The training grounds remained silent.
Kota sat on the stone floor while Leiya crouched beside him. Remi stood several feet away, still trying to process what had just happened.
Around them, the nobles slowly began exchanging glances. Nobody seemed willing to speak first.
The fight had answered some questions. But it had created far more.
Rhen was the first to break the silence. "That wasn't a normal fight," he muttered.
Macey glanced at him. "You're telling me. Remi looked like he was chasing shadows half the time."
Rhen kept his eyes on Kota. "He was never really in control of it."
Jude folded her arms. "Then why did the boy stop?" she asked.
No one had an answer.
Across the courtyard, Caldera continued watching Kota. Her eyes moved from him to Harlan. She noticed the expression on his face. It wasn't relief. It wasn't satisfaction. It was calculation.
Caldera's expression hardened.
Harlan stepped forward. "So that's it?"
Remi looked toward him. "What?"
Harlan's eyes stayed on Kota. "The fight is over because he decided it was."
Remi's expression tightened. "He gave up."
"I saw that," Harlan continued. His voice carried across the courtyard. "I'm asking why."
Kota slowly raised his eyes toward him. "Because I was done."
Harlan stared at him. "Done?"
"Yes," Kota answered.
Harlan took another step. "You expect us to believe that?"
Kota's expression remained blank. "I don't care what you believe."
The atmosphere immediately grew tense.
Leiya stood beside Kota and gave him a sharp look. "Don't," she said quietly.
Harlan ignored her. "You enter our kingdom surrounded by rumors. You appear in front of the nobles with abilities nobody can properly identify. Then you fight one of our strongest and refuse to finish the fight."
Remi frowned. "Father."
Harlan finally looked toward him. "You stay out of this."
Remi's expression hardened.
Harlan turned back toward Kota. "What are you hiding?"
Kota stared at him. "Nothing."
"Then why won't you show us what you can really do?" Harlan pressed.
Kota's eyes narrowed slightly. "Because I don't need to."
Harlan scoffed. "Convenient."
Caldera stepped forward. "That's enough."
Harlan looked toward her. "This concerns the safety of Solstia."
"And you've already made your position clear," Caldera replied. Her voice remained calm. "You wanted Remi to test him. He did."
Harlan gestured toward Kota. "And what exactly did we learn?"
Noire answered from behind him. "Enough."
Harlan turned. Noire stood with her arms folded.
"What does that mean?" he demanded.
"It means you should stop pushing," Noire said.
Harlan's expression darkened. "And if I don't?"
Noire smiled faintly. "Then you'll make the situation worse."
Harlan stared at her. For several seconds, neither moved.
Xerxus finally stepped between them. "The fight is over." His voice carried authority. "Remi has accepted the result. There is no reason to continue this discussion here."
Harlan looked toward the king. "Your Majesty…"
Xerxus raised a hand. "Enough."
Harlan clenched his jaw while stepping back.
Kota slowly pushed himself off the ground. His legs felt heavy.
Leiya immediately noticed. She put a hand under his elbow, steadying him without making a show of it. "Easy."
"I'm fine," Kota muttered.
Leiya scoffed. "You've said that before."
Kota glanced at her, but she didn't look away.
"Don't argue with me," she said quietly.
Kota remained silent.
Remi walked toward them and stopped a few feet away. Kota looked up at him.
"I know I won," Remi said.
Kota nodded.
"But I don't feel like I won." Remi scratched the back of his head. "You were faster than me. You could've kept going. And you still stopped."
Kota met his eyes. "I did."
Remi sighed. "You're really difficult to talk to."
From the edge of the training grounds where the nobles had been watching, Soho laughed. "He's not wrong."
Roco looked at her. "We should get going."
Soho ignored her and hopped down from the raised edge, landing lightly on the training ground. Roco followed a second later, grabbing the back of her robe the moment her feet touched the stone.
"Soho," Roco warned.
"What?" Soho shot back.
"Don't," Roco said firmly.
Soho pulled free and kept walking toward Kota. "I'm just gonna say one thing," she muttered.
Roco didn't stop her this time.
Soho stopped a few steps away from Kota and raised her hand, ready to shake his.
"That fight was actually amaz…" she started.
The second she stepped closer, the air turned wrong.
A thick, freezing pressure slammed into her chest so hard her breath left her. It wasn't regular mana. It wasn't killing intent.
It felt older than that… heavy, vast, and deeply unnatural, like something enormous was coiled under his skin and had just opened one eye to look at her.
Soho's hand locked in mid-air.
Her legs stiffened.
For a moment she couldn't move at all. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, and every instinct in her body screamed the same thing.
Run away.
Kota simply watched her. Calm. Empty.
Soho's fingers started trembling. She forced her hand down and stumbled back two full steps, eyes wide.
Roco grabbed her arm hard.
"Soho…"
"I'm fine," Soho said too quickly.
Remi stepped closer, frowning. "Soho. What's wrong with you?"
She didn't answer right away. Her eyes were still locked on Kota, and the usual playful look was completely gone. What was left was raw, open fear.
"…Nothing," she muttered.
Remi glanced between her and Kota, his expression tightening. "That didn't look like nothing."
Soho finally tore her gaze away from Kota. She rubbed her arms like she was cold.
"Just… don't get too close to him," she said under her breath.
Then she let Roco pull her back without another word.
A few of the nobles began leaving the training grounds. But Harlan remained. His eyes followed Kota.
Kota noticed. For a brief moment, their eyes met. Neither looked away.
Harlan's expression remained cold. Kota's remained unreadable.
Then Harlan turned. "We'll speak later."
Kota watched him walk away.
Leiya moved closer. Her voice was low. "Don't let him get inside your head."
Kota looked toward her. "He isn't."
Leiya studied his face for a second longer than usual. "Good."
Xerxus approached them. "The fight is finished."
Kota nodded.
Xerxus glanced toward the nobles leaving the courtyard. "You've certainly given them something to talk about."
Kota looked around. "They were already talking."
Xerxus smiled faintly. "True." He turned toward the exit. "Come. We have much to discuss."
Kota followed. Leiya walked beside him, close enough that her shoulder brushed his when he slowed.
Behind them, Noire remained standing for a moment. Her eyes stayed on the doorway Kota had disappeared through.
Caldera noticed. "You see it now?"
Noire didn't answer immediately. Her gaze remained fixed ahead. "I do."
Caldera waited.
Noire finally looked toward her. "He wasn't trying to win."
Caldera's expression tightened. "He gave up."
"Exactly," Noire said. She folded her arms. "Remi didn't defeat him. Kota stopped himself."
Caldera glanced toward the damaged training ground. Cracks still marked the stone where the fight had torn through it. "Because his body couldn't keep up?"
"His body couldn't keep up with what he was demanding from it." Noire's eyes narrowed. "That's the difference. We were watching him push himself, not fight at his full strength."
A brief silence followed.
"And that's what concerns me," Noire said.
Caldera's expression grew serious. "You think there's more."
"I don't think." Noire looked toward the doorway again. "I know."
Caldera remained silent.
Noire's voice lowered. "That boy isn't showing us what he can do. He's showing us what his body allows him to do."
Caldera's eyes narrowed. "So the fight wasn't a demonstration of his strength."
"No." Noire shook her head. "It was a demonstration of his limit."
Caldera looked back toward the battlefield. Dust still hung in the air over the broken stone.
"And we still don't know what lies beyond it," she said.
Noire's expression hardened. "Exactly."