"This can't be. I can't accept this, Adelita... I have to level up... I have to go there... I am not going to give up, not after I finally had a fair chance!" Isiah spoke with mounting anger, his eyebrows contracted as he bit his lower lip.
Adelita sank into a chair and pointed at Jivan with her index finger. "That's why we were arguing. Apparently, they are going to evacuate the Seventh King, his high mages, the instructors responsible for the evaluation, and everyone else. They are all being evacuated to Emperium."
"Why? Did something happen? Why now?!" Isiah flooded her with questions.
"It didn't happen suddenly. It looks like they were hiding it from us all along!" she replied.
"How do you know this?"
"Well, Mister Lautner told me," Adelita admitted. "I didn't believe him at first, but when I found out they had cut off all communication between the districts, I realized something was terribly wrong."
"Huh!"
"I was against the leveling-up system my entire life, but today I chose to stay alive rather than die a man of empty beliefs," Jivan added bitterly.
"You passed the test today?!"
"And tomorrow I will level up with everyone else."
Isiah turned to face Adelita. "Does he mean that both of you are going to Emperium tomorrow with no turning back?"
Adelita lowered her head. "They chose tomorrow to abandon this place."
Isiah looked at Adelita, and despite his frustration, he said in a calm, steady voice: "Thank you, both of you, for everything you have done. You helped me when no one else would, and I can never repay you enough. This creepy old dude is a massive nuisance, but he helped me nonetheless. I wish you both luck and a comfortable life in Emperium."
Adelita couldn't believe the shift in his tone. He was furious, yet he calmly acknowledged their sacrifices.
"I don't want to go," Adelita blurted out, interrupting him before he could finish.
"Don't act like this, Adie. Just say your goodbyes to the kid and move on," Jivan said sarcastically.
"I can't... you don't understand," she objected.
"It's all because of him," Jivan muttered.
"Don't you dare say another word, okay?!"
"Why? Why are you acting like this, Adelita? Even back then, you were the one who fought for me to enter the institution. You saved me when I lost my sight, and you pushed yourself to the limit just so I could use magic. Why? I don't understand!" Isiah demanded.
A silence stretched longer than Isiah could bear. Finally, he spoke up again. "Well, don't worry about me. I'm a survivor. Just do what needs to be done, and don't you dare stay here or waste a thought on me. I'm perfectly fine now, and once I master my magic, I'll be completely secure."
He waved at both of them, turned around, and walked out of the kitchen, exiting the house entirely.
Adelita felt a crushing weight in her chest. Her emotions were in absolute turmoil at the thought of leaving him behind, yet she knew she couldn't force herself onto him when he clearly wanted to stand on his own two feet. She was bound to obey the rules, but the prospect of abandoning him was terrifying.
She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth: that she had chosen to stay, teach, and return to Delwias Island purely because of him. Admitting that now might drive him away, and the last thing she wanted was to ruin everything after fighting so hard to break down his walls.
Isiah walked away from the house in slow, deliberate steps. The situation didn't feel entirely real to him. He couldn't understand why they had been arguing over whether to bring him along or find him a loophole; it wasn't their job to babysit him, and he had no intention of becoming completely dependent on them just because they had shown him kindness once.
He walked at a steady pace until he reached his own home. It didn't look nearly as battered as it had before, thanks to the minor repairs Ethyl had made earlier.
He let out a long sigh as his eyes settled on the front steps, sinking down to gaze up at the sky. Emperium's influence cast a strange, bruised darkness across the upper atmosphere, though the three moons still burned brightly.
If what Adelita and Jivan said was true, this entire region was about to be obliterated, and the fact that he was trapped here with no escape was a terrifying reality.
"You're finally back. I think I've visited this place a few times to make some modifications. Do you like it now? With my energy woven into it, it looks much better than before."
Isiah raised his head to see Ethyl standing nearby with a smirk on her face. He didn't answer her remark. Instead, he simply bowed his head and kept his eyes glued to the dirt until she walked over and sat down right beside him.
"What happened to you? There is definitely something weird about you... you look older and completely different," she said in genuine surprise, leaning in to take a closer look.
He pulled back, turning his face away. "Don't... don't look at me. Don't ask me anything. Just... leave it."
She looked a complete mess. Her dress was caked in dried mud and her face was drained of color, but Isiah acted as though she wasn't even there.
"I passed the annual evaluation. I told you I was going to level up. Aren't you going to congratulate me?"
"Congrats."
"Whoa... a cold congratulation, very typical of you." She was clearly annoyed, though she tried to brush it off. "Where have you been anyway? I dropped by earlier, but you were nowhere to be found."
"Ethyl," Isiah said, his voice dropping to a chilling calm.
She was so stunned by him using her name directly that she stopped talking and focused entirely on him.
"If the world is truly falling apart, will having powers stop it?" he asked.
"What kind of childish question is that?"
"This region is going to be erased after today. The higher-ups are giving up on it. They are taking everyone of value and leaving the rest of us behind to face our end in complete isolation. Don't ask me how I know. I just do, and there's no point in hiding it anymore."
"What happened?!"
"You... I know you want to eradicate the higher-ups for whatever reason is driving you. Keep that ambition close... because I am the person who is going to help you do it."