Zero could feel it.
The village breathed differently now.
Tighter.
People walked faster. Spoke softer. Looked toward the forest longer than usual before shutting their windows.
Fear spread quietly in places like Ashvale.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
It slipped into routines.
Into glances.
Into silence.
Zero sat beside the window in his room watching the dark tree line far beyond the village borders.
The forest looked normal from here.
That was the problem.
Nothing visible had changed.
Yet ever since the roar earlier—
his body refused to relax.
The scars beneath his clothes throbbed faintly.
Not painful anymore.
Just... awake.
Like nerves exposed to cold air.
Behind him, Klaus laid upside down across the bed with one arm hanging toward the floor.
"...You know," he muttered, "if something kills me because I stayed awake all night, I'm blaming you."
Zero didn't look away from the window.
"You were already awake."
"Details."
Klaus sighed dramatically before shifting slightly.
The bed creaked beneath him.
"...Still hurting?"
Zero knew what he meant immediately.
"My scars?"
"Yeah."
A brief silence followed.
"...A little."
Klaus frowned faintly.
That answer clearly bothered him more than he admitted.
Normally he'd joke again immediately.
This time he didn't.
Outside, wind rustled softly through the trees.
Somewhere nearby, a dog barked once before suddenly going quiet.
Klaus eventually sat upright.
"Father thinks something's coming."
Zero glanced toward him slightly.
"He told you that?"
"No." Klaus crossed his arms behind his head. "But he checked every weapon in the house twice before dinner."
That was true.
Zero had noticed too.
Elias usually stayed calm no matter what happened.
Tonight felt different.
The older man had spoken less during dinner.
Listened more.
Watched the windows too often.
And Mira—
Mira kept smiling the entire meal despite barely eating anything herself.
Trying to keep things normal.
Trying to keep them calm.
Zero noticed that too.
He always noticed.
"...You think it's a mutated beast?" Klaus asked quietly.
"I don't know."
Klaus clicked his tongue softly.
"Hate when you answer like that."
"Then stop asking questions I don't have answers to."
"That's incredibly unreasonable of you."
Zero ignored him again.
The room fell silent afterward.
Not uncomfortable silence.
Just familiar.
The kind that existed easily between people who had known each other too long to force conversation.
Eventually Klaus spoke again.
"We're really leaving soon."
Zero looked toward him.
"The Citadel."
Klaus' eyes gleamed slightly even in the dim lantern light.
"Three months."
Excitement entered his voice again naturally this time.
"Imagine it. Real Dominators. Real training grounds. Essence techniques. Beast tamers. Noble heirs."
His grin widened slowly.
"And probably giant monsters trying to kill us."
"...That part sounds less appealing."
Klaus pointed at him immediately.
"That's because you have no vision."
"I have survival instincts."
"Weak mindset."
Zero shook his head faintly.
Klaus laughed before leaning back again.
Then after a moment—
his expression softened slightly.
"...You'll awaken eventually."
Zero stayed quiet.
Klaus continued anyway.
"I know everyone keeps talking like the world ended because you didn't awaken with the others, but honestly? I don't care."
His voice remained casual.
Certain.
"You'll get stronger eventually."
"...And if I don't?"
Klaus looked at him like the answer was obvious.
"Then I'll just become strong enough for both of us."
The words hit strangely.
Not because they were dramatic.
Because Klaus said them so simply.
Like it wasn't some grand declaration.
Just fact.
Zero looked away quietly afterward.
That pressure in his chest returned again.
Warm.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
"...That's stupid."
"Probably."
Klaus grinned lazily.
"But you keep me around anyway."
Unfortunately true.
Outside, wind struck harder against the house.
The lantern flickered briefly.
Then—
a knock came from the door.
"Are you two still awake?"
Mira.
Klaus immediately answered.
"No."
The door opened anyway.
Mira entered carrying folded blankets while giving Klaus an entirely unimpressed look.
"You are very bad liars."
"I learned from father."
"Your father at least sounds convincing."
Klaus looked offended immediately.
Zero almost smiled.
Almost.
Mira crossed the room before draping one blanket over Klaus' head despite his protests.
Then she stopped beside Zero quietly.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Really looked at him.
Mothers noticed things.
Even the things nobody said aloud.
"...Your father told me what happened earlier."
Zero's fingers tightened slightly against the windowsill.
"I'm fine."
"Hm."
She clearly didn't believe him.
Mira reached out slowly before brushing dark strands of hair away from his face gently.
The gesture was small.
Ordinary.
Yet Zero froze slightly anyway.
Not because he disliked it.
Because he still wasn't fully used to being touched without pain following afterward.
Even after five years.
"...You know," Mira said softly, "you're allowed to rely on people sometimes."
Zero looked away instinctively.
"I do."
"No," she replied gently. "You protect people. That's different."
Silence followed.
The kind that felt too honest.
Zero didn't know how to answer.
Because she wasn't wrong.
He trusted them.
Cared about them.
But some part of him always stayed separate.
Waiting.
Like he expected everything around him to disappear eventually.
Mira's expression softened further.
"You don't have to carry everything alone."
Something tightened painfully in his chest again.
Warmth always felt dangerous to him.
Because warmth created attachment.
And attachment created loss.
He lowered his gaze slightly.
"...I'm trying."
Mira smiled then.
Small.
Real.
"I know."
For a brief moment—
Zero forgot about the forest.
About the pain earlier.
About the strange unease crawling beneath his skin.
For a brief moment—
he simply felt... home.
Mira eventually stepped back toward the door afterward.
"Try sleeping tonight at least."
Klaus immediately pointed toward Zero.
"Tell him. I'm perfectly normal."
"You're upside down on a bed."
"Exactly. Peak health."
Mira laughed quietly before leaving the room.
The door closed softly behind her.
Silence returned once more.
Klaus eventually laid back down again.
"...Mother definitely likes you more."
"She raised us both."
"Yes, but she worries about you more. Therefore you win."
"That's not how families work."
"That's exactly how families work."
Zero closed his eyes briefly.
Later that night—
Elias stood outside alone beneath the cold night sky.
An old hunting spear rested against his shoulder while his sharp eyes remained fixed on the southern forest far beyond Ashvale's borders.
The wind had changed direction hours ago.
Now it carried the scent of blood.
Faint.
But there.
Elias' expression hardened immediately.
Years of surviving near the wilderness had sharpened instincts most villagers lacked.
And those instincts screamed now.
Danger.
The forest was too quiet.
No insects.
No night birds.
Nothing.
Then—
another roar echoed through the darkness.
Louder this time.
Closer.
Several lanterns inside the village lit instantly afterward.
People were awake again.
Elias tightened his grip on the spear.
"...Damn it."
Behind him, footsteps approached quickly.
Village Chief Rowan emerged moments later carrying a massive iron hammer across one shoulder.
The older man's face looked grim.
"You felt it too."
Elias nodded once.
"Something's pushing beasts out of the deep forest."
Rowan looked toward the distant trees silently.
"...This feels wrong."
That alone unsettled Elias further.
Rowan was the strongest Dominator in Ashvale.
Peak Mortal Rank.
A man who once killed a Stoneback Bear at the blood rank alone.
Fear didn't come easily to him.
Yet now—
the chief looked tense.
Another roar thundered across the night.
This one shook the ground slightly beneath their feet.
Several villagers screamed in the distance.
And deep within the southern forest—
something massive moved.
Trees bent violently.
Animals fled blindly through darkness.
The deeper parts of the forest had gone completely silent now.
No life remained there.
Only pressure.
Heavy.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Then—
two enormous crimson eyes slowly opened within the darkness beyond the trees.
Watching.
Waiting.
Fixed directly on Ashvale.
And somewhere inside the village—
Zero's scars began burning again.