Rian sat on the floor of his room, legs crossed and back against the wall.
"Hah…" Rian said, letting out a sigh.
The window to his right was cracked open, a thread of greyish light slipping through the curtains.
His hands rested on his knees, and his blue eyes were fixed on an invisible point ahead of him.
It was strange.
Not just because he'd knocked Gavren flying, but because of what came after.
The reactions of the people here… they were different.
Back in his clan, every time he used his power by accident, he'd always been scolded or punished.
But out here, in the outside world… it was different.
Or maybe the right way to put it was that Cresthaven was different?
Despite the excited reactions from his classmates, there'd been no reproach.
The headmistress, Alina, had clapped for him and ranked him S without a second thought. Then there was Toren, a lad also ranked S like him, who instead of mocking him had asked for tips.
One word Toren had said, out of all the things he'd rattled off, had stuck in Rian's mind:
Admiration.
Hearing someone use that word about him felt downright odd to Rian.
In his clan, the best he'd ever got was a grunt of approval from his uncle when he managed to chop firewood without zapping anything.
But admiration?
That… that was new.
And it wasn't just Toren. Lena Blaze and her grandad Marcus had treated him with an attitude he still didn't know how to wrap his head around.
Why had they been so… nice to him?
At first, he'd climbed into Marcus's cart out of habit—following orders to avoid trouble, and because he had nothing to lose—but…
Rian frowned, scratching his cheek with a finger.
"Can I really be someone admirable?" he murmured under his breath. "I don't get it…"
Rian started fidgeting with his fingers, tapping his knee.
In his mind, he could still see Gavren's body soaring through the air, the crunch of his landing, and that blue spark that had raced through him.
But that time, there'd been no dizziness, no buzzing in his head.
'What's so different about those pills?' Rian wondered, before a sharp knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts.
Knock, knock, knock.
Rian tilted his head, blinking, as the handle turned and the door creaked open slightly.
Kaelin Veyra stepped in, pausing at the threshold with one hand on her hip and the other holding something small that glinted in the dim light.
Her long black hair hung loose, falling in messy strands over her shoulders, and her red eyes widened a bit when she saw him sitting there on the floor.
"Seriously?" Kaelin said, tilting her head in disbelief, though a faint smile tugged at her lips. "Do you like brooding in the dark or what? Your room's like a bloody cave."
Rian blinked again, scratching the back of his neck with an awkward grimace.
"Hello," Rian murmured simply and directly, standing up slowly and stretching his legs with a faint crack.
He didn't bother explaining that he hadn't touched the curtains because he wasn't sure if he was meant to. Everything in that room—the narrow bed, the scratched desk, the lamp he hadn't switched on—still felt foreign to him.
Kaelin let out a dry chuckle, stepping fully inside and shutting the door behind her with a nudge of her foot.
"Greetings, Rank S," she replied, rolling her eyes as she approached. She pulled a rectangular object from her pocket—Rian's phone—and waved it in the air like it was a prize. "Came to give this back. Couldn't hand it over this morning with the ceremony and all the drama, but you've got messages from some girl waiting."
Rian nodded, reaching out to take the phone.
"Thanks."
He took it carefully, holding it between his fingers like it might break, turning it slightly to inspect it. He frowned, recalling something Kaelin had said when she walked in.
"Wait, you said… messages from a girl?"
Kaelin raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she gave him a crooked smile.
"Yeah, you've got a few."
Rian blinked, his blue eyes widening a touch.
'Oh… probably her,' Rian thought, picturing Lena.
"Where… where do I check that?" he asked, peering at his phone.
Truth was, he still barely understood the thing. Kaelin froze for a second, her smile stuck on her face. Then she let out a short laugh, throwing her head back like she couldn't believe it.
"Oh, come on… Are you serious, Rian?" Kaelin said, her voice pitching up as she pressed a hand to her forehead. "Have you genuinely never used a phone before or what?"
She'd meant it as a joke, but when she saw Rian's face, her laughter cut off sharp.
"Wait… You've actually never used a phone? Then how did you even…?"
Rian scratched his cheek, shrugging.
"They gave it to me recently," he admitted, his voice low and shameless. "It's the first phone I've ever had."
Silence.
Kaelin stared at Rian, her red eyes wide open.
For a moment, she said nothing, just looked at him.
"Right… I see…" Kaelin murmured at last, her tone softer, almost disbelieving.
This explained a lot!
At first, Kaelin had figured Rian came from some weird, over-the-top clan…
'No, hang on, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Rian's life makes no sense!' Kaelin thought, realising she couldn't fathom how he knew nothing about phones. To her, imagining a clan that didn't use any technology at all…
Wouldn't that be a bit too old-fashioned?