The incident with Silas Corvus cemented Kaela's isolation within the Bastion. His fear, a potent spiritual narcotic, was contagious. The other Novices, having witnessed Silas's power abruptly vanish during the confrontation, now gave Kaela a wide berth, whispering about dark pacts and cursed artifacts. This suited Kaela perfectly; the less attention on her, the more time she had to dedicate to Total Suppression. She practiced constantly, her mind a fortress against the hunger of Rust-Eater, maintaining the Black Core—a state of utter spiritual stillness—that allowed the parasitic blade to consume any uncontrolled Aura in the immediate vicinity without touching her own reserves.
Dame Elara, however, was not so easily deterred. After the incident, she doubled down on Kaela's structural training, pushing her body harder than ever. Elara seemed to understand that Kaela's strange style required a foundation of pure, unbreakable physicality, compensating for the Aura she dared not use. During a grueling afternoon session focused on endurance parries, Elara watched Kaela's unyielding defense with a measuring intensity. "You are improving, Vane," the Knight admitted, her voice low. "But you are blind. You can only react to what you see or hear. A true master reads the spiritual intention of their opponent. Your technique is flawless, but your senses are stunted by that dead weight you carry."
Elara then led Kaela away from the sparring circle to a quiet corner of the training yard. She produced a smooth, fist-sized stone of pale jade, etched with tiny, almost invisible runes. "This is a simple focusing talisman," Elara explained. "It's meant for Novices to practice channeling Aura through a medium. But for you, it has a different purpose." She instructed Kaela to channel her minimal Ember Aura into the stone and then, instead of projecting outward, to pull the energy back through her own senses. Kaela followed the instructions, struggling to maintain the delicate balance of pushing and pulling. The Ember energy flowed into the jade, and as it returned, it felt strange—prickly, heightened.
"The Ember Aura is the weakest, but also the most sensitive," Elara lectured. "It is the heat of the soul. Most warriors use their Aura to shine. You must use yours to feel the heat of others. This is the Whispering Eye." Kaela closed her eyes and focused. The clamor of the training yard faded. The returning Aura, filtered through the jade, mapped out the spiritual world around her. She could suddenly sense the massive, steady Flame of Jerek, the Adept, practicing fifty yards away. She felt the scattered, erratic sparks of the younger Novices, and she felt the heavy, crushing Knight-rank presence of Elara right next to her. It wasn't sight or sound; it was an internal sense of pressure and warmth.
For the next week, Kaela practiced this technique until the jade stone became an unnecessary crutch. She learned to extend her suppressed Ember just past her skin, letting it act as a highly sensitive spiritual antenna. She could now "feel" the precise moment an opponent intended to strike, not by watching their muscles tense, but by sensing the subtle surge of Aura they poured into the attack. This was the true compensation for her lack of projection—perfect foresight.
One late evening, while practicing her new sensory skill in the dark silence of the sub-basement armory, the Whispering Eye sensed something entirely new. It wasn't the powerful, familiar Flame of an Adept or the crushing density of a Knight. It was a cold, distant presence—a spiritual signature identical to the one she had faced on the riverbank months ago. It was the frigid, oppressive nothingness of the Shadow Hand.
The feeling was faint, like a memory, but unmistakable. It was not in the armory, but far above her, likely within the inner chambers of the Bastion's highest tower—the very heart of the Guild. The Shadow Hand, the mercenary who preyed on the poor and wielded ice like a scythe, was operating inside the most secure building in the Kingdom.
A wave of dread washed over Kaela, instantly threatening to break her Black Core. Rust-Eater gave a sharp, hungry whine in its sheath, tasting the spiritual fear. Kaela slammed her will down, forcibly suppressing her panic. She brought her Ember back to absolute zero, and the Sin-Eater fell silent. She couldn't alert anyone. A mercenary could be anywhere, but an infiltration into the Bastion meant something far larger than petty extortion. It meant the ancient structures of power were crumbling. Kaela realized that her silence, her anonymity, and her terrifyingly unique weapon were not just for her own survival; they might be the only assets capable of fighting a hidden war in the shadows of the Guild. The simple task of rising from obscurity had just become the terrifying responsibility of exposing the darkness at the core of the world.