The light was dim.A faint humming filled the room, constant—like the heartbeat of a sleeping machine.Vex opened his eyes slowly.The white ceiling said nothing.The air smelled of herbs, alcohol, and sterile metal.His arm throbbed.Looking down, he saw it wrapped in a reinforced splint with rune bands.Broken. Again.
— "Good morning, sleepyhead," said a voice beside him.Kaen was sitting in a chair, leaning back with his arms crossed.Beside him stood Aric, hands in his pockets, and a young man watching silently from the shadows: Altair.
— "What… happened?" Vex asked, his voice rough.Altair stepped forward.— "You tried to turn Karg Molt into part of the floor. Almost succeeded."
Vex frowned.His head hurt as he tried to remember.Fragments crossed his mind: white light… pressure… screams…Karg's face, the ground splitting, Aric's gaze.And… a hand stopping his sword.He brought his free hand to his forehead. Everything spun.
— "Don't force anything," said Aric calmly. "Forget it for now. Rest.When you're better, come find me."Vex nodded silently.
— "You passed," Kaen said, looking toward the window. "You won."— "Do you really not remember the technique you used?" asked Altair. His tone wasn't accusatory—just curious.— "I… I don't. It felt like… my body moved on its own."
Kaen stood and stretched his neck.— "Elois is stable," he said without looking at Vex.Vex blinked. A wave of air left his chest.A faint smile crossed his face. He didn't speak, but he felt it.He needed it.— "I'm glad," he murmured.
— "So now rest," Aric added, gesturing to the bed with his chin. "The tournament resumes in two days.You'll be watching from the stands."— "And maybe you'll learn something from observing," Altair said neutrally.Kaen stepped toward the door.— "Try not to break yourself again, brother. The floor's not worth it."
The three left without another word.The room returned to silence.Vex closed his eyes for a while.But sleep never came.He was thinking.He wanted to get up.To train.To understand.But he couldn't.
Night fell before he noticed.The window showed only a shy moon behind clouds.The infirmary was completely silent.
A few soft knocks at the door.— "Yes?" he asked, still groggy.The door opened without waiting for permission.Aureon Tarsk entered.Tall, dressed in black.His golden eyes glowed without light.
Vex saw him…And remembered everything.The sword stopped.The fracture.The weight in the air.— "Director…" he mumbled.
Aureon tilted his head.He smiled—not arrogantly, but with a kind of genuine humor.— "You tried to kill him with more style than technique, I'll give you that."Vex lowered his head.— "I'm sorry.I didn't mean to… I didn't think…"Aureon waved a hand.— "Relax. He survived. With a little less dignity, sure, but breathing.No big deal."
And suddenly… the smile vanished.The temperature dropped.The room folded inward.Vex felt his muscles tense on their own.His breathing grew heavy.A pressure was crushing him.
Aureon didn't raise his voice.Didn't move.He just looked at him.— "Where did you learn that technique?"The tone had changed. It wasn't a threat.It was… something more serious.Like a test.
Vex opened his mouth, but no words came.— "Was it a teacher?A library book… an unregistered one? Forbidden?"He couldn't respond.— "Did Aric teach it to you?"Vex's heart pounded in his throat.He couldn't move.Couldn't think.
Aureon watched him for a few more seconds.Then… he sighed. The pressure vanished.— "Sorry. I got carried away."
He smiled again—but without warmth.— "Understand this. You don't come from an influential family. You weren't trained by an ancient master since childhood.And yet… you did that."Vex swallowed hard.— "I don't… I don't know what happened.It just felt like… I already knew it.Like my body remembered it."
Aureon stared at him silently.Then nodded slowly.— "I see."— "Is it… really that important?" Vex asked, still confused.
The director changed again.His voice turned grave. Serious.— "It is.Because for us, a kid who awakens an unknown technique with no explanation……could be a spy hired by another nation.Or worse: an experiment."
He took a step forward.His shadow fell over the bed.— "My duty is to protect this academy.The seeds of today… are the trees of tomorrow.I just needed to know if you're part of the garden……or the plague."
Vex looked at him, speechless.Aureon turned to the door.— "But I believe you.Because we live in a world where imagination… can alter reality."
He stopped at the threshold.— "Rest."
He left the room.In the hallway, leaning against the wall with his head down, Aric was waiting.The director looked at him but didn't stop.
— "Now you believe me," Aric said, without lifting his gaze.Aureon kept walking.His voice was dry. Unshaken.— "For now, I can believe you.But don't mistake that for friendship.Just because we had the same master doesn't mean we're the same."
He stopped right before the corner.— "We share a root.But we are two different worlds."
And he disappeared.
Aric didn't answer.He just closed his eyes.And for the first time in a long while……he looked sad.