The forge had gone dark, the smell of iron and ash still clinging to the air. Kael sat with his back against the cold wall, the mask lying beside him, his chest plate folded away neatly into the Shadow Vault. He still wasn't used to the way it slipped in and out of existence, like smoke obeying his thoughts.
Jorin leaned against the workbench, arms crossed, the faint flicker of a smile hidden beneath his usual stern look.
"You handled it well," Jorin said. "Better than most recruits would."
Kael tilted his head. "You've trained plenty of recruits before, right?"
Jorin chuckled once, a low sound that seemed older than his face. "Yes. Too many." He paused, then added, "But not like you."
Kael shifted uncomfortably at the weight in his words. Silence stretched, until Kael finally broke it.
"Earlier… you mentioned the families. The three that run everything. You said they'd want to control me, if they knew."
Jorin's jaw tightened. For a moment, his eyes weren't in the room anymore but somewhere far away, deep in old memories.
"They don't just run everything," Jorin said quietly. "They own everything. Every soldier, every mission, every academy. They don't answer to anyone but themselves. And they've been fighting each other for dominance since the first void gate opened."
He pushed off the bench and paced slowly, hands clasped behind his back.
"The Veyra Family — Feyla's bloodline — control water and territory. Oceans, rivers, even the atmospheric systems that feed colonies. Their name alone can shift political tides."
Kael swallowed, thinking of Feyla's calm strength, the way she carried herself even when she was nervous.
"The Dros Family," Jorin continued, "rule through force. Armies, weapons, military factories. Their heirs are raised as commanders before they're even adults. If you've seen the drills here, the harsh ones… they came from Dros."
"And the last?" Kael asked.
Jorin's voice dipped lower. "The Kaine Family. Shadows. Spies. Assassins. They never fight with armies or waves of power. They whisper. They poison. They turn your allies into enemies before you know it. Of the three… they're the ones you should fear most."
Kael frowned. "And if they found out what I could do—"
"They'd carve you apart and study you," Jorin said flatly. "Or worse — they'd put you on a leash and call it loyalty. None of those outcomes end with you living free."
Kael looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers slowly. For a long moment, the room felt heavier.
Jorin finally stopped pacing and crouched so that his gaze met Kael's directly. "That's why you need to grow stronger. Not tomorrow. Not years from now. Now. Because if — when — the families notice you… you'll either be strong enough to stand, or you'll break."
Kael nodded slowly, the words sinking into him like stones thrown into water.
"So what now?" he asked.
Jorin stood again, adjusting the strap on his shoulder. "Now? We take advantage of these two weeks." His voice hardened with purpose. "Tomorrow, I'm taking you off-planet. Away from the academy's eyes. There's a world close enough for training — dry plains, dangerous terrain, and beasts strong enough to test your new gear."
Kael blinked. "Off-planet? Just the two of us?"
Jorin smirked faintly. "Who else? I can't risk anyone else seeing you fight the way you truly fight. Out there, you'll learn what that mask and chest plate really mean. You'll learn how to move with them, survive with them. And if you can't…"
He left the words hanging, but Kael understood.
He pulled his knees up, staring at the mask where it rested against the wall. He could almost see his reflection in the dull metal, but not quite. His reflection had always been blurry lately, like even the world wasn't sure who he was becoming.
"Rest while you can," Jorin said, moving toward the door. "Tomorrow, the real training begins."
When the door closed, Kael exhaled slowly. The silence pressed in again, heavy and strange.
Then Nathan's voice broke it, dry and amused.
"I like this man."
Kael startled slightly. "You do?"
"He pushes you. Hard. He sees what you could be, even if he doesn't understand it. Most people would fear you. He… tests you. That makes him valuable."
Kael leaned his head back against the wall, lips twitching in a faint smile. "Yeah… valuable."
The HUD flickered faintly in the edge of his vision, as if the Nether Code agreed.
Tomorrow, it seemed, was already waiting.