Chapter 24 – The End of the Beginning.
Damon's healing had finished. He stood in his room. The rich, dark wood silent beneath his bare feet. He walked to the soaring window. A thin, horizontal scar, stark gold against his skin, ran across his V‑taper. It was not a battle mark. It was fascination. Damon still couldn't stop staring at his golden scar.
He looked up. He focused, listening. He sensed them. Natsuki. Daiki.
Natsuki? The thought was a whisper of Eterna, crossing worlds.
Her voice, immediate, shocked, echoed in his skull. "Thank God you're okay!"
They continued speaking through the Luminaris Shard.
"More importantly, how are you? Did you go to the doctors? What did your parents say?"
"Damon, calm down. I'm fine. Well… my dad kinda knows about you."
"Well, I figured some people would see me."
"Yes, but thankfully it was just my dad. My mom convinced him it was his imagination."
"How did you even survive?" Her voice carried undertones of concern.
"It's complicated. I knew what I was doing… but I also didn't know what I was doing," he thought back.
Natsuki's thought pressed in again, quieter but urgent. "The military came to the school. You're lucky the gym has no cameras — or at least, they don't really work. If they did, they'd have seen everything."
Damon's reply was steady, almost dismissive. "We should be fine. The military can't lock down everywhere at this time of day on Earth, just to investigate something they don't understand. They'll probably just scan for proof of whatever that beast was. And when they don't find it, they'll give permission for everyone to continue with their days."
"I hope you're right," she whispered.
"Wait...The Zone!" Natsuki's thought was sudden, sharp, spoken aloud. "You went into The Zone!" An athlete's instant analysis.
"Mom calls it The State." Damon hesitated. The Queen's words echoed: A beast without a leash. He couldn't tell Natsuki the cost. Not the physical cost. Not the mental cost.
"What's The Zone?" Daiki asked, muffled, confused. "What did you say 'zone' all of a sudden?"
Damon almost laughed.
"Damon entered The Zone when he was fighting," Natsuki explained, calmer now. "Daiki, remember I told you? Damon saved us from a beast… though that's an understatement."
"I guess Daiki found the clues," Damon thought, deflecting.
"Knew it," Daiki snapped back, instantly proud. "He made me get chased by kids!"
Damon looked up. A calm laugh escaped his lips.
"I'm hungry," Daichi barked.
"So the talking dog...is real," Daiki's voice was pure shock.
"Well…" Natsuki's thought trailed off, amused.
A sharp rap at the door. Nyra. "Brother, we have to go now. For training."
Damon turned from the window. "Natsuki, listen. Activate the Luminaris at night. A week from now."
"A week? Why a week?" Her thought was immediate, soft, calm, sweet, yet sadness layered the edges. "You have to leave so soon."
"One day on Woewyn ends then." The answer was simple. The truth—that she had to wait a week to hear from him. I hate worrying her, he thought.
"Alright. You'll hear from me in a week." Natsuki whispered, pulling the Shard of Luminaris from her chest. Her presence, warm and familiar, suddenly slid away from Damon's mind.
"I didn't know the Shard could do that," Damon thought, the silence left by her absence heavy.
He walked out. Nyra was waiting. A couple maids passed, bowing their heads slightly. Nyra waved. Damon gave a slight bow. Politeness. Habit.
"Where are we going?" Damon asked.
"The soldiers' abode," Nyra said, her face set with grim determination.
They reached the massive structure. The training hall of Woewyn. A wide, towering room, colored light blue inside. The expanse stretched wider than a battlefield, large enough to contain a thousand soldiers at once—though Woewyn held far more. Its ceiling arched high, carved with dragon motifs that glowed faintly when Eterna was channeled. The air was alive with raw energy, humming from the devices lining the walls and floor. The room was divided down the center by a transparent yet physical barrier.
The door hissed shut behind them.
Bravira walked in. Varnex and Thorpax followed. Draven and Cythera were already waiting.
Varnex grinned wide. "Well, well. Get ready, Prince Damon, to dance with fire. I'm not losing this bet."
Cythera murmured, voice low. "You people are still on this bet thing?"
Thorpax scoffed. "Why not? Are you not joining the bet?"
Cythera looked away. Silence was her answer.
Bravira grabbed Damon, Nyra, and Daichi—the force abrupt, physical. She threw them into the training grounds. Surprisingly, they all landed gracefully, the impact absorbed. Damon, still weak, almost fell, but caught himself. Nyra landed like it was routine.
Damon lifted his head. The first thing he saw was Daichi landing straight on his face. THWUMP.
The nearby soldiers—training, disciplined, low Eterna—laughed.
Damon moved Daichi off his face, pressure easing.
Tolrex entered quickly. "Daichi, you have to come with me. We need to sort out some things."
Damon, calm and friendly, spoke to the dog. A brief encouragement about getting stronger. Daichi wagged his tail once, obedient, and followed Tolrex.
Damon turned back. "What exactly am I supposed to do?"
Bravira was merciless. "Training with the five of us will be futile. You can barely bring out any Eterna output and you have a frail excuse for a body."
"Natsuki seemed to like my abs," Damon thought, defensive pride flickering.
One of the soldiers—the brother who had attacked him on Earth—grinned. "Well, she only liked yours cuz she hasn't seen mine."
The soldiers laughed again. Damon's eyes narrowed. The mind‑reading was instant, unfiltered.
"How are they reading me so easily?" Damon asked, tone flat.
Varnex continued Bravira's lecture. "And you have barely any knowledge of how Woewyn works."
Barely, Damon's mind echoed. Knowledge. I have to get more knowledge. To do that, I'll have to learn. That means I'll have to read.
His internal sigh was immense. That means… school.
Cythera, reading his groan perfectly, added calmly, "You'll also need to attend school after their break is over."
Damon's face twisted instantly. "Ughhh. School. I don't like school."
Thorpax noticed. "Why does he have that look on his face?"
Draven added, amused, "Yes, your mother told us you were quite the expert at learning."
Damon met their gaze. "Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I particularly like it."
Everyone on Damon's side of the room—the soldiers, the tutors—wondered silently "what exactly the Crown Prince did like?"
The silence shattered. An energy blast shot directly at Damon.
He flipped backward, leaping over it. The Eterna blast aimed to crack the floor where he had been standing. It grazed his hair—too close.
The commander of the Suited Knights, Laros Korrin, stood tall in his exosuit. Heavy armor thrummed. Broad shoulders filled the frame of blackened steel. Silver lines pulsed faintly across the plates, raw Eterna humming beneath the surface. His visor glowed cold crimson—a commander's presence carved into steel. He was no general—his orders came from above—but when he spoke, the Suited Knights obeyed.
"My name is Commander Laros Korrin," he said, voice augmented by the suit. "And I am sorry. I was just testing you."
Damon landed, breathing hard, hand resting on his glowing scar. "What if I had been hit?"
Laros was unmoved. "Then you get back up. That's what we train our soldiers to do."
Thorpax's thick voice rumbled. "You should get used to random attacks from people like Laros here."
Laros cut to the chase. "Why don't we start by sparring our upper‑end soldiers?"
Damon countered. "We should start from the lower, don't you think?"
Laros shook his head. His voice was cold, definitive. "There are eight stages:
Stage 1: Ember.
Stage 2: Spark.
Stage 3: Blaze.
Stage 4: Aegis.
Stage 5: Crest.
Stage 6: Ascend.
Stage 7: Celestial. And finally...
Stage 8: Sovereign.
One being newbies. Eight being elite."
He gestured to the soldiers. "You've proven you can beat those at the Spark stage, dealing with those two brothers. And you seem stronger since fighting the demon, even if only a little."
Damon argued. "I have no training. How am I supposed to beat someone at the Blaze stage?"
Cythera's voice was calm. "You shouldn't be aiming to beat them. We are doing this to study you, and you should study your opponent. Buy time. If you beat him, that is fine."
His opponent walked forward, polished suit gleaming, short orange hair falling forward to hide his eyes.
They gave Damon and his opponent space. The soldier's suit lights flared instantly. Damon's fists lit with the faint, unstable sapphire glow of his Eterna.
Bravira's voice cut through the humming air, absolute and final. "Begin."