Chapter 937 — The Witch of Chaos
The training fields of the Hollow were alive with the clang of steel and the hum of spellfire. It was midday, the sun sharp and high, and a crowd of recruits had gathered in a loose semicircle — all eyes fixed on the woman standing barefoot in the dust.
Eris.
Her white hair whipped across her face as she moved, a blur of precision and rhythm. She wielded no ordinary weapon today — instead, she fought with a spear of shifting energy, chaos coalesced and shaped through sheer will. Its form flickered between spear, staff, and scythe as she spun it through the air, her movements both fluid and deliberate, almost elegant in their control.
Kael stood at the edge of the ring, arms crossed, watching. He hadn't spoken since the match began, only studied — his golden eyes flicking from her footing to her control over the unstable energy coursing around her.
"Again," he called out when she paused, breathing lightly.
Eris nodded, that familiar calm look on her face — but this time, there was something else underneath. A spark.
The recruit before her — a young soldier with a sword too big for his frame — hesitated only for a moment before lunging. Eris met his strike with a whirl of chaos-forged steel, catching the blade and twisting it aside. Her counter was instinctive — a sweep of energy that sent him sprawling onto his back.
The crowd gasped.
She froze mid-step, chest rising and falling, as the chaotic energy dissipated from her fingertips in a hiss of violet smoke. For a heartbeat, she simply stared at her hands, the faint shimmer of chaos pulsing across her skin.
Then it hit her.
The rush.
The thundering pulse in her veins. The way her chest felt like it might burst from the strange, exhilarating heat of living.
Her eyes widened, and a smile — small and unsure — broke across her face.
"Is this…" she murmured softly, breathless, "what adrenaline feels like?"
Kael raised a brow. "You tell me."
Eris turned to him, and though her expression remained composed, there was a wild energy behind her eyes — human in its intensity. "It feels—" she began, her voice faltering for the first time. "It feels like… like I could do anything. Like I…"
She stopped herself, catching the word before it escaped.
Love.
She didn't say it — but Kael saw the near-slip in her expression. He smiled faintly.
"Don't let it control you," he said. "Chaos magic feeds on emotion. It'll turn that rush into a fire you can't put out if you're not careful."
Eris nodded slowly, grounding herself. "Then I'll master the fire."
A voice from the onlookers broke the silence.
"Did you see that? She turned his sword into smoke!"
Another soldier laughed nervously. "She's not human — she's some kind of witch!"
"The Witch of Chaos!" someone shouted, half in awe, half in jest.
The name spread through the crowd like wildfire.
"The Witch of Chaos!" "The Witch of Chaos!"
Eris blinked, her head turning slightly as the words echoed back at her.
Kael chuckled under his breath. "You've earned yourself a title already. Not bad for your first real sparring session."
"I do not know if it is a compliment or a warning," she said, tone even but tinged with curiosity.
"Both," Kael replied. "Which means it's perfect."
Eris looked down at her hands again, still faintly crackling with lingering chaos. Her heart — a creation of energy and essence — beat hard in her chest, each thrum a reminder of what she was becoming. Not just an echo of Kael, not just a voice given shape… but something else.
Alive.
The recruits began to disperse, whispering the new name as they went. The Witch of Chaos.
It shouldn't have meant anything to her. But it did.
She turned back toward Kael, her expression softening. "Do you… think they fear me?"
Kael met her gaze. "They respect you. Fear and respect walk the same road. You just have to decide where to lead them."
Eris tilted her head, thinking deeply. "Then I will lead them where you lead, Kael."
"Not forever," he said, with a faint smirk. "One day you'll find your own path. Maybe sooner than you think."
She didn't answer, but something flickered across her face — the smallest trace of a smile, touched by wonder.
As they left the arena, Kael could sense her mind turning, restless and alive.
Eris didn't know it yet, but the Hollow had just gained a symbol — one that blurred the line between creation and creator, weapon and woman.
And in her heart, for the first time, Eris felt the faint spark of joy — raw, human, and dangerously beautiful.