The training grounds behind the eastern wing of Zhero were quiet at this hour, the late afternoon sun slanting through the high glass windows. Dust motes drifted lazily in the air, stirred only by the faint echo of Wads' steady breathing. His shirt clung to him, damp from the past two hours of drills.
He sensed her before he heard her. That distinct presence—calm yet immeasurably deep, like a lake hiding unknown depths—made the hair on his arms rise.
"Your form's better than before," came the voice, smooth and unhurried.
Wads turned, wiping sweat from his brow. There she was—Reiyell. Blue hair cascading over her shoulders, eyes a vivid indicolite that seemed to see straight through him. Today, she wore a simple tunic, nothing that screamed royalty, yet everything about her posture radiated authority.
"…Your Highness," Wads said, his tone shifting into formal territory. "You could have told me. Who you really are."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Would it have changed anything?"
He hesitated. "…Perhaps not. But it would have changed how I addressed you."
"Then call me Rei," she said softly. "At least when it's just us."
He blinked, surprised at the casual permission. "Rei, then." The name felt unfamiliar in his mouth. Almost… personal.
There was a pause. A weight in the air. His chest tightened—not from fatigue, but from the sudden urge that flared inside him. He wanted to know just how far the gap truly was between them.
"I want to challenge you," he said finally.
One of her brows arched. "You've only just finished training."
"That's exactly why. I need to see it. How far I still have to climb before I can reach you."
Her gaze lingered on him for a long second, searching. Then she gave a small nod. "Very well. Show me everything you have."
---
The instant they took their positions, the atmosphere shifted. The air felt heavier, charged with invisible threads of tension.
"Begin," she said simply.
Wads shot forward, feet kicking off the ground with a burst of speed. His hands crackled with condensed energy as he unleashed Ren—a rippling force that burst outward, twisting the air like invisible whips. He closed the gap in seconds, his first strike slicing forward with pinpoint accuracy.
A wall of frost blossomed into existence between them in less than a blink. His blow met solid ice, shards scattering across the floor. She had barely moved.
Her voice carried, calm but distant. "Predictable."
He gritted his teeth and pivoted, sweeping low. The frost beneath his boots betrayed him—slick and treacherous—and he had to compensate mid-motion, forcing himself into a roll to regain footing. Already she was behind him.
Abyssal Freeze.
It wasn't just ice—it was a suffocating drop in temperature, biting straight into his lungs with every breath. Frost crawled across the walls, the floor, even the air seemed to slow under the weight of the cold. His fingertips numbed instantly, and tiny crystals formed on the tips of his hair.
Wads' instincts screamed at him to move. He pressed his hand to the ground.
Gravity Lattice.
The air distorted around them, heavy and pulling. The frost-laden wind bent oddly, projectiles of ice slowing mid-flight as if moving through thick syrup. The gravitational field pressed down on Reiyell's balance, pulling at her stance.
For the first time, her brows lifted—not in struggle, but in mild curiosity.
"Better," she murmured.
He didn't waste it. Using the slowed projectiles as cover, he dashed in low, twisting his gravity fields to jerk her footing off-center. His fist arced upward toward her jaw.
It never connected.
A layer of crystalline frost spiraled around her, and before his blow landed, she caught his wrist with effortless grace. Cold seeped into his skin instantly, biting deep enough to make him flinch. She twisted, sending him skidding backward.
"You're using your abilities more creatively," she noted. "But you're still chasing speed against someone who doesn't need to move quickly."
Wads growled under his breath. "I'm not done yet."
He surged forward again, this time shifting the gravitational field to himself—lightening his weight until he was almost gliding across the ice, then abruptly increasing it mid-step to slam into the ground with crushing momentum. The blow shattered the frost where he landed, fragments spraying into the air.
The impact didn't even make her flinch. Her hand lifted slightly.
The temperature plummeted.
A wall of deep blue frost spread outward like a living wave, freezing even the airborne shards in place. The world turned glassy and still. His Gravity Lattice groaned under the strain but couldn't keep up—the sheer density of her power pressed into every corner of the arena.
He tried to move. His boots were locked in place. His breaths came in sharp, visible bursts. His muscles strained, but every motion was sluggish, his limbs resisting him as if moving through frozen tar.
She stood untouched at the eye of it all, her indicolite gaze locked on him—not unkind, but unwavering.
"This is the difference, Wads," she said quietly. "Between someone still finding their footing… and someone who has already stood atop the mountain."
---
When she finally released the frost, he staggered forward, heat rushing back into his limbs like pins and needles. His breath was ragged, his chest rising and falling.
"…You didn't even try," he said between breaths.
"I did enough," she replied. "Enough to see you've grown far faster than I expected."
He looked up, startled. "Faster than you expected?"
Her lips curved into something faintly like pride. "Most would have been crushed before they could even think of countering Abyssal Freeze. You didn't just endure—you adapted, however briefly. That's no small thing."
He exhaled, letting the words settle. But the gap… the sheer impossibility of what he had just faced… it lit a fire in him. Not despair—resolve.
"I'll close it," he said finally, voice low but steady. "This gap between us—I'll close it."
She tilted her head. "Then I'll be waiting, Rei's challenger."
The name sounded strange in her own voice, but it made the faintest warmth rise in his chest.