The night pressed heavy, the air thick with the weight of rain yet to fall.
Elira's breath came short and uneven. The world around her dissolved—wood, light, sound—until all that remained was the shimmer of pale mist beneath her feet.
A voice drifted through the emptiness.
"Do you fight for the same lie?"
She turned sharply, her sword already in hand. "Who's there?"
"The lie that swallowed him. The one you still follow."
Shadows coiled beneath her. Light fell like broken glass, each fragment reflecting her own face—some crying, some silent. She raised her sword high.
"Lumeveil!"
The weapon's glow came alive—then faltered.
The blade fractured mid-swing, scattering into dust. The air itself seemed to bleed as a whisper slid through her skull.
"Your father begged for power too. And when it answered, it devoured him."
The ground shattered beneath her feet.
She fell through light—
and woke.
Sweat clung to her neck. Her breath trembled.
Haco sat by the door, tail swaying faintly, half-awake.
"Second trial," he murmured without looking. "Didn't go well, did it?"
Elira pressed a hand to her collarbone, feeling the dull ache of the spirit mark beneath her skin. "It rejected me."
"Not rejected," Haco said softly. "Just waiting. Some doors don't open when you knock too fast."
Her Axis Veil flickered faintly in her vision.
—Spirit Link Unstable—
—Lumeveil: Unresponsive—
The light dimmed and went out.
By morning, the rain had turned to drizzle.
The group reached a small wooden inn near the trade road, one of the few places still standing after last year's storms. The scent of bread and wet pine drifted through the halls.
Mira stretched with a yawn. "Finally, a bed that isn't made of rocks. I'm claiming the bath first."
Kael grunted, half-asleep, waving her off.
Five minutes later, steam drifted under the adjoining door between their rooms.
Kael, half-awake and holding a towel, pushed open the other door. "Mira, you done ye—"
He froze.
Through the mist, Mira turned—her long red hair clinging to her shoulders, eyes wide.
"Kael—" she gasped.
He blinked. "Wait, I—"
The explosion of fire and steam that followed nearly split the inn in half.
A few seconds later—
Smoke poured down the hall. Kael lay flat on the floor, half-charred, mumbling something about "steam physics."
Mira's voice erupted from inside, furious: "You absolute idiot! I'm locking that door forever!"
Elira stumbled out of her room, half-dressed, tugging at her shirt buttons. "What happened—"
She bumped straight into Haco.
For a heartbeat, neither moved. Her jacket hung loose over bare shoulders; his eyes widened just once before he turned sharply away.
"I didn't see anything," he said flatly.
Elira's face flushed bright red. "You—you better not have!"
"I didn't."
"Then stop talking like you did!"
"I'm trying!"
Mira's voice roared from the bathroom, "I told you to knock!"
Kael groaned from the floor, still smoking slightly. "I just saw steam…"
For a long moment, no one spoke. The steam seeped into the hall, curling between them.
Even the rain outside seemed to pause.
Haco exhaled through his nose. "You three cause more damage than half the monsters I've met."
Elira hid her face behind her collar, mortified. The whole corridor felt heavy with awkward silence.
That night, quiet returned at last.
Rain tapped softly on the windowpanes. Mira and Kael were already asleep, leaving only Elira awake by the dim glow of an oil lamp.
Lumeveil lay across her knees, dark and unresponsive.
She tried again—"Lumeveil"—but only a weak shimmer answered.
The voice came again, calm but cold:
"Because you are walking the same road he did. The one that ends in ruin."
Elira clenched her fists. "Then guide me. Don't turn away."
But no reply came. Only the whisper of rain and the soft pulse of her heartbeat.
Her Axis Veil shimmered faintly in her sight:
Elira – Sword Proficiency +12
Consencrate – Unstable
Link Strength – Weak
The red glow faded.
Mira stirred at the light, murmuring something in her sleep. Kael rolled over, groaning. But it was Haco who appeared silently at her side, his voice low.
"Turn it off," he said.
Elira looked up, startled. "It's just the Veil—"
"Now."
She blinked, then closed her hand over the faint light until it vanished.
Haco's expression was still and sharp, like carved stone.
"If even your spirit starts doubting you," he said quietly, "don't beg for its trust. Prove you deserve it."
Then he turned, leaving her in the warm flicker of lamplight.
Elira sat alone for a long time after. The fire in the hearth burned low, and the rain outside deepened into a steady rhythm.
She held the sword close, whispering, "I'll prove it… just wait for me."
Lumeveil's surface trembled once—just enough to catch the reflection of her eyes.
The glow neither brightened nor dimmed, like a breath caught between heartbeats.
The night lingered—quiet, uncertain, and full of things left unsaid.