"The Victoriad is over. Survivors: 5. All others are declared dead."
Woldkran was trembling.
Not from the storm, not from magic. From silence.
The city is not used to silence.
But after the Victoriad, when only five of the 300 students returned, even the alchemical furnaces fell silent.
And in the middle of all this horror, there he was.
Kalen Lionheart.
Platform.
Metal, soaked in blood. The five survivors stood in a line in front of dozens of teachers, observers, craftsmen, and officials.
Reina is next to Kalen.
Red hair, as always, is braided. The face is emotionless, but the eyes...
She knew.
She remembered how he fell from the sky, covered in blood, like a dead man, and then he got up.
And now he was standing there, as if he had always been there.
"They survived," said one of the guards.
— Congratulations. You are the elite of the Academy.
"Fuck. Just the elite. I got out of the meat grinder, and now I'm in a fucking flower garden," Kalen thought.
One of the observers held up a magic sphere, which enveloped the survivors in a blue glow.
Checking for demonization, foreign magical entities, distortions, and lies.
The sphere blinked. It hissed. It froze.
"Clear."
"Now... introduce yourself. Who are you. How did you survive. What have you learned?"
"Let's start with you," the guard said, pointing at the thin elf next to Kalen.
One by one, they began to talk.
One said he was hiding. The other said he was fighting. The girl said the monster saved her and then died.
And now it was Kalen's turn.
He stepped forward.
— Kalen Lionheart.
— I survived because I was ready to die.
— And kill. Without mercy. Without pathos.
Everyone fell silent.
"What have you learned?" someone asked dryly.
Kalen turned to the crowd.
— That monsters don't only live in forests.
"Some wear Academy uniforms.
"And they live among us.
After the ceremony
Reina caught up with him at the stairs.
"You've started to change a lot," she said quietly.
Kallen looked at her. Red eyes. Familiar. Warm?
"You knew," he said. "You knew I wasn't just sent there."
— That this is all a test. And you're a part of it.
She bit her lip. But she didn't deny it.
- yes.
— I knew it.
Silence.
The spiders were hiding in the shadows. Ward was standing in the distance, in the shadow of a pillar.
Thirk hung on the ceiling, watching.
"Are you angry?" Reina asked.
"No." Kalen turned. "I just stopped believing."
At night
He was sitting in the tower. Alone.
Nearby is the snake skin he used to sleep in the cave.
Before him is darkness.
"Ward. Is she still an enemy?"
"Not while she's not attacking, no. But trust? No, sir. She's dangerous."
"'Tirk?'
"I would have devoured her. But you are the king. Your choice."
Kalen nodded.
— Not yet.
"But if he betrays you…
— I'll tear it up myself."
***
Late at night, when my eyes were already closed, the dragon spoke again.
The one from the tattoo. From the nightmares.
— "You survived. Again. Well done..."
Kalen was silent.
"But there's something ahead that you don't know about yet. The darkness... it's starting to move. And you're its vessel."
— I'm not a vessel.
"I'm the owner.
"We'll see about that later."