Everything felt... heavier the next morning.
Whispers followed me everywhere, but classes resumed as if nothing had happened. Jung Min-Ho had been humiliated by me, the child. The student who faced a Rank-S hunter head-to-head and left without even limping. There were a lot of rumors. I was accused of being a clone of Kael Arashi. Others claimed that forbidden magic had been used to artificially awaken me.
It was all wrong, but it didn't matter.
Because people were misinformed about the true threat.
Who was observing?
Woo-Jin slid onto the bench opposite me during lunch. Not a tray. No grin.
"They're tracking you."
I didn't wince. "I understand."
With a sigh, he took out a tiny metal cube and set it on the table. The cafeteria's lights and sounds faded into silence as the world around us shimmered with a gentle chime.
"Privacy field," he stated. "Level Three." These can only be carried by instructors. I took it.
I furrowed my brow. "And no one noticed?"
"They spent too much time attempting to decipher your mana signature from the trial yesterday. Baek Dong-Su was rendered unconscious by you. That is a declaration rather than merely news.
I bent over. "So let's quit acting. Why are you actually present?
Woo-Jin hesitated.
"Because... I was like you once. "Not power-wise," he hurriedly added. However, a renegade hunter who *wasn't supposed to exist* trained me. She vanished after the Association learned about it. No grave, no record.
He took a swallow. "Anomalies annoy them. Their system does not include you. That frightens them.
I balled my fist under the table. "They perceive me as a danger."
Even worse. They consider you to be unknown. They are unable to follow you. They are unable to control you. By default, that makes you dangerous.
I took a seat. "So what do we do?"
He grinned glumly. "No, we don't. You work out. You gain strength. And you don't just survive when they come for you, which they will. You demonstrate to them why your father was able to enter a National Gate by himself and escape unharmed.
---
I sneaked into the forbidden training area that evening. The mana scanners barely detected my phony ID, but it was successful. For the time being.
The lights were dim and the room was deserted. I took the black dagger my mother had given me out of my jacket. The dagger of my father. Still humming, still warm.
I drove it into the ground.
The room reacted.
The world blinked as a circle of blue runes flared beneath me.
[Start of Trial: Shadow Layer]
[Caution: There is instability in this dimension. No outside help is allowed. Survival is necessary in order to calibrate the system.]
[Increased Time Flow: 12 hours indoors = 1 hour outdoors]
I felt weighed down.
My mana let out a shriek.
Shadow beasts, with long limbs and hollow eyes, emerged from the darkness that poured from the earth. These weren't tidy, obedient summonses like the Architect's shadow soldiers were.
They were starving.
The first one lunged. I kicked it back after barely avoiding it. In an instant, it reformed. I ducked and slashed upward with the dagger, severing its torso as another swiped from behind.
With a screech, it vanished into smoke.
[1/50 Removed]
Fifty? Oh no.
I changed my position. It's time to put the Storm to the test.
My veins throbbed with energy. *Something deeper* Not just mana. I reached inside myself, where the lightning resided, and released it.
["Storm Monarch's Wrath" - Awakening Phase One]
My eyes were burning. Arcs of crackling blue lit up my arms. I didn't dodge when the next wave of shadows arrived.
I *shifted.*
I moved between them like a storm, tearing them apart, burning, striking. The system was fed by each kill. The dagger pulse brightened with each kill.
[18/50 Removed]
[27/50 Removed]
My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, my body hurt.
[45/50 Removed]
I staggered and cried out as a claw sliced across my back.
Too sluggish. I'm growing weary.
I pushed mana into the runes underneath me by slamming my palm into the ground.
"Force Pulse—Override!"
The remaining shadows were vaporized as the floor exploded in a wave of blue lightning.
Quiet.
[50/50 Removed]
[Completed Trial; 87% Synchronization]
[New Ability Unlocked: "Storm Pulse"]
Gasping, I fell to my knees.
Once more, the world blinked.
Back in the training room. No indication of combat. No runes. It was just me, sweating, holding a dagger that now glowed dimly in the stormlight.
However, I wasn't by myself.
From the observation deck above came a voice.
"I wanted to know when you would use that."
I raised my head.
Jin-Woo.
Not the future version, not the student version. Completely awake. Violet-glows in the eyes. clad in black.
He was invisible to everyone else.
I said, "You're not real."
He grinned. "Not just yet. However, I'm observing. Additionally, *they* will be. Arashi, get ready. The storm is just getting started.
He disappeared.
As if in agreement, my dagger pulsed.