Nobody spoke about the night of the shadow.
A directive from Salar — clear and indirect at the same time. The four students remembered nothing. Ria wasn't questioned. Kayan wasn't questioned.
But everyone saw the marks on the floor — the lines of silver ash that hadn't fully disappeared even after cleaning.
And everyone knew who left them.
On the eighth day's training, Salar announced something new:
"Combat practice begins today. Pairs. I choose them."
Kayan didn't look up. Some instinct told him what was coming.
"Kayan. Zeid."
They stood facing each other.
Zeid was ten centimeters taller. Heavier, broader — a face without expression, but in his eyes, something like hunger. Not hatred. Worse than hatred. The need to prove something to himself before anyone else.
Kayan understood this because he'd felt the same thing many times.
Zeid said, quietly enough for only Kayan to hear:
"What you did to the wall, what you did that night — I want to see if it was luck."
"It wasn't."
"Then prove it."
The sparring was physical only — no Ather for beginners. But even physically, Zeid was far better.
The first strike reached Kayan before he moved. The second sent him to the ground. The third—
Zeid stopped.
Kayan on the ground, looking up. The grey sky. Always the same sky.
Every time I've ever fallen, this sky was above me.
Something inside him. Not the Ghoul this time. Something older. Something human.
A decision.
Kayan stood up.
Zeid looked at him with a poorly concealed trace of respect.
Kayan's next strike wasn't powerful. But it landed in exactly the right place — a place he'd seen in the way Zeid stood, the side he always favored.
Zeid stepped back. One step. He didn't fall. But one step.
And in that one step — everything between them shifted.
After training, Zeid approached him.
He didn't extend his hand. But he said:
"You fight like someone trying to prove something to yourself. Not to others."
"And you?"
Zeid paused. For the first time — something moved behind his eyes.
"I fight because the alternative is worse."
He walked away.
What alternative? Kayan didn't ask. But he would remember that line.