The stone ring was empty.
Gray light filtered through the high windows of the annex, catching motes of dust that hung still in the air. No spectators. No instructors. Just the hum of enchantments buried beneath the floor, waiting.
Nclai stood at the center.
Since the prompt disappeared he had not moved.
His hand fell gently enough, as though he did not want to lose the silence.
No new prompt came.
The system remained still.
He exhaled.
Not a sigh. Not exhaustion.
Just the methodical pressure-release of something coiled too long.
His eyes flicked toward the north wall. Runes glimmered briefly, a sign that someone had entered the far corridor. Watching, maybe. Listening.
He didn't care.
He stepped forward once.
The ground beneath responded with a faint vibration, barely more than a breath.
He stopped again.
And waited.
...
Footsteps approached behind him. Light, measured... then slower near the ring.
Lyra's voice followed, uncertain but familiar.
"You're not assigned here."
Nclai didn't turn.
"The room wasn't occupied," he said.
"Doesn't mean they won't come."
"They won't."
Lyra was quiet for a second. "You're not even listed for combat drills. What are you doing?"
Nclai tilted his head slightly.
"Listening."
"To what?"
He looked upward. Toward nothing.
"To everything."
...
Lyra climbed up onto the edge of the ring and sat, her legs dangling just above the floor. She didn't speak, just watched him in the half-light.
His presence was still strange. Tense. Like a held breath that never released.
Finally, she said, "You unlocked something, didn't you?"
His expression didn't change.
"Not a skill," he answered.
"Then what?"
"A sense."
She waited.
He didn't explain.
Instead, he stepped again.
The motion was fluid, but halted at the exact moment the floor would've echoed. Like he knew how much sound the stone should make... and was refusing to give it.
Lyra frowned.
"Nclai…"
He turned finally.
Not fully. Just enough for her to see his face clearly in the half light.
"There's too much noise in this place," he murmured.
Then...
...
[Blood Sense - Lv.1] (Passive)
Range: 3 meters
Detection: Nearby vampire blood signals
Cooldown: 10 sec
Mastery: +0.7%
...
The air shifted. Lyra's breath caught.
She felt it too.
Something brushed against her senses. Cold, not physical... like someone peeling the skin of the world just slightly open.
Her heart rate jumped before she even knew why.
"What was that?"
Nclai's gaze didn't waver. "I know what they are now."
She swallowed. "What… who?"
He stepped past her, walking to the outer edge of the ring. The subtle pull of the skill faded. Like a ripple smoothed out.
He stopped near the rune-marked door.
"None of them are ready," he said quietly. "Even the ones pretending."
Lyra stood up, her boots tapping softly on the floor.
"You shouldn't do this alone."
"I'm not."
He turned slightly again.
Then added, almost as an afterthought,
"You followed."
...
They left the annex.
Neither spoke.
But the silence between them had weight now.
Not the weight of discomfort.
The weight of truth preparing its fangs.
...