Chapter 284 – The Traces Anger Cannot See
Aeris slowly closed one eye.
The other lit up with a golden yellow glow, deep, almost solar. In his pupil, translucent symbols appeared and began to turn slowly, like circles carved into the air.
— Perception: Aquila's Eye, he murmured.
The world changed.
To Aeris's sight, the house was no longer just broken walls and destroyed furniture. Traces of mana still floated in the air, residues left by those who had been here. Filaments of distorted, unstable energy revealed violence, intention, and movement.
The symbols in his eye spun faster.
Each trace aligned: energetic footprints on the floor, marks on the walls, lingering waves near the door.
Aeris analyzed.
He saw the exact number of individuals. Their approximate level. Their position in the house at the time of the incident.
But most of all…
— …They weren't here to kill, he said softly. — They were here to intimidate.
He turned to Ilan.
— There were six people. — They deliberately limited their mana. — Everything they did had a precise purpose: to frighten you. — To force you to bow your head.
As Aeris spoke, Ilan trembled. Not from cold. From rage.
— Those bastards… he spat. — It's not enough for them to torment me… — They go after my mother too…!
His voice broke.
— But I'm not strong enough! — Why… why am I so useless?!
— Mister Ilan, Aeris tried to calm him, you must—
— Shut up!
Ilan spun around violently.
— You're not the one in this situation! — You're a prodigy! — You don't need pathetic threats like theirs!
He slammed his fist against the wall.
— I'm trash! — I can't even protect my own mother! — How do you expect me to stay calm after this?!
Aeris opened his mouth. — I can help you if—
— I have to become stronger! Ilan cut him off. — No matter the cost! — And crush all those scum! — So my mother will never have to live through this again!
Aeris froze.
He understood then.
He no longer saw a man in anger. He saw a man who hated himself more than he hated his enemies.
He wanted to speak. Then fell silent.
At that moment, arms wrapped around Ilan.
— Calm down…
His mother held him tight. Her hands still trembled a little, but her voice was firm.
— You don't need to be so hard on yourself. — All this… it's over. — Your mother is here. — She's fine.
She smiled softly.
— And thanks to Aeris… — All my pain and stress have vanished.
Ilan's breathing slowly eased. His shoulders sagged.
He stepped back and turned to Aeris.
— …Sorry. — I lost control. — Forgive me for shouting at you.
Aeris shook his head, without resentment. — It's nothing.
Then he turned his gaze toward the outside.
— I think… I need some air.
— Wait, kid—!
But already, a gentle gust rose. Aeris lifted into the sky, carried by the wind, and vanished above the rooftops.
Ilan's mother placed a hand on his shoulder. — Leave him. — He needs to digest what you said.
Ilan clenched his teeth.
— I didn't want to hurt him… — I'm the one who invited him. — And I unloaded all my frustration on him.
He lowered his head.
— And he's the one who healed you… — How could I have been so blinded by anger…
Silence fell again in the ruined house. But this time, it was no longer empty.
It was heavy with decisions yet to come.
Chapter 285 – What Remains When the Wind Moves Away
Silence settled in the house.
A silence different from that of the Labyrinth.
Not empty.
Heavy.
Ilan stood motionless in the middle of the devastated living room.
The overturned table.
The broken photo frame.
The footprints still visible on the floor.
He clenched his teeth.
— …I'll kill them.
His mother gently placed her hand on his arm.
— Ilan.
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it was firm.
— Look at me.
He slowly turned his head.
She stood tall, despite wrinkled clothes, despite the dark circles, despite the fear still present in her eyes.
— I'm alive, she said. — Wounded in the heart, perhaps. — But alive.
Ilan lowered his eyes.
— It's not right, he murmured. — You should never have lived through this… because of me.
She shook her head.
— No. — You live this because the world is like this, not because you are weak.
He wanted to answer, but no words came.
She sighed softly.
— Do you know what I saw tonight?
He raised his eyes.
— I saw my son return alive from a place that crushes people. — I saw a young boy risk his energy to heal someone he didn't even know. — And I saw anger… not from a coward, but from someone who refuses to let injustice become normal.
She placed her hand on his cheek.
— Anger is not your enemy. — It's what you do with it that matters.
Ilan trembled.
— I shouted at him… — He hadn't done anything…
— He'll understand, she answered gently. — And so will you, once you breathe a little.
Ilan closed his eyes.
For a long time.
Then he inhaled deeply.
— …I'll fix the door tomorrow. — And reinforce the house.
She smiled faintly.
— Always so serious.
A light breeze passed through the room then.
Not violent.
Almost timid.
Ilan opened his eyes.
On the edge of the half‑open window, a green feather spun slowly before fading away.
He froze.
— …Aeris.
His mother followed his gaze.
— The boy of the wind?
— Yes.
He clenched his fist.
— He left because I hurt him.
— No, she replied calmly. — He left because he understood something. — And so did you.
Ilan stood up.
— I owe him an apology.
— You'll give it, she said. — But not tonight.
She yawned lightly.
— Tonight… just remain my son.
He nodded.
Later, after she had gone to bed, Ilan stayed alone in the silent house.
He cleaned. Set the furniture upright. Picked up the debris.
Each gesture was slow.
Deliberate.
And for the first time in a long while, he did not repeat to himself "I am weak."
But instead:
— …I must become stronger. — Not to crush. — To protect.
Far away, somewhere in the city, the wind shifted direction.
And two paths, momentarily separated, still continued forward…
toward the same Labyrinth.
Chapter 286 – What the Wind Does Not Protect
Aeris rose above the rooftops.
Not fast.
Not high.
Just enough to drift away.
The city stretched beneath him, scattered with imperfect lights, narrow streets, muffled sounds.
The wind surrounded him naturally, like an extension of himself.
But for the first time in a long while…
He did not surrender to it.
He landed on the roof of a low building, legs dangling into the void.
The wind quieted on its own, as if waiting for a decision that never came.
— …I hurt him, he murmured.
He knew it wasn't true.
Not really.
And yet, Ilan's voice still echoed in his head.
*"You're a prodigy."*
*"You don't need to live through this."*
Aeris clenched his fists.
— As if that stopped me from understanding…
He closed his eyes.
Since always, the world had been… simple.
He saw farther.
Felt higher.
Understood faster.
When he grew angry, the wind obeyed.
When he was afraid, the air carried him.
Even adults spoke softly around him.
Even guild leaders smiled too much.
He was admired.
Protected.
Isolated.
— I never had to defend myself against people like them…
Petty people.
Weak people.
People capable of striking a mother to reach her son.
His chest tightened.
He saw again the broken door.
The trembling gaze of the woman.
Ilan's anger.
Not noble anger.
Not strategic anger.
Human anger.
— It wasn't beautiful… — But it was real.
The wind began to circle slowly around him again, like an anxious presence.
Aeris raised his hand…
Then lowered it.
— No.
He let the current pass without controlling it.
— I can repel monsters. — I can crush rank‑B hunters without raising my voice. — But this…
He placed his hand on his chest.
— This, I don't yet know how to protect.
Understanding struck him gently.
Ilan hadn't shouted at him out of contempt.
He had shouted because power wasn't enough.
Because even after the Labyrinth, even after the trials…
Some things remain vulnerable.
— The wind does not protect everything…
He opened his eyes.
His reflection faintly appeared in the glass behind him.
A sixteen‑year‑old boy.
Not a rank.
Not a future S.
Not a symbol.
Just a boy who had come into contact with something his talent could not sweep away.
— Lysandra was right…
He remembered her words before his departure.
*"The Labyrinth will not teach you to be strong."*
*"It will teach you what strength cannot repair."*
He breathed deeply.
— I'll go back to see him. — Not to apologize. — But to understand.
The wind rose slightly then.
Not a storm.
Not an ascent.
Just a current moving forward.
Aeris stood.
— …And when I enter the Labyrinth…
His eyes shone with a calm light.
— It won't be as a prodigy. — It will be as someone who still has much to learn.
A presence descended slowly behind him.
The air shifted.
Denser.
Older.
— Aeris, said a calm voice. — Look clearly.
He turned at once.
Azevran Tempesthorn,
King of the Storm Warden,
stood behind him, cloak floating gently without any visible wind to support it.
— Azevran, Aeris replied, bowing his head slightly.
— You observed a low‑rank hunter, Azevran continued. — You healed a civilian. — And you stayed longer than expected in a place that offered you nothing in terms of power.
Aeris nodded.
— Yes.
A counselor behind Azevran frowned.
— Why? — Such a meeting is… insignificant.
Aeris inhaled.
— He spoke to me normally. — Without measuring me. — Without admiring me. — Without fearing me.
Silence fell.
— And? asked Azevran.
— He is weak. — Technically. — But… he moves forward.
— Moving forward without power is an illusion, the counselor replied.
Aeris lifted his head, a hint of firmness in his voice.
— Perhaps. — But he did not bend.
Azevran studied the young boy for a long moment.
— You became emotionally involved.
— Yes.
— The Labyrinth is a dangerous structure. — Attachment can become a burden.
He closed his eyes for a second.
Then reopened them.
— Or an anchor.
He fixed his gaze on Aeris.
— Tell me. — When he shouted at you… — What did you feel?
Aeris clenched his fists.
— Confusion. — Anger. — And… shame.
— No one had ever spoken to me like that. — Not without envy. — Not without fear.
He breathed deeply.
— But he wasn't wrong. — I don't know that kind of fear.
A discreet smile touched Azevran's lips.
— Then your journey is not a mistake.
He placed his hand on Aeris's head and ruffled his hair lightly.
— Don't forget your goal. — You must become rank S.
Aeris smiled, sincerely.
— I won't forget. — Thank you… this talk did me good.
Azevran turned away.
— Good. — Then continue. — But move forward with your eyes open.
The wind resumed its course.
And somewhere, in the same city,
two paths continued to converge.
Chapter 287 – What Remains When the Night Passes
Morning came without fanfare.
No notification.
No revelation.
Just a pale light filtering through torn curtains.
Ilan opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling of his room.
The cracks.
The peeling paint.
The smell of lukewarm tea drifting from the kitchen.
— …I made it home, huh.
He lay still for a few seconds, listening to the house breathe.
No shouting.
No foreign footsteps.
Just the heavy silence of aftermath.
He sat up and left the room.
The table had been cleaned.
The splinters of wood gathered.
The door patched temporarily with crooked planks nailed in place.
His mother was there, seated, a cup in her hands.
— You're up early, she said softly.
— I slept badly, he replied.
She smiled at him. A tired smile, but real.
— Me too.
He sat across from her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then:
— They didn't come back last night, she said.
— Good, Ilan murmured.
He clenched his teeth.
— Mom… I promise that—
She placed her hand on his.
— I know. — You want to become stronger. — All sons say that.
She looked him straight in the eyes.
— But don't become someone you'll hate, just to protect me.
He lowered his gaze.
— …I'll be careful.
It wasn't an absolute promise.
But it was honest.
A faint current of air passed through the room.
Ilan frowned.
— Did we leave a window open?
— No.
The air vibrated softly.
Then a figure appeared in the doorway, as if it had always been there.
Green hair.
Calm eyes.
A slightly stiff posture.
— Good morning, said Aeris.
Ilan's mother startled… then relaxed almost immediately.
— Oh. It's the young man from yesterday.
Aeris bowed respectfully.
— Madam. — I'm sorry for arriving without warning.
— You did well to return, she answered gently. — He needed to see you.
Ilan blinked.
— …How did you find the house?
Aeris hesitated.
— The wind remembers. — And… I wanted to check that you were alright.
Silence.
Ilan stood.
— Come. — We'll talk outside.
They stepped into the small courtyard.
The sun was still low.
The street quiet.
Too quiet.
— Sorry about yesterday, Ilan said. — I—
— No need, Aeris cut him off. — You were right to be angry.
Ilan stared at him.
— Seriously?
— Yes. — And no.
Aeris inhaled.
— That kind of anger can break you. — But ignoring it would have been worse.
He lifted his eyes to the sky.
— I've never had someone to protect like that. — So… thank you.
Ilan gave a short laugh.
— You're really not normal, you know.
— I've been told.
They stood side by side for a few seconds.
Then Aeris spoke, lower.
— Those who came last night… — They don't intend to kill you.
— I figured.
— They want to remind you of your place. — Make you doubt. — Push you into a mistake.
Ilan clenched his fists.
— So what? — I play dead?
— No, Aeris replied calmly. — You keep moving forward.
He turned his head toward him.
— The Labyrinth.
Ilan raised his eyes.
— You want to enter with me.
— Yes. — Not to protect you. — Not to intervene.
He paused.
— But to observe. — And to learn.
Ilan studied him for a long time.
— You know if we enter together… — The trials will be different.
— I know.
— And they could be worse.
— I know that too.
A discreet smile appeared on Aeris's face.
— But that's exactly why.
Ilan exhaled slowly.
— …Alright. — But one rule.
— Which one?
— In there, you're not a prodigy. — You're just Aeris.
Aeris nodded.
— Agreed. — And you're not a rank D.
Ilan raised an eyebrow.
— Oh yeah?
— You're someone who moves forward.
Silence settled.
Then Ilan smiled.
— Fine. — Let me pack a bag. — And tell my mother.
He turned toward the house.
— The Labyrinth can wait a few hours.
Far away, invisible but attentive,
the Labyrinth adjusted something.
Not a Boss.
Not a Law.
Just a possibility.
Two paths that, for the first time,
would cross consciously.
And this time…
No one would move forward alone.