The docks were a quiet ruin beneath the moonlight, cloaked in a thick fog that curled like smoke from burning embers. I moved like a ghost between crates and rotting ships, senses stretched taut with the hum of Soul Resonance still thrumming through my veins. The adrenaline from my fight with the Council hunter was fading, but the power surge it left behind wasn't. It was a promise — I was stronger now. C-Rank wasn't just a mark on paper; it was a rebirth etched into my bones.
Every breath came heavy, every step echoed in the cold night. The water lapped at the pilings with a whisper, but the silence was a lie. The Council never let a fight end unfinished. They sent hunters to finish contracts. And I was their prime target.
I paused behind a stack of crates, muscles coiled and ready. The wind shifted, carrying with it the faintest click of heels on wet stone. The sound was deliberate, measured — a predator's approach. I could smell the scent of leather, cold steel, and something darker underneath: intent.
"Kael."
The voice cut through the mist like a blade, smooth and ruthless. The name felt heavy in my mouth. I didn't turn around immediately, waiting for the figure to step from the shadows. Then, like a shadow peeling away from the night itself, she appeared.
Rhea.
Her eyes burned with a dangerous red glow that matched the blade she carried — a sleek, wicked thing forged for silent kills and whispered deaths. She didn't hesitate. Her body tensed, and before I could blink, she was moving.
I dove aside just in time, feeling the rush of air as her blade sliced through the space where I'd been. The strike was fast, precise — like every strike she'd ever made was meant to be the last. But so was mine.
The air around me snapped to life. Soul Resonance surged through my limbs, the blue fire dancing beneath my skin and igniting my weapon. A jagged sword of pure energy formed in my hand, humming with raw power. The resonance coiled around me like a storm, threatening to tear through flesh and bone, but I welcomed it.
Her eyes narrowed. "Stronger than I expected."
I didn't answer, only met her charge. The clash was brutal — metal sang against energy, sparks exploded with each blow, and the night itself seemed to crack with the violence.
Rhea was a master of precision, her movements deadly poetry, but I had grown too. Every dodge, every counterstrike, was sharper, faster, fueled by desperation and the burning need to survive. My fists burned, my sword sang, and the ground beneath us trembled.
The fight wasn't just a battle of strength—it was a war of wills. Every strike she made was designed to kill, to break me. Every block I held was a defiance against the fate she carried from Aric's hand.
I twisted and struck, my sword carving through the fog like a comet. A burst of blue flame roared as my Resonance flared—power I barely contained unleashed in a sweeping arc. She barely blocked, her shadow blade clashing against mine in a cascade of sparks.
"You'll never beat him," she hissed through gritted teeth, the words sharp enough to cut. "Aric is always ten steps ahead."
The accusation hit like a blow to the chest, but I swallowed the doubt, fueled by rage. "Then I'll be eleven," I growled back.
I launched myself at her again, unleashing a torrent of Soul Resonance like a tempest. Energy whipped through the air, a cyclone of fire and force that slammed into her with the weight of a tidal wave. She staggered but twisted, bringing her shadow blade up just in time to catch the edge of the storm.
The collision exploded outward, a shockwave that shattered nearby crates and sent splinters flying like shrapnel. The docks shook beneath our feet as we fought—not just for survival, but for the future we both represented.
The rain started again, heavy and relentless, washing over us, blending the blood, sweat, and power into a storm of violence and desperation.
I pushed deeper into the Resonance, feeling it claw at my body like a wild beast. Pain flared through my muscles, my bones, but I didn't stop. Every wound I'd suffered since the betrayal, every failure and every scar, fueled the fire.
Rhea lunged, faster than before, aiming for a strike that would end it. I met her charge with everything I had left, my blue sword meeting her shadow blade in a final, cataclysmic clash.
The force of the impact threw us both back. She hit the ground hard, her blade skittering away into the dark water.
I stood over her, chest heaving, drenched in rain and sweat, the electric hum of Resonance filling my veins like liquid fire.
Her eyes met mine — fierce, unbroken.
"You won't stop," she said, voice low but certain.
"I won't," I said. "Because I'm not fighting for myself anymore."
She smiled then, the cruel, bitter smile of someone who understood the weight of a relentless enemy.
And just like that, she vanished into the fog, leaving behind a silence that screamed of unfinished business.
I stood alone, soaked to the bone, the rain washing over me like baptism and curse combined.
Aric's game was clear. This wasn't just a fight to survive—it was a message. He was testing me. Prodding me to see how far I'd come, how much I could endure.
But I wasn't broken. I was rising. And soon, I would be the storm that shattered the High Council.
The road ahead was dark and long, but the fire inside me burned brighter than ever.
This was only the beginning.