Eight figures sat in a line, half-submerged in the pool. Kaivan stood in the center, water clinging to his skin, his dark hair heavy with moisture. He inhaled deeply, feeling the weight of the words he was about to release.
"If you're asking what my purpose is in gathering all of you until now…"
His voice drifted lightly through the steam. Tension tightened. All eyes focused on him, waiting.
"I don't know."
The words fell like a stone into still water. Radit frowned. Isabel stiffened. Felicia merely raised an eyebrow, cold and unreadable. Raphael reacted the strongest.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he snapped, his sharp voice echoing across the pool. The water around him trembled.
Kaivan turned slowly toward him. His expression remained steady. He reached to the poolside and lifted a thick wooden-bound book, its surface glowing faintly in the dim light.
"But this thing can explain everything… can't it?"
He placed the Tome Omnicent carefully on the edge of the pool, as if setting down a sacred relic. The rising steam curled around it, giving the illusion that the book itself was breathing.
Felicia cast it a brief glance, then looked away, only to look again. Silence wrapped the group.
Kaivan slowly lowered himself into the water until he sat at the same level as the others. For the first time, he wasn't sitting apart like a leader, but simply as a fellow traveler.
"I asked you…" he murmured, "What is your real purpose? Why did I have to meet these people?"
Then something shifted.
A voice echoed inside their minds, soft yet firm. Not a voice belonging to anyone present. Everyone froze. Only one object could do this: the Tome Omnicent.
"His purpose is to help Kaivan fulfill his wish: 'I just want to help people around me now.' That was his first request to me."
The words struck harder than any of them expected. Raphael, who had been fuming a moment ago, now stared blankly at the water's surface. Radit rubbed the back of his neck, trying to process it. Isabel watched Kaivan, her eyes filled with doubt and something close to disbelief.
Felicia, normally cold, held her gaze on Kaivan longer than the others. Under the faint glow of the lanterns, her reddish eyes shimmered. She knew how sincere that wish had been.
Kaivan met their looks and nodded softly. There had been no grand ambition, only a simple desire that had dragged them into all of this: the urge to help.
Steam drifted in thin layers above the pool, the warm water reflecting the soft lantern lights. Kaivan rose slightly at the center of their circle, no longer uncertain.
"It's true," he said quietly but firmly. "I really did say that. I used to be apathetic. If you don't believe me, ask Radit. We went to the same school."
Radit, shoulders relaxed against the stone edge, nodded. "Yeah. Back then he kept to himself. Hard to approach, often bullied, barely talked. Awkward, always taken advantage of, had no friends."
Zinnia raised a brow. Raphael turned to him. Kaivan sighed and crossed his arms. "Thanks, Radit. Very… detailed."
Radit shrugged, unbothered. But before the mood could lighten, the Tome's voice returned.
"That wish may sound simple, but to me it was the seed of a hero. That is why I encouraged Kaivan to enhance his brain's capacity. But his body could not withstand it. He fell into a coma. So the enhancement stopped at twenty percent."
Zinnia sat up straight, startled. "That's right! Radit and I visited you back then. You were found unconscious with the book in your hand."
Kaivan fell silent, his eyes distant. He remembered the sensation, his heavy limbs, his fading awareness, and the vague feeling that something inside him was shifting.
"Yes," the Tome said, voice steady. "That was my doing. Since then, Kaivan's cognitive ability has increased. He can accelerate his thought processes, forcing his body to adjust to the speed of his mind."
Radit looked up, connecting dots that had been scattered for years. Then his eyes widened. "Oh! That's why Kaivan moved differently when he beat up Felicia's ex."
Every head turned to Felicia.
Her relaxed expression snapped. Her jaw tightened, irritation flashing in her eyes. "Please don't remind me of that bastard," she said coldly, her voice sharp as ice.
Isabel leaned forward, intrigued. "So Kaivan really beat up your ex?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
Felicia let out a long, tired sigh, leaning back against the stone wall. With a lazy tone, she answered, "Yeah."
Seeing the shadow over her expression, no one dared press further.