He didn't scream when he woke up.
Kael's breath caught in his throat like he'd surfaced from a long dive, chest tight, fingers curled into the edge of his blanket. The dorm room was still—quiet except for the faint hum of the vents and the dim security light pulsing near the window.
But the scream…
It had been real.
Not now.
Then.
The memory came in shards, jagged and breathless.
The alley was burning.
Not with ordinary fire—but Riftlight. Alive. Twisting through the cracks in the city like a disease that couldn't be stopped. Shadows moved through it, too fast to track. Buildings crumbled under the weight of unseen forces. And amidst it all—
Her hand.
Her voice.
"Run."
He was small again, barely tall enough to see over her shoulder, and her hand had pushed him hard, toward the street—toward the smoke. Away.
He ran.
Because she told him to.
Because he had to.
But before the Rift swallowed everything, he looked back.
Just once.
And saw her fall.
There was light.
And in the middle of it—
A figure.
A man. Unmoving. Shrouded by chaos. His face... gone, replaced by a blur Kael's mind wouldn't let him see. Like it had been scrubbed from the memory.
But still, Kael felt it.
That presence. Watching him.
Then came the voice.
Not hers.
Not his own.
But deep, and near—echoing like it came from the broken air itself.
> "You are not meant to remember me yet…
Not until you're ready.
Not until you can face what comes with knowing everything."
And then everything went black.
---
Kael sat on the edge of his bed, breath shallow, the cold sweat drying across his neck.
That voice again. The same one he'd heard more than once. Always after dreams like this. Always in the dark. Familiar and foreign. Like it lived somewhere inside him, waiting.
He didn't understand it.
Didn't want to.
But the worst part was…
He could never remember the man's face. Or why the memory felt more like a warning than a past.
Kael clenched his jaw and ran a hand over his face. His other hand still trembled slightly, though he hated that it did.
He stood, walked to the sink, and splashed water over himself until the silence returned to normal.
He stared into the mirror—
No answers there either.
Just eyes that had seen too much.
And still remembered too little.
In the morning. Following Kael's nightmare—
The academy cafeteria buzzed with the usual morning chatter. Trays clattered, the aroma of synth-meat and matcha steam buns filled the air. Squad 5 sat together near the windows, though one seat was still empty.
"Where's David?" Charlotte asked, poking at her food.
Levi chuckled. "Said he was working on leg day. Again. That guy's trying to be a walking bunker."
Kael quietly sipped his black tea, eyes half-lidded. The remnants of a restless night still tugged behind his eyes.
At the table beside them, a few students had shifted the mood.
"I'm telling you," one said, "He warped across the field. Like he bent space—then vanished
Another leaned in, lowering his voice.
"You mean that masked guy? The one they call Bird?"
"Yeah, that one. Black bird mask, full-black coat. Soloed an A-Rank Rift in Seoul. No backup. No WAA clearance. All the news caught was the Riftfield collapsing."
"I saw the clip," a third said. "He dragged space open like a curtain. Just tore it and stepped through."
Levi tilted his head toward them, grin already forming. "Yo. You guys hear that? Bird again. That guy's a legend."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Legend or problem. You really admire someone who goes rogue in a city zone with no clearance?"
Levi shrugged. "He cleared the Rift. That's more than half the WAA teams could say. No casualties. No flare. Just results."
"He's reckless," Charlotte said. "The WAA doesn't even know who he is. No rank. No registration. If he messes up, who pays for the fallout."
Kael didn't speak. He stirred his drink once, slowly.
"Still," Levi said, "you can't fake what he did. I mean—A-rank solo? Space Warp? That takes something else."
Charlotte snorted. "It takes a death wish."
"Or a plan," Levi replied, amused.
Still," Levi grinned. "Wouldn't mind meeting him. Bird's the kind of guy who rewrites the rules."
Charlotte snorted. "Or breaks them."
"Sometimes it's the same thing," Levi said.
Kael didn't comment. He just let the words settle between them.
The conversation was still going when David finally slid into the empty seat, towel draped around his neck, his uniform still damp from morning drills.
"Leg day again?" Levi grinned.
David exhaled hard. "Brutal. Stairs feel like boss fights."
Charlotte raised a brow. "You missed it—Levi's got a new idol. Some rogue guy in a bird mask."
David blinked. "Oh, that rogue guy? Black bird mask? I saw him on the news."
Levi leaned in. "You believe any of it?"
David nodded slowly. "Hard not to. I mean—A-rank Rift in Seoul. Soloed. Riftfield collapsed without any backup. And they said he moved like a blur—nothing touched him. Not even the Riftspawn."
Kael said nothing. His spoon hovered over his tea, untouched.
"Superhuman speed?" Levi guessed.
David shrugged. "Maybe. But someone pointed out he never used the same move twice. Blades, shadows, even hand-to-hand. And it's like he knew what the enemy would do before they did it."
Charlotte tilted her head. "So, what—he's got multiple cores?"
Levi looked at her, grinning. "What? Jealous?"
She rolled her eyes. "Even if he's S-rank, he's still a rogue. No squad. No chain of command. If he messes up, there's no one to stop him. Power's not enough."
Kael finally sipped his tea, his gaze calm.
David leaned back. "Yeah, but… I don't think he's the type to mess up."
Kael's gaze drifted toward the cafeteria window—where a lone bird soared high across the morning sky, its wings cutting through the clouds with effortless freedom.
He watched it for a moment, quiet, as if something about its flight pulled at a part of him he couldn't name
The others kept talking.
But he was no longer listening