The training gym was empty.The magical light barely filtered through the enchanted windows, casting long shadows that stretched like fingers across the stone floor.Vex was alone.Alone… and breathing heavily.
His muscles ached. His mind, even more.Over and over, he swung his sword through the air, against memories. Against helplessness.Each strike was an image:Elois on his knees, bleeding.Elois screaming that it wasn't over.Elois… pierced through.
THA!The blow from his training sword echoed through the room.There was no strength. No precision.Only rage.
— "…You're going to break your arm again," Kaen said from the doorway.
Vex didn't turn around.— "What are you doing here?"— "Looking for you. For hours."
A tense silence fell. Vex lowered the sword, breathing hard. His shirt was soaked. The bandage on his arm damp with sweat.Kaen stepped in. No words. No judgment.He simply walked until he was standing in front of him.
— "You can't fight with a broken soul," he finally said.
Vex looked at him. His eyes ablaze, but dry.— "I'm not broken. I'm forged."— "It's not vengeance you need."— "That's not your decision!" Vex shouted, for the first time. The room trembled.
Kaen didn't flinch. He just held his gaze.— "Then make sure you don't die before avenging him.We don't have another Elois."
That line… shattered his chest.They stood in silence.They didn't need to say more.
Vex was walking alone through the northern hall when he saw him.Karg Molt.Striding with the same arrogance as always. Straight hips. Tight jaw. As if the world owed him respect for simply existing.
When their eyes met…Vex didn't look away.He didn't tense.He didn't falter.He simply held the gaze… like a sheathed sword.
And then, Karg smiled. Not with joy.A mocking smile. Cold. Cruel.A smirk that said without words: "Your turn is coming."
But Vex didn't react.No hatred in his eyes.No fury on his face.Only silence… and on his arm,his rune lit up on its own, as if his soul spoke before his sword.
A white streak like moonlight, pulsing from shoulder to palm.A flicker that needed no permission.Only intent.
Karg's brow furrowed slightly, as if something unsettled him.But he didn't stop.He kept walking.
And Vex didn't turn to watch him go.He simply closed his eyes.And inside… he heard the echo of his own silent rage,waiting for the momentto become a blade.
The sun was already setting.The sky over Olympo burned deep red, as if it mirrored the tension brewing in the hearts of its students.
Vex sat beneath one of the arches in the eastern garden, his gaze lost.Kaen appeared without a word. He walked over, rested his trident against a column, and sat beside him.
Several seconds passed in silence.Until Vex murmured, almost a whisper:— "Kaen… I'm sorry."
The other didn't respond. Didn't even move.
— "I should've done something. Yelled sooner. Jumped in. I…"His voice cracked.— "I felt useless. I just watched. I only screamed when it was already too late."
Kaen turned his face slightly. His eyes still calm, but his jaw… clenched.— "And what would you have done? Take the three stabs yourself?"— "Maybe!" Vex exploded, standing up—."Maybe then he wouldn't be lying in a bed, unable to wake up. Maybe if I… if I were stronger…"
Kaen also stood. But his voice wasn't harsh. It was contained. Direct.— "You're not a god, Vex."— "I know!" Vex shouted, his eyes filled with bottled fury.— "But I'm his friend! And I couldn't protect him!"
Kaen stared at him for a long moment. Then spoke, more quietly:— "Neither could I."
Silence.
— "I've always trained to be the strongest among the three of us," Kaen said."To carry the weight if anything happened.But that night, neither you nor I could do a thing."
Vex lowered his head. The air felt heavier.— "This feeling scares me. This rage. This coldness inside."— "Don't let it consume you," Kaen said."Use that rage to temper yourself. Like a sword.The deadliest edge isn't the hottest one… it's the one that was cooled just in time."
Vex looked at him.And without another word, he hugged him.Not out of weakness.
But as a promise.For something only the two of them, between blood and silence,understood without needing to swear it.
That night, Vex didn't sleep.Not because he was afraid.But because he couldn't close his eyes without seeing his friend's body collapse.
He stared at the ceiling for hours.Remembered the farm. His mother's soup. Jeremy's tomatoes. Aric's voice. Elois' laughter. Kaen's hands sharpening the trident in silence.
And then, he understood something.
He wasn't fighting just for vengeance.He was fighting… to belong.To no longer be the invisible one. The coward. The boy on the lowest rung.He was fighting so that no one else in his life would fall…without him being able to do something about it.
And when dawn finally came…He rose.No coffee. No words.Only a sword in hand.
And a decision.
Tomorrow…Karg will fall.