Kaelen woke to the white ceiling tiles and the persistent beep of medical equipment. His body felt distant, disconnected, like it belonged to someone else. The memories filtered back slowly: the cave, the serpents, the wolves, the Mauler, Mira's arrival.
He tried to sit up. Pain lanced through his left side, sharp enough to make him gasp.
"Don't move." A medic appeared beside his bed, her expression was stern. "You've got three cracked ribs that are still healing, and your left arm has hairline fractures in four places. Whatever skill you have saved your life, but you're not cleared for anything except lying there."
Kaelen settled back against the pillows, frustration mixing with exhaustion.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
"Thirty-one hours. It's Monday morning. You were rushed back Saturday night." The medic checked his vitals on the monitoring display. "You're lucky to be alive. The damage you sustained should have killed someone at your level."
"Observer Davos?"
She updated something on her tablet. "Two rooms down. Underwent surgery throughout yesterday. He'll recover fully, but it'll take time."
Relief washed through Kaelen. Davos had survived. They both had.
The medic left with instructions to rest. Kaelen lay there, staring at the ceiling, processing everything that had happened.
His wristband chimed softly. Messages, dozens of them, all held while he'd been unconscious. He pulled up the interface.
>Lira: Please be okay.
>Lira: They said you're in medical. I'm coming as soon as they let me.
>Daniel: Are you awake?
>Torven: Knew you'd make it back.
>Sera: Rest. We'll talk when you're cleared.
More messages from his team. From Vyne. From Roan and other club members.
Kaelen closed the messages and pulled up his System notifications instead. The ones he'd been too exhausted to read.
[Quest Complete: Sentinel's Shield]
[Rewards: +1000 XP (Base & System) | Rare Skill Upgrade Token | ??? Reward]
[Base Level: 11] (2170/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (1670/3000 XP)
[Analyzing Performance...]
[Achievement Unlocked: Against All Odds]
[Criteria: Survive encounter with threats ranks above current level]
[Reward: +500 XP (Base & System) | Permanent +5 to all stats]
[Base Level: 11] (2670/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (2170/3000 XP)
[All Stats +5]
[Strength: 45 | Stamina: 40 | Perception: 35 | Defense: 51 | Agility: 58 | Vitality: 72 | Intelligence: 80]
The stat boost was substantial.
Then the final notification appeared.
[Processing ??? Reward...]
[Reward Status: Pending]
Kaelen frowned at the interface. The question-marked reward was still processing. Unusual, but not concerning enough to dwell on right now.
He dismissed the notifications and closed his eyes, letting exhaustion pull him back under.
...
Afternoon brought visitors.
The door opened, and Kaelen expected the medic. Instead, Lira, Daniel, Torven, and Sera filed in together. Lira reached his bedside first, her silver eyes scanning him with barely contained emotion.
"You absolute idiot," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Staying behind to fight B-rank beasts? What were you thinking?"
"That I couldn't leave an Observer to die, and i really didn't fight the beast" Kaelen replied honestly.
Lira's anger crumbled. She pulled the chair close and sat, her hands gripping the armrests tightly. "When they said you stayed behind..."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize for doing good." She looked at him properly. "Just... don't do it again. Please."
"I can't promise that."
She laughed weakly. "I know. That's what scares me."
Daniel adjusted his glasses, his tablet clutched against his chest. "The statistical probability of surviving a C-rank encounter at your current level is..." He trailed off as Lira shot him a look. "Right. Not the time."
Torven moved to stand near the foot of the bed, his amber eyes studying Kaelen with quiet intensity. "You did what you had to. That takes strength."
"Stubborn refusal to die, more like," Kaelen corrected.
"Same thing sometimes." Torven's dermal plating was partially visible along his forearms, protective scales catching the medical bay lights.
Sera remained by the window, her crystalline gray eyes assessing his condition with characteristic detachment. But she was here, and that meant something.
"What actually happened out there?" Daniel asked finally.
Kaelen told them. The cave, the serpent encounters, the wolf pack, the Mauler stalking them through the night, the desperate gambit to collapse the ravine.
Daniel's hands shook slightly as he processed the information. Lira's knuckles went white gripping the armrests. Even Sera's expression shifted minutely, showing concern she normally hid.
"C-rank," Daniel said quietly. "The survival rate against C-rank threats—"
"Don't," Lira said sharply. "He's here. The numbers don't matter."
"The numbers always matter," Daniel replied. "But in this case, I'm glad they were wrong."
Sera finally spoke from her position by the window. "You held it off long enough for rescue."
"Barely," Kaelen said.
"Barely is still success." Sera's tone was matter-of-fact. "Dead would be failure."
The conversation continued, his friends processing what he'd survived. Eventually, a medic poked her head in and announced visiting hours were ending soon.
Lira was last to leave, squeezing his hand once. "Get better. We need you back."
"Working on it," Kaelen said.
The door closed behind them, and he was alone again.
He pulled up his System interface, checking his status.
[–5 to all stats]
[Penalty: Missed Daily Quest (Sunday)]
Right. He'd been unconscious through Sunday's quest window. The System didn't care about medical restrictions. Now that he thought of it, that's why the newly acquired five stat points didn't reflect.
Then another notification appeared.
[Weekly Quest: Adaptive Trials]
[Progress]
- Complete 7 Daily Quests Consecutively (6/7) - Failed
- Win 3 Sanctioned Sparring Matches (3/3) - Complete
- Complete 3 RP Missions (1/3)
- Kill 5 F-Rank Beasts (5/5) - Complete
- Cultivate for 10+ Hours (18/10) - Complete
- Complete 1 Club Mission (1/1) - Complete
- Allocate 5 Stat Points (5/5) - Complete
[Categories Complete: 5/7]
[Quest Status: Enhanced Rewards Tier Achieved]
Despite failing the daily quest requirement, he'd completed enough categories to hit the enhanced rewards tier.
[Calculating Rewards...]
[Enhanced Rewards (5 categories):]
+500 XP (Base & System) | +5 Stat Points | +75 SP | Random E-Rank Item
[Base Level: 11] (3170/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (2670/3000 XP)
[Stat Points: 5]
[Shop Points: 525]
[Generating Random E-Rank Item...]
[Item Received: Silent Emotion]
[Rank: E (Cursed)]
[Type: One-time consumable (ingestible)]
[Effect: For 6 seconds, user's mind enters enforced stillness]
- No fear, doubt, or pain
- No emotional interference
- Thoughts become cold, efficient, mechanical
- Every action taken is precise and optimal
[Curse: After effect ends, user loses access to emotions for 6 minutes]
- Complete emotional absence (not suppression)
- Can speak, act, and think, but everything feels distant
- When emotions return, they surge back all at once
- Aftereffect: Tremors, nausea, mental disorientation
- Repeated use increases risk of permanent emotional shutdown
Kaelen stared at the description. Useful for desperate situations, but the curse made it genuinely dangerous. Six minutes without emotions followed by an overwhelming surge when they returned?
He filed it away mentally as an absolute last-resort option.
His current status appeared.
[Base Level: 11] (3170/3600 XP)
[System Level: 10] (2670/3000 XP)
[Stat Points: 5]
[Shop Points: 525]
Five hundred twenty-five Shop Points. More than he'd ever had. The Shop had refreshed at Level 2.
He pulled up the interface.
[SHOP - LEVEL 2]
[Categories: Abilities | Skills | Skill Upgrades | Weapons | Accessories | Consumables | Information | Combat Techniques]
[Current SP: 525]
[Weekly Refresh: 4 Days, 12 Hours]
Kaelen navigated to Skills.
[Available E-Rank Skills]
- Reinforced Guard (Passive) - 8,500 SP
- Aether Blade (Active) - 9,200 SP
- Evasive Maneuver (Active) - 8,000 SP
- Barrier Mastery (Passive) - 8,800 SP
[Available D-Rank Skills]
- Advanced Evasion (Active) - 15,000 SP
- Combat Sense (Passive) - 16,500 SP
- Energy Efficiency (Passive) - 14,200 SP
Everything was still expensive. The cheapest E-rank skill cost 8,000 SP. He had 525.
But the Skill Upgrade Token from his quest reward might change things.
[Rare Skill Upgrade Token]
[Function: Upgrades one existing skill by 3 levels]
[Applicable to: Any currently owned skill]
[Usage: Single-use consumable]
Kaelen reviewed his skill list mentally. Which one would benefit most from a three-level jump?
Aether Manipulation was already Level 4. Upgrading it to Level 7 would significantly enhance construct durability and formation speed.
Chrono-Perception at Level 4 would make his temporal awareness even sharper during combat.
Analytical Scan at Level 5 would expand his scanning range and reveal more information about targets.
Or he could upgrade one of his newer skills—Flow Regrowth or Void Rift—though their base levels were already powerful.
He decided to wait. Using the token while restricted to a medical bed seemed wasteful. Better to see what situations arose once he was cleared for activity.
The door opened without warning.
Vyne stepped inside, her violet eyes immediately finding his. She didn't have her usual playful energy. Her expression was serious, almost vulnerable in a way Kaelen had never seen.
She pulled the chair close to his bed and sat without speaking for a long moment.
"You look terrible," she said finally.
"Everyone keeps telling me that."
"Because it's true." Vyne leaned forward slightly. "I'm sorry. For leaving you out there."
Kaelen blinked, genuinely surprised. "You followed my orders. That's what you were supposed to do."
"Doesn't make it feel better." Her voice was quiet. "When the transport lifted off and I saw you standing there alone... I was genuinely scared. For you."
"You? Scared?"
"Don't joke about it." Her violet eyes were intense. "You could have died, Kaelen. Actually died. And I would have been safe on that transport while you..."
She trailed off, looking away.
Kaelen didn't know what to say. This vulnerability from Vyne felt significant, like she was showing him something she rarely let anyone see.
"I didn't die," he said finally. "I'm here. Because you told me not to die, remember?"
That brought a faint smile to her face. "I did say that."
"Gave me something to hold onto out there."
Vyne met his gaze again, and something passed between them. Understanding, maybe. Or recognition of what they'd both faced in different ways.
"Don't do it again," her voice barely above a whisper.
"Can't promise that."
"I know." She stood, some of her usual energy returning. "But I'm going to keep telling you anyway."
She moved toward the door, then paused. "Get better soon, celebrity. The club's boring without you."
Then she was gone, leaving Kaelen alone with his thoughts.
...
Evening brought a different visitor.
Instructor Mira entered without knocking, her amber-gold eyes immediately assessing him. She pulled the chair close and sat, her expression unreadable.
"We need to talk," she said simply.
Kaelen waited.
Mira leaned forward slightly. "What you did out there was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. I haven't decided which yet."
"Both, probably," Kaelen admitted.
A faint smile touched her lips. "Honest. Good." She settled back. "Staying behind to protect Observer Davos when you could have evacuated showed conviction. Surviving long enough for me to arrive showed skill and will."
She paused, and Kaelen sensed something significant coming.
Mira settled back in her chair, her amber-gold eyes studying Kaelen with an intensity that made him feel like she was reading more than just his visible injuries.
"You need to understand what happened out there," she said. "Not the fight—you lived through that part. I mean the context. Why it happened."
Kaelen waited, sensing this was important.
"The Scourged Zones aren't static. They shift, evolve, respond to Aetheric fluctuations." Mira's voice carried the weight of experience. "That facility you documented? It's been dormant for centuries. Patrol routes have passed near it for years without incident."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Then suddenly, in the span of a week, we get anomalous readings, coordinated Beast behavior, and multiple high-rank encounters in an area that should have been relatively safe." Her expression darkened. "That doesn't happen naturally."
"You think something activated the facility," Kaelen said.
"I know something did. The question is what and why." Mira stood, moving to the window. "The synchronized Beast attacks, the matriarch's intelligence, the humanoids working together—that level of coordination requires external influence. Either something inside that facility is broadcasting a signal that's affecting Beast behavior, or..."
She trailed off, and Kaelen felt compelled to finish. "Or something's controlling them directly."
"Exactly." Mira turned back. "The academy's investigation team arrived this morning. They're treating the facility as a Class-A priority threat. Whatever you and your team documented triggered a response at the highest levels."
Kaelen processed that. "What does that mean for us?"
"For your team? Recognition, compensation, probably some uncomfortable attention." Mira's tone shifted slightly. "For you specifically? Complicated."
"How complicated?"
She moved back to the chair, sitting with deliberate care. "Let me tell you how this works in the real world, Kaelen. When an academy student demonstrates exceptional capability—and surviving what you survived absolutely qualifies—it creates ripples."
"First ripple: The Council notices. They'll want to assess you, determine if you're a genuine asset or just got lucky. Tomorrow's review will answer that question for them."
"Second ripple: Other students notice. Some will respect you. Some will be jealous. Some will see you as competition or a threat. Your social dynamics just got more complicated."
"Third ripple: External interests notice." Her expression grew more serious. "Families, guilds, independent organizations—they all track academy performance. An S-rank Unique who can punch above his weight class? That's recruitment material. Expect offers, approaches, maybe some subtle pressure."
Kaelen's stomach tightened. "Pressure like what?"
"Depends on the organization. Legitimate guilds will make straightforward recruitment pitches after you graduate. Respectable families might offer sponsorship deals. Less savory groups..." She paused. "Let's just say not everyone asks nicely."
"The academy is keeping most details quiet from the public. But internally? You're being recognized." Mira's expression grew serious. "There's a formal review happening tomorrow. The Elders picked out some of the council members and they will be convening specifically to assess the mission outcomes and determine appropriate responses."
"Like the "Orders" Kaelen muttered to himself.
"The academy protects its students," she continued quickly, seeing his expression. "But our reach has limits. Once you leave campus, once you enter the Scourged Zones on missions or hunts, you're in gray areas where academy authority is more suggestion than law."
Mira's eyes held his. "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to prepare you. What you did was remarkable, and it's going to change how people see you. Some of those changes will be good. Some won't."
Kaelen thought about Lord Cassian's warning. "Power without backing is vulnerability."
"What should I do?" he asked.
"Get stronger, obviously. But also smarter about who you trust and what opportunities you accept." Mira's tone was pragmatic. "Build genuine relationships, not transactional ones."
She stood again, preparing to leave.
"One more thing. The adventurer circuit." Her expression was neutral."For the last beasts materials your last team got... the academy's offering 350,000 credits for the F and E rank materials." She continued."The Obsidian mauler could have being yours but i obliterated it."
"You killed it, that makes it yours." He said simply.
"You should be more possessive. If you're in the scourged zone, there's always an unspoken rule. The beast you engage is yours alone."
"Well... I'm not an adventurer—"
"Every second-year must complete their Adventurer registration and participate in at least one sanctioned expedition per semester. It's part of the curriculum because the academy believes real-world experience in the Scourged Zones is irreplaceable."
"But here's what they don't tell you in orientation: The adventurer world has its own culture. Its own rules. And some of those rules are... medieval."
Kaelen frowned. "Like what?"
"Like kill rights," Mira said bluntly. "If you engage a Beast in the Zones and someone else kills it, there's an unspoken hierarchy about who claims the materials and credit. The one who landed the killing blow has primary claim. The one who did the most damage has secondary claim. Anyone else who participated gets negotiated shares."
"Sounds reasonable," Kaelen said.
"It is, until it isn't." Her expression hardened. "I once saw a team of four spend three hours wearing down a B-rank Wyrm. They'd coordinated perfectly, used consumables worth thousands of credits, and had it at five percent health. Then a solo Paragon-level adventurer showed up, delivered the killing blow in thirty seconds, and claimed the entire corpse under kill rights."
"That's—"
"Legal. Technically." Mira's voice was cold. "The team protested. The Paragon offered them ten percent of the materials as 'compensation.' When they refused, he walked away with everything. Their expedition was a net loss, and there was nothing they could do about it."
She let that sink in.
"The guilds try to regulate this stuff, but in the Zones? Might makes right more often than not. If you're strong enough to take something, and no one's strong enough to stop you, then it's yours."
Kaelen felt his chest tighten. "And the academy just... accepts this?"
"The academy exists within a system it didn't create," Mira said. "They teach you ethics, teamwork, honor. Then they send you into a world where those things are optional. It's a reality check every student faces eventually."
She moved to the door, then paused.
"I'm telling you this because you have a pattern, Kaelen. You see someone in trouble, you intervene. You see unfairness, you push back. That conviction is admirable, but in the Zones? It can get you killed."
"So what, I just accept it? Let stronger people take whatever they want?"
"No." Her amber eyes were intense. "You get strong enough that they can't. That's the only answer that matters out there. Principle without power is just noise."
The words hung in the air between them.
"For the Mauler. A C-rank crystal and material is worth 1.7 million credit on the market and it's a rare variant. I will give you 1.1 million credit."
Kaelen's eyes widened. Forty-three thousand, seven hundred and fifty credits was more money than he'd ever had. His share alone from the 350,000. And now 1.1 million credit. But it was from her pocket.
The 43,750 credits alone was more money than his mother earned in a year. More money than he'd ever seen in his life.
"But—"
"Before you decline it, think of it has an appreciation from me. For being brave."
"Thanks miss Mira "
She opened the door.
"Rest. Tomorrow the Council will ask you questions, and you need to be sharp for that."
"That quick?"
"Well... it's as soon as you wake."
"After this ordeal?"
A faint smile touched her lips. "After this, focus on getting strong enough that when someone tries to take what's yours, they think twice."
Then she was gone.
Kaelen lay back against the pillows, Mira's words echoing in his mind.
The world outside was more brutal than he'd realized. Ethics were optional. Fairness was an illusion. Power was the only currency that mattered.
Lord Cassian had told him to build backing. Mira had told him to build strength. Sera had told him to survive without embarrassing himself.
Everyone was telling him the same thing in different words: The world was dangerous, and he needed to be more dangerous to survive it.
His hand moved to the pendant beneath his medical gown. Warm metal, gear-shaped, carrying mysteries he still didn't understand.
"What are you?" he wondered for the hundredth time.
No answer came. Just the steady beep of medical equipment and the distant sounds of the academy beyond his window.
Tomorrow he'd face the Council. Tomorrow he'd deal with politics and scrutiny and whatever complicated attention Mira had warned about.
Tonight, he just needed to rest and process the fact that the world was bigger, crueler, and more complex than his first-year idealism had prepared him for.
"Get strong enough that they think twice."
That was the goal now. Everything else was just details.