Kaz exaggerated his tone, projecting his voice just enough to make sure everyone heard.
"Well, my first Rift was... fun. I ended up in a desert, and then this huge scorpion showed up. I'm pretty sure it was Spawn-ranked."
A wave of whispers rippled through the room.
"A Spawn-rank?""That's impossible.""He's lying… isn't he?"
For the first time, something flickered across the girl's face—interest. Subtle, but there. Still, she kept her composure.
"So," she asked, "how did you escape a beast of that rank?"
Kaz smiled and started to pace slowly, letting his confidence carry him. He needed them to believe—or at least doubt hard enough not to question him outright.
"Well, I was surrounded—her, and a few little ones, about the size of tigers. And all I did…" He raised a hand for dramatic effect. "...was swing my arm."
He paused, letting silence draw the tension tighter.
"And suddenly, I was in a cave."
Technically, Kaz hadn't lied.
He had been in a desert.He had been surrounded by scorpions—massive ones.And he had swung his weapon.
He'd stabbed one of the smaller creatures, and just as the others closed in, the ground beneath him gave way. The sand collapsed, swallowing him into a cave.
But the truth was malleable. In a room full of people looking for legends, sometimes suggestion was stronger than fact.
Now, the whispers had grown into a torrent—hushed voices crashing against each other like waves.
And Ryuma?
Still suspended in midair, the threads of darkness keeping him aloft, he was no longer burning with anger.He was watching Kaz.
Intently.
Kaz tilted his head, grinning. "Do you want me to continue?"
The girl didn't answer with words. Instead, a swirl of darkness coiled beneath her, forming a throne-like seat. She sat down, legs crossed, eyes sharp with interest.
Without looking, she released the dark chains holding Ryuma in the air. He dropped to the floor with a solid thud. Slowly, he stood, dusted himself off, and walked to the back of the room, silent. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, gaze fixed on Kaz.
"Yes," the girl said, voice cool but clearly intrigued. "Let me hear more of this jest. A jest from a madman, perhaps."
Kaz beamed. This was going exactly how he wanted.
"Well," he said cheerfully, "after that, I picked up a dead scorpion's leg—wiped it clean—and it turned to bone. Isn't that interesting?"
He spread his arms like a magician revealing a trick.
"But the mother was still alive. Massive. Furious. So, I tapped the ground… and suddenly, she was trapped in water, and I was in another cave."
It was bending the truth, sure—but not breaking it.
He had skinned a scorpion leg and used it as a weapon.The mother had attacked the floor, not him, triggering the collapse.And yes—the water had come rushing in, sweeping him away, dumping him in a different part of the cave.
So technically… he wasn't lying.
And bending the truth?
That was starting to feel fun.
Lloyd was already up from the ground and he was over at hi friends talking to them one the boys asked Lloyd going mad in the rift But Ryuma glared at Lloyd which caused him to shut up
Kaz continued, his tone light, almost like he was recounting a fond memory instead of a near-death experience.
"Then I met your brother in that cave," he said, tossing a glance toward the girl. "When Ryuma showed up, I honestly thought we were going to have to cross swords."
He paused for dramatic effect.
"But it never came to that. Turns out, I didn't have to lift a finger—Ryuma handled most of the monsters himself. It was… impressive."
He shrugged as if that part of the story barely mattered.
"Well, until we ran into the horde."
Kaz turned his head toward the back of the room, locking eyes with Ryuma. A slow, knowing smile spread across his face.
"You remember, don't you?"
Ryuma scoffed and turned his head.
Exactly what Kaz was hoping for.
He could still feel the leftover heat of Ryuma's earlier rage—and it was clear from the way he avoided his sister's eyes that the two weren't exactly on good terms. Which meant Ryuma wasn't going to confirm or deny anything while she was in the room.
Perfect.
The girl glanced over at her brother. "Is this true?"
Ryuma didn't even bother responding. He just looked away, the picture of disinterest.
Kaz grinned inwardly. He had what he needed now—an air of mystery, a whiff of danger, the kind of story that made people whisper don't mess with that guy.
Time to end on a high note.
With the most ridiculous thing he could think of.
"Yeah," Kaz said, voice bright, "after that, Ryuma left, and the Spawn-rank scorpion just… ran off the edge."
He gave a casual shrug.
"And that's how I got my Prime Trait."
Laughter broke out across the room—snickers and muffled chuckles spreading like wildfire.
Kaz smiled lazily. That ridiculous ending landed exactly how he wanted.
"So," he said, stretching slightly, "can you hand over that info to the examiner? Be a dear. I'm a little sleepy."
That was when the girl laughed—really laughed. She tried to hold it in, but couldn't. The story, the delivery, his whole attitude… it was too much.
Kaz blinked, caught off guard. "Oh," he muttered. "Didn't expect that."
Her laughter faded slowly, still lingering in her smirk. "That was hilarious," she said. "Completely insane."
Then, her eyes narrowed—just slightly.
"Do you have a True Name?"
Kaz, already feeling the weight of the Commandment Rest dragging him down, answered without thinking.
"Yeah. King of Feet," he said with a sleepy grin.
But the moment the words left his mouth, the air shifted.
She wasn't smiling anymore.
Her gaze hardened, the humour gone as if it had never been there to begin with.
"Okay, Novice Kazeem," she said coldly. "It was nice meeting you."
She stood, shadows coiling at her feet, and turned away.
"It's time for me to go."
It took a while for the room to settle.
The laughter faded. The whispers died.One by one, people began to leave—Axion, Lloyd… even Ryuma.
Soon, Kaz was alone.
"Well," he muttered to himself, dragging his feet toward the door, "time to go. Need to get to my room before I pass out standing."
But just as he reached the threshold, black smoke curled in front of him, coalescing into a figure.
The girl.
Kaz sighed and tried to walk past her—but just as he stepped through the doorway, her voice stopped him cold.
"You know," she said softly, "I believed every word you said. That's what made it so funny earlier."
Kaz froze.
"I have a Feature," she continued, her tone now tinged with something colder. "It's called Honesty. I can tell when someone's lying—or telling the truth."
She stepped forward, eyes gleaming.
"And the thing is… you were being truthful. Every last word.Until we got to your True Name.Why is that?"
Shit, Kaz thought.Of course she'd have a Feature like that.
But he wasn't about to play her game—not now. Not while the Commandment Rest was dragging at his limbs, tugging at the edges of his mind like gravity.
So he didn't say a word.
He just walked away.
Behind him, her voice followed like a shadow.
"I will find out who you are."