Now, the real problem began.
Kael had found the hint .But that didn't mean he had found the answer.
He knew something existed. He just didn't know where.
And that was the worst part.
He tried to remember if he had ever heard about a place like that.
A mountain hollow. Water flowing in opposite ways. Light and flame together.
But nothing came to mind.
No lesson. No story. No warning.
It was like the place had never been part of this world at all.
What if he told them?
"I saw a place in my dream… a hidden mountain… waterfalls…"
He shivered at the thought.
Elior would probably frown, tilt his head, and ask softly, "Kael… are you serious?" — and Kael could already feel that mix of concern and confusion in his eyes, the kind that made him want to disappear.
And Aevrin… he'd laugh. Quiet at first, then sharper, cutting, "Really? You expect me to believe that?" — mocking, dismissive, impossible to convince.
Kael's chest tightened. The thought alone made him pause.
He didn't want questions. He didn't want judgment.
Not yet.
He needed proof first. Something real.
"..."
The walk back from the waterfall was quiet.
Elior hummed softly to himself, brushing water from his hair. "I still can't believe how cold that was…"
Aevrin glanced at him sideways and let out a small laugh. "Yeah. Someone was so overexcited he almost froze himself to death."
Elior stopped for a second. "Hey—! I wasn't that bad."
"You were," Aevrin replied calmly. "You slipped. Twice."
"That was not on purpose," Elior muttered.
Aevrin smirked.
Kael stayed slightly behind, letting them talk. He wasn't thinking about the cold water or the hike.
His mind was already planning.
Inside the temple, everyone went to their rooms.
Elior laughed quietly to himself while changing, still wet hair dripping.
Aevrin was methodical and silent, disappearing into his room with a soft click of the door.
Kael lingered. He didn't need to change yet.
He stayed where he was, watching the corridor empty, letting his thoughts settle into place.
"..."
By the time they gathered for lunch, Kael already knew what he would say.
Still, his fingers tightened around his spoon.
He pushed the food around, barely tasting it.
Elior noticed immediately. "Kael… you're quiet. What's on your mind?"
Kael paused.
Just for a second.
Then he exhaled slowly, forcing his voice to stay calm."We need to go to the library."
Elior blinked. "Library?"
Kael nodded. "About our powers. We've been trying to sync them, but… we're missing something." He looked down at his plate. "There has to be techniques. Records. A proper way to combine them."
Aevrin studied him closely, eyes sharp. "You're suddenly very serious about this."
Kael felt it.
That look.
The one that questioned everything.
He met Aevrin's gaze anyway. "Last time almost went wrong," he said quietly. "We were lucky. Next time, we might not be."
Elior's smile faded. "You really think it's that bad?"
"Yes," Kael replied. Too quickly.
He slowed himself. "I mean… it could be."
Silence settled for a moment.
Then Elior nodded. "Okay. If it helps us get stronger, I'm in."
Aevrin clicked his tongue softly. "Tch. You worry too much."
But he didn't refuse.
Kael leaned back slightly, hiding the tension in his chest.
It worked.
No one had seen through him.
Kael wasn't lying.
Not completely.
He really wanted to go to the library. He really needed answers about their powers.
But that wasn't the reason keeping his heart restless.
That wasn't what had followed him since the waterfall.
Since that dream.
Since that place.
He watched Elior talk excitedly about books and notes, and Aevrin walk ahead with his usual careless ease.
Neither of them knew.
And they couldn't know.
Not yet.
If he told them about a place that didn't exist on any map… about mountains no one spoke of… about a waterfall that appeared only in dreams…
They would think he was losing his mind.
So he chose the safer truth.
The easier one.
Combat techniques. Power syncing. Records.
Things that sounded reasonable.
Things people believed.
Kael adjusted his cloak, hiding the tension in his shoulders.
I'll find it alone, he thought. Even if I have to pretend the whole time.
"Ready?" Elior asked.
Kael looked up and smiled.
"Yeah. Let's go."
And with that simple lie, wrapped in truth, he walked toward the library.
"..."
The library was quiet.
Not empty — never empty — but wrapped in a soft, careful silence, broken only by the turning of pages and distant footsteps.
Tall shelves stretched toward the ceiling, filled with records, manuals, and forgotten histories.
The moment they entered, Kael's eyes moved on instinct.
And stopped.
For half a heartbeat.
The black book was still there.
Resting on the same shelf.Unchanged.Waiting.
He looked away immediately.
As if he hadn't seen it at all.
"Alright," Elior said, already walking ahead. "Let's split up. I'll check the technique section."
"Mm," Aevrin replied lazily. "I'll look near the archives."
Kael nodded. "I'll search over there."
They scattered.
At first, Kael did exactly what he had promised.
He pulled out a few manuals on power flow. Skimmed through records on synchronization. Pretended to read.
Enough to look convincing.
Enough to look normal.
But his eyes were never truly on the words.
Between one book and another, they kept drifting.
Toward older shelves. Dustier corners. Sections no one visited.
Maps.Travel logs. Ancient geography. Lost routes.
His fingers brushed over spines slowly, carefully.
Mountains… rivers… regions…
Nothing.
He moved deeper.
One step at a time.
Unnoticed.
Or so he thought.
From another aisle, Aevrin watched.
Without turning his head.
Without making it obvious.
At first, he had told himself he was imagining things.
Kael was just serious. Just focused.
But then…
One book. Two. Three.
None of them had anything to do with combat.
Aevrin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Travel records?
Old maps?
Why… those?
Kael picked up a thin journal, flipped through it quickly, then placed it back.
Another book.
Another glance.
Always careful.
Always brief.
Like he didn't want anyone to notice.
Aevrin leaned against the shelf, pretending to read.
But his attention never left Kael.
You're hiding something, he thought.
And you're bad at pretending you're not.
Elior's voice drifted from somewhere far."I found something about energy balance!"
"Good for you," Aevrin muttered.
His gaze stayed fixed.
Kael, unaware, finally found a thicker volume and held it a little longer.
His heart sped up.
Still nothing.
No waterfall.
No mountains.
No sign.
But he didn't give up.
He wouldn't.
Not now.
Not when he was this close.
And somewhere behind him, unseen and unreadable, Aevrin was quietly piecing everything together.
Kael and Aevrin walked over.
Elior was holding a thick, worn book, its pages yellowed with age.
"The Flow of Unified Energy," he read aloud. "It sounds promising, right?"
Kael nodded and took it from him.
They sat down together near a long wooden table and opened it.
At first, it looked useful.
There were diagrams. Symbols. Lines connecting different points of the body.
But the more Kael read, the more his brows furrowed.
"This…" he murmured.
Aevrin leaned closer. "What?"
Kael flipped a few pages. "It's messy. The steps aren't clear. One page says to gather energy slowly, and the next says to release it immediately. There's no explanation."
Elior frowned. "Is that bad?"
"It's dangerous," Kael replied quietly. "If someone follows this without understanding… they could hurt themselves."
He pointed at a paragraph. "See? It says 'force the flow' but doesn't explain how. That's reckless."
Aevrin skimmed through the book himself.
After a moment, he clicked his tongue. "Yeah. This looks like something written by someone who barely succeeded once and decided to act like an expert."
Elior sighed. "So… it's useless?"
"Not useless," Kael said. "Just unreliable."
He closed the book gently. "We need something better. Something written by people who actually knew what they were doing."
Aevrin nodded. "Agreed."
They returned the book to its place.
And once again, they separated.
The library felt even larger now.
Row after row. Shelf after shelf. Endless.
Time slipped by without anyone noticing.
Sunlight faded from the tall windows. Lamps were lit one by one. Shadows stretched across the floor.
Still, they searched.
Elior moved tirelessly, comparing manuals, taking notes, flipping pages again and again.
He was the only one fully focused on their original goal.
Kael kept searching too.
Old records. Travel logs. Ancient maps.
Nothing.
No mention of the waterfall. No trace of the mountains. No hidden clue.
Each empty page made his chest heavier.
Aevrin watched quietly.
He didn't interrupt. Didn't ask.
But by now, he was sure.
Kael wasn't looking for techniques.
He was looking for a place.
A location.
Something hidden.
And he didn't want anyone else to know.
Night finally settled outside the windows.
They gathered near the entrance, tired and silent.
Empty-handed.
Elior rubbed his eyes. "I… at least found a few decent references."
"That's good," Kael said softly.
Even though his own search had led nowhere.
Aevrin said nothing.
But his gaze lingered on Kael a little longer than before.
"..."
Dinner passed in near silence.
Plates were filled. Food was served.
But no one felt truly hungry.
Kael sighed quietly and lowered his head, focusing on his meal. His brows were slightly drawn together, a faint pressure resting between them.
Elior noticed.
He slowed his movements, watching Kael from across the table.
"Kael…" he almost said.
The word rose to his lips—
Then stopped.
Before it could leave his breath.
Elior looked down again and continued eating, pretending he hadn't noticed anything.
Aevrin, however, didn't pretend.
His eyes lingered on Kael.
On the way his fingers tightened around his spoon. On the way he barely touched his food. On the way his thoughts were clearly somewhere else.
You're hiding something, Aevrin thought.
And I'm going to find out what it is.
After dinner, they parted without much conversation.
One by one, lights went out.
Doors closed.
The temple sank into silence.
Outside, the night was calm.
The sky was deep and dark, scattered with countless stars. The moon hung high, pouring soft silver light over the grounds.
Everything looked peaceful.
In his room, Kael lay awake.
Staring at the ceiling.
Thinking.
I can't wait anymore…
If answers existed, they were in the library.
Hidden somewhere.
Waiting.
He slowly sat up.
Changed quietly.
Slipped on his cloak.
And, careful not to make a sound, opened his door.
The corridor was empty.
Step by step, Kael moved through the sleeping temple.
Toward the library.
But as he passed the garden, something made him stop.
A figure stood beneath the moonlight, silver fabric flowing gently in the night breeze, catching the light like water. The person seemed almost unreal — bathed in white glow, surrounded by shadows.
For a moment, Kael forgot to breathe.
It was… beautiful.
Not loud. Not demanding. Fragile — like something that might vanish if he blinked too hard.
The moonlight traced the curve of their shoulders, slipped down their slender frame, and rested on a thin waist that seemed almost too delicate for the real world. They shivered slightly in the night air, but moved lightly, as if the ground barely held them.
Their fingers drifted slowly over the leaves of a nearby plant. Not careless. Not rough. Gentle. Careful, as if afraid even the smallest touch could harm it. The tips of their fingers glowed faintly under the silver light, pale and graceful — like petals drifting on air.
Kael's thoughts froze. He had never seen anyone move like that. So quiet. So soft. So unreal.
For a heartbeat, it felt like he was looking at an angel who had wandered into the mortal world by mistake.
Then reality returned.
Who…?
Why is someone out here at this hour?
His breath grew shallow.
He stepped closer. Slowly. Carefully. Each movement deliberate. Each sound restrained.
The figure shifted slightly, a whisper of motion as their cloak fluttered. Kael's chest tightened.
He moved until nothing stood between them but silence.
He could feel them now. Warm. Real. Fragile.
His hand lifted, trembling slightly, almost without his permission, and came to rest gently on their waist. Not gripping. Not claiming. Just… touching.
As if asking, Are you really here?
The person stiffened for a moment under his palm.
Kael's heart raced. His throat went dry. Emotion surged before logic could warn him.
His lips brushed close to their ear, so near that even their breaths tangled. There was no space left between them. No distance. No escape. The world had narrowed to just the two of them.
His hand tightened slightly at their waist. Not to trap, but to keep. Afraid they might be taken away if he loosened his hold.
His voice dropped to a whisper meant for only one soul. Warm. Careful. Almost trembling.
Like if he spoke it louder, the night itself would steal them away.
A name hung in his heart — fragile, forbidden, his alone. If he spoke it even an inch louder, it would have been claimed by the air, stolen from him.
And finally… his lips parted, letting it escape. Intangible. Undeniable. His.
—by Aurea;"Between moonlight and silence, a single name escaped his lips—his alone to own, untouchable by anyone else."