The pale light filtering through the cave entrance pulled Kaelen from his light sleep. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim illumination. Every muscle in his body ached with the kind exhaustion that came from pushing past every limit.
He forced himself upright, wincing as his joints protested. His back had stiffened against the cave wall during sleep. How long had he been out? Minutes? Hours?
Kaelen pulled up his System interface with shaking hands.
[HP: 380/380]
[A.E.: 89/480]
Flow Regrowth had done its work overnight. The golden time-threads had woven through his body, healing the damage from aether exhaustion. His health was fully restored, though his A.E reserves remained critically low and regenerating slower than usual. Kaelen hypothesis was that it could be due to him entering the negatives, the effects were great.
"Better than nothing," he thought to himself.
He looked over at Davos. The instructor lay where Kaelen had left him, bandages soaked through with dried blood but his breathing was steady. The regenerative gel had sealed the worst wounds, preventing further bleeding. His face was pale but no longer carried the deathly pallor.
Kaelen crawled over to check the bandages properly. His hands moved with efficiency despite the tremor of exhaustion. The torso wound had closed significantly. The shoulder injury looked stable. No signs of infection or complications.
Good. Davos would live if rescue arrived soon.
Kaelen sat back, his mind drifting to the fight. The two humanoid beasts moving with intelligence and coordination. The way they'd adapted to Davos's attacks, learning and adjusting. And his own desperate gambit with the new Temporal Rift skill, redirecting their attacks back at them.
His hand moved to the pendant beneath his shirt. He pulled it out, letting the gear-shaped charm rest in his palm. The metal was cool to the touch now, no residual warmth from whatever it had done during the rift activation.
The System had flagged its activity twice. During the Crystal Serpent fight and again when he'd opened the portal. But Analytical Scan still couldn't identify it. Even with the Aether Lens enhancing his scanning capability, the pendant remained a complete mystery.
"What are you?" Kaelen whispered to the charm.
The gear pattern caught the dim light, throwing tiny reflections across the cave wall. His mother's face flashed through his mind, the way she'd pressed this into his hand before he left for the academy.
"Keep this with you," she'd said. "Always."
He'd accepted it without question then. But now, with everything that had happened, he wondered what she knew. What she'd never told him.
A groan interrupted his thoughts.
Davos's eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first. The instructor blinked several times, his gaze sharpening as consciousness returned fully. He tried to sit up immediately, then gasped in pain as his injuries protested.
"Don't move," Kaelen said quickly, moving to support him. "You're still recovering."
Davos accepted the help reluctantly, easing back against the cave wall with careful movements. His gray eyes tracked the cave interior, assessing their situation with professional detachment.
"How long?" he asked, his voice rough from disuse.
"Not sure. Maybe an hour..."
Davos nodded slowly, processing. His hand moved to his torso, feeling the bandages. "You did the medical treatment?"
"Yes, sir. Best I could with what you had in your pack."
"Good work." Davos's expression carried genuine approval. "Most would have panicked. You stayed calm and followed protocol."
Kaelen didn't know how to respond to that, so he just nodded.
They sat in silence for a moment. The cave was quiet except for their breathing and the distant sounds of the Scourged Zone outside.
Then Davos spoke again, his tone different. Less formal. "You stayed behind."
"Yes, sir."
"That was incredibly stupid."
"I know."
"And exactly what a leader should do in that situation." Davos met his gaze directly. "Those two things aren't mutually exclusive."
Kaelen blinked, surprised by the assessment.
"Tactical sense said extract with your team," Davos continued. "Survival instinct said run. But you chose to stay because leaving a wounded ally wasn't acceptable to you." He paused. "That kind of conviction gets people killed. But it's also what separates true leaders from those who just know how to give orders."
"I couldn't leave you there," Kaelen said quietly.
"I know. I've read your file. You fought ught Jax Hanlay because he was bullying someone. Dueled Matthias Pyrell after he insulted your friends. You have a pattern of putting yourself at risk for others." Davos's expression was unreadable. "That nobility will either make you legendary or get you killed young. Possibly both."
Kaelen didn't argue. The assessment was accurate enough.
Davos reached into his equipment pack with visible effort, pulling out a small vial filled with silver liquid. He handed it to Kaelen. "Aether recovery supplement. More concentrated than the standard academy issue. Drink it."
Kaelen accepted the vial gratefully and drank it in one swallow. The taste was metallic and bitter, but warmth spread through his channels immediately. His reserves began climbing faster than natural regeneration would allow.
[A.E.: 89/480 -> 167/480]
Much better.
"Thank you, sir."
Davos waved off the gratitude. "You saved my life. It's the least I can do." He adjusted his position carefully, settling more comfortably against the wall. "Tell me about yourself. I know what's in the official file, but that's just data. Who are you?"
Kaelen hesitated, unsure what to share. But something about Davos's tone suggested genuine interest rather than interrogation.
"I'm from the lower districts," he started slowly. "Seventh tier, near the industrial sector. My mother raised me alone after my father died when I was young."
"Null family?" Davos asked.
"Yes, sir. I was tested at twelve. No Trait, no affinity. Worked as an aether-tech repair specialist to help with bills. Then four to five months ago, I awakened."
"Late awakening. Rare but not unheard of." Davos studied him. "That must have been disorienting."
"Terrifying," Kaelen admitted. "I went from having nothing to suddenly having an S-rank ability I didn't understand. Everything changed overnight."
"And now you're here. Fighting D-rank beasts, protecting a Sentinel instructor, leading teams on missions." Davos's tone carried something that might have been amusement. "Hell of a journey in four months."
"Yes, sir."
Silence settled between them again, but it was comfortable now rather than awkward.
Then Davos spoke, his voice carrying a different quality. Personal rather than instructional. "I was from the lower tiers too. Eighth tier, actually. Below where you grew up."
Kaelen looked up, surprised. Instructors rarely shared personal information with students.
"My parents died during a beast incursion when I was seven," Davos continued, his gray eyes distant with memory. "The barriers failed in our sector. Just for a few minutes, but that was enough. F-rank swarm got through. My father tried to fight them off with an aether pistol. My mother hid me in a storage locker."
His jaw tightened slightly. "Neither survived. I was found three days later by cleanup crews. Orphaned, no living relatives, no resources. The academy doesn't usually take in kids like that. But a Guild family saw potential in me. The Ashford Guild, based in Kaelith Enclave."
"They adopted you?" Kaelen asked.
"Sponsored," Davos corrected. "Not quite the same as family adoption. They trained me as a field operative, taught me to use my Trait properly, gave me opportunities most orphans never get. In exchange, I worked Guild contracts for ten years after graduation."
He shifted position again, wincing. "Eventually transitioned to academy instruction through Guild connections. Paid my dues, earned my rank legitimately. But I never forgot where I started. Eighth tier orphan with nothing but raw talent and Guild backing."
Kaelen absorbed this, seeing Davos in a new light. The stern instructor who'd observed their mission was also someone who'd clawed his way up from nothing. Just like him.
"Why are you telling me this?" Kaelen asked.
"Because you need to understand something." Davos's expression was serious now. "Power makes you valuable. Your S-rank ability, your combat skills, your leadership potential, all of that makes you an asset. But your origin makes you vulnerable."
He leaned forward slightly despite the pain. "Families like the Pyrells notice people like us specifically. We're useful but we don't have the backing that comes with established bloodlines. No family wealth to fall back on, no political connections to protect us, no generations of accumulated influence. We're isolated. And isolation makes us easy to manipulate or eliminate if we become inconvenient."
Kaelen's stomach tightened. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying build genuine allies, not just connections," Davos replied. "The difference matters. Connections are transactional. Allies are people who'll stay when things get dangerous. Your team, the ones who fought beside you today, those are potential allies. Cultivate those relationships."
"And avoid the families?"
"No. You can't avoid them completely, not with your ability and reputation. But be careful. The Pyrells, the Ashfords, all the established powers, they'll try to recruit you or neutralize you. Sometimes both." Davos met his gaze directly. "Trust people who've bled with you. Question everyone else."
The weight of that advice settled over Kaelen like a heavy cloak. He'd survived the immediate danger, but the longer game was just beginning.
"Understood, sir."
Davos nodded, satisfied. "Good. Now help me check that emergency beacon. We need to make sure rescue can find us."
They spent the next few minutes verifying the beacon's function. It pulsed steadily, transmitting their location to academy rescue teams. Estimated arrival time was unknown, but help was coming.
Just a matter of when.
A sound from outside the cave made both of them freeze.
Kaelen's hand moved to his gauntlet instinctively. His Spatial Awareness expanded, the three-meter detection radius searching for threats.
Two signatures. Moving toward the cave entrance. Large, deliberate movements.
"Stay back," Kaelen said quietly, positioning himself between Davos and the entrance.
The instructor tried to stand but his injuries made movement difficult. "What is it?"
"Two contacts. Can't say ranks yet." Kaelen's mind raced through options. His A.E. was barely above a third capacity. Davos was in no condition to fight. If these were hostile, this could get very bad very fast.
Then the creatures came into view at the cave entrance.
[Crystal Serpent]
[E-Rank]
Two of them. Crystals protruded from their spines, pulsing with internal light. Their heads swayed slightly as they tasted the air, their forked tongues flickering.
They'd been drawn by residual aether signatures. Probably Davos's, which had been substantial during the fight.
And now they'd found wounded prey in a confined space.
The serpents didn't hesitate. They struck simultaneously, their massive bodies surging forward into the cave.
Kaelen activated Flash Step, blurring backward.
[–19 A.E.]
[A.E.: 148/480]
He appeared deeper in the cave, repositioning between the serpents and Davos. His gauntlet hand came up, aether coating forming instinctively from Aether Manipulation.
[–3 A.E./sec]
The first serpent lunged, jaws wide. Kaelen dodged right, the attack missing by inches. He struck back with his coated fist, the enhanced impact cracking scales along its neck.
But the damage wasn't enough. The serpent's crystalline armor was too dense.
The second serpent tried to flank, moving with terrifying speed. Kaelen activated Chrono-Perception, the world slowing around him as his temporal awareness heightened.
He could see the attack forming. Read the serpent's body language. Predict the strike trajectory.
He moved before the attack fully developed, using the perception advantage to stay half a step ahead. The serpent's strike hit empty air where he'd been.
Kaelen formed an aether shield with Aether Manipulation, creating a barrier between himself and both threats.
[–8 A.E.]
The first serpent struck the shield, its mass and momentum shattering the construct immediately. But the delay gave Kaelen time to reposition again.
This was different from the team fights. No Mateo to disrupt their movements with Pulsebreak. No Sofia to disorient them with sonic attacks. No Kenji's shadows scouting their positions. No coordination, no backup, no safety net.
Just him. Alone. Defending an injured instructor against two E-rank beasts in a confined space.
The first serpent coiled, preparing another strike. Kaelen used Spatial Warp, creating false images that made his position unclear.
[–24 A.E.]
[A.E.: 113/480]
The serpent struck at a phantom, its jaws snapping on empty air. Kaelen was already moving, closing the distance while it was off-balance.
His gauntlet fist, coated with enhanced aether, drove into the exposed underbelly where scales were thinner. The impact was devastating at close range, the combination of an enhanced weapon and aether coating created maximum damage.
CRACK
The serpent's internal structure fractured. It thrashed wildly. It was injured but not dead.
The second serpent attacked while Kaelen was committed to the strike. No time to dodge completely.
Jaws closed around his left arm.
Pain exploded through his shoulder as teeth pierced skin and muscle. The serpent's bite strength was incredible, crushing force that threatened to snap bone.
[–75 HP]
[HP: 305/380]
[Warning: You Being Inflicted With Paralysis Poison]
Kaelen didn't panic. His training overrode the pain response.
He activated Temporal Drag on the serpent, slowing its time by twenty-five percent.
[–14 A.E./sec]
The crushing force weakened as the serpent's movements became sluggish. Not stopped, but slowed enough that Kaelen could work.
He drove his gauntlet into the serpent's skull repeatedly, point-blank strikes with all his remaining strength. The aether coating added force to each impact, cracking through crystalline armor.
One strike. Two. Three.
The serpent's grip loosened. Four. Five.
The skull fractured. The serpent went limp, dead weight suddenly hanging from his arm.
Kaelen pulled free, blood flowing from the puncture wounds. His left arm was nearly useless now, muscles torn and traumatized.
But the first serpent was recovering, shaking off its injury.
Kaelen's reserves were dropping fast. The Temporal Drag was still active, draining him continuously.
[A.E.: 71/480]
He released the skill, conserving what little he had left.
The injured serpent circled warily now, more cautious after witnessing its companion's death. Its eyes tracked Kaelen with intelligence, calculating whether the prey was worth the risk.
Kaelen stood his ground despite the pain in his arm and the paralysis threatening to drag him down. His right hand remained raised.
The serpent made its decision. It lunged one final time, going all-in.
Kaelen didn't try to dodge. He couldn't, not with his injuries and depleted reserves.
Instead, he stepped forward into the attack, closing distance when the serpent expected retreat.
His gauntlet fist drove upward, catching the serpent under its jaw at the most vulnerable point. All his remaining strength, all his determination, channeled into one devastating strike.
The impact lifted the serpent's head up and back. Its neck snapped with an audible crack.
It collapsed, dead before it hit the ground.
[+650 XP]
[+650 XP]
[System Level Up]
[Base Level: 10] (2270/3200 XP)
[System Level: 9] (1270/2700 XP)
Kaelen staggered, his vision swimming. His left arm hung useless at his side, blood soaking through his uniform sleeve. His A.E. was critically low again.
[A.E.: 68/480]
But they were dead. Both serpents down. He didn't even bother checking the notifications.
He turned to check on Davos. The instructor was conscious, watching with an expression that mixed approval and concern.
"You fought well," Davos said. "Solo combat is different from team coordination. You adapted."
"Barely," Kaelen managed, his voice strained.
"Barely is enough when you're still standing."
Kaelen grabbed the serpent corpses one at a time, dragging them toward the cave entrance despite the pain in his arm. The effort was agonizing, but necessary. Dead bodies attracted scavengers, and they couldn't afford more fights.
He pulled both corpses outside, far enough from the entrance that their scent wouldn't lead directly to the cave. Then he harvested the E-rank crystals from their cores, pocketing the valuable stones. Two more to add to his collection.
When he returned to the cave, he was trembling from exhaustion and blood loss. He collapsed against the wall beside Davos, breathing hard.
His Flow Regrowth passive activated automatically, golden time-threads becoming faintly visible as they wove through the puncture wounds in his arm. The healing was slow but steady.
[HP: 317/380]
[Paralysis Has Being Cured Witg Flow Regrowth]
Davos watched the phenomenon with interest. "Regeneration skill?"
"Its a passive skill i learnt from a skill book recently." Kaelen lied not wanting to say he had acquired it through the system. He didn't want more questions. He had learned not long ago, that all abilities have variety of skills and each skills had a tier at which you could learn it, but his system breaks all fundamental rules of abilities. It worked like a game system.
"Useful. That'll save your life eventually." Davos shifted position carefully. "Get some rest. You need it."
Kaelen wanted to argue, to stay alert, but his body was beyond its limits. His eyes closed despite his best efforts.
Before sleep claimed him, his thoughts drifted to his mother. Wondered what she'd think if she could see him now. Fighting beasts alone, protecting a Sentinel instructor, using abilities he barely understood.
He touched the pendant beneath his shirt, feeling its familiar weight. Still couldn't understand what it was or why it reacted to his skills. But it had been with him through every fight, every challenge.
His mother had told him to keep it with him always. He'd honor that, even if he didn't understand why.
Then his mind turned to his friends. Team 3 had made it back safely, he hoped. Wondered if they were worried about him. If they thought he was dead.
Mateo's practical nature would tell them to trust in Kaelen's abilities. Mira's energy would be focused on demanding immediate rescue. Sofia would remain calm, trusting the system. The others would wait and hope.
And Vyne. He remembered her expression before boarding the transport. Serious in a way he'd never seen from her. Almost afraid.
"Don't die," she'd said.
He smiled faintly despite the exhaustion. Wasn't planning on it.
His thoughts fragmented as sleep pulled him under. The cave grew quiet except for their breathing and the steady pulse of the emergency beacon.
He just had to hold on a little longer.
...
The academy landing zone erupted into controlled chaos as Transport 7 touched down. Medical teams rushed forward with stretchers and equipment, their movements efficient despite the emergency protocols screaming through every speaker.
Team 3 stumbled down the ramp, exhaustion and injury evident in every movement. Mateo supported Mira, whose wrapped arm hung limp. Sofia walked with careful steps, her throat still tender. Elias looked pale, aether exhaustion making him unsteady. The others showed various degrees of damage.
The other three teams were already present, having returned hours earlier. Their landings had been routine, missions completed successfully with minor complications. They'd been waiting, wondering what had delayed Team 3.
Now they saw it.
Roan Carver stood with his team near Transport 5, his expression going from curious to shocked as he counted heads. "Where's Kaelen? And the Observer?"
No one from Team 3 answered immediately. They were too focused on reaching the medical station, on not collapsing before treatment arrived.
A medic approached Mateo first, assessing his shoulder wound. "What happened out there?"
"B-rank humanoids," Mateo said, his deep voice strained. "Two of them. Davos engaged them and Kaelen stayed behind"
The statement hit like a physical force. Conversations died. Every student in the landing zone turned toward Team 3, comprehension dawning.
Seraphine's color-shifting eyes widened. "Kaelen stayed? Against B-ranks?"
"Instructor's orders were to extract," Sofia managed, accepting water from a medic. "Kaelen decided otherwise."
Mira pulled away from the medic trying to treat her arm, her energy returning in a surge of frustration and guilt. "I could have helped! I could have stayed, could have fought beside him, could have done something!"
Her voice rose with each word, the emotion she'd been holding back during the flight finally breaking free.
Mateo grabbed her uninjured shoulder, his grip was firm. "And you would have died. We all would have. Kaelen knew that. That's why he ordered us to leave."
"Don't tell me what I could or couldn't handle!" Mira tried to pull away but Mateo held firm.
"I'm not. I'm telling you what Kaelen decided. And he was right to do it."
Sofia stepped between them, her damaged voice quiet but carrying authority. "Kaelen ordered us to leave. If we'd stayed, we would have been obstacles, not help. He made the tactical decision to maximize our survival."
Mira knew it was true. Hated it, but knew it. Her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall. "He shouldn't have had to make that choice alone."
"No," Sofia agreed. "He shouldn't have. But he did, and we have to trust he'll survive it."
The medics managed to separate Mira from the argument, guiding her toward treatment. She went reluctantly, still radiating frustrated energy that had nowhere to go.
The other teams watched in stunned silence. Nobody knew what to say. Two B-rank humanoid beasts was nightmare scenario at their current level. And it was humanoids, the kind of encounter that killed even Sentinel-rank cultivators.
And a first-year student had stayed behind to face it.
Vyne stood apart from the group, leaning against Transport 7's hull. Her usual playful demeanor was completely absent, replaced by something the others had never seen from her.
Quiet and worried.
Her violet eyes stared at the horizon where they'd left him. Where the Scourged Zone stretched endlessly, beautiful and deadly and utterly indifferent to human survival.
She should be relieved to be back safe. Should be celebrating another successful extraction, another mission survived. Her ability had kept her unharmed as always, luck bending probability to ensure her safety.
So why did leaving him feel wrong?
He was just a friend. A teammate. Someone interesting to talk to, someone who didn't bore her like most students did. That shouldn't be enough to make this ache in her chest feel so uncomfortable.
But it was different with Kaelen. Had been from the first time they'd really talked during club recruitment. Something about him cut through her usual detachment, made her actually care about outcomes rather than just observing them.
She recognized the feeling. Had felt it starting to develop over the past weeks as they'd trained together, fought together, survived together.
And she didn't like it. Didn't want it. Caring made you vulnerable, made you afraid, made you weak.
But pushing it down didn't make it disappear.
Vyne's hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her throat felt tight in a way that had nothing to do with exhaustion.
"Don't die," she'd told him before boarding the transport. Meant it more than she'd ever meant anything.
Please don't die.
The sound of rapid footsteps pulled her from the spiral of thoughts. Instructor Mira was approaching the landing zone at a near-run, her amber-gold eyes scanning the assembled teams with sharp intensity.
She reached Team 3 first, her usual energetic demeanor replaced by cold calculation. "Sitrep. Now."
The team tried to explain, words tumbling over each other in exhausted confusion. Mateo finally managed to organize his thoughts enough for coherent report.
"Two B-rank humanoid beasts engaged Observer Davos near the facility. We were ordered to extract. Kaelen Burn stayed behind to assist. Last confirmed position was..." He checked his device, pulling up coordinates. "Here. Approximately three hundred fifty meters north of the western facility entrance."
Mira absorbed the information, her expression unreadable. Then she turned toward the nearest transport, already moving.
The pilot intercepted her, his confusion evident. "Instructor, shouldn't we assemble a response team? Whatever took down Observer Davos a Sentinel ranked cultivator, we can't just—"
"The team would slow me down," Mira cut him off, her voice carrying absolute authority. "And whatever took Davos can't take me."
The statement wasn't arrogance. It was fact, delivered with the kind of certainty that came from real power.
For the first time, the students saw her not as an energetic instructor who ran their club training, but as something far more dangerous.
Mateo stepped forward. "Let us come. We can provide support, guide you to the exact location—"
"No." Mira's tone left no room for argument. "I already failed to protect you once today. That's not happening again. Get medical treatment. Rest. That's an order."
She boarded the transport before anyone could argue further, the ramp closing behind her with mechanical finality.
The transport lifted off immediately, engines screaming as it accelerated back toward the Scourged Zone. Within seconds, it was a distant speck against the morning sky.
Team 3 stood in stunned silence, watching it disappear.
"Who is she?" Nyxara asked quietly, her harmonic voice carrying confusion. "To speak with that much certainty about B-rank threats?"
Nobody had an answer. They'd known Instructor Mira as their club supervisor, energetic and supportive but not particularly intimidating. But that woman who'd just departed alone to face whatever had nearly killed Davos, that was someone entirely different.
The medics finally managed to care for Team 3 properly, guiding them toward the medical station. Treatment couldn't wait any longer, orders or not.
As they walked, Vyne fell into step beside the group but remained quiet. Her mind was still back in the Scourged Zone, still wondering if Kaelen was alive.
Still hating how much that uncertainty hurt.
...
Kaelen woke to the sound of his emergency beacon's steady pulse. He blinked slowly, consciousness returning in stages.
His arm hurt. The puncture wounds from the serpent's bite throbbed with each heartbeat, though Flow Regrowth had closed the worst of the damage. His whole body ached from exhaustion and repeated aether depletion.
But he was alive.
He checked his status.
[HP: 362/380]
[A.E.: 143/480]
Better. Still not great, but it was better.
Davos was awake too, sitting with his back against the cave wall. His color looked healthier than before, though he was far from recovered. The regenerative gel had done excellent work on his injuries.
"How long was I out?" Kaelen asked.
"Maybe an hour." Davos gestured to the cave entrance. "No more contacts. I think word's spread that this cave is occupied by something dangerous."
Kaelen smiled faintly despite the pain. "Us?"
"Us." Davos's expression carried approval. "Two E-rank serpents dead. That's not insignificant for someone at your level."
Kaelen didn't respond, just dragged himself to a sitting position and checked the emergency beacon again. Still transmitting. Still waiting for rescue.
"Tell me something," Davos said after a moment of silence. "Why did you really stay? Not the tactical justification. The real reason."
Kaelen thought about the question. About all the reasons that had flashed through his mind when he'd made the decision to activate his beacon and stay behind.
"Because I know what it's like to be left behind," he said finally. "To be dismissed as not worth the effort. I was a Null for most of my life. People looked through me like I didn't exist, like I wasn't worth acknowledging."
He met Davos's gaze. "When I awakened, when I suddenly had power, I promised myself I wouldn't become like them. Wouldn't leave people behind just because it was easier or safer. If I have the strength to help, I use it. That's all."
Davos nodded slowly. "Conviction. Real conviction, not the manufactured kind they try to instill in academy training." He paused. "That kind of certainty is rare. It'll take you far, or it'll get you killed."
"You said that before."
"Because it's important. Power without conviction is just violence. Conviction without power is just noise. You're developing both. That makes you dangerous in ways most people never achieve."
They fell into comfortable silence after that, both of them conserving energy while they waited.
The emergency beacon pulsed steadily between them, a small light in the darkness promising rescue.
Kaelen's mind drifted to his friends back at the academy. Hoped they were okay. Hoped they weren't too worried.
Lira would be furious when she found out what happened. Daniel would want every detail for analysis. Torven would simply nod with that quiet confidence he carried. And Sera would probably just tell him he was stupid and move on.
He smiled faintly at the thought.