***
Eris watched Xenos through his eyes and every thread that connected them.
Much like earlier, Her vision wasn't limited to his mortal frame.
She saw the world both as he saw it and from high above.
So She saw exactly how Xenos walked down the long hall, his hands behind his back, that same careless stride of his echoing faintly through the marble.
No one would think that, just minutes ago, he had smothered an entire room with death.
But oh, She thought, and saw more than most ever could or would.
The faint pulse of Divinity through his veins…
The subtle way his Will lingered after he had already dismissed it...
He didn't just frighten those Disciples; he had nearly made them kneel, and yet, here he was, acting as if nothing had happened.
It was obvious that it wasn't something he took pride in; he was essentially scaring kids into pissing themselves, or so they were in his eyes at least. The realm wasn't so agreeable.
Still, he saw it as necessary.
'You really are cruel, aren't you?'
Her voice, though whispered, held affection.
Xenos didn't hear Her, of course; She wasn't intent on talking to him now.
Eris knew that his Soul needed to recover from that sudden and heavy flare of Will.
Though it was better than the alternative—him fighting another—it still damaged him slightly.
Yet, She smiled softly, not at all worried, and obviously proud.
Eris already knew this.
She had confirmed it countless times before.
But the fact was never clearer than now...
Her Follower was unlike any other.
Xenos wasn't only odd in calmness.
No, he was something more, layered.
'Like an onion...'
She thought with a small laugh.
So many layers, each time She peeled one away, She found another beneath, and beneath all of it was...
Something dangerous.
"You hate that word… don't you?"
Her voice faded into the hall of his Soul.
'Soldier.'
That single word… had drawn something out of him that even She hadn't expected.
A hatred that burned cold instead of hot, heavy enough to break through that perfect self-control of his...
She could still feel the echo of it.
That emotion had cut through everything else, piercing even that body-defying condition he had... a defect that buried every feeling he didn't care to feel.
How long had it been since something reached that deep?
Her hand brushed her own chest, right above where Her heart should've been.
'Trauma? Enmity?... Or something worse?'
Her voice remained soft, but Her eyes weren't.
They burned red, and for a moment, the entire realm around Her trembled.
This was the appearance of Her anger at the ones who dared hurt her Follower.
Eris would not stand for it...
Even if he acted unfazed.
Besides, She could see it so clearly now.
Xenos had worn the 'mantle' as a memory.
That kind of Will, that kind of killing intent...
One couldn't mimic it; they could only remember it.
"How many did you kill, my little Follower…?"
Her tone was no longer pitying.
It was curious and possessive.
"Will you show me?..."
A faint, dreamy smile curved Her lips.
"…and how many would you kill for me?"
The world within his Soul rippled at Her words, but She only laughed softly and folded Her hands before Her, intently watching him; Her gaze never leaving him for even a heartbeat.
***
Gaia, much like the rest, watched Xenos exit the hall, her eyes never leaving his face.
Though she was beyond startled, she never once thought that Xenos would actually kill her; rather, she was sure that he wouldn't.
And more than that, she was happy for him.
If her stuttering smile was any indication, she envied his new freedom, one that she knew she would never be allowed to attain.
She wasn't smart like him.
Unlike the rest, who suddenly found him to be some sort of genius after he read that bit of Arcane—something that she, with her inadequate knowledge on all matters Divine, didn't quite get the surprise for—she knew just how smart he was the very moment he spoke.
Xenos was not at all like what the rumors said.
Good thing she wasn't keen on rumors...
Being known by all as a failure and a bastard all her life had at least taught her that.
'I-It would be great if he came to talk...'
Gaia found herself too shy to speak first.
Sure, she sat and stood next to him, but that was all she could do; anything more required something that she didn't yet have.
But that didn't mean that she'd give up.
Rather, far from it.
'I'll do better next time!'
This was her promise.
***
Meanwhile, in a faraway place, a hulking man sat behind a desk, staring down at a paper, his short white hair, trimmed beard, and green eyes all too familiar.
It was Veynar.
"Is this true?"
He looked up; a man in black before him.
"Yes, Lord Veynar. Young Master Xenos has become a Disciple in the Pluto Academy. He lasted an entire minute in the test, gaining the epithet, Sixty-Second Fool, and acquiring his Second Rune. Later, he read aloud the correct Arcane for Lightning and scared his fellow Disciples near death when asked to duel them."
Veynar looked down and stared at nothing.
He remained silent for a long, long time.
His eyes weren't deceiving him.
His ears weren't either.
Xenos, his failure of a son, had done something more than just be a useful measuring stick to make his older son, Draven, feel better about himself, boosting his already gargantuan ego.
'Did he...'
He couldn't believe it.
'Did his Rune get him a new brain?'
Veynar didn't once see any of that smartness in all the sixteen years he raised him, and to make his... shock worse, apparently, Xenos was a one-in-a-thousand genius, able to transcribe the Arcane too easily into their common tongue.
'Maybe someone's colluding with him... influencing him.'
Veynar's eyes widened a little before he nodded.
"Watch over my son; see who he's meeting."
The cloaked man bowed deeply.
"Yes, my Lord!"
***
'By now, Vaynar probably sent some of his spies after me.'
Xenos, now a town or so away from the Academy, was sitting down by a hill once more.
'I've got some extra time to train before the Colosseum Game, so I should go somewhere they can't follow...'
He wouldn't admit it to them, but he'd be sure to struggle if he went against Aspen, Ariadne, or Deianira if they came at him prepared... he NEEDED a boost in strength quickly if he were to ever dominate them in the game.
'A land of war.'
His head nodded at that thought.
'Oh… sometimes my genius is...'
It nodded many a time.
'It's almost frightening~.'
Xenos chuckled while pushing himself up.
'Let's go to war.'