The team spent the rest of the day recovering in the level one safe zone. Henrik declared it a mandatory rest after the spider chamber incident, citing the need for everyone to recover essence and reassess readiness for level two.
Students gathered in small groups, processing what had happened. The consensus was clear, Derek had endangered everyone with his reckless fire usage. But beneath that surface agreement the students felt something else.
Some students looked at Derek with newfound wariness, while others seemed almost... impressed by his destructive power.
Kai sat apart from the main groups, methodically cleaning spider ichor from his weapons.
His mind worked through the pattern he had noticed which was Derek's escalating aggression, the calculating look after Henrik disciplined him, and that enormous essence signature still ascending from level three.
Something was wrong. The pieces didn't fit together properly yet, but they would eventually.
