The veils of disbelief had been cast away, and as the sun crowned the horizon with its molten glow, the city of Arcadia was ablaze with the news of an SSS-ranked skill. Kael Draven's ordinary life shattered into a relentless wave of moments he could scarcely keep pace with, despite the essence of his skill, Infinite Speed.
Fast was an understatement for what he had become; he was swift incarnate. But as he stood within the confines of his small room, it became ever clear that while he could outrun everything, there was one entity he could not escape—fame.
With Infinite Speed at his disposal, Kael could dance between the raindrops of a storm, but as he dressed in his leather garb, he understood that the hardest steps were not those taken in the dungeons but those outside, where every eye was now fixated on him.
A knock pulsated through his door like the beating wings of a raven. "Kael. We need to talk," came the stern voice of his mentor, the same voice that had coached and chastised him throughout his C-rank days.
Opening the door, he was greeted by Thorne, a man more mountain than human, with a hulking frame and a stare that could pressure stone into diamond. "You've caused quite an uproar," Thorne said, pushing past Kael into the small living area. "The council wants a demonstration. They need to understand what Infinite Speed truly means."
Kael nodded, his heart an erratic drummer in his chest. "When?" he asked, his voice steady despite the acceleration of his pulse.
"Now. Suit up, we are heading to the Colosseum," Thorne commanded.
The Arcadian Colosseum—it was the testing ground for new hunters, a grand stage where skills were displayed, and challenges were met head-on. It lay in the heart of the city, a monolith to humanity's defiance in a world that had turned predator.
With each step towards the grand arena, Kael felt the magnitude of the eyes upon him. Word had spread, and citizens lined the streets, their gazes dissecting his every move as if they could peel away his normalcy and glimpse something—anything—that justified the title he had accidentally claimed.
The Colosseum was brimming, packed to the rafters with onlookers from all occupations, from commoners dreaming of might to elite Hunters who wore their skepticism like armor.
Inside the arena, Kael stood alone at the center, Thorne's advice echoing in his ears. "Don't think of the crowd; think of the moment. You and the clock, nothing else."
The council members sat aloof, distant gods passing judgement from on high. One among them, a lady with eyes sharp as shards of ice, gestured for silence. As the crowd's murmurs died down, a horologe was revealed, its hands poised to judge Kael's claim to Infinity.
"Begin," the icy-eyed councilor commanded.
The horologe ticked, and Kael took his first step, tapping into the essence of Infinite Speed. In less than a heartbeat, he was a mere blur, the world elongating around him, colors smearing like wet paint under a turbulent sky. He circled the arena, marking each cardinal point with a touch, a breath, a fleeting presence.
Time, the unyielding tyrant, bent under his will, and Kael reined it like the mythical riders of yore tamed their thunderous steeds. The crowd's roar was nothing but a crawling, silent murmur to his accelerated perceptions. As he ceased his motion, allowing the flow of time to resume its natural course, Kael witnessed the bewilderment painted on every onlooker's face.
The horologe had not even completed its first tick.
Whispers turned into cheers, and cheers into a deafening tidal wave of reverence. Kael stood there, the weight of moments wrapping around him like a mantle. What took less than a second in their eyes was an eternity in his—a lifetime spent in the span of a breath.
Thorne broke from the council's stand with a somber expression, placing a hand on Kael's shoulder. "You are no longer simply a Hunter, Kael," he said through the cacophony. "You are a phenomenon. And the world will never be the same for it."
As Kael looked upon the faces in the crowd—the wonder, the fear, the ambition—he knew that Infinite Speed was more than a skill. It was a harbinger of change for a realm already steeped in chaos.
But with the weight of moments now upon his shoulders, he wondered, not for the last time, if he could ever outrun the destiny that raced towards him—or if he was destined to collide with it head-on.