The shapeless creature walked along the enormous chains, the rusted crown resting loosely in his hand.
The metal beneath his feet shifted with a slow groan as the chains stretched endlessly into the distance.
He looked ahead.
The crown turned slightly between his fingers as he walked.
Once it had carried a quiet brilliance, something tied to duty and the weight of honour. Time had worn that meaning down until only the metal remained, dull and scarred by years spent forgotten.
He had held it for a long time.
Long enough for the silence around him to begin asking questions.
Was it still a crown?
Or had it become nothing more than an old symbol clinging to a world that no longer needed it?
The creature stopped.
For a moment he studied the rust spreading along its edges.
Somewhere in the endless dark beneath the chains, something shifted faintly.
Whether it still belonged there or not was a question that time would answer soon enough.
***
Sunless sat on the edge of the bed, looking up while his hands rested on the [Divine Ledger].
Words continued appearing across its surface without pause. It had only been a second since Kiyotaka left the dorm, yet the Ledger was already recording everything the shadow perceived.
A dangerous game had begun.
If they were caught, there would be no excuses. No second chances. Expulsion would come immediately and they would be thrown out to fend for themselves.
Sunless snorted quietly.
"Expelled and tossed onto the streets. Hah... so basically a return to my natural habitat."
Out of habit, he glanced at the floor beside the bed to see how his shadow reacted, only to pause when he remembered he had sent it away with Kiyotaka.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The [Divine Ledger] continued writing as if nothing in the world could interrupt it. Sunless leaned back a little, watching the words appear.
Then he felt something.
A faint sensation spread through his body and he frowned, instinctively thinking it might be his shadow moving somewhere nearby, but the thought didn't sit right.
Whenever his shadow travelled, the feeling was quick and fleeting, like something darting through darkness.
This was different.
The sensation lingered.
A shift of balance.
Another step.
Sunless straightened slowly, his attention turning inward as he tried to understand what exactly he was feeling. The rhythm continued, And the more he focused on it the stranger it became.
Each movement carried a quiet certainty behind it, as if the body making those steps was already prepared for interruptions before they even happened. The balance adjusted naturally, leaving room to move aside, to evade, to react without hesitation.
Sunless suddenly stood up.
The feeling did not disappear.
It continued moving through him.
For a moment he simply stood there, staring ahead while the realization slowly crept into place.
His shadow had completely dissolved into Kiyotaka's shadow.
Which meant the sensation wasn't coming from the shadow itself.
It was coming from Kiyotaka.... But he had sacrificed the sense of touch... How was it possible?
Unless it didn't matter.
Sunless was feeling the steps Kiyotaka took.
A slow smile began spreading across his face, twisting wider the longer the thought settled in his mind. The implications came rushing in all at once and his shoulders shook slightly as a dark laugh escaped him.
"Holy Shit! You truly are an invaluable helper!"
He immediately tried to imitate it.
Sunless shifted his foot forward the way the sensation suggested, letting his weight move with it, but the moment his foot touched the ground his balance tilted and he had to stiffen his leg to stop himself from stumbling.
The motion ended awkwardly, nothing like the quiet precision he had been feeling through the connection.
His brow twitched.
"...Tch."
He glanced toward the [Divine Ledger],
As more words appear.
"Don't tell me those are your normal steps..."
Sunless tried again.
This time he focused on the beginning of the movement. The step did not start with the foot. The weight shifted first, sliding slightly through the hips before the leg followed.
He copied it.
His body leaned, the foot moved and the result was somehow worse. His shoulder jerked to the side and he had to plant the other foot quickly to stop himself from nearly tripping.
Sunless stared down at his legs with visible irritation.
"You walk like this all the time and no one notices?"
He rolled his shoulders and tried again, slower this time. The weight shifted, the foot moved, but halfway through the motion something in his body rejected the angle and he had to abort the step before twisting his ankle.
Sunless sucked in a breath through his teeth.
"Of course it's wrong... Motherfucker."
He focused again, paying closer attention to the sensation flowing through the connection.
The movement was ridiculously subtle.
The balance shifted a fraction before the step even began, the torso adjusting just enough that the body was already prepared to move somewhere else.
Sunless tried again.
His weight shifted.
The foot moved.
This time the step landed.
Not perfectly.
His shoulder still twitched slightly to stabilize himself and the rhythm lagged behind what he was feeling through the connection, but his body settled into place far more naturally than before.
Sunless froze.
He tested the balance without moving his feet.
His center of gravity had shifted just enough that one side of his body was completely free. If someone rushed him from the front he could lean away instantly. If something fell beside him he could step aside without needing to think. Even the way his shoulders rested made it easier to turn.
The adjustment was tiny, so small someone watching him would barely notice he was walking differently.
Sunless slowly looked down at his own stance.
Then he let out a low laugh.
"You're kidding me, That guy is walking like he is in a battleground."
He shifted again, trying to follow the rhythm he felt through Kiyotaka's movements. The result was still clumsy compared to the original, but the moment the step settled his body naturally slid into a prepared position again.
His grin slowly widened.
"So this is how you move, huh?"
He glanced toward the [Divine Ledger] again, his eyes glinting.
"Walking around like the world's already trying to stab you."
For a moment Sunless almost became curious about Kiyotaka's past, Before declining it, He had no interest looking in someone else's past.
Sunless let out another dark chuckle as he adjusted his footing once more, trying to copy the motion again.
His grin turned crooked.
"Keep walking like that, partner... I'm stealing every step."
***
Sunless sat on the edge of the bed with the [Divine Ledger] resting across his hands while its surface continued filling with flowing lines of text.
He had spent the last few minutes trying to copy the way Kiyotaka walked. The results had been mixed. He still could not reproduce it properly, but his body had begun catching fragments of it.
Small shifts in balance. Tiny changes in posture. It was not perfect, not even close, but it was enough for him to begin noticing things he had never paid attention to before.
The door opened.
Sunless looked up as Kiyotaka stepped inside.
Sunless had not heard a single footstep.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched him enter the room. Only now did he begin paying proper attention to how strange the man in front of him really was.
Sunless lowered his gaze slightly, studying the way Kiyotaka stood.
Now that he had tried copying that walk, he could finally see it.
Before, he had never paid attention to these things. Now they stood out clearly. The balance of his posture. The way his weight rested. The way his stance naturally allowed movement in any direction.
There were no weak points.
Sunless was not a martial artist, but he had lived long enough to recognize when someone could be fought and when someone absolutely could not.
Against the man in front of him, the answer was clear.
No.
Sunless spoke with a faint hint of annoyance.
"So we just wait now?"
He did not bother questioning how Kiyotaka had manipulated the truth earlier or why he had revealed his own Aspect. Sunless already knew the reason. It had not been difficult to understand.
He kept watching Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka gave a small nod.
Then he stepped closer and placed a finger on the [Divine Ledger] while Sunless summarized what had been happening. Johnny entering the staff room, accessing the computers, going through the files, the shadow quietly recording everything as it followed him.
Kiyotaka went through the information in silence.
...
As the details accumulated and the scope of what the shadow had captured became clearer, a faint cold sweat appeared on his temple.
It wasn't the aspect of others that gave out such a reaction. While interesting they were still under what he had thought.
His eyes shifted toward Sunless.
Sunless simply smiled.
Kiyotaka had understood it.
He had understood just how limitless the shadow truly was.
Sunless leaned back slightly, the smile on his face growing darker as he looked at his best friend.
"My friend, when exactly are your senses coming back? You might have already guessed it, but why don't you help your best friend."
Kiyotaka only narrowed his eyes.
After a moment he slowly took out a page and wrote something down.
He turned it toward Sunless.
"I wonder if my [Binding Vow] can make us exchange aspects."
Sunless stared at the page for a moment.
Then he raised his hand and showed him a middle finger.
"I am not even gonna try that, You bastard."
***
I opened the dorm door and stepped into the corridor. The moment I appeared, the usual attention followed me. It had become routine by now. Wherever I went in the academy there were always eyes on me, some curious, some cautious, some simply trying to understand what kind of person I was supposed to be.
I walked toward the cafeteria.
A few students greeted me along the way.
"Good morning, Kiyotaka."
Their tone seemed to be polite. At first they had only watched from a distance, but after seeing how casually Sunless treated me, a few had tried greeting me once. When I acknowledged them instead of ignoring them, the others slowly followed.
I nodded in response and continued walking.
Today was the seventh day.
Before heading to the cafeteria I stopped at the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. The reflection staring back at me had become familiar over the past week. Scars spread across my body, I had already grown used to seeing them.
Soon they would disappear.
I left the bathroom and made my way to the cafeteria.
When I entered, I quickly found the table where Sunless and Cassie were sitting.
Sunless leaned back in his chair in a relaxed manner, one arm resting against the table while his gaze wandered lazily across the cafeteria. Anyone who did not know him would assume he was bored, but the way his eyes moved revealed that he was quietly paying attention to everything around him.
Cassie sat beside him with her tray placed neatly in front of her. Her posture was straight, Her fingers searched lightly across the tray until they found the spoon, and once she had it she guided it through the food with slow and steady movements before bringing it to her mouth.
I walked toward them.
When I reached the table I handed a folded sheet of paper to Cassie's social worker. She unfolded it and read the short message written on it.
"Johnny is calling for you."
She nodded quietly and left the table.
I sat down across from Cassie without making any sound.
She continued eating without realizing I had arrived. Her fingers moved calmly as she located the spoon again and guided it across the tray.
She lifted a bite slowly, taking care not to spill anything, and ate without rushing. When a small piece of food slipped toward the edge of the tray her fingers searched until they found it again, placing it back before continuing.
Sunless noticed me almost immediately but said nothing. His eyes shifted toward me for a brief moment before returning to the rest of the cafeteria, as though nothing had changed.
Cassie kept eating.
The rumors around the academy had grown over the past week and quite a few of them involved me and Cassie.
She had apologized several times already, clearly embarrassed by the attention the situation had created. There had never been anything for her to apologize for.
I continued watching her eat.
The pace of her movements slowly changed as the minutes passed. The spoon remained above the tray a little longer before she brought it to her mouth.
Her fingers lingered near the plate before reaching for the next bite, as though she had begun paying closer attention to something that was not there before.
She continued eating regardless, but the certainty in her movements had begun to fade.
Cassie remained quiet while she ate, yet the small changes became easier to notice. Her shoulders held themselves a little more tightly than before and the spoon did not move as smoothly between the tray and her mouth. She paused once, then again, before continuing.
Sunless glanced toward her and then toward me, his eyes narrowing slightly. He seemed to understand that something was happening, though he did not interfere.
Cassie placed the spoon down for a moment and rested her fingers on the edge of the tray. Her head turned slightly toward the empty space across from her.
She was waiting.
She picked up the spoon again and continued eating, though the pauses between each bite had grown longer. Her head tilted faintly, listening for something that was not there.
Across the cafeteria the social worker was returning.
This should be enough for today.
I reached forward and tapped the table.
Cassie's reaction was immediate. A bright smile appeared on her face and she turned toward the sound with clear relief, her blue eyes lifting slightly in my direction.
"You are late today."
Her voice was warm and light.
During the past week she had grown comfortable around me.
I tapped the table again.
Cassie smiled and continued eating, the hesitation from before disappearing from her movements as though it had never existed. After a moment she spoke again while finishing another bite.
"Today is the seventh day, right?"
I tapped the table once more.
Her smile widened slightly as she continued eating her breakfast peacefully.
***
Caster finished bathing and changed into his clothes. The room was quiet except for the faint sound of water dripping somewhere behind him. Once he was done, he stood in front of the mirror.
For a long moment, he simply observed the reflection staring back at him.
The face in the mirror was calm and composed. It carried the same gentle expression people trusted without hesitation, Caster had worn that expression for years. It came naturally now, settling onto his features without effort.
He watched it carefully.
'This world is a battlefield. The strong devour the weak, and the weak exist to be devoured.'
The thought surfaced with the familiarity of something repeated countless times throughout his life.
He had heard it during training, during quiet conversations among elders, and within the silent expectations that surrounded every Legacy.
Strength determined everything.
Those who possessed it stood above others. Those who did not were left beneath them.
Caster placed a hand lightly against the sink and continued studying the person in the mirror.
'Hierarchy is the natural order of things. Someone must stand above, and someone must stand below.'
The thought moved slowly through his mind.
'Legacies exist to preserve that order. We inherit strength, knowledge, and history. Generations before us carved their names into victory so that ours would already carry weight.'
His reflection remained unchanged.
Calm eyes. Controlled posture. A quiet confidence that seemed effortless.
Caster took a slow breath and allowed the familiar smile to appear on his face.
'This is how things should be.'
He turned away from the mirror and walked toward the door. His hand reached for the handle, but before opening it he stopped.
The thought returned again.
If the world truly worked that way, then everything should already be settled. Legacies would naturally stand above the rest without needing to prove it again and again. The difference between them and others should have been obvious.
Caster looked down at his own hand resting on the door.
His training had grown harsher lately. Every movement repeated until it reached absolute precision. No one had ordered him to do it. The pressure had come from somewhere within.
A faint crease formed on his brow.
'If hierarchy is the rule...'
The thought lingered.
'If Legacies stand at the top of that hierarchy...'
He remained still for a moment.
'Then why am I the one training harder than ever to defeat him rather than the other way around?'
The room stayed quiet.
Caster did not turn back toward the mirror. He already knew what he would see there.
Someone like Kiyotaka was not supposed to disturb the balance that had existed for generations. He should never have been able to stand in the same place as him.
And yet the thought of that possibility had slowly begun to settle into his mind.
Caster let out a slow breath, then opened the door.
The same practiced smile returned to his face as he stepped into the corridor.
***
Caster entered the combat class and slowed near the doorway while his gaze moved across the training hall.
The dojo was already filled with movement. Wooden weapons clashed against each other in practice while groups of students spoke quietly among themselves.
The smell of polished wood and iron lingered faintly in the air, carried by the constant motion of people preparing for the day's training.
A few students noticed him first.
Their voices lowered almost instinctively, and soon several others followed their gaze. Greetings came from different directions, respectful and measured.
Some inclined their heads while others offered polite smiles that carried a careful amount of deference.
Caster returned each greeting with the same composed warmth he always displayed. With a perfect smile.
The reactions around him felt natural.
This was the proper order of things.
Respect flowed toward those who carried the weight of history behind them. The great families had earned their place through years of conflict.
The title of Legacy was not simply a matter of strength but of inheritance. Power, knowledge, discipline, reputation, Honour and duty, There were a lot of things you had to consider before making a single move.
It had been passed down through generations so that their descendants would never stand on equal footing with those who lacked such foundations.
Caster allowed his eyes to move across the room once more.
He searched for a single figure among the gathered students.
Kiyotaka was not there.
The absence settled quietly in his mind before he dismissed it and walked further into the dojo.
Such things should not have mattered.
A moment later the instructor stepped forward and the room gradually fell silent.
Awakened Rock stood at the center of the floor with the relaxed posture, His gaze passed across the students before he spoke.
"Today we will be assigning weapons."
Several racks had already been arranged along the walls. Blades, spears, and other weapons rested neatly in place. Students began approaching them with visible interest, lifting different weapons to test their weight and balance.
Caster moved toward them more slowly.
His hand brushed across several hilts before he selected one and lifted it from its place. He turned the weapon carefully within his grip, examining the balance and the slight pull of its weight against his wrist.
Around him, others swung their chosen weapons with eager enthusiasm, focusing more on the sensation of holding them than the precision required to use them properly.
Caster observed them briefly before setting the weapon back and selecting another.
His mind was elsewhere.
The empty space he had noticed earlier remained quietly present in his thoughts.
When the class finally ended and the students began leaving the dojo in small groups, Caster followed them out. Their conversations quickly returned to casual excitement as they discussed their weapons and the training that awaited them.
Caster listened to none of it.
Instead of walking toward the next class or the cafeteria, he turned down a quieter corridor that led toward the security section of the academy. The noise of the training hall faded behind him as the hallway grew increasingly silent.
Few students had any reason to come here.
Caster stopped near the end of the corridor and waited.
It did not take long before the first student approached.
He spoke carefully, glancing once down the hallway before beginning his report.
Over the past six days, Kiyotaka had followed the same routine without much variation. In the mornings he escorted Cassie to her class, after which he spent several hours in the library reading. When her class ended, he returned to meet her and walked her either to the cafeteria or back toward her dorm before eventually returning to the library once again.
Caster listened without interrupting.
More students arrived afterward, each waiting until the previous one had finished speaking before stepping forward.
Their reports differed only in small details of timing and location. The pattern itself never changed. Each day unfolded in the same quiet rhythm that revolved around escorting Cassie and spending long hours among the shelves of the library.
Caster occasionally asked a short question to clarify a detail, his voice calm and polite throughout the entire exchange.
Once the last of them finished speaking, he inclined his head slightly.
"You have done well. I appreciate your effort."
Relief passed over several faces before they quietly left the corridor.
Soon the hallway returned to silence.
Caster remained standing where he was, his gaze resting on the empty space ahead.
The man who had defeated him.
The man whose presence had forced him to train with a level of intensity he had never previously required of himself.
The man who had compelled him to set aside his pride and propose that they train together.
That person spent his days escorting a blind girl across the academy and sitting quietly among books.
The thought settled heavily in his mind.
Someone capable of crossing fists with him should have been sharpening his strength with relentless focus.
A person who had faced a Legacy in battle should have understood the significance of that moment.
He should have felt the pressure of it.
He should have been preparing for the next clash with the same determination.
Instead he moved through each day with an almost careless routine.
Footsteps approached again from behind him.
Caster turned this time as another student came to a stop several steps away. The boy hesitated longer than the others had before speaking.
Which was weird, Because this boy was from a good clan.
His name was Kane.
"There is something else I discovered while looking into him."
Caster watched him calmly, Trying to make sense of why was he so nervous.
Kane forced himself to continue.
"I tried searching for information about Kiyotaka's background. I went through the academy records and the clan archives, thinking there might be some reference to his family.
Caster remained silent, waiting.
Kane swallowed before finishing his explanation.
Despite searching through every place he could access, he had found nothing connected to the name. There were no clan records, no family affiliations, and no historical references that suggested he belonged to any established house.
Caster's gaze sharpened slightly.
"You are certain?"
Kane nodded hesistantly, Caster couldn't make sense as of why he was acting like this.
"I checked multiple times. There is nothing that ties him to any reputable family. It is as if he appeared without any recorded past."
Caster dismissed him with a quiet nod.
When the boy left, the corridor returned to silence once again.
Caster stood there for several moments without moving.
When he had fought with Kiyotaka, he had assumed there must be an explanation behind that strength.
Someone capable of challenging a Legacy should have carried the weight of generations behind him. A hidden branch of a powerful clan, perhaps. A forgotten family whose name had simply not reached the academy's attention.
Caster had even hoped that would be the case.
The idea had offered a certain comfort.
If Kiyotaka belonged to a respectable lineage, then the defeat Caster had experienced could be understood as a clash between those born into the same world. It would mean that the order he had always believed in still held firm.
Yet the truth that now stood before him carried none of that certainty.
No history that justified his place among them.
And still he had defeated him.
If someone without a name behind him could stand against a Legacy and emerge victorious, then the structure that had shaped Caster's understanding of the world began to feel less stable than it once had.
Caster closed his eyes briefly and steadied his breathing.
The world had always followed a clear logic.
Strength determined position. Lineage preserved that strength across generations.
Yet the man who had forced him to train harder than ever before appeared to stand outside that logic entirely.
When Caster finally began walking down the corridor again, his steps remained steady and controlled, his expression returning to the same calm composure that others expected from him.
But beneath that composed surface, a quiet uncertainty continued to press against the foundations of everything he had believed.
***
Caster walked past the cafeteria with the same composed posture he always carried.
The hall was crowded at this hour. Students gathered around long tables while the noise of conversation filled the space with a steady hum. Several people noticed him as he passed through the entrance.
Greetings followed almost immediately.
Some students lifted their hands in acknowledgement while others offered polite nods filled with careful respect. A few even straightened in their seats, as if the simple act of his presence required them to behave properly.
Caster answered each greeting with a warm smile and a quiet nod.
To anyone watching, he appeared exactly as he always did. Polite. Approachable. A Legacy who carried himself with effortless dignity.
Yet behind that pleasant expression, something far colder moved through his thoughts.
Their respect meant little to him in that moment.
What value did admiration from lesser houses truly hold if someone with no lineage at all could stand across from him and win?
Caster continued walking without slowing.
The sounds of the cafeteria gradually faded behind him as he stepped into the quieter corridors that led toward the library. His posture remained upright, his movements steady and controlled.
Soon the doors of the library came into view.
He pushed them open without hesitation.
The atmosphere inside was vastly different from the crowded halls of the academy. The air carried the faint scent of paper and polished wood, while rows upon rows of shelves stretched into the distance under soft lighting.
Students sat quietly at scattered tables, their attention buried in books or notes.
Caster stepped inside.
His footsteps echoed faintly against the wooden floor.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
He moved deeper between the shelves, his gaze drifting across the reading areas.
Somewhere within this building was the man who had unsettled everything Caster believed about the natural order of the world.
Caster had hoped there would be some hidden explanation behind it.
A hidden motive.
A careful strategy.
Something that justified the routine he had been hearing about for the past several days.
Perhaps escorting Cassie served some purpose that had yet to reveal itself. Perhaps the girl possessed information or abilities that made her valuable. Perhaps Kiyotaka was preparing something in silence while others remained unaware.
Step. Step. Step.
Caster continued walking between the towering shelves.
If such a reason existed, then Caster intended to uncover it.
He needed to understand how he had truly been defeated. Not simply the moment they crossed, but the deeper structure beneath it. The thoughts, the preparation, the calculations that had led to that result. And how even taking it seriously, He lost.
Only by understanding that could he correct his own shortcomings.
Step. Step.
Caster slowed slightly as he moved further into the library.
It had become a matter of duty now.
A Legacy did not allow anomalies to remain unchallenged. If someone appeared who disrupted the structure that generations had built, then it was the responsibility of those who stood at the top to correct it.
And if that anomaly had defeated him once, then the responsibility fell even more heavily upon his shoulders.
Caster's gaze sharpened slightly as he continued walking.
There was also another matter that lingered quietly behind his thoughts.
Nephis.
Her attention had never been easy to earn. Strength alone was not enough to impress someone like her. She respected results, not appearances.
Caster understood that well.
If he wished to stand beside her as an equal, then he needed to prove something undeniable.
Defeating Kiyotaka publicly would accomplish that.
Only then would there be no room for doubt when the time came to form a cohort.
Step.
Caster turned around the final row of shelves.
_
At last he saw him.
Kiyotaka sat alone at one of the reading tables, leaning back slightly in his chair while a book rested open in his hands. His posture looked almost relaxed, as though the quiet environment of the library suited him perfectly.
There was no sign of tension in him.
Caster approached with the same polite smile he offered everyone else.
When he reached the table, his gaze shifted briefly toward the book resting in Kiyotaka's hands.
The title was printed clearly across the cover.
Hierarchy of the Clans by Chad.
For a brief moment, he simply observed it.
Of all the things he expected to see Kiyotaka reading, this was perhaps the most ironic.
A faint smile remained on Caster's face, polite and pleasant, yet his mind moved in a far colder direction.
'So he studies the structure of the world he does not belong to.'
Caster had spent his entire life surrounded by those structures. Names of great families were taught to him before he even began formal combat training. Alliances, rivalries, years of victories and humiliations were recorded in careful detail.
His gaze drifted from the book to the person holding it.
Caster's eyes moved slowly across him.
The first thing that caught his attention was the eyes.
Not simply the pair on his face.
The scars.
They ran across his skin in strange patterns, faint marks that looked as though dozens of eyes had once existed there. Some stretched across his neck. Others crossed his arms beneath the sleeve of his uniform where the fabric shifted slightly with movement.
His entire body was filled with such scars.
Caster's mind returned to the memory of their fight.
Dozens of them.
It had felt as though every one of them had been staring at him.
The memory left an unpleasant weight in Caster's chest.
'An unpleasant creature.'
The thought moved calmly through his mind while the polite smile on his face never changed.
Caster had fought many talented individuals before.
Other Legacies carried themselves with a certain recognizable discipline. Their movements reflected years of training guided by teachers who had inherited knowledge from generations before them.
Kiyotaka possessed none of that familiarity.
His movements during their fight had felt different.
Simply unfamiliar in a way that made it difficult to predict.
Caster looked back at the book.
Hierarchy of the Clans.
He could not decide whether the sight of it amused him or irritated him more.
If Kiyotaka truly had no family lineage, then reading such a book almost felt like watching an outsider study the rules of a world that would never accept him.
Yet another thought followed quietly behind that one.
If Kiyotaka had belonged to a respectable lineage, then their duel could be understood as a clash between equals born into the same world.
A conflict between two Legacies.
Instead there was nothing.
And still Caster had been defeated.
His gaze returned to the scars once more.
The faint lines that resembled closed eyes gave Kiyotaka's body an unsettling presence, as though the man sitting before him possessed far more awareness than what was visible on the surface.
Caster felt an almost instinctive resistance to the sight.
'What exactly are you?'
The question remained unspoken.
His smile did not change.
Instead he spoke in the same calm, courteous tone he used with everyone else.
"I did not expect to find you studying something like that."
Caster's eyes rested lightly on the book again before returning to Kiyotaka.
"It is quite a dense subject for casual reading."
His voice carried polite curiosity, the kind that suggested nothing more than a simple conversation.
Yet behind that calm tone, his thoughts continued moving with quiet intensity.
Because the man sitting before him had already forced Caster to question something he had never doubted before.
And the longer he observed him, the less certain the world appeared to become.
***
Caster remained beside the table for a moment after Kiyotaka looked at him.
He had expected some form of response, even if it was brief.
Instead the man simply closed the book in his hands.
Kiyotaka rose from the chair without any visible hurry and walked past him as if nothing required explanation.
Caster did not move while he passed.
For a brief moment his posture grew rigid. Being ignored so casually left a sharp irritation sitting just beneath his composed expression. A Legacy was not someone people simply brushed aside without acknowledgment.
After a few seconds he turned his attention toward the table.
A sheet of paper rested there.
Caster stepped forward and picked it up, his eyes moving across the words written on it.
"Let's pick up Cassie then we can talk verbally."
He read the message once, then again more slowly.
The absurdity of it settled heavily in his mind. Kiyotaka had walked away without a word and left behind instructions as if directing him.
The idea that someone would tell a Legacy where to go and what to do made a faint vein appear along Caster's temple before he forced the tension down again.
His gaze lingered on one particular word written in the sentence.
Verbally.
Kiyotaka only had eyes and no other features...
Caster read the message a third time while the irritation in his thoughts slowly gave way to calculation.
If Kiyotaka specifically wanted the conversation to happen only after they picked up Cassie, then the girl herself must have some role in it.
Cassie was blind.
Yet she had been at the center of his routine for days.
Caster considered the possibility that her aspect involved some form of perception or communication. Perhaps she could interpret intentions or detect falsehoods.
The paper folded quietly in his hand before he placed it back on the table and left the library.
Kiyotaka was already walking down the corridor ahead of him.
Caster followed.
The academy halls were busy at this hour. Students moved between classrooms while conversations drifted through the corridors. As the two of them walked side by side, several people noticed them and offered greetings.
What caught Caster's attention was the order in which those greetings came.
More than once a student acknowledged Kiyotaka first before turning toward him.
Caster answered each greeting with a calm nod and the same pleasant expression he always wore, yet the pattern repeated often enough for him to notice it clearly. The order felt wrong.
He was the Legacy.
His name carried generations behind it, while Kiyotaka possessed no clan, no lineage, no record of origin anywhere in the academy archives.
Yet people greeted him first.
Caster said nothing and continued walking.
Eventually they reached the corridor outside Cassie's classroom. Kiyotaka stopped beside the wall and waited without saying anything.
Caster remained nearby.
Students occasionally passed through the corridor, yet the atmosphere around them felt strangely quiet.
Standing there beside Kiyotaka carried an unexpected sense of calm.
The tension that had followed Caster since leaving the library seemed to ease without him noticing.
His breathing slowed and the usual pressure of constant competition faded into the background.
For a moment he simply stood there.
The quiet felt… comfortable.
A faint smile began forming on his face before he fully realized it.
The realization struck him almost immediately.
Caster's eyes widened and his hand rose sharply, striking his own mouth with enough force to make the sound echo faintly in the corridor.
The sudden pain wiped the expression from his face as he stared forward, disturbed by the thought that had just crossed his mind.
Since when had he allowed himself to relax so easily?
Kiyotaka glanced toward him at the sudden movement. His eyes narrowed slightly for a moment before his attention returned to the classroom door.
As he finally taps the wall and sounds echo in the classroom.
***
Caster, Kiyotaka, and Cassie moved through the corridor that led toward the cafeteria while the academy slowly settled into the quieter rhythm of evening.
Students passed them in small groups, their voices echoing against the walls as conversations drifted through the hall.
His gaze settled on the girl walking beside Kiyotaka.
Cassie followed Kiyotaka's pace without hesitation, moving carefully yet with a quiet familiarity that suggested she had already grown used to relying on him.
Her blue eyes remained open, but they wandered slightly without focusing on anything around her. There was no doubt about it. She truly could not see.
Caster watched her for several moments while they walked.
The reports he had received during the past week had been consistent.
Kiyotaka escorted her to class every morning, spent the hours of her lectures inside the library, returned to pick her up when those lectures ended, walked with her either to the cafeteria or her dormitory, and then disappeared back into the library until night.
The routine had repeated itself with such stubborn regularity that it had begun to irritate him the more he thought about it.
Someone capable of defeating a Legacy should not have been spending his time escorting a blind girl across the academy like a servant.
A possibility formed in Caster's mind that he found immediately distasteful.
Perhaps the explanation was far simpler than he wanted to believe.
Lust...
Desire had ruined the judgment of stronger men before.
If that was the truth behind Kiyotaka's behavior, then the man walking beside him was far less impressive than Caster had believed.
The academy existed beneath the shadow of the Nightmare Spell where death hovered over every Sleeper like an ever-present threat. Allowing something as trivial as lust to dictate one's actions in such a place was a sign of weakness.
Caster's gaze shifted between the two of them again while they continued walking.
For a brief moment another thought appeared quietly behind the first.
It was almost absurd that the two of them had survived this long.
One of them could not see.
The other seemed to do nothing except observe.
By every practical measure the Spell should have devoured people like them first.
Caster broke the silence while they walked.
"You have my respect for continuing forward despite such a flaw."
His tone carried the composed politeness expected from someone of his status, though the words themselves were blunt.
He expected the girl to react with surprise once she realized another person had joined them.
Cassie did not react that way.
Instead she smiled softly, an expression that carried a faint trace of sadness but no embarrassment.
"It is an honor for someone like me to even receive a greeting from a Legacy."
Her voice held quiet sincerity.
Caster slowed slightly.
"You knew it was me."
Cassie inclined her head in a small nod.
"I did."
Caster studied her face carefully.
"You cannot see."
"No," she replied gently.
"Then how did you know who was speaking?"
Cassie paused for a moment as though considering the question.
"Your presence is very clear."
The answer was vague enough to feel intentional.
Caster continued looking at her.
"I heard that when the Spell first claimed you, you believed you would die."
For a brief moment her fingers tightened faintly where they rested against Kiyotaka's sleeve before relaxing again.
"When the darkness came," she said quietly, "I thought my life had ended. I had trained for years with my eyes guiding every movement, every step, every strike. When they were taken away, it felt as though everything I had worked for disappeared with them."
Her expression remained calm despite the words.
"For a while I truly believed there was nothing left ahead of me."
She lifted her face slightly as though listening to the distant sounds filling the corridor.
"But someone reminded me that even if you cannot see the path, it still exists."
Her small smile returned.
"And if someone is kind enough to guide you along it, the least you can do is keep walking."
Caster glanced briefly toward Kiyotaka.
Cassie spoke again after a moment.
"I have heard many people speak about you."
Caster returned his gaze to her.
"And what do they say?"
"They say you are someone destined to become powerful."
Her voice carried no mockery or doubt.
"They say you are someone who will stand above others."
Caster allowed himself a faint smile.
"Expectations are not burdens for those born to carry them."
Cassie tilted her head slightly.
"I imagine they must still feel heavy at times, I can't help but feel respect for you."
Caster did not answer.
At that moment Kiyotaka stopped walking.
The movement was sudden enough that Caster noticed immediately. Kiyotaka's gaze had lifted toward a clock mounted high along the corridor wall.
Caster followed that gaze and saw the hands pointing to the nineteenth hour, thirty five minutes, and twenty seconds.
Kiyotaka reached into his pocket and removed a sheet of paper along with a pen. His hand moved quickly across the page before he handed it to Caster without explanation.
Caster unfolded the paper and read the message written across it.
"Tell the social worker to escort Cassie today. Help me reach the medical compartment. We speak now."
Caster lifted his eyes again toward the clock as its second hand moved forward.
Thirty seconds passed.
Before he could ask what the message meant, something changed in front of him.
The thin scars scattered across Kiyotaka's body began to open slowly. revealing dozens of eyes hidden beneath the skin along his neck, arms, legs and face.
Caster's pupils narrowed slightly.
He had seen those eyes once before in the dojo during their fight.
Seeing them again like this felt different.
They moved rapidly in every direction, shifting with frantic intensity as though attempting to capture the entire academy within their gaze.
Tears formed along several of them and slid down his skin while the motion continued for a few seconds before gradually slowing.
Caster remained where he stood and watched.
The movement of the eyes grew calmer before they began to close one by one and disappear beneath the skin once more.
The transformation did not end there.
Where Kiyotaka's ear had once been missing, new flesh began forming as though time itself had reversed.
From his pocket two small shapes rose into the air and reattached themselves seamlessly to the side of his head.
His nose slowly pushed outward from beneath the skin while his lips reshaped themselves with the same unsettling precision.
As the scars faded entirely, the face that remained carried a strange symmetry that felt almost unnatural to look at.
For a brief moment the man standing before Caster seemed almost unnaturally composed.
Nothing about his appearance demanded attention, yet the balance of it carried a quiet elegance that made the eye linger.
Even among the heirs of powerful families, whose bloodlines had been sharpened through generations of strength and careful selection, the calm perfection of that face would not have seemed out of place.
The clock reached the thirty fifth second.
Kiyotaka collapsed.
His body fell forward before Caster caught him by the shoulder.
Cassie gasped softly when she heard the sudden movement.
"What happened?"
She stepped forward instinctively, reaching out toward the sound.
Caster raised his arm immediately to stop her from moving any closer while keeping his eyes fixed on the unconscious man he was now supporting.
Students nearby had begun slowing down as they noticed the disturbance forming in the corridor, but Caster barely paid attention to them. His mind was focused entirely on what had just happened during those few seconds.
The message had been written before the transformation began. Kiyotaka had known the exact moment it would occur and had already prepared instructions for what needed to happen afterward.
Cassie spoke again with quiet concern, asking if Kiyotaka was injured, but her voice reached Caster only faintly as his attention remained fixed on the unconscious figure in his arms.
The understanding that formed in his mind brought a sharp tension to his jaw.
Even now, lying helpless against him, Kiyotaka had managed to arrange the situation exactly as he required.
The timing, the location, and the presence of someone capable of carrying him to the medical had all aligned with unsettling precision.
Caster lowered his head slightly as his grip on Kiyotaka's shoulder tightened.
He had approached Kiyotaka believing he was the one observing, the one analyzing the strange behavior of an opponent he intended to surpass.
The truth that now pressed against his thoughts felt far less comfortable.
He had not walked into this situation by chance.
He had walked exactly where Kiyotaka had expected him to be.
<<<
For the past five days I have been aware of the others.
Sleepers who believe they are being careful. They walk a little slower when I pass them in the corridors. Sometimes they choose tables near mine in the cafeteria. Sometimes they linger near the library shelves longer than necessary.
Their movements change depending on where I go, as if the shifting distance between us might somehow disguise the pattern.
They must believe that among the countless eyes watching me, theirs would disappear into the crowd.
It is an understandable assumption.
It is also wrong.
I notice them all. The way they keep their distance while still remaining within sight.
The quiet rotations when one of them grows tired of following and another takes his place.
The small formations they unconsciously build while pretending their paths simply happen to cross mine.
Their methods are simple.
What they do not realize is that observation is not something limited to sight.
A certain shadow dissolves easily into the shade beneath their feet. It slips quietly from one place to another, listening without being noticed, carrying every careless conversation back to me.
Plans spoken in low voices, guesses formed in small groups, the quiet discussions about my name, my origin, and the strange lack of history behind it.
Nothing they say remains unknown for long.
Right now the academy has grown quiet. Most of the students have already returned to their dormitories, leaving the cafeteria half empty and dim under the pale lights hanging from the ceiling. I sit alone at one of the tables, waiting.
A favor had been requested.
John finally returns after some time, pushing open the cafeteria doors with a tired expression. Sweat clings faintly to his forehead as he walks toward the table, his breathing still slightly uneven.
He drops into the seat across from me.
"You owe me," he mutters while wiping the sweat from his face. "Yes, someone from a decent clan tried to access your background through the academy records."
He pauses briefly before continuing.
"But he found nothing."
The answer does not surprise me.
If the ones following me through the corridors cannot uncover anything by watching my actions, then someone with better resources would naturally try a different approach.
The staff room would have been the next logical step. Records, admission files, registration documents. Any trace that might explain where I came from.
John studies my face for a moment.
"You don't seem surprised."
I rest my hands quietly on the table.
There is a simple reason for that.
If the present cannot provide answers, people always search the past. It is a predictable response, one that reveals more about the person asking the question than the one being investigated.
And yet the past they are searching for does not exist within the places they are looking.
...
They have already begun moving exactly the way I expected them to.
***
Today was the sixth day.
Kane moved through the academy corridors with steady steps, his hands resting loosely in his pockets while the evening crowd slowly thinned around him.
Students drifted past in small groups, their voices blending into a distant murmur that echoed faintly along the walls.
Kane barely paid attention to them. His thoughts were fixed on something else entirely.
Today, He will report.
The task had dragged on longer than he would have liked, and the annoyance still lingered in the back of his mind as he exhaled quietly.
"Man… Caster gave me such a task."
The complaint escaped him in a low mutter while he continued walking.
Kane stood a little over six feet tall with a solid build that spoke of years spent training rather than idling. His black hair was cropped short, and the confidence in his posture came naturally to someone raised inside a respectable clan.
His family name did not stand beside the great Han Li clan, but it carried enough weight that most Sleepers treated him with a certain respect.
Finding information like a spy had not exactly been the type of work he imagined doing.
Still, the matter would end today.
He turned toward the bathroom corridor.
Kane had a small preference when it came to places like this. He liked using the restroom when it was empty. Silence made things easier, and the absence of other people meant he never had to deal with pointless conversation or unnecessary attention.
The timing was usually perfect.
Just like right now.
He pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The restroom stretched forward in a long tiled chamber. The first section held a row of sinks beneath a large mirror where students usually washed their hands. Beyond that the room opened into the urinals and a line of narrow stalls pressed against the far wall.
Kane slowed.
Someone was standing at the sinks.
Water ran quietly from the faucet while a pair of hands moved beneath the stream.
Kiyotaka.
Kane stopped for a brief moment as his eyes settled on him. A thin bead of sweat formed along the back of his neck.
No one came here at this hour. That had been the entire reason Kane liked this place. The corridor outside was usually empty, and the restroom itself stayed silent.
Yet the one person he had been observing for days was standing here.
Kiyotaka did not look at him.
He simply continued washing his hands as if Kane's presence did not exist.
Kane swallowed once.
'Must be a coincidence.'
The thought formed quickly, He was coping.
He forced his shoulders to relax and walked past him without saying a word. The stalls waited at the far end of the room. Kane stepped into one and reached behind him to close the door.
...
The door never finished closing.
Something slammed violently into the back of his head.
Kane's skull crashed against the tiled wall as Kiyotaka drove him forward with brutal force. A violent flash burst across his vision while a sharp ringing filled his ears. Before he could regain his footing the stall door was shoved shut behind them, sealing the narrow space.
Kane twisted around immediately, his teeth grinding together as anger surged through him. His body moved on instinct as he attempted to retaliate, his head snapping forward in a sharp motion meant to strike.
The attack stopped halfway.
The scars across Kiyotaka's skin were opening.
Thin lines of flesh peeled apart across his arms, his neck, his face. Beneath them dozens of eyes revealed themselves, blinking slowly before settling onto Kane one after another.
They stared.
Every single one of them stared.
The stall suddenly felt suffocatingly small while those eyes studied him without a hint of emotion.
Something deep inside Kane's instincts recoiled violently.
Kiyotaka moved.
The kick drove directly into Kane's stomach with crushing force. Air exploded from his lungs as his body folded forward and collapsed onto his knees. His chest convulsed violently while his lungs struggled to draw in breath.
Before he could recover a hand seized his hair.
His head was dragged forward.
The toilet lid slammed open.
For a split second Kane did not understand what was happening.
Then his face was shoved directly into the bowl.
Filthy water flooded into his mouth and nose instantly. Kane's body jerked violently while his hands clawed at the arm forcing his head downward. The liquid forced its way down his throat as his lungs spasmed helplessly.
His chest burned.
His body struggled violently while the disgusting water filled his nose and throat, choking him before he could even try to scream. Tears flooded his eyes as his mind struggled to comprehend what was happening.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He was from a clan.
People from clans did not get treated like this.
The longer his head remained submerged the more violently his body fought. His fingers dug into Kiyotaka's arm while his legs thrashed uselessly against the stall floor, but the grip holding him down never loosened.
After several suffocating seconds he was finally pulled back out.
Kane collapsed forward, coughing violently as filthy water spilled from his mouth. His lungs dragged in desperate breaths while his body shook uncontrollably.
The relief lasted only a moment.
A hand clamped around his throat.
Kiyotaka lifted him and slammed his back against the stall wall. Kane's feet scraped uselessly against the floor as the grip around his neck tightened.
His hands shot upward immediately, clawing desperately at the arm choking him.
Air refused to enter his lungs.
At first anger filled his eyes while he stared directly at Kiyotaka's face.
The hatred was raw and burning, the kind that someone raised within a powerful clan carried naturally when they were humiliated like this.
Kane memorized every detail of the man standing before him because the thought running through his mind was simple.
This would not end here.
Maybe he could not retaliate personally.
But his clan would.
Kiyotaka would never dare kill him.
The pressure around his throat tightened slowly.
Kane's breathing turned into a desperate rasp as his lungs strained uselessly for oxygen.
His fingers began losing strength while his grip on Kiyotaka's arm weakened little by little. Black spots crept into the edges of his vision while the pounding of his own heartbeat roared inside his ears.
Chains began forming between them.
Metal links appeared in the air one after another, cold and heavy as they slowly assembled themselves.
One chain moved first.
It drove forward and pierced directly through Kiyotaka's throat before vanishing deeper inside him, binding itself to something unseen.
The second chain stopped directly in front of Kane.
It hovered there silently.
Waiting.
Kane stared at it while the hand around his throat continued tightening. His lungs convulsed desperately while his chest heaved in useless attempts to breathe.
His fingers trembled weakly against the arm choking him as the strength in his body drained away.
Something inside his mind began to crack.
The anger in his eyes faded first.
Then the hatred began dissolving as the terrifying realization slowly forced its way through the fog filling his mind.
The grip choking him was not loosening.
There was no hesitation in it.
Kiyotaka was not trying to scare him.
He was killing him.
Kane slowly looked towards Kiyotaka as chills went through the very fibre of his being, Kiyotaka's expression carried no emotions while killing him.
It was... Just monotonous.
The realization hollowed him out from the inside.
The confidence that had filled him earlier that evening began collapsing piece by piece as his body struggled helplessly against the suffocating pressure crushing his throat.
Kane's fingers slipped weakly against the arm holding him while his vision darkened further and further, the stall walls melting into shadow as panic clawed its way through the last fragments of his thoughts.
He was going to die here.
The truth settled over him with a crushing weight that shattered what little pride remained in his chest.
Survival instinct pushed through everything else, raw and desperate, while his fading strength tried one last time to draw breath that refused to come.
The chain still hovered before him.
And in the final moments before his consciousness slipped away, with the cold certainty of death closing in around him...
Kane allowed the chain to attach itself to his soul.
***
[[[[[[[Binding Vow]]]]]]]
[Those Who Step Before the Loom]
Kiyotaka.
Kane.
[The Measure of the Thread]
Kiyotaka: Until we return from the Dream Realm.
Kane: Until we return from the Dream Realm.
[The Sacred Equilibrium]
Kiyotaka: Kane must meet with Caster tomorrow and speak in a way that edges him toward making a move on the same day. The words must not be direct, nor should they make the intention obvious. And whatever took place here must not be spoken or told in any kind of way to anyone else.
Kane: Kiyotaka must not tell anyone what happened here.
[The Judgment of the Unseen]
Fate now stands witness to this vow.
If the Measure of the Thread is fulfilled, the chains will fade and release you both, their purpose complete.
But if the vow is broken, the chains will pass judgment themselves, tightening around the betrayer's soul until nothing remains. Fate does not forgive. It only enforces.
***
Kiyotaka pushed the stall door open and stepped out.
The faint sound of running water still came from the sink he had used earlier. The mirror reflected a quiet, unremarkable scene as if nothing violent had taken place just a few feet away.
The shadow beneath his feet stirred.
It stretched slightly across the floor before a small portion of it lifted, forming a vague shape that wiped at its forehead in an exaggerated motion before giving a silent thumbs up, as if confirming that everything had been carefully noted.
Kiyotaka walked out without looking back.
Inside the stall, Kane remained where he was.
For several long seconds he did not move.
His mind slowly began to replay what had just happened, the images surfacing one after another with cruel clarity. The pressure around his throat, the suffocating panic, the moment he realized that the man standing in front of him had truly intended to kill him.
Kane lowered his head.
The smell reached him then.
The filthy water clinging to his clothes, the stench of the toilet still dripping from his face and hair. His stomach twisted violently as the humiliation settled deeper inside his chest.
He leaned forward suddenly and vomited.
The sound echoed inside the cramped stall while tears slipped down his face, mixing with the dirty water still clinging to his skin.
Inside the toilet bowl, several torn pages floated weakly while the flush continued running.
The ink on them had already begun to blur, but a few lines could still be read before the water slowly swallowed them.
"If you demand anything else other than me not telling anyone about this, I will kill you right here and get away with it."
"You have already seen my aspect."
"They cannot afford to kill me."
Kane clenched his teeth as the last of the words dissolved beneath the swirling water.
His hands trembled slightly as the reality of the vow settled in.
He knew exactly how long he would have to endure it.
Until they returned from the Dream Realm.
******
Alright, This ends here.
How was this chapter:)
I made it too big, Man why do I drag everything.
Next Chapter → Either Thursday or Friday.