Waking up doesn't feel like waking up.
There's no bell here. No hallway. No footsteps of a teacher passing by.
Just your body realizing it's morning…
and regretting you're still alive.
I open my eyes inside the cave.
The air is cold. Damp. The rain has stopped — you can feel it. The silence is different now. No longer drowned by water.
Sharper.
Crueler.
Serah is curled against the wall, eyes open. Her stare is hollow — like she left something behind in the mud with Iska.
Brask sits with his back against the rock, arms crossed. He stares at the ground. His face is locked. He isn't breathing like someone resting.
He's breathing like someone waiting.
Kaïros stands at the cave entrance. Upright. Unchanged. A few scratches on his hands — nothing more.
Same presence as always.
Calm.
Controlled.
Almost sculpted.
A walking statue.
I say nothing.
I think too much.
Yesterday replays in fragments.
The throat.The crack.The blood.The hesitation.
The exact second I should have moved faster.
My teeth grind.
We step outside.
The light hits hard.
Violent.
Sunlight pierces through soaked leaves and flashes off droplets clinging to branches. It burns the eyes. It almost makes you sick.
Like the world dares to be beautiful after what happened.
Serah squints.
Brask exits last.
He limps slightly — but he holds.
We breathe.
The air smells like wet soil and dried blood.
A smell that doesn't leave.
Ever.
I take one step forward.
Then stop.
They're already there.
A few meters away.
Waiting.
Oryn.Rhaen.Selene.
Oryn claps slowly.
A wide, rotten smile stretching across his face.
"Well, look at that. They survived."
His gaze drifts over Serah. Over Brask. Over me.
Then it pauses — deliberately — on the empty space.
"And your little redhead… where is she?"
Serah stiffens.
Oryn chuckles.
"Oh. Right. I forgot. She got eaten like an amateur."
Serah snaps.
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, YOU PIECE OF TRASH!"
Her voice rips through the clearing.
Even she looks surprised at herself — but she doesn't stop.
"You're just a coward! A barking dog! You talk because you didn't see anything! You didn't do anything!"
Oryn watches her like a spectator watching a stray animal.
He smiles.
"Oh… look at that. She's got teeth."
Rhaen laughs behind him.
Oryn raises his hand.
A fireball forms — unstable, bright, quick.
"Funny thing," he says softly, "the teacher never said we couldn't kill each other."
His smile widens.
"He only said the Academy wouldn't be responsible."
Brask steps forward.
"Oryn—"
Too late.
The fireball shoots forward.
Fast.
Straight at him.
And just before impact—
Blue light erupts.
Not explosive.
A wall.
Cold. Luminous. Silent.
The fireball collides and dies instantly, swallowed by something purer.
Kaïros stands in front of Brask.
His hand raised.
Wrapped in Celestial Fire.
His expression calm.
But sharper.
"I've always hated people like you," Kaïros says quietly.
Oryn blinks.
"Oh? The silent one speaks."
Kaïros moves.
Fast.
Direct.
He launches toward Oryn.
Rhaen intercepts, blocking with his forearm. The impact forces him back a step.
"You're not alone," Rhaen growls.
Kaïros gives a faint smile.
"I'm aware."
Oryn draws his knife, spinning it between his fingers.
His grin twists into something uglier.
"Move, Rhaen."
Rhaen hesitates.
"What?"
Oryn's eyes burn.
"LET ME KILL BRASK!"
He charges.
Straight for Brask.
No hesitation.
Just hate.
Brask steps back — but his injured leg falters.
Oryn raises the knife—
And I move.
A spinning back kick.
Full force.
My heel slams into Oryn's jaw.
The impact snaps his head sideways. He hits the ground and slides across the dried mud.
Silence.
Even Selene stops smiling.
Oryn spits blood.
"Fuck…"
He looks up at me.
Poison in his eyes.
"Arin…"
I say nothing.
No smirk.
No taunt.
I'm too tired for that.
Selene moves.
She raises her hand toward Serah.
A fireball forms and launches.
Serah doesn't flinch.
She lifts her palm.
The fire crashes into a wave of heat and dissipates — as if she simply refused to allow it to exist.
Her eyes go empty.
Cold.
"Do it again," she says softly.
Selene blinks.
"What…?"
Serah steps forward.
"Do it again. I'm watching."
Brask murmurs, stunned.
"Serah…"
She doesn't answer.
She stares at Selene like she isn't a frightened student anymore.
Rhaen tries to circle around Kaïros toward Brask.
Kaïros blocks him with a sharp shove, efficient and precise.
Oryn rushes again, knife flashing.
I intercept him with my shoulder, redirecting his momentum.
He slashes.
I parry.
Steel clashes.
No fire.
Just angles. Timing. Breath.
No one lands a decisive blow.
But the balance could shift in a heartbeat.
Oryn steps back, frustrated.
"Playing heroes now?" he spits.
Brask clenches his fists.
"You talk too much."
Kaïros exhales softly.
"It's usually the least disciplined who speak the loudest."
Rhaen growls.
Selene takes half a step back.
And then—
A voice cuts through the clearing.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
Sharp.
Commanding.
Dangerous.
We all freeze.
Three figures emerge from the trees.
Dark armor. Helmets. Blades at their sides.
Their stance is unmistakable.
Soldiers.
Not students.
Not professors.
Weapons raise toward us.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" the first demands again, lower now — more lethal.
Silence falls like a blade.
Oryn isn't smiling anymore.
Brask doesn't move.
Serah turns pale, reality catching up all at once.
Kaïros remains still.
Calm.
But his eyes—
are calculating.
I stare at the three armored men.
And I understand.
This was never just a test.
Someone else has been operating in this forest.
And now…
my blood begins to boil.