Chapter 9
It was late afternoon.The training fields were empty. The sky above Sinjai Academy glowed with a soft amber light, the kind that only arrived when the sun was about to surrender to twilight.
Aeren sat beneath the old flamewood tree that grew beside the Class 1 combat yard.
The bark was warm. The wind gentle.But inside him, a storm raged.
His body still ached from the earlier simulation. He had failed—again. Barely survived thirty seconds against a basic Level 1 mimic beast in VR mode. The instructors didn't even speak to him anymore. They just sighed and moved on.
Aeren clenched his fists.
He stared at the scuff marks on his gloves. All the gear in the world couldn't cover up weakness.
"Why am I even here…?"
"Because you're still standing," a voice said.
He looked up.
It was Anshi—still in her Class 4 combat uniform, her shoulder guard marked with bronze etching. Her soft, light-gray hair blew a little in the wind, tied loosely with a sky-blue ribbon. Her eyes sparkled like dew when she smiled—but right now, she wasn't smiling.
She sat down beside him quietly.
Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. It wasn't awkward. Just peaceful.
"You're not supposed to be on this side of the yard," he finally said. "Class 1's kind of... a joke."
Anshi glanced at him, her eyes sharp. "Then I guess I like jokes."
He huffed a laugh, but it was hollow.
"You know I couldn't even touch the training dummy today. Not even once. I don't think I belong here anymore."
"You're wrong," she said softly. "You belong here more than anyone."
Aeren turned toward her, confused.
"You think power makes someone belong?" Anshi continued. "I've watched Silver-levels panic and fall apart when things got real. But I've never seen you give up—not once. You stand up, over and over, even when the whole world tells you you shouldn't. That's more than power."
He didn't answer. Not immediately. The words weighed on him.
"But… I'm holding you back," he said quietly. "You could've gone to Skyreach Academy. Why stay here?"
Her gaze drifted to the sky.
"When I was younger, I was scared of the dark," she said. "Not because it was dark… but because I was alone in it. Then one day, you stayed beside me the whole night. You didn't say anything. You just stayed. That night, I wasn't afraid anymore."
She looked at him, eyes suddenly bright.
"You are the reason I'm not afraid of the dark anymore. So if I can be your light until you find yours, then I'm exactly where I need to be."
The bell rang in the distance—marking the shift to evening studies. Neither of them moved.
The wind carried the sound of distant training—clashing steel, roaring beasts in simulation chambers, and instructors shouting combat orders.
But under the flamewood tree… silence.
Aeren looked down at his hands again.
Maybe he wasn't strong. Maybe he wasn't fast.But he still had someone who believed in him.
And maybe, just maybe, that was the real beginning of power.