Chapter 284
ARE YOU... (3)
It took a while before Blaze finally calmed down. The sobs quieted first, then the shaking in his shoulders slowly faded, leaving only the occasional uneven breath.
Eventually he simply let his body drop beside IAM, lying down on the blood-streaked floor. His eyes were glazed, unfocused, and his expression had the distant, drifting look of someone who seemed half-asleep and half-drunk, floating somewhere far away from the present moment.
He looked like a man sifting through memories he couldn't stop touching—going over the past again and again, searching for the moments he had lost, the ones that would never return, the pieces of someone who was now gone.
IAM, meanwhile, was slowly recovering from the battle. His body ached in deep, pulsing waves, but the worst of the bleeding had finally stopped. His wounds were far from healed, yet they were no longer spilling red across the floor, which counted as progress.
Every so often, he would feel a faint sting beneath his skin, and a small shard of glass—pushed out by the steady knitting of his flesh—would slide free and clatter softly onto the ground. The ones that refused to budge, the fragments buried too deeply or lodged at awkward angles, would have to be pulled out by hand later.
Blaze, for his part, was healing faster than IAM—but he didn't seem to notice or care. Cuts that had been open moments ago were already sealing shut, bruised skin tightening and smoothing with abnormal speed, but Blaze's gaze remained locked on nothing, staring into the void as though it held all the answers he'd lost.
Ascenders naturally healed faster than normal people. Mana threaded through their bodies, guiding and accelerating the repair of torn muscle and torn skin alike. Under normal circumstances, it was a gift.
Today, it felt like nothing more than a quiet reminder of everything else that couldn't fix even with it's assistance.
This was the card IAM had reluctantly pulled out. He hadn't wanted to. Even as he said Raj's name, a part of him recoiled. But he remembered Ari mentioning, almost offhandedly, that the previous president of the Student Council was someone Blaze respected deeply. And that person, naturally, was Raj.
IAM had decided to use that—use him—to help convince Blaze to keep his secret. It was a decision that sat uncomfortably in his chest. He felt it even now, that cold, heavy awareness that he was taking advantage of a dead friend just to solve his own problems.
It was manipulation. It was taking advantage of someone else's emotions. It was wrong in every clear, moral sense he could think of.
But it was a choice he had to make.
He didn't have the strength, the time, or the luxury to play things cleanly. Survival didn't care about clean lines or good intentions. And if this was what it took to keep his secret from spreading… then this was the move he had been forced to pick.
Besides… as wrong as it was, it didn't mean IAM was being insincere. Not even close. He cared about Raj. He cared about what had happened to him. And none of this—none of the choices he was making now—were being done in cold blood or out of convenience.
He was doing it because it hurt. Because it mattered. Because Raj mattered.
IAM now had the strength to sit up. The motion was slow and stiff. but enough for him to settle beside Blaze and fully face him. With a solemn expression, he asked, "How did Raj end up leaving the academy early? He never mentioned how he ended up in the Hold to me… Whenever I asked, he changed and avoided the question."
His words didn't just reach Blaze—they pulled him. Blaze blinked, as if dragged out of a deep stupor, and he turned his head toward IAM. The moment he did, his face twisted into something awful—an expression that made IAM tense immediately, bracing himself to react if Blaze lashed out.
But Blaze didn't.
His expression faltered halfway, as if he had gotten tired in the middle of being angry. The sharpness softened into exhaustion, and then into something hollow. Slowly, he sat up as well, his movements was sluggish, and for a long moment he said nothing. It looked like he was trapped inside some heavy thought, weighing every memory before deciding which ones hurt the least to speak aloud.
Then, all at once, he replied.
"Raj… was someone with a dream."
"A… dream?" IAM echoed quietly.
He searched his memory, replaying every conversation he'd had with Raj during their short time together. Raj had never mentioned anything like ambitions or long-term plans. Nothing about some dream that guided him. IAM felt a small tug in his thoughts—had they not been as close as he assumed? Not close enough for Raj to share something so personal?
But IAM shook the feeling away. They had known each other for barely a little over two months. Expecting someone to bare their deepest hopes in that short a time… it wasn't realistic. It wasn't fair. And besides, IAM himself had kept secrets from Raj—many of them. Their friendship had been genuine, but it had still been young.
He let out a slow breath," What do you mean by a dream?" IAM asked softly.
Instead of directly answering, Blaze spoke slowly, "Raj was not the smartest, strongest, or even the most talented Ascender I have ever seen," he began, eyes unfocused as he stared into the distance. "But he was, without a doubt, the most compassionate person I knew. He could always find good in people… he was a real leader."
Blaze paused, taking in a slow breath as though trying to summon the right words. "Someone who never knew when to give up on someone he believed could change. That didn't mean he was naive—far from it. He had a brilliant eye for people, a keen sense for character. He… he was a highly respected person."
IAM listened quietly, nodding inwardly. He hadn't known Raj for long, only a short, fleeting time, but even in that brief span, he had sensed the goodness in him. Now, listening to Blaze, that impression crystallized. Raj had been… fundamentally, completely, a good person through and through.
"He was someone who would have gone on to achieve great things… who should have," Blaze said, his voice trailing slightly... "He dreamed of a world where people could be happy… It was so simple, yet something he truly strived for…"
IAM picked up the subtle tremor in Blaze's voice, the almost imperceptible pause that hinted at more. Something in the tone, a hidden edge of pain, made him ask quietly, "What happened?"
Blaze's eyes softened, and for a brief moment, his face formed a slightly helpless smile, as though recalling something.
"He fell in love. "