. Clean.But it wasn't just a blow.
It was an explosion.
The floor cracked with a sound that shook the room.The magical pillars flickered.The sword… snapped in two.And his arm…
— Crack.It broke.
Vex collapsed to his knees, gasping. His arm hung limp, the bone displaced.But the pain came late.
Adrenaline still surged through him.Not from the injury.But from what he had done.
He had replicated… the cut.Or something like it.— "W-what…?"
Then he heard footsteps rushing in.The door flew open.Aric appeared.
And when he saw the destruction on the ground—a diagonal trench three meters long and half a meter deep…… and Vex in the center, panting, with a broken sword and a dangling arm…
The Master said nothing.He just stared.
And in his eyes—for the first time—There was surprise.