The soft rustling of leaves and chirping birds did little to soothe the weight pressing on Arriel's chest.
The trio sat on a grassy clearing surrounded by tall trees, just beyond the outskirts of town. Kael had found the spot—secluded, shaded, and quiet. After the battle with the rogue Hero, none of them had spoken until now.
Arriel hugged his knees, staring down at the dirt. The Level 12 glow on his bracelet was hidden beneath the cloth, but it burned in his mind.
"I didn't want to kill him," he muttered, voice hollow.
Kael sat cross-legged a short distance away, gently twirling a leaf between his fingers. "You didn't have a choice."
"There's always a choice," Arriel whispered.
"No." Kael's voice was firm but kind. "Not when someone wants to kill your friends for their own gain. Not when they're already lost."
Arriel didn't respond. His fists tightened against his pants. "I can still feel it… the life energy. It rushed into me like fire. I didn't even try. My body just… took it."
"It's what Heroes do," Lira said quietly.
They both turned to look at her.
She sat on a nearby tree root, arms resting on her knees, eyes distant and blank. "We don't get to choose whether we absorb it. Our bodies are made this way."
The silence grew heavy again.
"I've killed monsters. A lot of them," Arriel said. "But this was different."
"It always is," Kael said. "But that man made his choice. He hunted you. If you hadn't stopped him, someone else would've died."
Lira turned her head slightly, her eyes dull. "He's not the last."
Arriel blinked. "What?"
"There will be others. Heroes who'll see us as prey. Especially now that you're growing stronger." Her voice held no anger—only a tired, quiet certainty. "We'll have to fight them. Maybe even kill again."
The words struck Arriel like a slap. Kael looked down but didn't deny it.
"We'll find another way," Arriel insisted. "We can't just—just accept that we'll be murderers."
"No one said we should," Kael replied. "But we have to be ready. That's why we stick together."
Lira's lips curved slightly. "I didn't say I liked it. I just… stopped pretending."
A gust of wind passed through the clearing. The leaves whispered above them.
Kael leaned back, arms folded. "We need to avoid being scanned. That device he had could've exposed us to anyone nearby. And we still don't know how many more people might be tracking levelers."
Arriel nodded slowly. "So what do we do?"
"Lay low," Kael answered. "Small towns. Remote quests. No high-profile missions for now."
"Or," Lira added, reaching into her coat, "we get stronger—quietly."
She pulled out a half-burned book, wrapped in cloth. Its leather cover was marked with faded runes and soot.
"This belonged to the village elder where I grew up," she said. "He was a Hero once. He left behind spellbooks... this is one of them."
She tossed it to Arriel. He caught it awkwardly and opened the cover. His eyes widened.
Inside was a carefully inked spell circle, labeled in clear handwriting:
"Tier 3 – Ember Lance"
"You said you wanted to learn stronger magic," Lira said with a slight smile. "Start with this."
Arriel traced the diagram with his finger. The complexity of it stunned him—but so did the trust.
"Why are you helping me?"
Lira met his gaze for the first time since the fight. "Because now I know… you're the kind of Hero who saves people."
Kael chuckled. "And someone needs to keep an eye on you."
A faint laugh escaped Arriel's throat. It was the first time he'd smiled all day.
The guilt was still there. The questions hadn't vanished. But for the first time, he didn't feel alone in carrying them.
They would walk this path together—no matter how dangerous it became.