The guild felt different when they returned.
Kael noticed it immediately.
The noise was still there, the movement and conversation unchanged, but something beneath it had shifted.
People were watching him again.
But this time, it wasn't curiosity.
It was calculation.
"…Okay," he muttered under his breath, slowing slightly. "That's new."
Lyra walked straight to the front desk.
The same woman looked up as they approached, her expression sharpening immediately.
"You're back sooner than expected," she said.
Lyra placed the mission token down. "Completed."
The woman's eyes flicked down to it, then back up again.
"…You went beyond the assigned zone."
It wasn't a question.
"Unexpected engagement," Lyra replied.
The woman's attention shifted to Kael.
"What rank?"
"Above F."
Silence.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
But noticeable.
"Explain," she said.
Kael exhaled slowly. "It hit harder than anything else we've seen. I tried to redirect it, but it didn't respond the same way."
"That still does not explain the result."
"…I adapted," he said.
The woman reached beneath the counter and pulled out a small device.
"Place your hand here."
Kael glanced at it. "This is where something goes wrong, isn't it?"
"No."
"…That doesn't sound convincing."
He placed his hand on the device anyway.
It activated immediately.
A low hum filled the space as pressure built around his hand.
Not like before.
More focused.
More controlled.
His body reacted instinctively.
He reached for it—
Caught it—
And shifted it.
The device cracked.
A thin fracture spread across its surface before it went still.
The room quieted slightly.
"…That," the woman said slowly, "is not F-rank output."
Kael pulled his hand back, staring at the device.
"…I'm starting to notice that."
But this time—
Everyone else noticed too.