Leon opened his eyes in the clinic, pain shooting through his shoulder like flames that flared, cooled a second, then roared back twice as fierce.
He blinked, white ceiling above. Sharp, clean scent in the air. Machines ticking slow beside him. A medic, older, looked down, worn out, palms humming with pale green light.
"Easy. Don't try to sit up yet. That Panther got you good. Claw marks down to bone. You're lucky it wasn't poisoned."
Leon's mind was foggy, slow. Yet the dark force inside him kept twisting - foreign, off somehow.
His Eyes of the Night flickered on by themselves, making shadows sharp - suddenly clear. The ceiling's tiny split stood out. Dust hung in slow drifts through space. On the healer's fingers, a hint of dark power glowed low.
His eyes snapped shut tight. Then the sharp sight just slipped away.
"How long was I out?"
"Six hours. Your classmates are fine, mostly. Two serious injuries, but they'll recover. You, though..." She frowned at her scanner. "Your healing rate is abnormal. For an F-Rank. The wound should take two days to close. It's already halfway there."
Fuck. His crazy stamina. Something else he didn't get.
"Decent DNA," Leon said, testing it out.
"Mmm." She didn't buy it. "Commander Rostova wants to see you when you're cleared. So does Instructor Kovacs. And about fifteen other people. You're popular today."
She cleared him about an hour after. Once Leon slipped into his academy outfit; plain gray, meant for trainees, he saw something was off right away.
His shadow looked off.
It wasn't clearly broken. No flickering, no floating on its own - nothing dumb like that. Just… heavier. Thicker. As if the shadows got turned way up. He watched it sit there on the pale tiles.
[EYES OF THE NIGHT: ACTIVE]
[SHADOW PERCEPTION: ENHANCED]
[DARKLINE ENERGY TRACES: VISIBLE]
The new ability did more than show what's hidden in dark spots. Instead, it revealed how shadowy force moves almost alive, pulsing like currents under skin.
Right now, his shadow seemed like it'd gobbled down a full dinner.
"Vale!"
Leon leaped around, Elara was there, right in the frame of the door, tension fading from her eyes.
"You're okay. Thank God. I thought...." She stopped, composing herself. "Your shoulder."
Healer sorted it out - mostly. He twisted it slow, testing. Hurts a bit, yet works just fine.
You saved my life. "That Panther would've killed me."
"Yeah, well. Couldn't let the only person who talks to me die on day five."
She almost smiled. Then her expression turned serious. "What you did in there. That wasn't normal movement. You disappeared. Then reappeared behind it."
Leon's gut sank. "Elara…"
I'm not telling anyone. "I just... I need to know. Are you in danger? From the academy? From whatever gave you that ability?"
He felt like fibbing. Had to fib. Yet that honest worry in her gaze gave him pause.
"It's complicated."
"Everything worth knowing."
Right when Leon was about to answer, Kovacs shouted from down the hall - "Vale! Get in here! Move!"
Elara winced. "Good luck. He's been scary-quiet since we got back."
______________________________________________________
Kovacs's room looked just like Leon thought it would; bare, no-nonsense, packed with guns and awards. Behind the desk, the trainer stayed still, lenses spinning slightly while locking onto Leon.
"Sit."
Leon sat.
"Explain."
"Explain what, sir?"
"Don't." Kovacs's fist hit the desk. "I've been training awakeners for fifteen years. I know what abilities look like. What you did wasn't agility. Wasn't speed. You moved through space wrong."
Stillness. Yet his thoughts scrambled - hunt for a reason, just something that'd work….
"And I don't give a damn."
Wait. What?
Kovacs leaned back. "You saved two students today. Probably saved me too, since that Panther was corrupted beyond its rank. You did your job. That's what matters."
"Then why am I here?"
Besides, others spotted it just the same. Kovacs brought out a glowing screen - video from the cell block. Cameras Leon overlooked.
The clip captured his Shadow Step clearly. One second he's standing there. Then suddenly he's behind the Panther. No movement seen at all.
"This footage is classified now. Restricted to Commander Rostova's eyes only. Officially, you moved fast and the cameras glitched." Kovacs fixed him with a stare.
"But Vale whatever you are, whatever you're becoming it won't stay hidden forever. And when it comes out, you better hope you've got allies."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's advice. From someone who's seen too many talented kids disappear into Federation black sites." He dismissed the hologram. "Now get out. You've got a meeting with Rostova in twenty minutes."
Leon stood, mind reeling. "Why are you helping me?"
Kovacs was quiet for a moment. "Because you reminded me of someone. Another kid with abilities that didn't fit the boxes. Federation took him when he was sixteen. Never saw him again." He turned away. "Don't make me watch it happen twice."
______________________________________________________
The private training spot seemed odd after dark, quiet. Lights had been lowered to mimic dusk. In the middle stood Commander Rostova, hands folded, face blank. Yet still watchful.
"Your shoulder healed fast."
Leon stayed quiet.
"The Panther was corrupted. E-Rank dungeon shouldn't have Evernight taint." She started circling him like a predator. "Yet you noticed immediately. Warned others. Then used an ability that your file says you don't possess to kill it."
"I'm a fast learner. You keep saying that."
"I also said you feel like something pretending to be weak." She stopped in front of him. "Now I'm thinking you're something pretending to be human."
Leon's blood turned icy.
Rostova held up a hand. "I'm not accusing. I'm observing. You have a secret, Vale. A big one. And today it saved lives." She pulled out a data chip. "This contains information on Evernight corruption. How to recognize it. How it spreads. And..." she paused, "what it means when a dungeon boss shows signs of vampire influence."
Vampire. That term just floated there - heavy, dark, almost alive.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because whatever you are, you're going to be fighting them eventually. Better you understand what you're facing." She tossed him the chip.
"The Panther's corruption that wasn't random. Someone is testing our defenses. Seeding dungeons near the academy. Watching for... unusual responses."
Leon's fingers lost feeling. In that moment, he saw the vampire again - this time staring right at him.
"They're looking for me."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps you're just one interesting specimen among many." Rostova's expression softened slightly. "Either way, hiding in Class 9 won't protect you. You need to get stronger. Fast."
She gestured to the room. "This facility is yours. Every night, eight PM to midnight. I'll provide crystals, equipment, privacy. In exchange...." She met his eyes. "When I need someone for the jobs nobody else can do, you answer."
"What kind of jobs?"
"The kind that keep students like Elara Vance alive.".Direct. "Deal?"
Leon stared at the small chip resting in his palm. Then remembered those red eyes, the vampire's gaze that chilled him. Dark shapes twisted in his mind, bent and wrong. A voice echoed from a broken seat, naming him next in line.
He'd been involved from the start. Ever since that night under the red moon.
"Deal."
Leon got back to his room after midnight. Chen lay there, breathing slow, already out cold. The chip went into the pad quietly, its glow kept low so it wouldn't wake anyone.
Documents. Loads of them. How vampires rank each other. Making blood slaves. Dark zones that pop up when Evernight gets stronger.
A single video clip. No label on it.
He opened it.
Video from cameras. Time marked: two years back. Place: Area Seven near the edge.
The clip displayed a tiny settlement, probably around five hundred souls. Then blackness hit. Real pitch-black rolling in fast, like a tide. After it passed, the place had vanished. Completely wiped out. Homes, residents, all of it. Swapped with warped terrain that felt painful to stare at.
On the side of the clip just faint you spot someone dressed like old nobility. Their red eyes glint from the glow of the lens.
After that, the signal broke into noise.
Leon's hands trembled same vampire he saw earlier. Must've been him. One thing led to another, fear took over.
[DARKLINE SIGNATURE RECOGNIZED]
[MARQUIS-CLASS VAMPIRE DETECTED IN ARCHIVED FOOTAGE]
[WARNING: ENTITY HAS NOTICED YOUR OBSERVATION]
What.
[FOREIGN ENTITY ATTEMPTING CONNECTION...]
[MASKING PROTOCOL ENGAGING...]
[CONNECTION BLOCKED]
Leon snapped the datapad closed. His pulse pounded fast, loud. The alert flashed: playing that clip? Same as shouting into dark space. Yet some thing almost answered.
In his head, outta nowhere, the throne room. The king moved, slow at first.
"Soon, little heir. Soon you'll understand what you carry."
Leon stayed awake all night.
Outside his window, yet there it was the moon, dull and plain in the sky.
Yet out past the city's edge, outside the fences, away from every shield people built to stay safe.
Something old was keeping an eye. Yet it stayed hidden.
Waiting.
But super calm, really.