The arena was still echoing with shock. Whispers flew like wildfire through the stands, students murmuring Kaen's name with awe, fear, and confusion.
"A-2 swept all three matches?"
"That guy—Kaen—what even was that?"
"Did you see how he just touched that guy and bam—out cold!"
Meanwhile, inside the A-2 locker room, the atmosphere buzzed with adrenaline and disbelief.
Kyel sheathed his sword. "Well, that was… unexpected."
Leon chuckled. "I thought I was dramatic. Kaen just turned that fight into a theater show."
Mira leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching Kaen quietly. "That wasn't just strength. That was… control. Like he knew every outcome before it happened."
Kaen remained unbothered, toweling off the sweat he never actually broke. "I prefer to end things quickly," he said flatly.
Zian sat on the bench across from him, her expression unreadable. Something inside her itched—a pressure just under the surface, like a voice too distant to hear but too loud to ignore. She looked at him and said softly, "Who are you really, Kaen?"
He tilted his head, crimson eyes gleaming. "You already know the answer." His smile widened, something old and unsettling flickering behind it.
Zian's breath caught. For a moment, a flash—an image—crossed her mind: a battlefield soaked in light and blood, Kaen standing alone in the center… not as a boy, but as a presence too vast for the world to hold.
She blinked, and it was gone.
The post-match celebration was cut short by the arrival of the academy's headmistress, a stern woman named Velda Sylhart. Flanked by four S-rank enforcers, she addressed both A-1 and A-2 students.
"Effective immediately, A-2 will be granted priority access to Class-S resources. You have proven yourselves… barely." Her sharp gaze lingered on Kaen for a beat too long. "We'll be watching you."
After she left, Rayden whispered, "She knows something."
Kaen smirked. "They always do. But knowing… and surviving, are different things."
Later that night, Zian found herself staring at her reflection in the window, golden eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight. "I've seen him before," she whispered to herself. "But where…"