"Have you all lost your minds? What are you trying to do?"
Following the betrayal of the companions they had laughed with just yesterday, Nalt surged forward, his eyes wide.
"You will answer for this, or you won't leave this place!"
Half of the group, clutching blades in their hands, dashed toward the doors and formed a blockade.
While this happened, Mel watched them in calm silence.
"Hanso, think! If something happens to us, you might hide it, but what will you do if Mel gets hurt?"
The air in the hall grew heavy, weighed down by the tension of boys ready to cross a line of no return. Even so, those who failed the trial had no intention of taking a single step back.
"Who cares if he broke an old record? We saw the looks on the nobles and Master Louise; if he died right here, no one would mourn him!"
Ignorant of the token Cantankerous Hanry had given Mel, the youths acted only on what they had seen; anger clouded their judgment. After Hanso spoke, Nalt prepared to lunge forward, but Mel held him back; it was his turn to speak.
"I see your minds work well enough, and you read the mood of the trial perfectly, but you still act like fools when it matters most!"
Taking two steps forward, Mel closed the distance to the boy inciting the crowd. Perhaps frightened by the sheer difference in their size, Hanso took a step back; only an arm's length separated them now.
"You will pay for...!"
"Shut your mouth! You have talked enough!"
For the first time, Mel's brows knit in fury; his voice made it clear his patience had run out.
"You see how the nobles and masters treat someone of common birth like yourselves, and you know how to use it. Yet, when it comes to trusting the one who helped you in the first trial, you cower in fear."
"I can understand that to some degree, but threatening me—the one who had the courage to lead you into the forest—with those blades? I can only laugh at your stupidity!"
As he finished speaking, the heavy air began to churn; neither the doors nor the windows were open, yet everyone felt an unnatural shift in the room.
The aura radiating from Mel, usually so calm, was rippling. Though the boys behind him could not see it, Hanso watched a crimson halo form around Mel's pupils.
Gripped by terror, he took a step back; then, for some unknown reason, he forced his courage and kept inciting the others.
"So be it! You betrayed us and now you mock us. No one has any doubts left!"
The others echoed his anger. Curses filled the air; Hanso stepped forward and swung his blade directly at Mel's face.
"Die!"
Whether driven by ambition or the delusion of feeling powerful for the first time, Hanso gritted his teeth and swung his weapon like a man striking his oldest enemy.
The others froze; they only wanted to vent their anger by beating someone they could overpower, but one of them was crossing a line they never expected.
A breath later, a chilling laugh echoed through the long pavilion; Mel was laughing like a man stripped of his own mind.
"Is this how you plan to kill me? With the knife you use to cut plant stems and peel fruit?"
Hanso's blade struck Mel's right hand. The sharp edge rested directly in Mel's bare grasp, while Hanso held the hilt.
Though he pulled with all his might, the blade did not move a single inch. What terrified them most was the lack of blood spilling from the laughing boy's hand.
"You wretched creature! You are the most pathetic among the weak of your own kind, yet you dare strike at me!"
The crimson halo around his pupils transformed into a mist of energy wrapping around Mel's body. Though faint, its eerie glow forced the boys to drop their knives to the floorboards one by one.
Hanso let go of his blade and scrambled to retreat, but a hand seized him by the wrist.
"Betraying those who help you is the defining trait of your kind. Even a miserable insect like you cannot escape this nature!"
"Let me go! I beg you, let me go!"
Hanso clawed at the arm gripping him with both hands, but it was useless; the robust boy did not budge an inch.
"Do you want to leave so badly? Then let me help you!"
Mel released his wrist, but in the same breath, he grabbed Hanso by the throat; the two now stood at eye level. To do this, Mel had hoisted the boy completely off the floor. Pure terror filled the eyes of the youths watching the scene.
"Never let me see your face again!"
He hurled Hanso like a broken rag. Launched through the air, the boy hit the wooden wall at the far end of the pavilion and collapsed with a heavy crash. By the time he landed, Mel had already turned his back; seeing his face, the ones blocking the doors unleashed terrified screams and scattered into the night.
Mel bolted out the doors. Without a word, he sprinted until he reached the settlement gates. Pushing through the crowd of people entering the city, he ran toward the forest, muttering to himself.
"What have I done?"
"How could I do such a thing?"
The crimson mist wrapping his flesh faded into nothing, and the halo around his pupils returned to its usual green hue.
He tore through the dense trees; nothing crossed his path. Neither beasts nor branches; it was as if the forest itself was fleeing from him. When he crossed the black earth and reached the waterfall lake, he did not slow down; carrying all his momentum, he threw himself into the water.
He sank to the depths like a stone. Plunging into the freezing water with a dozen questions tearing at his mind, his eyes remained wide open.