After the fight, Kael walked out of the arena with firm steps, feeling the adrenaline still coursing through his body. He had beaten Adrian Flameheart, and the taste of victory was sweet. However, he knew that this victory was just the beginning. The fight hadn't been just against Adrian, but against the world around him, and he had no illusions about how things would unfold from here on out. But for now, he savored this rare moment of satisfaction.
As Kael walked through the academy's hallways, Adrian, on the other hand, sat on the floor, his face pale with pain and frustration. His friends were gathered around him, trying to help him to his feet.
"Adrian... are you okay?" asked one of his friends, a boy with short dark hair, clearly concerned but with a trembling voice, unsure of how to handle the situation.
Adrian didn't answer immediately. He was lost in his thoughts, the rage boiling inside him. How dare that damn Kael Redgrave defeat him? He, a talented and promising mage, beaten by someone who didn't even have magic! The humiliation he had felt was unbearable.
"I... I can't believe it!" Adrian muttered, slowly getting to his feet, still feeling the pain in his arm. "That bastard... He humiliated me!" The hatred in his voice was palpable.
His friends exchanged looks, unsure of what to say. Adrian's behavior was far from his usual confident self; he seemed... lost. They knew he didn't handle failure well, but this defeat was something more personal. Something deeper. They were witnessing the birth of an obsession.
"If I'd had more time to prepare..." Adrian murmured, but one of his friends quickly interrupted him.
"Hey, Adrian... We can take care of Kael for you, if you want. I know you can get back at him. It'll be easy."
Adrian's head snapped up quickly, his eyes blazing with anger. "I'm going to do more than get back at him. I'm going to break him! No one disrespects me like that and gets away with it!"
The other friends didn't respond right away. They were nervous, but they saw Adrian's rage as a spark, a motivation they could use to their advantage. They didn't care about the methods, as long as it meant dealing with Kael Redgrave.
"He won't know what hit him..." Adrian hissed, his fists clenched, as his friends nodded, ready to support his future actions. They knew that revenge against Kael was inevitable, and there was no doubt Adrian would become even more obsessed with it over time.
...
Several hours passed, and the Academy was peaceful once again. The fight, though significant, quickly became a distant echo for many. But for Kael, things weren't so simple. He knew that the shine of victory was fleeting. It was time to focus on the next step.
The Academy's clock rang, announcing lunchtime. Kael felt his stomach growl. Despite all the mental and physical chaos he had endured, hunger was a constant and urgent thing. With quick steps, he headed to the cafeteria, a large hall where students of all levels gathered to eat.
Kael grabbed his tray of food with one hand, his gaze drifting around the room full of murmurs. Though it was uncomfortable to be the center of attention, he didn't care. At that moment, his mind was focused on one thing: eating. The rest of the world could wait.
He made his way to one of the more secluded tables, where most students didn't sit. Kael didn't want to be surrounded by pointless conversations, gossip, or curious glances. The cafeteria was filled with students, most discussing the latest battle from yesterday or giggling over recent squabbles. But for Kael, all of it seemed irrelevant.
However, as he neared the table, something unexpected happened.
A chair was pulled out. Kael quickly lifted his eyes, and there, in front of him, was a girl who immediately caught his attention. She was tall, with silver hair and a gaze that radiated coldness. Her presence seemed to intimidate the very atmosphere around her, as if the air itself became denser and heavier. She wasn't like the other students. She was not someone ordinary.
Kael observed her with a neutral expression, but he couldn't deny that something about her was different. Her eyes were a deep gray, as though they carried an immeasurable weight. She didn't smile or make any friendly gestures. She sat down with the same calm, as if she already knew her presence there wouldn't go unnoticed. Indeed, around them, the conversation died instantly. The sound of knives and forks stopped, and all eyes were immediately drawn to the table where Kael sat.
The girl didn't speak immediately. She simply looked directly at Kael, as if studying him, analyzing him in silence. The cafeteria, once loud and busy, was now completely silent, with every student watching the scene. Kael could hear their nervous breaths and whispers behind him.
Finally, the girl broke the silence, her voice low but firm. "So, you're Kael Redgrave."
Kael stared at her, without a hint of fear or apprehension. "Yes, I am."
The murmurs around them grew slightly louder, but no one dared to interrupt the conversation. Kael didn't know exactly who she was, but the way the others were behaving indicated that she held some kind of elevated status here, perhaps even more than he could comprehend in that moment.
With a subtle motion, the girl adjusted her refined silver uniform and began eating with unsettling calm. Her eyes never left Kael's. There was something about her that seemed to want to understand him, as if she were analyzing him, studying him. He didn't know what she wanted, but something in her gaze suggested she wasn't interested in just a casual conversation.
Kael sighed inwardly. The curiosity of others never ceased, and with this girl, he felt it would be no different. She seemed... intense. But Kael wasn't there to play games. Not with her, not with anyone.
"You're not like the others," the girl suddenly spoke, breaking the silence again. Her voice had a distant tone, as if she were observing some exotic curiosity. "You defeated Adrian Flameheart. He, who is considered a prodigy. And you, without magic... How did you do it?"
Kael remained silent for a moment, not because he lacked an answer, but because her question felt hollow, a simple observation, something she probably already knew. What he felt the most was the weight of her gaze, as if she were trying to understand the essence of who he was, something he wasn't even sure he had.
"I just won," Kael answered vaguely, disinterested in diving into explanations that would lead nowhere. "He wasn't invincible."
The girl furrowed her brow slightly, as if something didn't quite fit with what she expected. She seemed intrigued, but her expression remained cold and calculating, as if waiting for something else to finally make sense. Something she couldn't see. Something Kael was trying to hide without even realizing it.
"I saw your fight," she continued, analyzing him even more deeply. "But I can't understand how you, someone with no magical ability, made Adrian seem... so weak. How can a mere physical blow knock someone like him down? It doesn't make sense."
Kael watched her for a moment, not in a hurry to respond. He wasn't sure whether to explain more or just leave it as it was. The fight with Adrian was in the past, but to her, it seemed like the incident was still fresh. She wanted answers. She wanted to understand. But Kael wasn't someone who liked giving easy answers.
"Maybe you're trying to find something where there's nothing," Kael said with an ironic smile. "Or maybe, you just don't understand what it's like to live with nothing. Or maybe you're just too spoiled by the idea of magicians' invincibility, who knows?"
The girl didn't seem shaken by the provocation. She just continued to look at him, but now, there was a slight tension in her gaze. As if she were questioning whether she was missing something, some important detail she couldn't perceive. But at the same time, her eyes were far from kind. She wanted answers. And Kael knew she wouldn't rest until she got them.
Kael couldn't help but notice that she was bothered.
She wasn't used to being ignored.
And that's when he realized something important: this girl didn't just want to understand what he had done to defeat Adrian. She wanted to understand how someone with nothing could defeat a prodigy like him.
Kael couldn't blame her curiosity. But he also knew he was starting to get bored with this mental game. He wasn't there to be analyzed like a lab specimen. He just wanted to survive. He wanted answers for himself. He didn't need anything more.
But the strangest thing was the feeling that this girl knew more than she was letting on. She seemed to have more knowledge, more power, more influence than anyone else around them. She wasn't there just out of curiosity; she was there because she felt there was something in Kael that deserved to be studied. Maybe she was searching for something she couldn't even describe. Something that didn't fit into her logical understanding of the world.
Silence settled between them again as Kael grabbed a piece of bread and chewed slowly. The atmosphere was dense. It wasn't just the girl's coldness that bothered Kael, but the fact that, on some level, he felt that she saw him as a puzzle, a challenge, a piece she wanted to unravel.
And that... that was definitely not something Kael was willing to allow.
"You're trying to understand my essence, aren't you?" Kael finally spoke, his eyes fixed on her, who was still watching him with the same intensity.
"Maybe," she replied with an almost dismissive lightness. "But in the end, you're nothing more than an inconvenient surprise, Kael Redgrave."
With those words, she stood up and walked away, leaving Kael alone as the cafeteria slowly returned to normal. However, the tension in the air was palpable. Something was about to happen. Kael didn't yet know what Selene wanted from him, but he knew she wouldn't leave him in peace so easily.
"Who is she?" Kael murmured softly to himself, ignoring the growing silence around his table.
The whisper quickly spread, and soon Kael heard a response from one of the nearby tables. "She's Selene Vallerian, one of the most privileged students at the Academy. She comes from one of the most powerful families in the Empire. Daughter of Count Vallerian."
Kael felt a shiver run down his spine at the mention of the name. The Vallerian family was one of the most influential and wealthiest in the entire Empire, with vast estates and a network of political connections stretching across the land. They were known for their exceptional magical ability and the high status they held in society. It wasn't surprising that someone from the Vallerian household would carry an air of natural authority, but what really intrigued him was the fact that she had chosen to sit directly across from him.
'What the hell... I have no idea who this is!' he cursed inwardly, feeling the shiver that his body had instinctively reacted to.