The meeting place was too clean.That was Kiro's first thought when the Wosbildung officer led him into the upper room of a quiet tavern. The place smelled of lemon oil and fresh parchment — nothing like the smoky pit he'd just fought in.
The officer shut the door and removed his gauntlets with a slow, deliberate clink. "Sit."
Kiro didn't. "If this is about the Mindbreaker, save your breath."
"It's not about him." The officer took a seat at the head of the table. "It's about you."
A second figure entered — a woman in the silver-trimmed coat of a Wosbildung examiner. Her eyes swept over Kiro, lingering on his visor.
"This is Null?" she asked the officer.
"Yes. And I believe he's more than the pit's whispers make him out to be."
The woman sat opposite Kiro. "We're offering you a place at Wosbildung Academy."
Kiro's laugh was short and sharp. "Right. Me? The guy with no Talent? Did you hit your head on the way here?"
Her expression didn't change. "Talents are… fluid. Sometimes they manifest later. Sometimes they're hidden."
"Sometimes," Kiro said, "they're not there at all."
The officer leaned forward, voice lowering. "We've seen your fights. You move like you know exactly what your opponent's about to do."
"That's called observation," Kiro replied.
"No," the officer said, his eyes narrowing. "That's called something else."
Kiro's fingers twitched inside his gloves. The golden threads of both their minds glowed faintly in his vision — close enough to touch, to pull.
He could make them forget this conversation.Make them walk away.
But a thread pulled too soon could be traced back.
The examiner folded her hands. "Join us, and you'll have access to training, resources, and protection. If you refuse…"
Kiro tilted his head. "You'll what? Tell everyone I can do parlor tricks?"
Her eyes hardened. "Refusal isn't wise."
Kiro considered his options.Leaving without committing would draw suspicion. Saying yes would mean stepping into their territory — dangerous, but it might let him learn more about what they suspected.
He sighed. "Fine. I'll consider it."
The examiner's lips curved in the faintest smile. "Good. We'll send for you soon."
They left him in the tavern.When the door closed, Kiro stayed still for a long moment, golden threads shimmering across the room like spider silk in sunlight.
He wasn't joining Wosbildung to serve them.He was joining to see just how much they really knew — and how far they'd go to control him.
In the street below, Lian was waiting, leaning on a lamppost. "Well?" she asked.
"They want me in their academy," Kiro said.
Her eyebrows shot up. "That's… either really good or really bad."
"Both," Kiro said, starting down the street. "Mostly bad."
From a second-story window across the way, the Spectra boy — the one who'd been watching Kiro since the duel — tracked their movements.
And this time, he wasn't alone.