The healer tent smelled like antiseptic and cheap incense.
Kael sat on a wooden bench, shirt open, bandages wrapped tight around his ribs. The pain was still there, but it no longer owned him.
Across from him, Riven stood perfectly still.
Too still.
The healer frowned. "You're tense."
"I'm fine," Riven said automatically.
"No," the healer muttered. "You're alert. Like you're waiting for something to jump out at you."
Riven glanced at Kael.
Kael said nothing.
The healer finished and waved them off. "You're both lucky. Next time, don't fall into a collapsing dungeon."
Outside, the guild hall buzzed with noise—hunters boasting, clerks shouting, porters hauling crates.
Riven stopped short.
Kael noticed instantly.
"What is it?" Kael asked.
Riven's eyes scanned the room. "People. I can… tell who's dangerous."
Kael's heart skipped.
"How?"
"Weight distribution. Breathing. How their eyes move." He shook his head. "It's not conscious. I just know."
A group of hunters passed by, laughing.
Riven stiffened. "Those four."
Kael followed his gaze.
The same hunters from the dungeon.
One of them glanced over—and froze.
Something in Riven's posture made him hesitate.
"…What?" another hunter asked.
"Nothing," he muttered, quickening his pace.
Riven blinked. "They felt me."
Kael allowed himself a small smile.
"Good."
Riven turned to him sharply. "Kael. Whatever you did in that dungeon… I'm not the same."
"I know."
"Then tell me why."
Kael stopped walking.
This was the moment.
He chose his words carefully.
"I can help F-ranks," he said. "Only F-ranks. I give directions. If you survive them, you change."
"That's it?" Riven asked.
"That's all you need to know."
Riven studied him for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Alright," he said. "What do we do next?"
Kael looked around the crowded hall.
At the ignored.At the mocked.At the forgotten.
He smiled.
"We find more like us."