Inside her room, a space heavy with silence, Trangen was fighting an internal war that no one could see. She sat on the edge of her bed, aimlessly twirling strands of her white hair, whispering to herself in a voice choked by hesitation:
"I have to confront him with the truth... but can he handle the honesty of my feelings? Why do I always find silence so much easier?"
Suddenly, the silence was no longer lonely; her soul split before her eyes into three entities embodying her inner conflicts. The first version appeared with fiery red hair and a piercing gaze, speaking in a biting tone:
"Stupid! Don't you dare confess. Love is weakness, and revealing it will make you just a cheap number in his records. Be like a mountain—heavy, cold, and indifferent. That is how you catch men!"
Before she could respond, the second entity materialized with hair as blue as a calm sea and a voice overflowing with tenderness:
"Don't listen to her pride. Love knows no waiting, and opportunities evaporate like smoke. Say it with everything you've got, before the world wakes up one day and you find he's no longer by your side."
The third entity, with brown hair and a deadly apathy, sat on a chair and shrugged indifferently:
"I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Rion isn't even that handsome, and he certainly doesn't care about you. While you're burning up here, he's out hanging out with others... stop this nonsense!"
The voices of the argument rose in the room until the walls seemed to vibrate. Trangen screamed, covering her ears:
"Shut up, all of you! You're tearing me apart with your conflicts while I'm paralyzed!"
She stood up suddenly, a strange resolve flashing in her eyes:
"I already told him... I said it to him in a moment of madness, but I turned coward and fled before I could hear a single word from him."
An absolute silence fell for seconds, then the three versions faded away, whispering in a single, chilling voice:
"Stupid..."
Trangen fled her room to escape her thoughts, only to stumble upon a strange sight in the hallway; Bern was pressed against Natsumi's door as usual.
"Bern? What are you doing here?"
Bern panicked and put a finger to her lips:
"Shhh! Don't ruin the moment!"
Trangen replied with disgust:
"Eavesdropping is gross, Bern. Besides, Natsumi might kill you if she catches you. Tell me... have you seen Rion?"
Bern pushed her away coldly:
"None of your business what I'm doing, and I don't know where he is. Go look for him somewhere else."
Trangen muttered as she walked away:
"Strange... I can't feel that aura of his. It's as if the earth swallowed him up."
At the Academy gate, she ran into Mai.
"Mai, have you seen Rion?"
Mai smiled a smile that carried many meanings:
"Yes, he left a while ago with Kairen to visit her mother."
Trangen's jealousy flared up instantly:
"And where does she live?"
Mai laughed softly:
"I don't know, honey. Kairen keeps her privacy behind very high walls."
At that moment, Mira appeared, coolly munching on popcorn:
"Hello, Trangen. You look like someone looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Mira, do you know Kairen's mother's address?"
"No, but there's no need to worry. Rion will be back as soon as the social obligations are over."
Trangen shouted with childish frustration:
"I don't even want to see him anymore!"
Mai gave her a long, scrutinizing side-glance:
"It seems my rivals for his heart are multiplying by the day..."
Trangen lifted her head with pride:
"Yes, I love Rion, and I won't let any power take him from me!"
Mai challenged:
"A rivalry then?"
But Mira interrupted the scene with her usual calm:
"I don't think this rivalry will bear any fruit."
"And why not?" Mai asked curiously.
"Because Rion... has never known love, and never will know it, in the way you understand it."
Trangen froze, asking in a stifled voice:
"Do you mean he'll never love me?"
Mira smiled a cryptic smile and continued:
"He loves you in his own way, but he won't see you the way you see him... his eyes look toward horizons further than you can imagine."
Their conversation was cut short by Alex, who asked in surprise:
"What is this women's meeting? Is there a revolution I don't know about?"
Mai replied:
"No, just wandering hearts looking for Rion."
Suddenly, everyone's phone buzzed with the official notification.
(Team distribution will be announced soon - Headmistress Dalia)
Mira said, shaking her popcorn box:
"Finally... the real game begins."
Trangen clenched her fist, fear creeping into her voice:
"I'm scared, Mira... I'm afraid geography will pull us apart. I don't want to be on a team far away from him."
Mira looked at her indifferently and continued eating, which provoked Trangen's anger:
"You don't feel the bitterness of what I'm saying!"
Mai said in a serious, stern tone:
"Trangen, this is a time for work, not emotions. The teams will be formed based on strength and combat harmony. Training is your only salvation."
Trangen lowered her head, feelings of weakness mingling with strength in her heart. She said with a new resolve:
"Fine... I will break my records in training. I'll make him proud of me, and I'll be the strength his team can never do without."
Meanwhile
Specifically in the dark streets of the city of "Astron," where the air was thick with the smell of moisture and ruin, a body glided through the alleys like a part of the gloom. He walked with cautious, calculated steps, his short white hair shimmering under the flickering streetlamps struggling to stay lit. It was styled simply, reflecting a coldness that dwelled in the depths of his soul.
Behind the frames of his thin, rectangular medical glasses, his eyes watched every movement with a terrifying stillness—a steady gaze that knew no path to panic. He wore a sand-colored wool sweater with sleeves covering part of his hands, which were wrapped in tight black gloves. His dark brown trousers were held by a leather belt with a silver buckle glinting in the dark, while his long leather boots bore the marks of mud and blood from the journey he had braved alone.
He was of medium height, leaning toward tall, with a lean, agile body that moved as lightly as a shadow against the crumbling walls. He stopped suddenly, a hoarse murmur escaping him:
"Damn it... I couldn't bring enough food to last another day. I have to expand my search into this forbidden zone, whatever the cost."
He had barely finished his sentence when the air behind him vibrated with a suspicious movement. He didn't need to turn to know what he was facing; from the cracks in the darkness, distorted creatures crawled out—wraiths that were once human but had become pale-faced monstrosities, their eyes hollow of life and filled with eternal hunger.
He turned to them with a coldness that did not fit the horror of the scene. He didn't scream, and he didn't tremble. Instead, he reached out his right hand as if summoning something from nothing. In a flash, a shimmering silver liquid erupted from the void, beginning to take shape like a living being, only to contract and transform into a sharp, gleaming metallic axe. Meanwhile, his left hand was encased in the same armor-like material, protecting him with the hardness of silver.
He lunged toward them like a bolt of lightning, splitting the night's silence with the sound of iron striking dead flesh. His movements were precise, severing heads and limbs one by one in a bloody dance. The sound of his panting breath mixed with the echo of the creatures' guttural screams. He did not stop until he had annihilated the last of them, leaving behind featureless remains.
He made his way through the rubble until he reached an old, abandoned shop. He entered and closed what remained of the iron door behind him, then leaned his back against the cold wall. He let his body slowly relax until he sank to the floor, panting heavily as the silver liquid gradually faded away, returning to its original state.
He closed his eyes, and in the dust-choked silence of that shop, his calm, deep voice echoed through the space:
"My name is Nir Spashi... one of those outcasts who wasn't lucky enough to escape this hell. We stayed here to battle monsters... some of which wear human faces."