Training felt different today.
The bond pulsed louder than the drums of my heartbeat, but I kept my eyes straight ahead. Serie was there. I knew it. She knew it. And yet, we both acted like nothing had happened last night.
After training ended, I pulled my hoodie over my head, trying to trap my own scent, my own thoughts. Erina appeared out of nowhere, tugging my sleeve with her perfect nails.
"Kael, let's go to the café tonight," she said, smiling like she already owned the answer.
I yanked my hand free. "Busy."
Her smile faltered. "You're always busy."
I didn't care. Because I felt it...Serie's eyes on me.
Stronger now...The bond thrummed like a heartbeat at my ring finger, jealousy radiating across the space. For the first time, I enjoyed it.
Erina left. Serie left too, but not alone. David walked with her, always David now that her old friends had scattered.
And for one violent second, I imagined cutting his head off and throwing it into Regio Obscura.
Tomorrow I'd face Ryuk and Ruan on the training ground. That fight wouldn't be easy. But before practicing, I had to clear this storm inside me.
I needed answers.
Again, I went to her room at night.
The window was already open. Like she knew I'd come.
The thread works both ways now.
I stepped inside, and before thought could stop me, I had her pinned against the wall.
Her body stiffened but she didn't push me away.
I bent to her neck, my breath hot against her skin. She shivered, caught between fear and something else.
"What?" she whispered. "What do you want now?"
"Who's David to you?" My voice was low, dangerous.
She stared back, chin tilted high. "Why should you care?"
"Because I don't share," I growled. "When you're mine...even if it's just lust..you're mine only. I'll cut off the hands of anyone who touches you the way I'm touching you now."
Her lips parted, her eyes blazing. "Then it should be both ways. Who's Erina? Your girlfriend?"
I smiled, cruel. "No. Childhood friend. She wants me. I don't want her."
Her mouth curled into a sharp little smile. "Fine then.."
I didn't let her finish. My teeth grazed the soft skin of her neck, biting until she moaned. My lips claimed hers again, hard and merciless, tasting blood, salt, heat.
Her hands slid up my back, pulling me closer. Buttons popped from my shirt under her fingers. I let her. My own hand tore the thin straps of her night dress, dragging her toward the bed.
She fell against it, and I pressed her down, lips moving from her mouth to her collarbone, her cleavage, the flat of her stomach.
And she let me.
Her fingers gripped my hair so tightly it almost hurt. She kissed me back, so hard I tasted both our blood.
I pulled back, lips brushing hers. "Answer me. Who is he?"
Her breath shuddered. "David… is just a friend. When everyone left, he stayed. That's all."
My fury burned but her lips doused it like water on fire.
She kissed my shoulder, her fingers brushing the scars along my back where the wings hid. I flinched.
"Don't," I said.
She didn't ask why. Instead she whispered, "How do I get stronger?"
I looked at her...still beneath me, both of us breathing hard. "Hard work. Training. If you want, I'll teach you."
Her eyes widened. She pushed up slightly, weight on her elbow, tilting toward me. "Really? Not kidding? Where? When?"
She looked… adorable.
I kissed her forehead. "Not kidding. But not today. Tomorrow I have a fight. If I win… I'll show you where."
She smiled, small but sure. "You'll win. I know that."
I narrowed my eyes. "How?"
She didn't answer. She just said, "I know. Message me then."
"I've got your number," I said. "I'll message you the place and time."
Her lips curved. "Then do it."
I pulled away, forcing myself to button my ruined shirt. Every step toward the window was war with my own body.
She lay on the bed still, hair spread like ink on the sheets, lips bruised from mine. Watching me.
I left anyway.
Back in my room, her scent clung to me. My lips still burned from her kiss. My chest ached but it wasn't pain. It was that same sweet, sharp wound again.
I didn't want it.
But gods, I couldn't let it go.
And all I could do was blame the thread
Back in my room, I burned the night away fighting shadows. Fist to fist. Blade to blade. This time I didn't use them like toys...I used them with my full mind, forcing my focus.
And yet, every time I struck, memories of her slipped in. Her voice. Her lips. Her eyes when she'd whispered lust.
The ache in my chest wasn't bitter anymore. It was sharp, sweet. Maddening.
Morning came fast.
Professor Leo's voice carried across the training arena. "The final matches are ready. The three who won the most battles will face each other today. Kael Alanto, Level 90. Ruan Nawel, Level 88. Ryuk Han, Level 88."
The stands roared. Professors filled the seats, curious eyes heavy on us. Even the Head Council sent scouts.
The rules were simple: no beast forms, no full transformations. Only our special abilities.
I had no opponent yet. My benefit of winning every match faster meant I got a direct pass into the final round.
That left the first fight between Ruan and Ryuk.
I leaned on the railing, arms crossed. Serie was somewhere in the crowd--I could feel her. The tug on my finger had become familiar, no longer irritation, almost background noise.
The bond wasn't breaking yet, but the weight had shifted.
It didn't matter. My eyes stayed on the ring.
The whistle blew.
Ruan blurred. His specialty: blink step. He could vanish and reappear anywhere in a heartbeat. One moment he stood in the center, the next he was behind Ryuk's shoulder, fist already swinging.
Ryuk wasn't called the Panther for nothing. He melted into air, his body vanishing in a ripple. The punch whiffed through nothing.
The crowd gasped.
Ruan smirked, scanning, his fists crackling with restrained energy. "Come on, Ryuk. You'll have to hit me eventually."
"Why rush?" Ryuk's voice echoed from nowhere, slippery and mocking.
Then...an elbow crashed into Ruan's ribs from behind. The force knocked him a step forward. Ryuk appeared, just for a second, before fading back into invisibility.
Ruan coughed, then grinned wide. "Good. Now it's a fight."
He disappeared.
The arena erupted into chaos--blurs of fists, the air snapping as two bodies appeared and disappeared faster than human eyes could follow. Every impact sent shockwaves across the stone floor.
Blink. Ruan above, dropping a kick like thunder.
Vanish. Ryuk gone, reappearing at his flank with a sweeping strike.
Blink. Ruan caught his wrist mid-air, twisting..
Ryuk countered with a knee, both of them flickering in and out of visibility like broken light.
The students screamed from the stands, unable to follow. Professors murmured, eyes sharp, calculating.
I smirked. "Idiots. Too flashy."
They were strong, no doubt. But every move cost energy. Every flash, every vanish, chipped at stamina. And neither was patient enough.
The fight stretched, bruises blooming, sweat dripping, their movements slowing.
Then Ryuk made his mistake...appearing half a second too early. Ruan's hand clamped around his throat instantly.
"Got you," Ruan snarled, slamming him into the ground hard enough to crater the arena floor.
The whistle blew.
The stands exploded in noise.
Ruan stood panting, smirking, blood at his lip but eyes burning. "Guess it's me, Kael."
I pushed off the railing, cloak shifting around me. My eyes locked on his, my voice even.
"Finally."