The Kaiju Trial was over—but its aftermath still lingered like a storm cloud that refused to pass.
Back in the East Dormitory, the air was anything but quiet. Voices bounced through the halls, excited and anxious and full of speculation. Everyone wanted to know the same thing: Who passed? Who were the real S-Ranks? Who the hell was that guy who came out of nowhere and sliced a Kaiju in half?
Kai Draven sat on his bed, one leg propped up, eyes locked on the holo-screen floating in the center of the common room. His black shirt clung to his chest, still faintly singed from the battle. Lightning-vein scars shimmered faintly beneath it. He wasn't talking—he rarely did—but his electric blue eyes scanned every name that flickered on the leaderboard.
Top Performers – Trial Simulation Alpha
Kai Draven
Kaito Shiranui
Sera Volen
Renji Takahara
Mina Arlow
Troy Denzil
Airi Tsukino
Rika Amagiri
Eight names. The top eight students of the Kaiju Trial. But everyone in the room knew only six had technically passed. Rika, Airi, and Leo had been disqualified during the simulation… but Rika and Airi still made the board. That meant something.
"Yo, you're number one?" Renji leaned on the edge of the couch with a lopsided grin, arms crossed. She didn't even seem surprised.
Kai gave a tiny shrug. "Didn't care about that."
Renji smirked. "Tch. Sure you didn't." Then, after a pause, "You did good, though. All of us did."
Mina twirled a strand of her dark hair, sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes still wide with disbelief. "Can we talk about the fact that Sera Volen sliced that Kaiju's leg off like it was butter? What kind of power is energy blades even supposed to be?! That's not normal, right?!"
"It's awesome, that's what it is," said Troy from behind a flickering barrier he'd subconsciously activated in his sleep-deprived stress. "You're on the list too, Mina. You and your 'ear-popping Sound Dome' saved my ass, remember?"
She blushed faintly. "Still can't believe I made it. I thought I was background support."
"No one's background anymore," Kai said quietly.
A silence fell for a beat. They all felt it. That strange shift in weight. This wasn't just about scores or survival anymore. Something had changed at Aetherion.
Meanwhile – South Wing, Infirmary
Rika Amagiri pressed her hand against the scanner outside the medical ward. The doors slid open with a soft hum, and she slipped inside, quiet as a breeze.
The medbay was dim, lined with softly glowing blue panels. Machines beeped in slow rhythm, monitoring vitals, analyzing anomalies, healing what could be healed.
Leo was lying on a reinforced med-bed near the back, his left arm in a sleek exosplint, his face bruised but peaceful. The bandages wrapped around his ribs glowed faintly from nanite treatment.
Rika stood at the foot of the bed for a moment, arms folded. Her usual sharp confidence softened here.
"You idiot," she murmured. "You tried to solo a Kaiju."
Leo stirred faintly. "…It was… flanking you…"
Rika blinked. "You're awake?"
"Barely," Leo said with a weak chuckle. "Don't tell me you're here to scold me. That's Airi's job."
"I came to check on you, dumbass." She walked to the chair beside the bed and sat. Her arms stayed crossed, but her voice lowered. "You scared us."
Leo looked at her for a long moment. "You were scared?"
She looked away, cheeks pink. "I wasn't scared. I was… moderately concerned."
Leo smiled slightly, then flinched as a twinge of pain rippled through his chest.
They sat in silence for a while. Just the med monitors and the quiet hum of healing tech.
Then Leo's tone changed. Lower. Rougher.
"Rika," he whispered. "That person… the one who saved me…"
Rika glanced at him. "Yeah?"
"He wasn't from our team. He wasn't even supposed to be there."
"I know. Kael said he was… 'an emergency protocol.'"
Leo shook his head slowly. "That wasn't just any student. I could feel it. When he moved. When he touched me." His voice dropped even more. "His energy was like theirs. Like the Kaiju."
Rika froze.
Leo's eyes opened fully, glassy with memory.
"It wasn't a student, Rika…
It wasn't human."
Back in the Common Room – Dorms
As the conversation buzzed and speculation mounted, Kai stepped out onto the balcony for air. He stared at the night sky above the dome, stars shimmering against the false atmosphere. Somewhere out there… something was shifting.
Behind him, Renji joined him, hands in her jacket pockets.
"You feel it too, huh?" she asked.
Kai didn't answer.
"You think that guy—the one who saved Leo—was another S-Rank?"
Kai's hand clenched the railing. "I don't know. But whatever he is… he's strong. Very Strong."
"Stronger than you?" Renji scoffed. "That's a short list."
Kai smirked faintly, then turned serious. "But Leo said he wasn't human."
Renji blinked, tilting her head. "Wait, how do you know that?"
"I don't," Kai said, eyes still locked on the sky. "But I feel it too."
"Something was coming.
And deep beneath the academy—in a quiet, sealed chamber hidden from the rest of Aetherion—someone sat alone in the dark.
Not a monster.
Not a villain.
Just a boy cursed with blood that wasn't fully his own.
His eyes—glowing faintly with Kaiju energy—opened to the silence.
And for a moment, Derrick wished he could stay hidden forever."