A week passed.
The academy changed.
Whispers filled the halls. Students stepped aside at the sound of footsteps. Even instructors hesitated to speak too loudly in his presence.
Rael Drayce.
No longer a joke.
No longer a whisper.
Now a legend.
They called him The Battle Saint.
His wooden stick, once dismissed as a joke, was now revered. Some claimed it was a blessed relic, carved from an ancient tree that grew atop a leyline. Others said it was imbued with divine resonance, capable of cutting through fate itself.
None of it was true.
It was a branch.
He had carved it himself. In silence. Behind the dorms.
But facts were irrelevant when legends took root.
---
On the merit board, his name burned at the top in glowing gold.
Rank 1.
Over 2,000,000 merits.
He had beaten—give or take—500 students in the past week.
All with the same wooden sword.
All without drawing on more than a fraction of his past life's strength.
To the students, he was a mystery. A storm. A warning.
To Jin, it was simply self-defense.
Fear was the best teacher. The most loyal guardian.
If they feared him, they would leave him alone.
And all he wanted… was peace.
---
Which was why he found himself deep in the woods behind the dorms once more.
High above the ground, perched on a thick branch like a hawk at rest, he leaned back against the bark and let the breeze brush against his face.
From this vantage, he could see it all.
The academy, glowing with starlight-etched walls.
The forest, vast and still.
And in the distance—the city.
Peaceful. Far away. Alive.
He let himself breathe. Just once.
He closed his eyes.
And drifted.
---
Darkness.
Then movement.
He was dreaming.
The scent of ash and cold steel filled the air. The ground trembled.
A shadow loomed above him—towering, jagged, unnatural.
A monster, far bigger than any highrise tower, with wings made of broken stars and eyes like dying suns.
It stepped forward.
Jin didn't move.
"I see..." he muttered. "A memory from the dark age. Did I miss that time so much?"
The monster roared, swung it's claw—then shattered into glowing blue butterflies.
They swirled around him like dying embers.
He chuckled bitterly.
---
Then the dream shifted.
The butterflies scattered.
They drifted… slowly… toward a grave.
When they touched it, they faded into the sky—vanishing, like smoke in moonlight.
Before the grave stood a man. Himself.
His twin swords were planted in the earth before him. His body still. His shadow long.
His face was hollow.
Eyes that had seen too much. A heart that had broken too quietly.
The name on the gravestone had long since been worn away.
Not by time—but by choice.
Too painful to remember.
Jin stepped closer.
And then—
---
He woke.
A single tear slid down his cheek.
Instinct moved before thought. His hand shot up, grabbing something—someone's wrist.
Warm skin. Small fingers.
He looked up.
A girl sat on the branch beside him. Her eyes wide with surprise. Her other hand halfway to his face.
"Sorry," she said quickly, "you were crying in your sleep and I just—"
Jin let go.
She looked at him—not the way others did. Not with fear. Or awe.
She really looked.
Warm hazel-brown eyes. Hair that faded from chestnut to pure white at the ends.
Not dyed. Not enchanted. Just… her.
There was something painfully familiar about her face. Not the features.
The feeling.
Like hearing a melody he thought he'd forgotten.
---
He didn't speak.
Didn't blink.
Didn't move.
She hesitated, then offered a small, awkward smile.
"You're Rael, right?"
He said nothing.
"I was just walking, and I saw someone in the tree. I thought, you know... someone might've gotten stuck or—" she laughed softly, brushing her bangs aside. "Sorry. That's stupid."
Still, he didn't answer.
The silence grew heavier.
Finally, he stood.
"I have to go," he said.
He started climbing down.
"But… wait—"
He didn't turn.
"It's better if we don't talk."
Then he dropped from the branch, landing silently on the forest floor.
And left her alone among the branches.
---
She watched him go.
Brows furrowed.
Frustrated.
Why was he here?
Why was he crying?
And why… did it feel like he was running from something?
---
Jin walked calmly.
His expression returned to stillness.
Emotions were a luxury that he could not afford.
That girl… she had been the one buried beneath the gravestone in his dream.
His lover. From another life.
The only person he had ever—
He stopped the thought.
No. This is a new timeline. New rules.
He would not let her die again.
And the best way to ensure that—was to stay far, far away. So that he doesn't cause her death in this life either.
---
As he stepped from the tree line, brushing bark from his sleeve, a voice called out to him.
"Rael Drayce!"
He turned slightly.
A boy, short and winded, ran up to him, holding a glowing crystal tablet.
"The headmaster has summoned you."
Jin raised a brow. Just barely.
"Now?"
"Yes. Immediately. He said it was urgent."
Jin looked toward the sky.
The sun had begun to set. The academy bells would toll soon.
Trouble never rested.