Kael's first real class wasn't about tactics, weapons, or even Desyre theory.
It was about fear.
Professor Eulin dimmed the lecture hall lights and cued the projection screen. The image that flickered to life wasn't a diagram or chart. It was raw footage—military-grade, timestamped, jittery with motion blur and Rift interference.
A battlefield.
Broken streets. Smoke curling through collapsed buildings. Cracks glowing with Riftlight.
And at the center of it all, a woman.
Scorched uniform. Blood down one side of her face. A halberd clutched in both hands.
> "Boracay Rift Closure, 2035," Professor Eulin narrated. "Unstable, Category-A Rank Rift. All supporting teams were delayed due to secondary outbreaks. The city should've fallen."
The figure on screen didn't run.
She advanced—step by deliberate step, swinging with precision, clearing twisted Riftspawn from the breach like it was a ritual. Her movements weren't just practiced. They were absolute. Every strike carried finality.
The class went silent.
Someone in the front muttered, "Is that… Gale?"
Professor Eulin nodded. "Callsign only. No rank. No confirmed Division. And according to WAA records…"
He paused.
"She did it alone."
Gasps followed. Some skeptical. Some awed.
"No one saw the Rift close," Professor Eulin said, his voice low. "But the Rift vanished within ten minutes of this footage. She walked out. The city was saved."
Rumors circled fast. Some said she forced it shut with sheer Desyre output.
A few insisted she disappeared after—refused all recognition, interviews, even a standard WAA debrief.
"The Authority never issued an official report," Eulin continued. "Only that Boracay was stabilized... and that she was never seen on record again."
Kael said nothing.
But he remembered her movements.
Not flashy. Not fueled by rage.
Controlled.
Cold.
Resolute.
That wasn't just Desyre. That was something older. Something forged.
The projection faded. The class erupted into quiet questions and hushed debates. S-rank? Myth-Class survivor? Ghost operative?
Kael didn't join them.
As the others filed out, still talking, he sat for a moment longer—watching the black screen, remembering the way she stood.
Alone.
Like someone who didn't need the world to believe in her.
He understood that feeling too well.
Later in the chaos of the cafeteria…
cafeteria was louder than the lecture hall by far—metal trays clattered, students shouted across tables, and the scent of synth-steam rice mixed with meat hovered in the air.
Kael sat at the edge of it all, a tray of untouched food in front of him. Levi dropped his own with a heavy thud and flopped into the seat across.
"All right," Levi said through a bite of something spicy, "that footage earlier? Legendary. I thought that Gale chick was a myth until today."
Kael gave a quiet nod. "She wasn't using brute strength."
"Exactly!" Levi snapped his fingers. "It was all control. Timing. That's a real Ascender. Not just power-flash and ego like half the guys here."
Kael glanced at the other tables. Laughter, sparks of Desyre showing off, students tapping each other's wrists to compare stats.
"Speaking of," Levi said, mouth still half full, "what track are you thinking of next year? Vanguard, right?"
Kael didn't answer.
"You've always been the hand-to-hand type. Quiet, but brutal." Levi leaned in. "Wait—did they register your Core already? What's your Desyre type?"
Kael poked at the rice with his fork.
"No Awakening."
Levi blinked. "Wait. What?"
Kael looked at him. "Didn't awaken yet."
"No way." Levi leaned back, baffled. "You're telling me you got C-rank, with no Core? You serious?"
Kael nodded.
Levi whistled. "Man. Most of these guys get their Desyre ignited before sixteen. You walked into this academy with zero awakened powers… and still passed the evaluation?"
"I had time," Kael said simply.
Levi chuckled, shaking his head. "That's either scary or insane. Probably both."
A moment passed.
Then Levi leaned forward again, eyes narrowing just slightly. "Still—maybe whatever's inside you just hasn't cracked yet. What if your Core ends up tied to… I don't know—your combat sense? Your strength? All that freaky weapon precision you've got?"
Kael stiffened—not noticeably. Just a half-breath.
Levi didn't miss it.
"Or maybe… super speed," Levi added, watching him closely now. "You move like you're predicting attacks before they happen."
Kael set his fork down and looked at him, calm but steady.
"Desyre doesn't awaken by force," he said quietly. "It answers something deeper. Emotion. What you want. What you are underneath."
Levi tilted his head, still smiling, but not laughing anymore. "Yeah… I figured you'd say something like that."
He smiled, but his eyes sharpened.
Kael let the silence stretch before shifting it.
"What about you?" he asked. "What did you awaken?"
Levi leaned back and tapped his chest.
"Gravity Pulse."
"Ten-meter range. I can crush, lift, shove, or float targets. I've even launched myself a few times like a bullet."
He grinned.
"Still working on precision, though. I nearly reversed my lungs last week in combat training."
Kael gave the faintest smirk.
Levi raised his soda can with a grin "Cheers to not imploding."
They ate in silence after that. But beneath the noise of the mess hall, both knew something was unspoken.
Levi wasn't just guessing.
He was watching.
And Kael knew—he'd have to be careful.
Especially around friends.