He did not sleep.
Even after the voice faded…
Nir remained sitting in the darkness, his eyes wide open, his breathing uneven.
"Core… of Nothingness?"
The words echoed in his mind… like a sound that refused to disappear.
And that feeling…
was still there.
Inside his chest.
A void…
but not empty.
Something… was moving.
Waiting.
—
With the first ray of light, he stood.
He didn't feel hungry.
Nor tired.
His body felt… strangely light.
As if something inside him… had awakened.
—
In the training yard…
The students gathered as usual.
Laughter… challenges… displays of power.
But when Nir appeared…
the noise dropped.
Then…
mocking smiles.
"The void is back."
"Did you learn something new? How to fail better?"
Soft laughter spread.
Nir… did not respond.
He simply looked at them.
A cold gaze.
Different.
—
"Today… combat training."
The teacher's voice cut through the atmosphere.
"Magic against magic. Let's see who deserves to stay here."
His eyes stopped at Nir.
For a second longer than necessary.
"…even you."
Whispers rose.
"A fight? He'll die!"
"He won't even need an opponent!"
—
"Kain."
A tall boy, his body built with strength, a fiery aura surrounding him like living flames.
He smiled confidently.
"I'll be his opponent."
The laughter returned… louder.
—
The two stood in the middle of the yard.
The combat circle.
Nir… without an aura.
Kain… like fire incarnate.
"Prepare."
—
The fight began.
Or… it was supposed to.
Kain didn't wait.
He raised his hand—
> "Flame Burst!"
A blazing fireball shot forward at high speed… straight toward Nir.
The students gasped.
"It's over!"
—
But…
Nir didn't move.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't even raise his hand.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
—
And the moment the fire touched his body…
something happened.
Strange.
Terrifying.
Unexplainable.
—
It disappeared.
No explosion.
No heat.
No trace.
Just…
gone.
—
Silence fell over the place.
Kain froze.
"What…?!"
—
Inside Nir…
the feeling exploded.
That void… moved.
It devoured.
And left behind… energy.
Power.
Raw.
—
The voice returned.
> "Absorption complete."
"Converting energy…"
—
Nir slowly raised his hand.
Looking at it… as if seeing it for the first time.
Then…
he clenched his fingers.
—
The air cracked.
—
Kain stepped back, his eyes widening.
"This… isn't magic…"
—
Nir moved.
Just one step.
But it was enough.
He appeared in front of Kain.
At a speed… no one saw.
—
He placed his hand on his chest.
A moment of silence.
—
Then…
> "Disintegrate."
—
A scream.
But it didn't fully come out.
Kain's body shook violently… and his fiery aura…
collapsed from within.
As if something… devoured it.
—
He fell to the ground.
Struggling to breathe.
His eyes filled with terror.
"What… did you do…?"
—
Nir stood over him.
Silent.
—
But inside him…
there was no silence.
—
> "More…"
The voice… had changed.
Deeper.
Darker.
—
> "Devour more…"
—
His fist trembled.
His heart raced.
His eyes… began to lose their light.
—
"Enough!"
The teacher's voice thundered.
He appeared instantly, placing a magical barrier between them.
He looked at Nir…
not with shock.
But… certainty.
—
"…as I expected."
—
The students stepped back.
Some afraid.
Some… confused.
—
But they all agreed on one thing:
This… is not normal.
—
Nir looked at his hand again.
Then at Kain.
Then…
at everyone.
—
And for the first time…
he did not see contempt in their eyes.
—
But…
fear.
—
And deep within him…
something smiled.
—
> "This is… only the beginning."