Faiser stepped away from the training ground with calm strides, leaving behind the noise that no longer meant much to him, as if what had happened there was nothing more than a short experience whose page had already been closed. And yet… his mind had not left; it continued to reconstruct every moment, every movement, every mistake, and every missed opportunity, while his body walked without hesitation through one of the long corridors stretching between the sect's buildings, where the light dimmed and the isolation deepened, as if the place itself granted those who passed through it a chance to think without distraction.
"Levels… are not everything."
He said it to himself slowly, as if reaffirming an idea that had not fully settled yet, then continued inwardly in a deeper tone:
"Power as it is presented here… is more superficial than I expected, or perhaps… I am looking at it from a different angle, because what determined the outcome of the fight was not just the difference in energy, but the difference in understanding, in rhythm, in the ability to see what others cannot."
He paused for a moment.
Then—
"But that doesn't mean I'm the strongest."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"It only means… I haven't been tested yet."
And at that moment…
"Faiser?"
He stopped.
He turned calmly.
It was Shirin.
Standing a few steps away, the dim light reflecting on her features, her eyes carrying a hint of hesitation, and something else… she did not try to reveal completely.
She stepped closer, then spoke in a natural tone that tried to sound more normal than it actually was:
"I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you would stay in the arena for a while after what happened."
Faiser replied calmly, his eyes on her without tension:
"Staying after something ends… doesn't change its outcome."
She paused for a moment, as if trying to grasp what lay behind his words, then smiled lightly and said:
"You… really are strange in the way you speak."
He shrugged indifferently:
"Maybe."
A brief silence followed, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was filled with something light, undefined, as if the conversation had not truly begun yet.
Then she suddenly said, looking at him more intently:
"I was watching the fight."
He didn't comment.
So she continued:
"And it was… different."
She paused.
Then—
"Not just because you won."
She looked at him directly.
"But because… you didn't fight like anyone here."
Faiser smiled faintly, an unclear smile.
"Everyone fights in their own way."
She shook her head slightly:
"No… that's not what I mean. What I mean is… you didn't use a sword, even though that's the foundation here. Even the weakest disciples rely on it, and yet… you ignored it completely, as if you didn't need it."
He paused.
This time…
He didn't answer immediately.
He looked at her for a few seconds, then said in a calm tone:
"Because… it wasn't necessary."
She raised an eyebrow slightly:
"It wasn't necessary…?"
He nodded calmly:
"A fight is decided by what is enough to win, not by what seems appropriate to others."
She studied him for a moment.
Then she smiled lightly:
"You speak as if… you don't see yourself as part of this place."
"Maybe… because I'm not. Not yet."
But—
Inside him… something else was happening.
"It wasn't necessary…?"
He repeated it.
Then—
"Is that really true…?"
His thoughts suddenly stopped at a point he hadn't expected.
"I… didn't use the sword."
An inner silence.
Then—
"But… why?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, though it didn't show on his face.
"I… used it before."
"In fact… I was proficient with it."
Unclear memories flowed in—gripping, movement, balance, cutting… everything was there.
But—
"Why… didn't I even think of it?"
It wasn't a decision. It wasn't rejection.
It was—
Absence.
"This… isn't normal."
Shirin's voice interrupted his thoughts:
"Anyway… your fight was interesting, even if you tried to make it look like a coincidence."
He looked at her and smiled slightly.
"Do you think it wasn't?"
She smiled as well, but didn't answer.
"I don't know…"
Then she added quietly:
"But… you don't seem like someone who relies on luck."
A brief silence followed, then Faiser let out a soft breath:
"Maybe…"
Then he moved slightly, as if preparing to leave:
"Anyway… I'm going to the library."
"Now?"
"Yes."
She looked at him for a moment, then said:
"You really don't waste time, do you?"
He replied calmly:
"Time… is the only thing that can't be replaced."
She smiled.
A light smile… but longer this time.
"Then… don't be too late."
He nodded.
Then—
He left.
The corridor leading to the library was not just an ordinary path this time. It felt like an extension of something deeper, something unseen yet sensed. Every step Faiser took echoed faintly—not in the place… but within him, as if the surrounding emptiness was not as silent as it seemed, but watching, weighing, and responding in a mysterious way that could not be easily explained.
"Hmmm… this feeling… it wasn't here before, or perhaps… I was the one who wasn't able to notice it."
It wasn't fear, nor even caution. It was closer to a slow, indirect pull, as if something did not want to reveal itself, yet at the same time… did not fully hide its presence. A sensation that made the mind alert without a clear reason, and made the body move with an unjustified caution.
The closer he got to the library door, the clearer that feeling became—not with sudden intensity, but with an unsettling gradualness, like a drop of water falling repeatedly on the same spot. Even without pain… it imposed its presence.
"What is this strange sensation I'm suddenly feeling? This doesn't feel like a sense of danger…"
He stopped for a moment, looking at the door in front of him, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if trying to see what could not be seen.
"But also… not something that can be ignored."
He slowly extended his hand, and did not hesitate much, because retreating here was not an option that suited him—not his nature, nor his way of thinking. Then he pushed the door and entered.
The moment he crossed the threshold—
Nothing changed outwardly. The library was as it was: shelves, books, still air…
But—
Inside him, something changed. A cold, light sensation passed through his awareness—not like a touch, but like the passing of a thought that was not entirely his. A thought not yet formed, yet present.
He stopped.
He didn't move immediately. His eyes moved slowly, observing the place, but his true focus was not on what he saw… but on what he felt.
"This feeling isn't tied to the place alone…"
He breathed slowly.
"It's tied to me… but why now!?"
A brief silence followed, but it was not empty. It was charged with something incomprehensible, something that had no form yet, but pressed against his perception in a way that made ignoring it impossible.
Then—
He smiled.
A faint smile… but not innocent. A mixture of curiosity… and challenge.
"This… is interesting."
He whispered it to himself, as if this mystery did not unsettle him, but rather… sparked his interest even more.
"If this world hides things like this…"
He took a step inside, slowly, steadily.
"Then I'm in the right place."
But this time—
He wasn't walking like someone searching for knowledge.
Nor like someone reading.
But like someone… approaching.
Approaching something he did not yet know, yet instinctively understood… was not ordinary.
And in the depth of that stillness—
There was something unseen…
It did not move.
It made no sound.
But—
For the first time in a long while…
It was no longer still.