Silence.
The lesson should have ended.
Yet...
No one moved.
No one dared.
Caelion stood with his hands behind his back, his goldish-blue eyes drifting calmly from one prodigy to the next.
He wasn't waiting for us to leave.
He was waiting for us to think.
Finally—
A young woman broke the silence.
"Instructor..."
"If our bloodlines are so dangerous..."
"...why awaken them at all?"
A few students nodded instinctively.
It was the question everyone wanted answered.
Caelion smiled faintly.
"A fair question."
He turned and slowly walked toward the centre of the chamber.
"Tell me."
"If you lock a starving tiger inside a cage..."
"...does it stop being a tiger?"
"No."
Someone answered immediately.
"It merely waits."
Caelion nodded.
"Exactly."
"You can imprison instinct."
"You can suppress it."
"You can ignore it."
"But..."
"You cannot erase it."
His goldish-blue eyes slowly swept across us.
"Every beast cultivator carries two hearts."
"One belongs to the human."
"The other..."
"...belongs to the beast."
The chamber became deathly quiet.
"The stronger your bloodline..."
"...the louder the beast's heart beats."
A chill travelled through the room.
Several students unconsciously touched their chest.
Caelion noticed.
He smiled.
"You've all felt it."
"Anger that appeared too quickly."
"The desire to fight."
"The urge to dominate."
"The satisfaction of victory."
"The frustration of defeat."
He paused.
"Those emotions..."
"...are not entirely yours."
"They belong to the beast."
He slowly raised one hand.
Streams of spiritual energy gathered above his palm.
The silver light twisted.
Compressed.
Then transformed.
A wolf appeared.
Barely the size of a house cat.
It stood quietly upon his palm.
Its eyes were crimson.
Its fangs bared.
Even though it was no larger than a kitten...
It growled.
Low.
Threatening.
Aggressive.
Caelion looked at it calmly.
"This..."
"...is instinct."
Without warning—
He extended his finger toward the tiny wolf.
The wolf immediately bit him.
Several students flinched.
The tiny fangs couldn't even pierce his skin.
Yet the wolf continued biting.
Growling.
Refusing to release him.
Caelion simply watched.
"It doesn't hate me."
"It doesn't know me."
"It isn't evil."
"It simply follows its nature."
He gently flicked his finger.
The tiny wolf dissolved into countless motes of light.
"The beast inside your blood behaves the same way."
"It doesn't care about right."
"It doesn't care about wrong."
"It cares about survival."
A long silence followed.
Then—
He looked directly at us.
"Which is why..."
"...you must never rely upon emotion during battle."
"Emotion clouds judgment."
"Instinct sharpens it."
"The two are not the same."
His words settled heavily upon every prodigy.
I quietly replayed the battle against the white tiger.
The explosion.
The wound.
The mistake.
He was right.
The moment I believed I had won...
Emotion had replaced instinct.
Confidence.
Satisfaction.
Certainty.
For that single heartbeat...
I had stopped hunting.
And nearly paid for it with my life.
Caelion slowly turned.
"Some of you..."
"...will spend years mastering your bloodline."
"Some..."
"...will never succeed."
He stopped walking.
"But a very small number..."
His voice lowered.
"...will awaken something far rarer."
His goldish-blue eyes settled upon me.
Not briefly.
Not accidentally.
Deliberately.
The chamber noticed.
One by one...
The other prodigies followed his gaze.
Their eyes landed on me.
Silence deepened.
Neither of us looked away.
His eyes resembled polished sapphire wrapped in molten gold.
Mine...
Glowed with an ancient azure light.
Two predators.
Studying one another.
Then—
Caelion spoke.
"So..."
"It has already begun."
Confusion spread through the room.
"What has?"
Someone asked.
Caelion didn't answer.
Instead—
He continued walking as though nothing had happened.
"Some bloodlines awaken through cultivation."
"Others..."
"...awaken through survival."
"The closer you walk to death..."
"...the more honestly your blood answers."
Those words echoed inside my mind.
Survival...
Not cultivation.
Was that why my eyes had continued changing?
Why every battle seemed to sharpen them?
Why the System had forced me through endless pain?
Questions multiplied.
Answers remained distant.
Caelion reached the chamber doors.
He stopped.
Without turning around—
He spoke one final time.
"Never fear your beast."
A pause.
"Fear the day..."
"...it no longer listens."
His words struck the chamber like thunder.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Slowly—
He glanced back over his shoulder.
His goldish-blue eyes met my azure gaze one last time.
A faint smile curved across his lips.
Not one of amusement.
Not one of kindness.
Recognition.
Then—
"Class dismissed."
He stepped through the towering alloy doors.
RUMBLE...
The ancient doors began to close.
Just before they sealed completely—
His calm voice echoed back into the chamber.
"Tomorrow..."
A heartbeat of silence.
"We hunt."
CLANG!!
The chamber fell silent.
No one spoke.
No one rushed for the exit.
Every prodigy remained exactly where they stood.
Because every one of us understood.
The gravity chamber had tested our bodies.
Today's lesson had tested our minds.
Tomorrow...
Our instincts would be tested.
And somewhere deep within my veins...
I could almost hear it.
A slow...
Steady...
Heartbeat.
Not my own.
The beast...
Had heard him too.
— End of Chapter 27 —