The Guild chamber was colder than usual that night.
Seigi sat stiffly at the long obsidian table, his fingertips pressed into its mirror-like surface. Candles burned low in their iron sconces, their flames strangely steady, shadows stretching across the carved black walls. The air carried a metallic tang, mixed with incense that stung faintly in his nose.
It wasn't just a room. It was a place of judgment.
Hana sat at his side, posture straight, notebook open before her though she hadn't written a word. Across the table, Riku lounged with the kind of restless energy that made chairs feel like cages. His foot tapped rapidly against the stone floor, an impatient drumbeat. Aya sat upright, hands folded neatly in her lap, eyes closed as if in meditation.
Shinzo loomed at the far end, arms crossed, the weight of his silence heavier than stone.
And Kurogami paced. Always pacing. His boots clicked against the floor, slow, measured, deliberate. His coat shifted with each step, trailing shadows like ripples on water.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet—but it filled the chamber as though the room existed only for it.
"Do you know why the Awakened exist?"
Riku barked a laugh. "Because the Veil's crawling with psychos and someone's gotta knock their teeth in?"
Aya's eyes opened, cool and calm. "That's not an answer."
Kurogami didn't scold. His lips curved faintly, as though even interruptions were part of his script.
"Aether flows through all living things," he said, clasping his hands behind his back. "Invisible. Unfelt. For most, it lies dormant from birth to death, an echo never stirred. But for some—" He paused, looking directly at Seigi. "—the blood sings."
Seigi swallowed hard. His fingers curled tighter against the table.
"Trauma breaks the walls," Kurogami continued, his voice smooth as glass. "Belief sharpens the edges. And then…"
His hand lifted.
Threads of pale light unspooled from his fingertips, weaving together into a gleaming blade. The chamber air shimmered faintly around it, the edge humming as if it wanted to cut something simply to exist.
Seigi's chest tightened. His mind replayed the night of his awakening in the alley—the screams, the blood, the moment the threads had flared from his hands without his command.
"…a vein awakens," Kurogami finished softly. He dismissed the blade with a flick. The air swallowed the light as though it had never been.
Seigi's heart thudded.
With a subtle gesture, five glowing sigils bloomed in the air above the table, arranged in a circle. Each shimmered with distinct color and form.
"There are five primary classes of awakened veins," Kurogami said. "Each shaped by the bearer, each with its burden. Sub-branches exist, but all are born of these."
He gestured to the first sigil. It glowed crimson, shifting with lines of force that pulsed outward like invisible shockwaves.
"The Dominion Class."
"Power over force and movement. The body itself becomes weapon and shield. Muscles strengthened beyond steel. Speed fast enough to tear the air apart."
Riku smirked, sitting up straighter. "That's me. Dominion. Speed and strength." He flexed his arm as though he needed to remind anyone.
"Dominion manifests in many ways," Kurogami continued. "Shockwave users who turn impact into destruction. Titans whose flesh resists even flame. Velocity types who cut with speed sharper than any blade."
Riku's grin grew wider. "Guess I'll take all three."
Aya gave him a look of unimpressed serenity.
Kurogami's lips curved faintly. "Be careful what you ask for. A Titan's skin becomes armor, yes… but armor cracks. Shockwaves rupture bones as easily as walls. And velocity burns muscle to ash when carried too far."
Riku's grin faltered for the briefest second.
The second sigil shimmered orange and blue, flickering between flame and water, sparks scattering into clouds before vanishing.
"The Primordial Class."
"Elemental dominion. Fire, water, storm, stone. Rare. Volatile. Each carries its own curse. Fire consumes. Water erodes. Lightning eats its host from within."
Seigi watched flames twist into droplets, sparks scatter. He remembered the man they'd fought last month, fire roaring down his arms until his own skin blistered. The smell of charred flesh hadn't left Seigi's memory.
The third sigil pulsed blue, vibrating faintly like a struck string.
"The Resonance Class."
"Minds that ripple against the threads of others. Telepathy. Illusion. Empathy. Foresight. Powers unseen until it is too late. The most insidious class—and the most dangerous to its wielder. A Resonance user without anchor loses themselves to the tide."
Aya spoke, her voice calm but firm. "The Veil uses them. Spies. Interrogators. They twist people into shadows of themselves."
Kurogami inclined his head. "The Veil is not foolish. They know Resonance corrodes. The longer one peers into minds not their own, the less of their own remains."
Hana's pen hovered above her notes, but her eyes flicked sideways to Seigi. He wasn't writing. His mind was replaying the moment Echo's voice had slithered into his skull on that mission, rifling through his thoughts like drawers in a desk. He clenched his fists in his lap until his nails dug into his skin.
The fourth sigil shimmered green, pulsing softly like a heartbeat.
"The Vital Class."
"Flesh and bone remade by Aether. Healing. Adaptation. Evolution. A healer can close wounds in seconds. An evolver can transform into something beyond human. But the body rejects change. The gift kills as easily as it saves."
Aya's voice softened, but her words were steady. "Every healer I've known has burned out young. They give and give until there's nothing left of them."
Kurogami's eyes glinted. "Every light demands its price."
Seigi's breath caught. For a moment, he imagined having that gift, being able to close wounds, to save lives. He also imagined watching himself rot from the inside, bones giving way under the weight of endless sacrifice.
The fifth sigil flickered black, threads unraveling into dust.
"The Obscura Class."
"Entropy. Decay. The undoing of matter. Stone crumbles. Metal rusts. Flesh rots. Every Obscura user burns bright and dies young. They are feared for good reason. Death lives in their veins."
The candlelight dimmed. The air soured, as though the sigil itself poisoned the room.
Seigi's stomach twisted. Widow's glassy eyes filled his mind. Her voice whispered: Everything rots.
The five sigils glowed together, painting the chamber in fractured color.
"Most manifest one class," Kurogami said. "The blood can only carry so much. Some—those with discipline—manifest two. A handful of legends bore three, even four. But no more. The body is finite. Aether demands limits."
His gaze fixed on Seigi.
"Those who attempt more… are consumed."
Seigi's breath caught. He felt the weight of eyes on him though no one said his name.
Hana broke the silence, her tone sharp. "And trauma is how you'd force it open."
Kurogami's faint smile returned. "Trauma sharpens. Belief awakens."
"Belief?" Seigi asked.
"The rarest path," Kurogami said smoothly. "To believe in something so completely that the vein answers without pain. Absolute conviction. Few survive the attempt."
Aya's gaze softened. "Not impossible."
"No," Kurogami said. "Just improbable."
Shinzo's voice rumbled like thunder. "There were stories. Before the Guild. Before order. The First Bearers. They held more than one class—some claimed all five. But their power burned them alive. The legends say they lit the world and turned to ash."
Riku scoffed. "Legends. Fairy tales."
Shinzo's eyes darkened. "Fairy tales leave bones."
Kurogami's smile sharpened. "Myths are only truths forgotten."
Seigi's veins itched beneath his skin.
The sigils vanished. Darkness reclaimed the chamber.
"The Veil's Shades embody these classes," Kurogami said. "Widow—Obscura. Echo—Resonance. Iron Gale—Dominion. Lord Kurobane—Dominion and Primordial. You will face them. You will bleed. Remember—veins are no stronger than your will."
Riku grinned fiercely. "Good. Then I'll break them."
Aya sighed. "Or they'll break you."
"Not a chance."
Hana ignored the argument. Her eyes fixed on Seigi. His hands shook beneath the table.
Kurogami's gaze lingered last on him. "Your veins sing louder than most. Perhaps you will rise. Or perhaps you will burn. The line is razor-thin."
Later, the team filed out into the hall.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Hana whispered.
Seigi blinked. "What?"
"The way he looked at you. Like you're not a person. Like you're an experiment."
Seigi forced a hollow laugh. "He just wants results."
Her eyes hardened. "No. He wants symbols. Don't let him turn you into his weapon."
She brushed his arm briefly, grounding him, then walked ahead.
Seigi lingered in the dark corridor, the stone cold beneath his feet. He felt the hum of his veins, threads straining against his skin as though they wanted out.
That night, he lay awake in his apartment, staring at the ceiling. The five sigils burned behind his eyelids.
He clenched his fists. Kurogami's words echoed: Myths are only truths forgotten.
And for the first time, Seigi wondered if his blood had ever been human at all.