Lia slowly leaned back into her chair, her hand drifting almost unconsciously toward her right leg. Her fingers brushed along its surface, lingering there as if tracing something only she could feel beneath the artificial layer.
A quiet breath escaped her.
"To think… my disguise would be seen through this easily."
Her lips curved into a faint, self-mocking smile, though there was no real amusement behind it.
"Haa… what can I do? The truth isn't something I can run from forever."
Ashan adjusted his posture slightly, sitting upright, his expression calm but attentive as he studied her reaction.
"What happened, Professor?" he asked, his voice steady but softer than before. "How did it end up like this?"
For a brief moment, Lia didn't respond.
Her gaze drifted, unfocused, as if something far away had caught her attention, something that no longer existed in the present.
Then, slowly, she spoke.
"Do you remember the dungeon break that happened years ago… the one that nearly wiped out the entire country?"
Her voice had changed.
Quieter.
Heavier.
Ashan gave a small nod.
"Yes, I have very unpleasant memories about it."
"Of course you have," she murmured. "Everyone has."
Her fingers tightened slightly against her leg.
"A team was formed back then… the strongest awakeners of that time. Their goal was simple; enter the dungeon, stop the collapse, and prevent the disaster from spreading any further."
A faint pause.
"I was part of that team."
The hum of the machines seemed louder in the silence that followed.
"It was the harshest raid I've ever experienced," she continued, her tone steady, though the faint tension in her shoulders betrayed something deeper. "Nothing about it was normal. The environment itself felt… wrong. Like it was actively working against us."
Ashan listened without interrupting, his gaze fixed on her.
"And then," Lia said, her eyes narrowing slightly, "it happened."
Her voice grew quieter.
"I got separated from the group."
"How?" Ashan asked, leaning forward just slightly.
"A hallucination," she replied without hesitation. "A powerful one. It distorted everything; sound, direction, even presence. By the time I broke free from it, the others were already gone."
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"I tried to find them… but I couldn't."
A faint bitterness crept into her expression.
"And that's when I saw it."
Ashan's attention sharpened.
"A monster?"
Lia nodded slowly, her gaze darkening.
"A wolf."
The word left her lips with weight.
"It was pitch black… not just in color, but in presence. Its eyes were like an abyss; empty, yet staring straight through you. Its body was massive, larger than an elephant, and behind it…"
She paused briefly.
"…a tail. Long. Flexible. Like a snake."
The memory clearly hadn't faded.
"At that point, I was already injured. My movements were slower, my reactions dulled. Fighting it head-on wasn't an option."
Her fingers curled tightly now.
"But that thing…"
Her voice dropped.
"It was smart."
Ashan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It didn't attack directly?"
Lia let out a quiet, humorless laugh.
"No. It played with me."
The words carried restrained anger.
"It misled me. Forced me into making mistakes. And then, when I was off balance for just a moment…"
Her grip tightened further.
"It bit my leg off."
Silence fell.
Not abrupt.
Heavy.
"And before I could react," she continued, her voice now stripped of emotion, "it ran."
Ashan frowned slightly.
"You couldn't pursue it?"
"In that state?" she shook her head faintly. "No."
A brief pause followed.
"I thought it wouldn't matter," she added. "I assumed I could regenerate it later."
Her gaze lowered again, settling on her leg.
"But it never grew back."
Ashan's expression shifted, subtle but noticeable.
"…Even after healing?"
"I tried everything," Lia said, her tone flattening. "My own abilities. External methods. Specialized treatments."
A faint breath escaped her.
"I even asked Sorin."
Ashan's eyes flickered.
"And?"
Lia shook her head slowly.
"She couldn't do it either."
That was the moment the weight of it truly settled.
Lia's hand clenched into a fist.
"If I ever see that thing again…" she muttered, her voice low and filled with restrained fury, "I'll cut its head off and hang it right here."
Her gaze lifted, sweeping briefly across the walls of the lab.
"Every time I look at myself in the mirror," she added, quieter now, "I'm reminded that I'm… incomplete."
For a moment, the room felt smaller.
Then,
She exhaled.
The tension broke.
With a light clap of her hands, she straightened, the shift in her demeanor almost immediate.
"That's enough of that," she said, her tone returning to its usual lightness, though a trace of something deeper still lingered beneath it. "The past is the past. There's no point dwelling on it."
She leaned slightly closer to him, her eyes meeting his directly.
"But I do have a favor to ask."
Ashan nodded once.
"Go ahead."
"Don't tell anyone about this," she said, her voice softer now, carrying a quiet sincerity that hadn't been there before. "If it spreads… it won't be pleasant for me."
Ashan held her gaze for a moment before giving a small, reassuring smile.
"You don't have to worry," he said. "I'm not the type to spread things like that. You have my word."
Lia studied him briefly, as if weighing the sincerity behind his words.
Then she smiled.
Satisfied.
"Good."
Her hand reached out, giving a light pat to his leg; casual, but not without meaning.
"Then let's get back to why you're here."
She stood up and moved toward a nearby table, picking up a pair of sleek, goggle-like glasses. The lenses shimmered faintly as she turned back toward him.
"I was planning to check your mana core first," she said while adjusting them, "but I've changed my mind."
Ashan raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I'll start with your eyes."
She stepped closer, placing a hand against his chest and gently pressing him back onto the seat, guiding him into position with practiced ease.
"Among awakeners, those with eye-based abilities make up barely three percent," she continued, her tone shifting into a more analytical rhythm. "But those whose eyes have evolved beyond the standard…"
A faint pause.
"Less than one percent."
Her gaze settled on him.
"And you've already shown signs that yours are… different."
Ashan said nothing, simply allowing himself to be positioned as she adjusted the angle.
"You mentioned that your vision sharpened after awakening," she added, leaning closer. "That alone might not sound impressive, but it was enough to notice something most people wouldn't."
Her lips curved slightly.
"So I can't ignore it."
She slid the glasses over her eyes, the lenses activating with a faint glow as translucent layers of data flickered into existence.
"Keep your eyes open," she instructed. "Blink as little as possible."
Ashan complied without resistance, his gaze steady.
'Look all you want,' he thought calmly. 'You won't find anything.'
'What you're searching for is already hidden.'
Lia leaned in closer, one hand gently adjusting his face to align with her view, the other hovering mid-air as streams of data began to populate her vision.
At first, everything appeared normal.
Baseline alignment. Muscle response. Neural timing.
Clean.
Too clean.
"…Interesting," she murmured, her fingers pausing slightly.
Even though Ashan's gaze remained still, the tracking grid showed continuous micro-adjustments; precise, controlled, and impossibly refined.
Not reactive.
Predictive.
She zoomed in further, her brows narrowing.
The corrections were happening before errors could even form.
Her posture straightened slightly.
"Blink."
Ashan blinked once.
The result stabilized instantly.
No distortion.
No lag.
Perfect clarity, restored before the blink had even fully completed.
Lia's expression shifted.
'That's not normal…'
She initiated a deeper scan.
Retinal flow mapping appeared, showing smooth, balanced circulation with no signs of strain, fatigue, or fluctuation.
It was as if his eyes had never experienced exhaustion.
"Have you been training hard recently?" she asked, keeping her tone casual.
"Every day," Ashan replied.
She didn't respond.
Her focus had already moved ahead.
Neural signals flowed from retina to optic nerve in compressed, efficient bursts, stripped of unnecessary noise.
Not faster.
Better.
Cleaner.
More refined.
A faint tension built in her chest.
She initiated the final scan.
Passive-state detection.
The result blinked red.
No passive state detected.
Even at rest,
His eyes were active.
Adjusting.
Learning.
Refining.
Lia slowly removed the glasses.
For a moment, she simply looked at him; just her own eyes trying to make sense of what she had just seen.
"…Your vision is perfect," she said quietly. "More than perfect."
Ashan tilted his head slightly.
"That's good, right?"
"It is," Lia replied, though her tone had shifted again, curiosity now far more evident. "But it's also abnormal."
She stepped back slightly, her gaze still fixed on him.
"I've never seen eyes in such a flawless condition. No delay. No distortion. Every response is… precise."
A brief pause.
"It's as if they've already undergone evolution."
Ashan's thoughts stirred.
'That shouldn't be from reverse cursed technique…'
'It's not something that enhances or refines.'
A realization formed.
'Movemastery…'
That has to be it.
But when he looked back at Lia, her eyes were already shining with curiosity.
Sharp.
Searching.
Dangerously interested.
A flicker of unease passed through him.
'This… won't become a problem, right?'