Night had settled quietly over the academy.
The long stone corridors were silent as most students had already returned to their rooms after a long day of training.
Moonlight slipped through the tall windows, painting silver lines across the floor.
But one place was still lively.
The central hall.
At a long wooden table sat five familiar figures.
Iren.
Kael.
Riven.
Sylven.
And the newest official member of their team—
Lyra.
Several plates of snacks were scattered across the table along with bottles of cold drinks.
It was a small celebration.
After all—
Lyra had just secured her place on the team.
"Ahh… this drink is amazing," Riven said as he leaned back in his chair.
Sylven nodded while munching on a handful of snacks.
"Not bad for a victory party."
Kael crossed his arms calmly, though a faint smile rested on his face.
Lyra sat across from them, looking slightly embarrassed by the attention.
Then suddenly—
Riven leaned forward.
His eyes narrowed curiously.
"So tell us something, Lyra."
Lyra blinked.
"Hm?"
Riven pointed a finger toward her.
"That technique you used today… we've never seen it before."
Sylven nodded immediately.
"Yeah. The one where you disappeared and struck multiple times."
Kael added quietly,
"That was definitely new."
Riven leaned closer.
"So how did you learn that?"
Lyra scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
"Well…"
She glanced briefly at Iren before answering.
"I actually discovered it while training with Iren."
Riven blinked.
"Wait… what?"
His head snapped toward Iren.
"Bro, how?"
Kael and Sylven were also staring now.
Iren simply took another sip of his drink.
Lyra shrugged.
"To be honest… I didn't even know it was possible at first."
She paused before explaining.
"Iren just kept pushing me harder during training… and suddenly it activated."
Sylven narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"…That sounds very suspicious."
Lyra smirked.
"Maybe you should ask him."
All three boys slowly turned toward Iren.
Riven leaned forward with a grin.
"Alright then."
He pointed dramatically.
"Explain it, bro."
Kael nodded.
Sylven crossed his arms expectantly.
Iren sighed.
"…Fine."
He leaned back slightly before beginning.
"This happened when Lyra was sick and our team training was paused."
"But Lyra and I still trained separately."
Lyra nodded beside him.
"One day we were practicing close combat."
Iren continued.
"I deliberately fought her without using my daggers."
Riven raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
Iren shrugged.
"I wanted to see how she would handle a situation where she lost her weapons during a match."
"Bare-handed combat."
Sylven nodded thoughtfully.
"That makes sense."
Iren continued.
"I also told her to use everything she had."
"Even her time-skip ability."
Lyra crossed her arms proudly.
"And I didn't hold back."
Riven grinned.
"Oh, I believe that."
Iren continued calmly.
"She attacked relentlessly."
"Punches."
"Kicks."
"Again and again."
SWISH!
WHAM!
THUD!
"I barely managed to dodge and block them."
Then Iren's expression grew more serious.
"But something strange happened."
"Every time she used time-skip…"
"…her speed began to drop slightly."
Kael frowned.
"Fatigue?"
Iren shook his head.
"That's what I thought too."
"So I told her to take a break."
Lyra immediately protested.
"But I wasn't tired!"
She pointed at herself.
"It felt like my body was getting heavier every time I used the ability."
The others exchanged surprised looks.
Then Iren continued.
"So we kept testing it."
He paused.
His voice lowered slightly.
"And then…"
"…something strange happened to me."
The table grew quiet.
Riven leaned forward again.
"What happened?"
Iren exhaled slowly.
"For a moment…"
"…it felt like I entered a different dimension."
Kael blinked.
"A different dimension?"
"I don't understand."
Iren continued.
"In that moment I saw Lyra rushing toward me."
"But my body wouldn't move."
"And before I could react—"
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
"She landed ten strikes."
"In ten seconds."
Everyone stared at him.
Iren continued.
"And then suddenly—"
"I returned to reality."
He rubbed the back of his head.
"And my entire body was aching."
Lyra burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
She pointed at him.
"The look on his face was priceless!"
"He was standing there like a statue!"
She mimicked his expression.
"Mouth wide open… eyes completely frozen."
"As if he had just seen a ghost!"
Iren muttered quietly,
"…Yeah."
"I did see a ghost that day."
SNAP.
Lyra slowly cracked her knuckles.
"…What did you say?"
Iren froze.
"…Huh?"
Lyra stepped closer.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Did you just call me a ghost?"
Iren immediately began waving his hands.
"N-No! That's not what I meant!"
Sylven leaned back with a grin.
"Oops."
"Looks like someone said the wrong thing."
Riven covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
Kael's lips curled slightly.
Then—
BAM!
"Ouch!!"
Lyra's fist landed squarely on Iren's head.
Iren grabbed his head in pain.
"You hit too hard!"
Lyra crossed her arms.
"You deserved that."
Riven and Sylven burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Even Kael chuckled.
"Well, Iren…"
"Looks like you finally found someone you can't defend yourself against."
Iren sighed in defeat.
"Alright, enough."
He rubbed his head.
"Don't you want to hear the rest?"
Riven wiped tears from his eyes.
"Yeah… yeah."
"Continue."
The laughter slowly faded.
Iren resumed.
"After that happened, I was completely shocked."
"Lyra asked why I didn't dodge when I clearly saw her coming."
"But honestly…"
"I had no idea what happened."
He looked at Lyra.
"So I asked her how she did it."
Lyra nodded.
"And I told him the truth."
"I simply looked into his eyes."
Everyone blinked.
Lyra continued.
"And he was looking into mine at that moment too."
Iren nodded.
"That gave me an idea."
"I placed a wooden training log in front of her."
"And told her to repeat the exact same attack."
Lyra nodded again.
"I stepped back…"
"And dashed toward it."
Iren continued.
"From my perspective…"
"She suddenly accelerated."
"Faster than before."
"And then—"
"She appeared behind the log."
"As if she teleported."
Riven blinked.
"…Wait, what?"
Iren continued.
"So I asked her something."
"Why didn't you attack the log?"
Lyra raised a finger.
"But I did."
"Ten times."
Everyone froze.
"But…"
"Iren didn't see a single strike."
The group looked at each other.
Iren sighed.
"And when I looked at the log…"
"…I was shocked."
"There were ten dagger marks on it."
Silence fell for a moment.
Then Iren leaned back.
"Honestly…"
"I was lucky we were fighting bare-handed."
He scratched his cheek.
"Otherwise my story might have ended that day."
Riven whistled.
"So that's how you unlocked it."
Lyra made an awkward face.
"…Pretty much."
"I discovered it randomly."
Sylven nodded.
"Still."
"That's an incredible technique."
Just then—
Kael glanced at the clock on the wall.
"…Guys."
Everyone looked at him.
"It's already ten."
Riven blinked.
"Oh."
Kael stood up.
"We should head back before it gets too late."
Then he added,
"Let's meet tomorrow morning at the training ground."
Everyone nodded.
"Sounds good."
They finished the remaining drinks and stood up.
Chairs scraped softly against the floor.
Soon—
The hall became quiet again.
One by one they returned to their rooms.
And the academy once again fell into silence beneath the moonlight.
The peaceful night continued—
Unaware of what fate awaited them in the future.
---