The next few weeks passed quietly in Eldoria, but the silence wasn't peaceful it felt heavy, like something waiting to wake.
People worked, soldiers trained themselves, and children played peacefully. Students went to classes. Everyone knew the world hadn't healed yet. The cracks in the sky glowed at night, and the terror of the next fracture always haunted them.
Kaen continued his training in the academy. His instructors now recognized him as one of the best cadets, but it didn't change the fact that they still hated him. Some instructors looked at him curiously, some nervously, some scared, but no one looked at him as a normal person.
He tried to ignore them, or at least pretended he didn't care, but deep down it hurt him.
But someone else in Eldoria couldn't hide anymore.
Ryn.
The hero of the caravan. The one who saved dozens of people from the fractured beasts. The man who carried hope when everyone else had fear. The man who fought for them when no one stood for them.
He was now kept inside the upper levels of Eldoria's medical wing not as a prisoner… but not as a trusted soldier either.
The healers called it "Observation."
The soldiers whispered "Containment."
Only a few people had access to him: high-level officers, doctors, healers, and the council.
But even with limited access rumours spread about him all across the village.
Some said he is stable and recovering.
While some whispered that he is changing his mark, it will turn him into a monster.
No one knew the truth.
Except Ryn.
In the examination section, he sat on a bed made of steel and wood planks. His sleeves folded the faint golden veins spread across his arms and shoulders like glowing cracks beneath the skin.
A healer placed a small device made of a special crystal against his arm.
"Don't move your arm," she whispered.
After a while, the crystal glowed at first yellow, then slightly orange, and then finally it turned red.
The healer froze.
"Your Solar Contamination level has increased again," she said quietly.
She removed the device and checked the temperature.
It was high, much higher than the previous reading.
Your temperature has increased. She muttered.
"How high is it?" he asked.
The healer hesitated long enough to make it clear.
"Eighteen percent."
Ryn let out a slow breath.
Two weeks ago, it was at seven.
When the healer walked away, she didn't close the door quietly; it slammed hard, and the sound echoed through the corridor.
The guards looked at her.
The expression on her face made it clear.
Through the glass window from the next room, the council member watched it.
Knock knock.
"Enter."
The healer entered the room and handed them the report.
She left the room.
The council looked at the report.
Silence spread across the room.
"He's body is changing too fast," one said.
"At this rate, he'll lose control in months... or even weeks..."
" No..." another replied. "He is stable he his still recovering. He is a hero. He saved people. He should be treated. He is an important soldier for us.
The discussion grew louder, and members became angry and shouted.
"Treatment? We don't even know how to treat it."
"He should be isolated."
They argued about him like he was a thing and not a human.
Ryn heard every single word.
He looked at his hands, light glowing beneath his cracks, cracks slightly visible.
For the first time, he felt the light in his body like a power.
It felt like a warming.
The door opened again, but this time it was not a healer, it was Commander Hale, the head of the Eldoria Defence Force.
Ryn immediately stood up like a soldier as he saw the commander.
"Relax, Ryn, there is no need for that."
Ryn sat on the bed, beside him on a wooden chair Hale sat.
Hale placed a sealed document on the small metal table beside him.
"These are today's test results. Your condition seems to be worse than before."
"And the council is not happy with it."
Ryn's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
"You won't be allowed to interact with soldiers or other people. No training session. No leaving these wings."
"Oh... so now they want me to be fully isolated because of the mark."
Because they see me as a threat that I may turn into a beast and attack this village.
"So this is the way they treat me for saving people's lives."
"It's not like that Ryn," the Commander spoke.
"So how long do they want me to be isolated?"
Hale exhaled.
"I can't say."
"Maybe for weeks, maybe months."
Silence spread in the room.
Finally, Ryn spoke again
"I am still me, commander."
"I know that, Ryn, I trust you, but I can't go against the council. The fracture mark had changed your body. We don't know how far that change will go."
Ryn lowered his head.
"I can still train the recruits."
"And you will," Hale replied.
"But not out there."
He pointed out towards the training ground.
"You can watch the cadet training from the window and give them instructions, but you can't meet them."
Ryn froze.
Train the soldiers from behind the walls.
Like I am a threat to them.
"So I'll be watched," he asked.
"Yes."
Ryn's jaw tightened.
He looked at the training ground.
"And controlled?"
"If necessary."
The words made him angry but Ryn didn't argue.
Because deep down
He feared the council wasn't wrong.
The next day, the academy recruits gathered on the training ground. Kaen stood among them, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Everyone turned up as a large projection screen lit up.
It was Captain Ryn, who looked calm, focused, and serious.
He didn't look like containment.
He looked like a commander.
"Formation drill," Ryn ordered. His voice was firm.
The cadet followed the instructions.
Kaen watched closely. Even through the screen his voice was firm, clear, confident.
But when Ryn turned towards the camera just for a second, Kaen saw something others didn't.
Fear.
Ryn wasn't afraid of the soldiers.
He was afraid of himself.
At the edge of the training center, some soldiers whispered.
One soldier muttered,
"That's the hero everyone talks about?"
Another spoke quietly.
"He doesn't look like a hero… he looks like a monster now."
Another whispered,
"Look at his eyes, they are glowing.
Look at him his body is changing.
He is not a human anymore."
Kaen heard these, he clenched his fist and tried to ignore and pretend like he didn't hear them, but he couldn't.
"He's not a monster," Kaen said
The soldiers turned. Their expressions changed
"What's wrong with you, kid?"
"He is the man who saved us that day, or else we all would have been dead by now.
I can't let you speak trash about him."
One soldier stepped forward and looked at Kaen.
"Oh? And who are you to talk?" he said.
"You must be the boy who was with him that day… near the beast."
Another spoke,
"maybe you are the same as him.
containment."
Kaen felt something rise in his body, but this time it was no fear, it was anger.
Before he could speak, Darren stepped forward.
"He isn't contaminated. Watch your mouth." Darren spoke in a firm voice.
Riku moved beside Kaen, glaring at the soldiers.
"You don't know what happened that day. You weren't there. You didn't see him fight."
But the soldier didn't hold back.
One of them laughed
" People like him cause trouble. First, his veins glowed, and now he is slowly losing control."
Another soldier spoke
"He should be locked up. Not training. Not near us."
Kaen's eyes filled with rage.
"He trains us because he still cares about us. He wants to protect people."
Another soldier spat on the ground.
"Protect him? Are you serious? Look at him, he can't even stand properly, and you think he can protect you?"
"You weren't there!" he shouted. "You didn't see the beast tearing through everything! You didn't hear people screaming! You didn't see Captain Ryn stand alone when everyone else ran!"
"You know nothing about him."
His voice, loud and clear, echoed through the training ground.
All the recruits looked at him.
Riku and Darren stood beside him.
Kaen continued, his hands trembling, but he didn't stop.
"He saved children. He saved elderly people He saved us. And still you call him a monster?"
There was silence.
The first soldier smiled,
"Heroes don't stay heroes forever."
The words cut deep like a knife
Kaen stepped forward,
"He still is..."
Before he could complete.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Everyone turned.
The commander veryon stood there, his arms crossed. His eyes were cold.
"Enough."
His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Silence spread across the ground.
"No one here is allowed to call an active soldier a monster.
No rumors .... No judgment should be passed without proper evidence."
The soldiers lowered their heads.
Commander looked at Kaen.
"And you."
Kaen swallowed, he was afraid.
He lowered his head.
"Speak like that only when you have the strength to prove your words."
Kaen looked at him, not understanding if that was a warning or respect.
The commander walked past him, then stopped near the screen where Ryn's figure was projected.
His voice became too soft to be heard.
"He is still the hero. Until that, if anyone trash talks about him, they will be suspended."
He looked at the recruits,
"Now return back to training. Don't look at my face."
The field slowly turned back to normal. But the air around it changed, it felt different.
Kaen still stood there. Breathing heavily.
Riku placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, kaen.You did the right thing," Darren whispered.
He looked at the projection. Ryn's eyes were glowing. They were looking right at him.
Not angry.
Not proud.
Just tired.