The arena was louder than thunder.
Stone cracked under my boots. Ruan grinned from across the ring.
He cracked his neck, grinning. "Ready to lose, dragon boy?"
I smirked. "You can still back out, mutt."
Professor Leo's voice boomed through the hall.
"Final round! Kael Alanto, Level 90! Ruan Nawel, Level 88! Use everything you have!"
The whistle cut the air.
Ruan moved first....blink... Gone...
I felt the pressure behind me and twisted just in time to block his kick. The impact echoed, boots digging trenches into the ground. He flipped, landed light, eyes glowing gold.
"Still slow," he teased.
"Still annoying," I replied and my shadows erupted.
Dozens of them burst from beneath my feet--dark figures racing toward him like a living storm.
They lunged, struck, vanished into smoke. He blinked again, claws slashing, scattering them.
Each clone cost me a piece of strength, but I needed that opening.
He appeared right in front of me..too close.
Perfect...!!
I smirked, snapped my fingers. The last shadow detonated, a blast of pure black energy that threw him backward. Dust exploded across the ring.
When it cleared, he was already shifting.
His body stretched, fur ripping through skin, bones reshaping. Golden eyes burned like molten fire.
A werewolf now stood in front of me, muscles coiled, claws glinting under the light.
"Fine," I muttered, fire curling in my throat. "Then I won't hold back either."
My scales erupted across my body, my wings unfurling wide.
A dark dragon rose in my place--wings tearing the air, eyes glowing crimson...not my crow-feathered mutation...my true dragon form.
The crowd gasped.
Ruan howled and leapt.
Our bodies collided mid-air with a sound that shattered the ground. Claw met scale. Fist met fang. Sparks scattered, dust spiraled.
He blinked behind me and slashed.
I turned just in time; his claws scraped across my scales, leaving red streaks.
I grabbed his arm, spun, and hurled him across the arena. He landed hard, cracking the floor, but was already on his feet again.
We circled, growling, breathing smoke and blood.
"You've improved," I said.
He grinned. "You're still ugly."
Then he lunged. I ducked under the swing, tail sweeping his legs.
He fell, rolled, jumped again...fast, brutal, relentless. His claws tore at my shoulder, and I roared, slamming a fist into his ribs. The impact made the air quake.
He hit me again...hard enough to knock me back a few steps.
I tasted blood.
He vanished, reappearing behind me, claws digging in. Pain shot through my chest.
And then...
The thread burned...
A flicker of red light at my finger. Warm. Alive. Power surged through my veins.
She was here. Serie....
Her energy bled into me, wild and fierce, healing what Ruan had broken.
I grinned. "Guess I'm not fighting alone anymore."
Ruan blinked in front of me, confused. "What....?"
Too late.
I spun, wings slicing through the air, tail whipping. He barely blocked the hit. The shockwave launched him off the ground, slamming him against the wall.
He shifted back into human form, breath ragged, body trembling.
The whistle blew.
"Winner !!...Kael Alanto!"
The crowd roared.
I dropped to one knee, chest heaving, blood still dripping..but I was smiling.
The screen above flickered: Kael Alanto – Level 90 → 93.
Ruan: 88 → 90.
Ryuk: 88 → 89.
Professor Leo shouted over the chaos, "The Hall is impressed! When levels rise beyond limit...it means you've been watched by something higher!"
Applause thundered through the hall.
But I didn't look at them. I looked at her.
Serie stood in the crowd, pale, swaying slightly. David's hand was on her arm, steadying her. The red thread glowed faintly then dimmed...
My heart clenched.
The bond flickered again... She was not okay. I felt it.
And still, jealousy burned through me like poison.
....
The infirmary smelled of blood and bitter herbs. Ryuk and I carried Ruan inside, both of us half-limping, half-laughing.
"You insane dragon!!! " Ruan panted. "You didn't have to throw me like that."
"Could've been worse," I said. "You're still breathing."
Miss Maya ran glowing hands across his ribs. "He'll heal soon. Go wait outside."
But I didn't.
While Ryuk distracted her, I slipped into the shadows...my own element ...and followed the bond's pulse.
It led me down a side corridor, quiet, forbidden.
There she was...
Serie...
Lying on one of the beds, pale but breathing steadily. David sat beside her, his hand on hers.
No one saw me. No one could. My shadows cloaked me from every eye.
The red thread between us shimmered again....stronger, then calm.
Like it knew I was there.
Relief hit me hard enough to make me exhale.
She's fine.
Still… seeing his hand on her made something dark twist inside my chest.
I turned away before I did something stupid.
....
Back there ,Ruan was already sitting up, smirking through the bandages.
"Congrats again, man. You earned it."
"Yeah," I muttered, raking a hand through my hair. "Guess so."
We left the infirmary together, but my mind was somewhere else.
Back in the shadows, with her.
Before I reached my room, I pulled out my phone and typed one line:
"Meet me near the Regio Obscura wall.
Where no one can see you."
...
I shouldn't care.
But her silence burned more than her words ever could.
She hadn't replied to my message.
My chest tightened with each minute. I told myself it was nothing....just lust, just the bond...but my hands kept clenching until my knuckles went white.
Professor droned on, but my mind was already gone. With a flick of my fingers, a tiny shadow ball with an eye formed in my palm and zipped out of the classroom--straight to the first-year mythology wing.
Empty.
No Serie... No David...
My jaw clenched...
I stood. "Professor, beast form training. Hard to control."
Everyone nodded. They knew my beast form was stronger than most could handle; no one stopped me.
Back in my room, I tried to tell myself it was irritation. I tried to tell myself it was just the bond.
But every time I pictured David's hand on her, my blood boiled hotter. Even the shadows didn't calm me.
I shifted, wings bursting from my back, and shot into the sky, black scales glinting.
I climbed higher and higher until the air was thin, until my own roar vibrated in my chest.
Then the bond flickered.
A red spark...
Alive...
Moving...
I saw then...
She was heading toward Regio Obscura.
Good...!
I dropped, wings folding tight, slamming into the earth near the old wall.
When I felt her close enough, I sent my shadow to pull her in. In my safe place--the place where only I was supposed to exist.
She stumbled as she appeared inside Regio Obscura. Her eyes were shut, hands over her ears---the whispers could drive anyone mad here.
I snapped my fingers, forming a shield of shadow. The whispers faded.
"Open your eyes," I said.
She did.
And when she saw me, a flicker of fear crossed her face,quickly hidden.
Her hands dropped from her ears, but she still backed away as I walked toward her.
Finally her back hit a tree.
My arms came up, caging her in.
"Why didn't you reply?" My voice was low but sharp. "Why?"
She stared at me, lips parting.
"I'm here, aren't I? In front of you... Why is a reply important?"
"Just..." I growled, dragging a hand through my hair. "Just tell me...!"
She flinched, confused, and for the first time I stepped back, hands falling to my sides. "Are you afraid of me?"
"I should be congratulating you," she said quietly. "You won. You said you'd teach me."
"If you're afraid of me, how can I teach you?"
"I'm not," she said, voice trembling but steady. "It's just… your dragon form..
The power--it drains from me automatically. If David wasn't there....."
The name cracked through me like a whip. My vision narrowed.
Before I could stop myself, my hand was at her neck...not pressing, just there, a warning.
"Don't say that name. I warned you. Don't."
Her eyes didn't show fear. Instead, her mouth curled into a tiny smile, a dimple flicking at the corner.
"So you're jealous?"
I said nothing.
Instead, I kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. It was desperate--like my inner beast clawing its way out, like the bond itself had snapped and was dragging us together.
My hand caught her waist, pulling her against me. Her fingers slid to the back of my neck, tugging me closer.
She tasted like fire and something sweeter. When she bit my lip, my mind went white. My tongue slid into her mouth, tasting her like I wanted to devour every secret she had. She didn't pull away.
She met me, breath for breath, her tongue sliding against mine.
She broke away, breathless.
"You can't just kiss me when you're angry."
"Then stop making me angry," I growled.
She huffed a laugh. "You think everything bends to your will, don't you?"
I smiled against her mouth. "It usually does."
Her eyes softened. For a heartbeat, she wasn't fighting anymore. She leaned in, forehead resting against mine.
"Then kiss me again," she whispered. "Hard enough to make me forget."
I didn't ask what she wanted to forget. I didn't need to.
I kissed her again...harder, longer.
The world fell away, the shadows swallowing us whole.
Her hands trembled against my skin, and mine tightened around her, tracing the line of her spine through the thin fabric between us.
Every breath was a battle. Every heartbeat, a promise neither of us made out loud.
When we finally broke apart, panting, her eyes glowed faintly green under the dim light.
I brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Maybe that's enough. Let me teach you what I promised."
Her lips curved, just slightly. "You'll actually teach me?"
"I don't make promises I can't keep," I said, voice low. "But don't expect me to go easy on you."
"I wouldn't want you to," she murmured.
I smiled faintly.
"You have no idea."