Kalen woke up in the dark. No, not in the dark, in a black void. No light. No sounds. No self. He couldn't feel his own hands. He couldn't feel his breath.
Then came the scream. Not his own—someone else's. High, broken. Then another. Then dozens. Hundreds. It was as if everything around him was singing a chorus of pain. And it was all in his head.
His body was still, but he was being torn apart inside.
"You're here again..."
A voice. No, not a voice. A thought. A whisper that penetrates your skin.
Something appeared in front of him. A man with no skin. His face had been flayed, and his eyes had been replaced with rotting pearls. An iron pipe protruded from his mouth, through which he exhaled smoke. This smoke coiled into ropes and wrapped around Kalen's arms.
He didn't resist.
Uselessly.
"Again...?" — What is it? " he whispered.
"You must live through the pain," the entity replied. "To be stronger. To forget the fear. To become the one who breaks through. Or you will become like the others..."
The shadows began to spin. Hooks began to fall from the ceiling, which was not there.
Kalen didn't scream. He just accepted it. The first hook pierced his shoulder. The second pierced his elbow. He could hear his bones breaking. His muscles stretching like strings. He was being hung like a piece of meat.
Then they came.
Creatures made of other people's pieces. One had five mouths and three legs. The other had wings made of claws. They weren't real. But they hurt more than any weapon.
The first thing they did was cut out his eyes. Slowly. The second thing they did was put their hand in his mouth until he started choking. He was suffocating, but he couldn't die. Over and over again, until his tongue withered. Then they took out his heart. Then they put it back. Then they made him eat his own hands.
And all this went on.
Two months.
In this nightmare, in this time that flowed separately from the real world.
He forgot who he was. He forgot why. All that remained was pain.
***
Kalen woke up with a scream, sitting up in bed. His body was covered in sweat. His eyes were dry, and his lips were cracked from thirst. He was breathing heavily.
The room was quiet. Sunlight filtered through the curtains. Reina wasn't sleeping; she was sitting on her bed, already dressed, reading. She turned her head.
"A nightmare?" she asked calmly.
He nodded. No words. His fingers were trembling.
"You didn't tell me you had dreams like that."
"I wasn't going to," he snapped. His voice was dry, like sand in his throat.
Reyna went back to her book.
"Then get your things together. We have a new week. Today is a compatibility test. Then a new subject. Nine lessons again. You don't want to embarrass yourself, do you?"
He didn't say anything. But inside... something was already burning.
His tattoo on his back—the one of the shadows—pulsed again. Not like before. Stronger. Wider. As if it no longer obeyed him. Or... was waiting for a command.
He stood up. Went to the washroom. Looked in the mirror and saw himself hanging on the hooks for a moment. Just a moment. A hallucination.
He closed his eyes. He took a breath. He opened them again.
— Fuck you, world. You won't break me.
***
The academic dining hall greeted them with its usual noise. The clatter of dishes, coughing, laughter, and someone exclaiming about how "the phoenix shit right on the tray." Someone was arguing with the cook, and someone else was arguing with their tablemate. The air was filled with the smell of fried onions, cooked meat, and magic, as one of the enchanted trays hovered in the corner, flapping around as its owner shouted for it to "sit down, you motherfucker."
Kalen walked between the tables as if he were walking through a swamp. His steps were heavy, and he was still half-asleep. Every muscle felt like it was refusing to obey him. There was a dull weight in his head, and a voice was buzzing inside him, as if it were still from a dream:
- Back again… —
My heart sank.
"Shut up..."
He moved forward.
Reina was already sitting against the wall, closer to the window. Her red hair was pulled back in a low bun, and her bangs slightly covered her eyes. She was eating slowly, almost gracefully. She was wearing a dark academic uniform, but it fit her differently than it did the others. It was like armor, like a second skin. She was pale and focused. She didn't even look up when he approached.
He sat down silently, pushing the tray aside.
"You look like you've been run over by a golem," she said without looking up.
"Like you know how it is."
"I know. I was standing there when one of them blew up. I was covered in guts. It stank worse than you do right now."
Kallen didn't respond. He just picked up his fork and started eating. The dish was warm, but tasteless. His tongue couldn't feel anything but texture. He chewed mechanically. It was like being in a dream.
"You were unconscious," Reina continued after a pause. "For about six hours. I found you on the floor. In the hallway. You were delirious."
— What did I say?"
"Something about light and emptiness. About a throat. And..." she narrowed her eyes slightly. "About a name. You were calling someone."
He froze. He placed the fork carefully on the edge of the tray.
— I don't remember."
"That's a lie," she said calmly. "But I won't push it. Not yet."
He could feel her gaze piercing his side. Crimson eyes. Damned crimson eyes that stirred with something—not rage, not pity, not concern. Something worse—understanding.
She knows something.
"There are nine lessons today," he muttered, changing the subject. "A perfect excuse to die again."
"Or kill someone," she said, and for the first time that day, the corner of her mouth twitched.
On the other side, Bryn Dern sat down next to them, a boisterous fellow with a loud voice and a terrible chewing habit. His hair was so golden that it was almost blinding. He sat down without asking permission.
"Oh, the grim pair are here again! — Stop it! " he yelled, making two girls at the next table jump. — So I haven't slept here all night, and you're still bickering in silence?" Come on, who lost-pays for lunch!
Kalen turned to him:
— Brian. Fuck off.
— This is the usual answer! he laughed and took a bite of the apple, splattering the table. "I love you devils."
Reina turned to him slowly, without saying a word.
And Brian... stopped. For a second. He winced, looked away, muttered, "Okay, okay," and left.
Kalen nodded:
"You still know how to scare people. Even without the orb."
"I don't scare," she said. "I just let people see how they feel around me. That's all I do."
He turned back to his food. The tattoo on his back was barely noticeable. It was like a reminder. Like a core inside.
"You'll become strong," she said suddenly.
— I'm already strong.
— Not by the body. By the spirit.
He looked at her.
"And you?"
"I'm already broken. So I know what a crack looks like."
There was a moment of silence. Even the dining room was quiet for a moment.
Kalen stood up.
— It's time for class. First, a fiction. Then, an epheta. Then, a flow. Then, another hell.
Reina nodded without getting up.
"Don't forget: the headman is being chosen today. And I won't let a fool stand next to me. You're not a fool, are you, Kalen?"
He didn't answer.
He just walked down the hall, deeper into the building, towards the auditorium.
Reina followed, with a faint smile.