The ravine did not feel quiet anymore.
The echo of the Alpha's fall still hung in the air, dust drifting slowly through the broken stone, the heat of battle not yet fading from Phael's skin. His fists were still warm, traces of fire dissolving into nothing as the Crimson and Azure Koi within him slowly settled. Ryn stood upright with Aeris's healing light still wrapping around his shoulders, breathing hard but smiling as if pain were something he had long stopped caring about. Rielle's summons circled the area in silence, her wolves pacing like living shadows while the hawk hovered above, wings spread wide. Everything should have felt like victory.
But then the footsteps came.
Not heavy.
Not rushed.
Measured.
Controlled.
Phael turned toward the sound.
Kael Draven stood on the higher ledge overlooking the battlefield, his dark uniform still clean, his expression unreadable. Behind him were four other students—his team. Their eyes moved over the fallen Alpha, the shattered stone, the scorch marks left by Phael's fists. What they saw was not just a cleared mission.
They saw power.
Ryn straightened immediately. "You following us now?"
Kael stepped forward, his boots echoing softly as he descended the slope. "No," he said calmly. "We were assigned to the same zone. You just… finished first."
Soren's grip tightened around his weapon. "Funny how that always happens."
Kael ignored him. His gaze stayed locked on Phael. "You didn't just beat the Alpha," he said. "You broke through its armor with a single strike. That wasn't normal strength."
Phael did not respond.
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not just using your body. You're blending magic into your attacks."
The air grew heavier.
Around them, both teams became still.
Rielle stepped closer to Phael without thinking, her hand tightening at her side. Aeris stood behind Ryn, ready. Darian's shadow stretched faintly across the ground, shifting with his mood. Myra watched silently, eyes distant as if she were seeing something the others could not.
Kael stopped a few steps away.
"That kind of control at your level," he said quietly, "is rare. And dangerous."
Ryn let out a short laugh. "What, now you're here to lecture us?"
"No," Kael replied. "I'm here because people are already asking about you."
That made Phael's focus sharpen.
"Who?" he asked.
Kael studied him. "Clans. Instructors. Observers who don't normally care about first-year students."
The words were not a threat.
They were a warning.
Ryn scoffed. "So what? Let them watch."
Kael's eyes flicked briefly to Ryn, then back to Phael. "You don't understand. When people with influence start watching, they don't just observe. They interfere."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Soren spoke quietly. "Are you saying your clan is interested in him?"
Kael did not deny it.
"They're… aware," he said.
Rielle's eyes widened slightly.
Phael felt it then.
Not fear.
Pressure.
The kind that came not from strength, but from being noticed.
"Why are you telling us this?" Darian asked.
Kael looked at him. "Because if he keeps standing out like this, others will come. Not just to recruit."
Aeris swallowed. "You mean… to stop him?"
Kael did not answer.
He didn't have to.
They returned to the academy in silence.
The ride back felt longer than the journey out. No one spoke much. Even Ryn, usually loud and confident, remained quiet, staring out the window as the ravine disappeared into the distance. Phael sat with his eyes closed, replaying the fight in his mind—not the victory, but the way Kael had looked at him afterward. Not with hatred.
With calculation.
When they arrived, instructors were already waiting.
Not one.
Three.
Instructor Vale stood at the front, her sharp eyes moving across both teams. Behind her were two elders dressed in long dark robes, their presence alone pressing down on the air like invisible weight.
"So fast," one of them said quietly, eyes lingering on the scorch marks still faintly visible on Phael's hands.
Instructor Vale folded her arms. "Group Seventeen. Group Three. Report."
Ryn stepped forward. "Mission completed. Nest cleared. Alpha eliminated."
"And casualties?" the elder asked.
"None," Aeris said softly.
The other elder's gaze sharpened. "Interesting."
His eyes moved to Phael.
"You," he said. "You were the one who struck the Alpha."
Phael nodded.
The elder studied him for a long moment. "Your power… it is not simple."
Phael felt it then.
Not admiration.
Evaluation.
Kael was right.
They weren't just watching.
They were measuring.
"You will all be rewarded," Instructor Vale said. "But understand this—future missions will not be so forgiving."
The elders turned to leave.
But just before they did, one of them paused.
"Phael," he said.
Phael looked up.
"Power draws attention," the elder said quietly. "And attention draws danger."
Then they were gone.
That night, the group gathered in their dorm room.
The air felt tight.
Ryn paced back and forth. "This is insane. We clear one mission and suddenly elders are looking at us like we're pieces on a board."
Soren leaned against the wall. "That's because we are."
Aeris clasped her hands together. "What if they start sending us into missions we can't handle?"
"They will," Darian said. "That's how the academy tests value."
Rielle had been quiet since they returned.
Phael noticed.
"You're thinking about something," he said.
She hesitated, then nodded. "During the fight… something changed."
Everyone looked at her.
"When the Alpha roared," she continued softly, "I felt my summons… respond differently. Like they were no longer just following commands. Like they were… becoming something more."
She raised her hand.
A glowing circle formed in the air.
But this time, it was different.
Sharper.
Brighter.
From the light, one of her wolves emerged.
But its form was no longer fully spectral.
Faint markings glowed across its body.
Its eyes were clearer.
More aware.
Myra's eyes widened slightly.
"That's… evolution."
Aeris stepped closer. "Your summon… it changed."
Rielle stared at it, almost afraid to touch it. "I didn't force it. It just… happened."
Soren exhaled slowly. "The battle pushed it past a threshold."
Ryn grinned. "That's good, right?"
"Yes," Darian said. "And dangerous."
Phael watched the evolved summon carefully.
Power did not grow in isolation.
It responded to pressure.
To survival.
Just like his own.
Later, when the others had gone to rest, Phael stood alone by the window.
The academy stretched endlessly below, lights glowing in distant towers. Somewhere beyond those walls were clans, factions, and forces that were already beginning to move.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Rielle stopped beside him.
"I was scared today," she said quietly.
He turned to her.
"Not of the beasts," she continued. "Of what comes next."
He nodded.
"So was I."
She hesitated, then asked, "If they try to take you… what will you do?"
He did not answer right away.
Because the truth was simple.
"I won't belong to anyone," he said finally.
She looked at him, her expression steady.
"Then… we won't either."
For a moment, the world outside seemed far away.
Not because the danger was gone.
But because, for the first time since entering the academy, Phael did not feel like he was facing it alone.
Far above, in the highest tower, the elders watched glowing projections of the battlefield once more.
"One strike," one of them murmured. "Fire and force combined."
The other leaned forward slightly.
"Two powers," he said. "And control far beyond his level."
A third voice spoke from the shadows.
"Keep him close."
"And if he refuses?"
The silence that followed was cold.
"Then he becomes a problem."
Power had noticed him.
Politics had begun to move.
And the path ahead was no longer just about becoming stronger.
It was about surviving a world that would not allow him to grow unchecked.