Dr. Robert turned his gaze toward Denver, and the moment their eyes met, her stomach twisted. His stare wasn't just curious it felt like he was dissecting her, as if she were nothing more than a specimen under a microscope.
She resisted the urge to step back. Don't flinch. Don't show weakness. But her fingers curled into her palms, nails digging into her skin.
Then, as if she were nothing more than an afterthought, he turned back to Dr. Kiara.
"I see," he said with a faint, mocking smile, "you have a new freak in your care."
The word hit harder than she expected.
Dr. Kiara's expression darkened instantly. She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms, her posture stiff and defensive. The light, teasing scientist from earlier was gone replaced by someone colder, sharper.
The air between them thickened, like a storm gathering before lightning struck.
Denver swallowed. She didn't fully understand the history between them, but she could feel it old resentment, buried anger, something that went far beyond simple professional rivalry.
"You know, Dr. Kiara," Dr. Robert continued, his tone deceptively light, "I never understood why you chose to specialize in curses. We both know those freaks are nothing but trouble."
Denver's jaw tightened at the word, but she stayed silent, staring at the grass as if the ground itself was suddenly more interesting than him.
Dr. Robert paused, then stepped closer, his polished shoes sinking slightly into the soft soil. He extended a hand toward Kiara, palm open, like a gentleman offering a dance.
"What about you come work for us?" he said smoothly. "As the head of the gift diagnostics division, you'd have all the resources you want. Be it power, funding, authority. I'll treat you very well."
Dr. Kiara didn't even glance at his hand, her expression remained neutral, but the faint twitch in her eye betrayed her irritation.
"Unfortunately," she replied flatly, "I'm not interested in your offer. So I'll have to pass."
She brushed past him without another word and walked toward Denver, her boots crunching softly against the grass. When she stopped beside her, she turned just enough for Robert to hear her next words clearly.
"I like staying with the freaks," she said, her lips curling into a faint, mischievous smile. "They're more fun than your precious gift users."
Denver blinked, startled. 'Did she just call me that on purpose?' But there was no cruelty in Kiara's tone only defiance.
Dr. Robert's smile stiffened.
Dr. Kiara raised her hand and made a casual gesture toward Agent Kael, signaling him to follow. Kael gave Robert one last unreadable glance before walking toward them, his long coat swaying with each step.
As they regrouped, Denver felt something strange settle in her chest. Being called a freak by Dr. Robert had hurt, but hearing Kiara say it so casually, so unapologetically, felt different.
Like she wasn't ashamed of them, she didn't see Denver as a mistake. And for some reason… that mattered more than she wanted to admit.
Denver glared at Dr. Robert with pure disdain before turning to Dr. Kiara.
"Who is that dude anyway?"
Dr. Kiara met her gaze and replied casually, as if the encounter hadn't bothered her at all. "He's just a fan of mine."
The word fan made Denver's brow twitch. For some reason, it reminded her of Dion that troublesome kid who always managed to get himself into chaos. No wonder the word felt irritating.
"Anyway, let's proceed with the test," Dr. Kiara added, smiling as though she hadn't just dealt with someone she clearly disliked.
Denver sighed and turned toward Agent Kael. Catching his attention, she stepped closer and lowered her voice turning it into a whisper.
"Hey… can you help me out?"
Kael raised a brow, his expression unreadable as always. "With what…?"
Denver let out a short, awkward laugh and scratched the back of her head. It wasn't graceful. It wasn't confident. It was the kind of laugh someone gives when they know they're about to suggest something completely ridiculous.
"Well," she muttered, glancing briefly toward Dr. Kiara to make sure she wasn't listening too closely, "I kind of need you to… uh, beat me up a little."
She winced immediately after saying it out loud.
'Wow. That sounded even dumber than it did in my head.'
Her shoulders lifted defensively. "Not like randomly obviously! Just… you know. For the test."
Kael stared at her.
Blank. Silent. Still processing what he just heard.
The wind brushed between them, stretching the pause longer than necessary.
Denver cleared her throat. "You're good at it anyway."
She gave him a sheepish grin, fully aware she had just volunteered herself for something painful and something she might regret it in the next five minutes.
Moments later, they stood facing each other, with Dr. Kiara only a few feet away. The wind tugged at Denver's hair as Kiara observed her closely, her silver eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and concern.
"Are you sure about this?" Dr. Kiara asked.
"Aren't you the one who told me to recreate the feeling of my first awakening?" Denver shot back.
"Yes, but I said the feeling," Dr. Kiara corrected, her expression tightening slightly. "Not the actual scene."
Denver didn't care anymore.
Getting beaten up was better than standing there like an idiot, throwing random poses and forced emotions around while everyone watched her fail and she refused to be the only one on that field who couldn't produce a result.
With one last desperate attempt, this was the only thing she could think of.
She shot Agent Kael a sharp glance as he stepped in front of her. "Hey, don't forget your lines," she muttered. "And don't hesitate."
Kael didn't reply. He simply nodded once, raising both hands near his cheeks and curling them into fists. His expression was unreadable, but his posture shifted subtle, calculated and dangerous.
From a distance, Dr. Robert watched them with a disturbed frown. Their strange behavior clearly unsettled him, and he turned away with a scoff.
"What a bunch of freaks."
His group headed toward the massive gate, their figures slowly disappearing as they left the training ground.
Denver was still looking at Kael. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze. No one moved. No one breathed. The field felt too wide and eerily quiet.
'Here it comes.'
Denver clenched her teeth, her fingers curling into her palms as she braced herself. Her heart pounded so loudly it drowned out the wind, memories flashing through her mind pain, fear, the moment everything in her life had changed.
Then Kael moved. He was fast, too fast.
Her eyes barely registered the motion before his body shot forward. His right arm rose in a clean, precise arc, forming into a devastating hook.
The punch connected with her jaw.
The impact snapped her head sideways, and the world spun violently as her body lifted off balance. She crashed to the ground, her vision blurring, her limbs heavy, as if she were nothing more than a broken doll tossed aside.
Denver was on the ground still recovering from the blow, crouching inward as she struggled to pull air back into her lungs. The world tilted slightly, sound muffled and distant, like she was underwater.
Then Kael's shadow fell over her.
He stood above her, tall and unmoved, his gaze fixed on her with cold detachment. There was nothing human in his expression, no irritation, no anger. Just cold eyes watching her, like she was nothing significant.
His foot struck her side not hard enough to break, but enough to roll her onto her back, leaving her completely exposed beneath him.
The sky stretched endlessly behind his silhouette. For a second, she felt fear.
She shivered.
"You rats are quite the runners, aren't you?" he said lightly, though there was no warmth in his voice, it was calm.
Before she could gather herself, before she could even think his boot pressed down on her chest.
Air vanished.
A sharp weight crushed against her ribs, forcing the air out of her lungs.
"Urgh…" Denver groaned, the sound weak and strained, barely escaping her throat.
Her hands instinctively shot up to grab his ankle, fingers trembling. Her heartbeat pounded violently in her ears, each thud louder than the last. The pressure increased not enough to crush her, but enough to remind her exactly how powerless she was beneath him.
Above her, Kael didn't blink.
He simply watched.
"You're the kind of rats I hate the most," he said, pressing down harder. "Always resisting, why don't you just stay obedient?"
"Kael! Aren't you going overboard?!" Dr. Kiara shouted, her voice filled with alarm.
He didn't respond.
Instead, his foot pressed down harder.
The weight on her chest intensified, crushing the remaining air from Denver's lungs in one merciless push. A sharp, suffocating pressure spread through her ribs, stealing even the smallest breath before it could form.
Her vision blurred.
Panic bloomed violently inside her, crawling up her throat, wrapping icy fingers around her heart. She clawed at his boot, nails scraping uselessly against the fabric as she tried to force it off. But her arms trembled. Her strength was fading too weak, far too weak.
'I… I can't… breathe.'
The thought barely formed in her mind, fragmented and fading.
The world began to darken at the edges, shadows creeping inward like closing curtains. The sky above him seemed farther away now, distant and unreachable. The sound of her own heartbeat pounded violently in her ears slow, heavy, desperate.
Each second felt longer than the last, still Kael did not move.
Then something inside Denver snapped.
It wasn't loud or dramatic.
It was only faint and quiet.
A cold sensation flooded her veins, spreading from her chest to her fingertips like ink dissolving in water. The suffocating weight on her lungs was still there but something deeper had awakened beneath it.
The shadows around them began to thicken.
At first, it was subtle. The edges of Kael's silhouette stretched a little too far across the grass. The darkness beneath Denver's body pooled unnaturally, expanding, blending with the surrounding shade as if they were all being pulled toward a single point.
The air grew heavier and denser.
Breathing became difficult not just for her.
The wind that had been brushing across the field stilled completely, as if even nature was hesitating.
Kael noticed instantly.
The indifference vanished from his face.
His eyes sharpened, scanning the ground as the shadows merged into something darker, something alive. He stepped back just slightly just enough to shift his balance and raised one hand toward Dr. Kiara without looking at her.
A silent warning.
Stay back.
Then the darkness at Denver's feet trembled.