Morning light spilled through the shutters of the seaside inn, pale and warm. Kael was already strapping his gauntlets, Mira sat cross-legged by the window tracing new glyphs in the air, and Elira polished Lumeveil until the blade gleamed like caught sunlight.
The door creaked open. Haco leaned against the frame, expression unreadable.
"Put those away," he said. "No drills today."
Kael blinked. "We're behind."
"You're wound like snapped bowstrings," Haco replied. "Rest is part of war."
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Rest? From you?"
"Think of it as survival training," Haco said dryly. "You'll learn how to breathe before you learn to kill again. We're going to town."
The streets of Greyhaven stretched out beneath the clear sky—stone lanes lined with banners and the salty scent of the sea. Vendors shouted over each other, selling grilled fish skewers, shimmering glass charms, and cheap imitations of magestones.
Mira darted toward a stall of clockwork dolls, curiosity shining. She knelt beside a broken one and couldn't resist touching it. A spark jumped; the doll spun twice, puffed smoke, and collapsed. The merchant gawked, then burst out laughing. "Never mind, lass, at least it moved again!"
Kael got ambushed by three kids tugging at his armor straps. "Mister, help us move this barrel!" they pleaded. He sighed but lifted it effortlessly. The children cheered, calling him Steel Guy until his ears reddened.
Elira wandered more quietly, buying small tin badges from a craftsman. She handed them out—one shaped like a leaf for Mira, a hammer for Kael. When she turned to Haco, she hesitated.
"This one looked nice," she said, pressing a silver badge into his palm.
It was a fox tail.
He glanced at it, then at her. "Fitting," he murmured, voice too low for anyone to catch.
They walked until the streets opened into a wide terrace overlooking the inner wall. From here, the city's defensive glyphs were visible—rings of sigils carved into the stone, pulsing faintly like veins of light.
Elira stopped first. "Those markings… they're all connected?"
Haco folded his arms, looking down at the lattice with faint respect.
"It's the city's warding array," he said. "A lattice that teaches monsters to forget we exist."
Mira frowned. "Forget?"
"It bends instinct," Haco explained. "Monsters smell this place, but their minds turn away before they understand why."
He pointed toward the great circle where the sigils converged near the harbor. "It was made by an ancient genius—a man who broke the laws that bind the world. Combined four arts that were never meant to meet: repulsion, concealment, guidance, and resonance. What you see below is only the surface."
Kael leaned on the railing. "You're telling me one man made all that?"
Haco's lips curved faintly. "One man, yes. And now, in this age, it takes a hundred mages just to wake it. Two hundred to even try breaking it."
Mira whistled. "And you just… know that?"
Haco didn't answer right away. He turned the small pendant at his neck once, a motion so natural it almost looked like habit.
"My master taught me," he said at last.
The three exchanged glances but didn't press further.
By noon, they found a bench by the docks. The air carried the warmth of grilled fish and the chatter of gulls. Mira bit into a skewer and sighed. "I could get used to this kind of training."
Kael grinned around a mouthful. "Eating's my top-tier skill."
Haco sat beside them, legs crossed, cloak fluttering lightly in the wind. "Then you'll outlive most heroes."
Elira watched the ocean shimmer under the sun. "Feels… normal," she said softly. "I forgot what that feels like."
For a moment, none of them spoke. The waves did it for them.
Later, as they walked along the city's upper path, Elira's curiosity stirred again. She quietly summoned her Axis Veil, letting the faint interface shimmer before her eyes. Lines of data scrolled across her vision.
[Warding Array: Ancient Protocol — Multi-Choir Activation ≥ 100]
[Status: Stable]
She blinked and closed it before anyone noticed. The array's hum still pulsed faintly through her chest, steady as a heartbeat.
A bell tolled from somewhere within the city, marking the late hour.
Haco slowed, scanning the crowd briefly. His tone didn't change.
"Enjoy the day," he said. "Tomorrow, the string tightens again."
They turned toward the inn as the lamps of Greyhaven flickered to life. Mira complained about sore feet, Kael offered to carry her, and Elira laughed—lightly, honestly.
Behind them, Haco walked in silence, thumb brushing the pendant at his throat.
Far below, the sigils carved into the walls glowed and dimmed like quiet breaths—
the ancient genius's miracle still alive, still demanding a hundred souls to wake and two hundred to destroy.