Three days passed.
The field trial ended.
All surviving students were recalled in blinding glyph-light, deposited onto the academy courtyard with dirt-smeared faces, frayed nerves, and a far more cautious gaze.
Victory was not the lesson.
Survival was.
And of the 42 teams that entered, only 19 returned with full members.
---
Kaleid's Return – No Trumpets, Just Eyes
The moment he appeared, whispers began.
His team was quiet. Steady. Intact.
Jeyne Falkholt kept her blade sheathed and her lips sealed, expression unreadable.
Bron simply walked behind Kaleid like a silent shield.
And Rin?
Rin stayed close—shoulder brushing his, fox tail swaying slowly, unreadable eyes locked on the crowd.
He wasn't famous.
But he was… noticed.
---
Whispers Among the Students
> "They say he fed a beast to a spider queen."
"No—he poisoned a forest with magic fungus."
"He predicted the brute's charge before it moved."
"They're calling him the 'White Shadow.'"
"He didn't even use magic... not real magic."
The title stuck.
The White Shadow.
Not because of power. Not because of bloodline.
But because no one could predict him.
And that made the nobles uneasy.
---
System Notification
[Title: "White Shadow" – Public Identifier Established]
> Your methods and presence have created a mythos.
Passive Trait Activated: "False Fear"
— +10% enemy hesitation during first encounter.
— Reduces chances of being underestimated.
— Increases chances of being targeted by high-awareness foes.
---
Kaleid ignored it.
Rumors were noise. Labels were distractions.
He had work to do.
---
Academy Infirmary Wing – Debrief Room
Professor Malven reviewed each trial team's results.
When it came to Kaleid's group, he paused longer than with any other.
"Efficient. Cold. Brilliant," he muttered.
He looked at Kaleid.
"Your strategy was grotesque."
"Would you rather we died?" Kaleid asked plainly.
Malven smirked. "No. But your methods remind me of someone… I can't quite place it."
He leaned back.
"Well done, Ashvale. I suspect your file will grow... complicated."
---
That Evening – Dorm Room 7-C
Bron was out, probably telling every soul in the dining hall how he "held off a brute with his face."
Fenrick was drawing runes into old coins, whistling.
Kaleid sat on his bunk, back to the wall, system interface glowing dimly in his vision.
Then—unexpectedly—
---
[Memory Echo: I – Trigger Available]
> Would you like to access the First Echo?
⟶ YES
⟶ Not yet
---
He stared at it.
> Now? Why now?
He hadn't reached 10% sync yet. This wasn't the usual system rhythm.
But this wasn't a usual story.
He tapped YES.
---
Memory Echo I – Fragmented Playback
Darkness.
Then light.
Not sunlight—something older.
Flames floated in the sky like songbirds.
A dozen figures in bone-white robes stood around a massive circle etched into black crystal ground.
And at the center—
A child.
Small. Silent. Radiating silver light from within their very soul.
> "We call forth the Sovereign Seed."
"Not born of life, but of will."
"Crafted from the Primordial Root."
Each word carved into reality.
Each syllable rewritten into truth.
The child did not cry.
He only stared upward—
—and Kaleid saw his own face staring back.
---
[Memory Echo Failed – Synchronization Unstable]
Echo Interrupted. Soul Pressure Threshold Exceeded.
Result: Headache | Fatigue | Awareness Spike
---
Kaleid collapsed backward on the bed, heart racing.
> I wasn't born… I was made?
He could still see the floating flames.
Still feel the stone beneath that child's feet.
That wasn't a dream.
That was a memory.
His.
---
Later – Alone Under the Stars
He stood at the edge of the dorm balcony, night wind brushing his face.
The system pulsed again—this time faintly. Gentle.
---
[You are more than a shadow.]
[Your name echoes beyond memory.]
> Sync Progress: 7%
Memory Echoes Unlocked: 1/???
Creation Identity: Sealed
Next Unlock: Unknown
---
Behind him, dorm lights flickered. Below, the academy hummed with life.
But above him—
The stars shimmered differently.
As if they, too, remembered.