The sky above was overcast, clouds hanging low like a thick gray blanket. A cold breeze whistled through the sleepy town of Vaelmoor, brushing through rows of trees lining the cracked sidewalk. It was quiet. Fat too quiet for a country that had should've been alive with color, music, and magic.
A boy walked alone down the worn path, hands in his pockets, hood over his head.
His name was Aaron.
At first glance, he looked normal. No strange eyes, no pointed ears, no markings. But people didn't look at Aaron for what they could see, they looked at him for what they felt.
A presence. Heavy. Dense. So dense it felt they were being suffocated under it. Like standing in a overly stuffy room or being crushed by some invisible weight. Most people avoided walking near him, their instincts screaming at them to stay away.
Because Aaron was constantly suppressing an immense amount of mana, so much that it leaked through the cracks of his control like steam from a boiling pot.
The only thing keeping it in check was the pendant hanging from his neck, warm against his chest. He wore it beneath his uniform, tucked away like a secret.
This morning was like most mornings. He didn't smile. He didn't talk. He just walked, humming while trying to get through another day without drawing attention.
But attention had other plans.
"RAHHHHH!"
Aaron's eyes barely twitched as something, or rather someone, launched at him from behind the school gate.
A blur of red. A grin way too wide. A body mid air, twisting into a flying tackle.
Kael.
Another student. Another Vessel bearer. And someone who never knew how to read the mood.
Aaron sighed.
"Too early for this…"
Without looking, without flinching, without breaking stride, his fist moved.
A simple punch.
But the air cracked and a deafening sonic boom resonated throughout the surroundings.
BOOM.
Kael was gone. He launched straight ahead like a meteor, crashing into the school doors with a thunderous shatter. The shockwave rattled windows across the entire front of the building. Glass exploded inward. Walls cracked.
A sickening sound echoed after him. A sort of wet splatter, the kind that didn't belong in a schoolyard.
Kael's body skidded across the marble hall inside, smoking, limbs twitching. Holes, each the size of a melon, were punched clean through his chest.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then… a low murmur.
Students who had just walked through the school doors moments earlier paused and looked on. Some raised eyebrows. A few leaned over each other's shoulders to get a better view. But nobody screamed. Nobody ran.
At the far end of the hall, a first year student stood frozen, mouth slightly open, his tray of food shaking in his hands.
"H-He just—he punched a hole through him!"
"Relax," a taller boy beside him muttered, not even looking up from his tablet. "They're vessel bearers / vessels. This kind of crap happens all the time."
The younger student blinked. "But that's… isn't that, like… fatal?"
"Not for guys like them. Kael'll regenerate literally instantly if not somehow quicker."
The younger student blankly stared. "Quicker than genuine instant regeneration? How does that even work…? And why isnt he already regenerated then?"
"No clue"
He nodded toward Aaron, now casually walking up the steps into the main building, wiping blood off his shoulder.
"Worry less about that freakshow," the upperclassman continued, eyes flicking to a digital banner floating above the hallway. "Annual Cross-school Tournament – 0 Days Remaining."
"Worry about that."