"Why are you even here?" Kael Vi-rel asked again, his voice a low, sharp murmur that was all the more dangerous for its lack of volume. It was the tone of a man walking a thin rope, precariously balanced between irritation and the outright snapping of his patience.
Selene Whitmore, leaning lazily against the edge of the café's worn wooden table, didn't even flinch. She simply tilted her head, a faint, unreadable smile playing on her lips. "Well… if I just said I came here to rest, would you believe me?"
Kael Vi-rel narrowed his eyes, the emerald hue of his irises darkening slightly. "Rest? At a café? You're a walking disaster waiting to happen, Selene. You're an assassin. What could possibly be considered 'restful' for you?"
Selene Whitmore shrugged, the movement slow and deliberate, looking almost pleased at how nonsensical her answer sounded. She glanced around the bustling café, her eyes seeming to take in every detail without truly focusing on any of them. "Maybe the scent of bad coffee and the sound of people chattering puts me at ease. Or perhaps I just find your company… entertaining."
Kael Vi-rel's inner thoughts were less forgiving, a sharp, cutting monologue of frustration. She's completely illogical… thoughtless, even. If I actually snapped at her, there's a real chance I'd regret it possibly permanently. She might kill me just for the inconvenience. A casual thoughtless act on her part. A lethal mistake on mine. He took a slow, deliberate breath, forcing his voice to stay calm, his composure a fragile mask.
"Alright, sure. You're resting. Now you can move away because I'm talking to her right now," he said, nodding toward Clara Winslet, who was watching their exchange with wide, slightly terrified eyes.
Selene tilted her head again, her smile becoming a mischievous grin. "Are you chasing me away, Kael Vi-rel?"
"Yup. Choo choo. Go away," Kael Vi-rel said, making a subtle shooing motion with his hand as if he were batting away a fly.
"I am not a dog," Selene Whitmore said flatly, the playful facade dropping for a moment to reveal a cold, serious glint in her eyes.
Kael Vi-rel raised a brow, unimpressed by the sudden shift in her tone. "I didn't say you were. I just said 'choo choo.'"
Then Selene Whitmore's expression shifted again, becoming something far more chilling. "Should I kill you?" she said in a tone so casual and conversational that it could have been mistaken for an offer of tea. The air around them grew noticeably colder.
"What did you just say?" Kael Vi-rel asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, his hand moving subtly toward his side. Clara Winslet stiffened, her gaze flicking nervously between them.
"Nothing. Continue your conversation." Her smirk made it clear she had no intention of actually leaving. Her presence was a suffocating weight in the small café, a silent threat that permeated the space.
Kael Vi-rel exhaled slowly, a long, weary sigh. She's not going anywhere, no matter what I say or do. She's decided she's a part of this now. I might as well get used to it.
"To sum it up," Kael Vi-rel continued, turning his attention back to Clara Winslet and deliberately ignoring the assassin still leaning against their table. "This isn't just about my needs. Not only can I help you with other matters like improving your grade in the academy but this is also an opportunity for you to obtain a skill cube. The kind that can significantly boost your power."
Clara Winslet's eyes lit up with genuine interest. She was a scholar at heart, and the prospect of gaining new abilities was far more appealing than any physical danger. "What if we both want the same skill cube? What if the dungeon only has one, and it's something we both need?"
"That… might depend on the type we get," Kael Vi-rel admitted, his gaze thoughtful. "But we can compromise later, after we clear the hidden dungeon. I'm confident there will be more than enough to go around. We'll decide on a fair split once we're done."
Clara Winslet hesitated, then asked the question that had been lingering in her mind and a genuine source of worry. "I didn't get the chance to ask this before, but… is the hidden dungeon something we can actually clear on our own? Without help from a full-fledged party? Or are we going to be in over our heads?"
"You don't have to worry about the difficulty," Kael Vi-rel said, his voice confident and reassuring. "If I were to go alone, it might take a while, but it's within my capability to clear. It would just be inefficient and tedious. With you there, it'll be faster, and you'll act as a strategic support while I handle the combat."
Clara Winslet exhaled, a visible wave of relief washing over her. "So you just want me to cooperate so you can finish it quicker? That's… surprisingly reasonable."
"Exactly," Kael Vi-rel said. "A simple exchange of services. You get the knowledge and skills, I get the speed and efficiency."
"That's why you should allow me to join too it'd be perfect," Selene Whitmore interrupted, stepping fully into the conversation like she'd been invited, her voice filled with a fake, overly-enthusiastic cheerfulness.
Kael Vi-rel studied her, a flicker of genuine consideration in his eyes. He hated the idea, but the logic was sound. "Hm. Will you really do it? You're not just going to run off and steal everything from the dungeon?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Selene Whitmore replied without hesitation, her expression a perfect mask of feigned innocence.
Kael Vi-rel considered her offer. More power means faster results… and if she becomes our ally in the process, it could be useful. The main storyline ahead will require every ounce of strength they could muster, and Selene Whitmore's immense power would be a significant advantage. He also knew the main storyline ahead would require every ounce of strength they could muster. Besides, I'm only after one specific skill cube, the Sword of the End skill. The rest doesn't matter.
"Alright," he decided, the word cutting through the tense air. "Let's do it together. The three of us."
But instead of jumping straight into planning, Kael Vi-rel reached into his coat and pulled out a folded sheet of parchment. He placed it on the table with deliberate care, its edges glowing with a faint, magical shimmer. "Before we start, please confirm this."
Clara Winslet and Selene Whitmore both leaned in to look at the document.
Clara Winslet's brows shot up. "Isn't this… a real one? This isn't just a prop."
Selene Whitmore's eyes narrowed, all traces of her casual nature gone. "You shouldn't take out something like this casually. It's dangerous. It's… scary."
The parchment shimmered faintly with arcane sigils and complex magical runes that seemed to writhe and pulse with a quiet power. It was no ordinary document; it was a pact, an unbreakable bond sealed by magic itself.
"A magic contract," Clara Winslet murmured, her voice filled with a mixture of awe and apprehension. "A secret oath?"
"Do we really need this?" Selene Whitmore asked, her suspicion evident in every syllable. "It's a little extreme, don't you think?"
"It's not that I don't trust you," Kael Vi-rel said, his smile taking on a faintly wicked edge, "but as the saying goes, prevention is better than treatment. The best way to avoid a problem is to ensure it can never happen in the first place." The glint in his eyes left no doubt that this was as much a protective measure as it was a way to control the flow of information. "Also, I don't want anyone to know what I'm about to tell you guys. This contract ensures that no one can ever speak of the dungeon or our agreement to a third party."
Both women exchanged a glance. Neither looked thrilled, but they could see Kael Vi-rel wasn't going to budge. The deal was simple: sign the contract or the deal was off.
Meanwhile, across the campus in the hero dormitories…
Water dripped rhythmically onto the tile floor as Elric Vales stepped out of the shower, steam curling around him like a lingering mist. He ran a towel through his damp, dark hair, his mind replaying events from earlier that day. His thoughts were consumed by the strange, enigmatic Kael Vi-rel.
We are hero cadets, he recalled. The words sounded ordinary enough, but when Kael Vi-rel had spoken them, they had carried a strange weight. A calmness. An underlying certainty, as if he knew something no one else did. It was the same certainty that had made Kael Vi-rel stand so confidently against the demonic human, a confidence that no normal cadet should possess.
"That guy…" Elric Vales muttered to himself, tossing the towel over his shoulders. "What exactly is Kael Vi-rel hiding? That level of certainty... it's not from training. It's from experience."
As he dried off, his mind returned to a rumor that had been circulating around the academy, a whisper that was just barely loud enough to be heard: that a child from the Black Land, a cursed and forgotten region of the world, had been admitted as a new student. It was only speculation, but… if the clues lined up, Kael Vi-rel fit the description almost too well. The unusual calm, the preternatural skill, the strange knowledge of things no one else knew.
Elric Vales wrapped the towel around his shoulders, wiping his hands as he walked toward the door. If that's true… then there's far more going on than anyone realizes. Kael Vi-rel's presence here isn't a coincidence. It's a calculated move.
A voice from the doorway broke his thoughts. "Elric Vales, you're leaving already?"
"Yeah," Elric Vales said, glancing at the fellow student, a young man with a bright, hopeful expression. "There's something I need to think about. What about you?"
The other student grinned, a wide, enthusiastic smile. "I'm gonna try making videos on Tube. Seeing Kael Vi-rel do it made me want to try too. He makes it look so cool!"
Elric Vales let out a short, cynical laugh. "He really is a ridiculous guy. He's either a genius or completely insane. Maybe both."
"Well, I'll see you later," the student said, waving as they headed off in the opposite direction.
"Yeah," Elric Vales replied, already turning toward the exit. "Good luck with your videos."
He stepped into the hallway, the world outside the steamy locker room feeling colder and more real. His mind was still on Kael Vi-rel, his thoughts a tangled web of suspicion and curiosity. If the rumors are true… then Kael Vi-rel's presence here could change everything. Not just for the academy, but for the world.