The morning arrived slowly,
Thin rays of light slipped through the trees and settled over the small camp, touching the damp grass and the scattered remnants of last night's fire. The world looked peaceful—too peaceful for someone like Zeroth. His eyes opened before his body moved, and the first thing he felt was not relief, but weight.
A heavy, lingering pressure sat on his chest.
He lay there for a moment, staring up at the sky through the branches, his mind replaying fragments he couldn't push away. A battlefield soaked in blood. Screams that felt too real to be dreams. The shadowy figure towering over everything. His mother's voice. Her death.
Zeroth clenched his fists.
He sat up abruptly, breathing faster than he should have been. His body felt fine—no pain, no injuries—but his head throbbed as if it had been split open and sewn back together poorly.
Kaelor was already awake.
He sat near the extinguished fire, adjusting the straps of his coat with calm, practiced movements, as if the previous day hadn't almost killed his only student. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp, always observing, always calculating.
Zeroth stared at him.
The silence stretched longer than usual.
"Why won't you tell me?" Zeroth finally said, his voice sharper than he intended.
Kaelor didn't look at him. "Tell you what?"
"You know exactly what," Zeroth replied, irritation bubbling over. He stood up, brushing dirt from his clothes. "The figure. The things it said to you. You saw it too. You admitted it."
Kaelor exhaled slowly, as if he'd expected this. "Some things aren't meant to be shared."
"That's not fair," Zeroth snapped, his childish frustration leaking through. "You keep saying you're training me, but you're hiding things that might matter."
Kaelor finally turned his head and looked at him properly. His gaze wasn't cold, but it wasn't gentle either.
"There are things you don't need to know yet," Kaelor said. "And things you would regret knowing too early."
Zeroth bit his lip, anger mixing with helplessness. He wanted to shout. To demand answers. But something in Kaelor's eyes told him it would be useless.
"…Fine," Zeroth muttered, turning away.
They packed up camp soon after.
The ride back toward the Vitral Palace began quietly. Zeroth sat behind Kaelor on the horse, holding on loosely, his thoughts scattered and restless. Trees passed by in a blur. The rhythmic sound of hooves should have been calming, but it wasn't.
Then the horse stopped.
Not because Kaelor pulled the reins.
Because someone stood in the road.
Four figures stepped out from between the trees, their presence instantly suffocating the calm. Worn armor. Scarred faces. Blades that had tasted blood more than once. One of them carried a faint glow around his hand—magic.
Bandits.
One of them burst out laughing the moment his eyes landed on Kaelor.
"WELL I'LL BE DAMNED!" he shouted. "LOOK WHO DECIDED TO SHOW UP!"
Kaelor sighed. "Unfortunate."
Zeroth's grip tightened instinctively.
"These are bandits I once defeated," Kaelor said calmly, glancing back at Zeroth. "Do you remember what I told you in the Valley?"
Zeroth swallowed. "…About killing your enemies."
"Yes," Kaelor replied. "This is why."
The bandits spread out, blocking the road completely.
"What?" one of them sneered. "You let us live and now you're surprised we came back?"
Kaelor smiled faintly. "Not surprised. Just disappointed."
Before Zeroth could react, Kaelor suddenly grabbed him by the collar.
The next moment, the world spun.
Zeroth was thrown off the horse.
He hit the ground hard, rolling through dirt and grass before stopping several meters ahead of the bandits. Pain shot through his arms and shoulders as he scrambled to his feet, heart pounding wildly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Zeroth shouted, panic breaking through his composure.
"You agreed," Kaelor said from behind him, his voice steady. "You agreed to risk everything for your dreams."
The bandits stared at Zeroth for a second.
Then they laughed.
"A kid?" one of them scoffed. "You're seriously using a child as a shield now?"
Zeroth's hands shook.
Four enemies. One magician. He was weak. He knew it. Kaelor knew it.
Fear clawed up his spine.
Then an image surfaced—unwanted, undeniable.
His mother sitting in the dark, shoulders tense, listening to footsteps approach. His mother smiling at him the next morning as if nothing had happened. His mother never giving up, no matter how scared she was.
If she could endure that…
Then he could endure this.
Zeroth straightened.
"I won't die here," he whispered.
One of the bandits rushed forward, sword raised.
Time slowed.
Zeroth moved.
His body twisted out of the blade's path, his heart nearly bursting from his chest. Something surged inside him—hot, cold, heavy, suffocating.
Black energy flickered around his fist.
He didn't think.
He punched.
The impact cracked through the air.
The bandit was sent flying, crashing into the ground with a sickening thud, completely unmoving.
Silence fell.
Zeroth stared at his hand, breathing hard, eyes wide.
"Black… Punch," he murmured, naming it instinctively.
The remaining bandits stiffened.
Another charged.
Zeroth rushed forward, faster than he'd ever moved before. His foot glowed black as he kicked, the force slamming the man into the dirt.
Two down.
Then pain exploded through his chest.
Fire tore through him as a magic bullet pierced his skin. A blade followed, cutting deep across his body.
Zeroth screamed and collapsed.
Blood soaked into the earth beneath him.
His vision blurred. His strength drained rapidly.
He tried to stand.
Failed.
Another swing came down.
And then—
The ground shook violently.
Kaelor dismounted.
Nature magic erupted chaotically. Roots burst from the soil unevenly. Trees collapsed in the wrong directions. The earth buckled unpredictably.
It was messy.
Uncontrolled.
But devastating.
Within moments, all four bandits were restrained, defeated, crushed under the weight of Kaelor's erratic power.
Kaelor stood over them, breathing steadily.
"If you can't control your magic," he shouted toward Zeroth, "then use everything you have to make it useful!"
Zeroth tried to respond.
But his eyes closed.
Darkness swallowed him whole.