The incident happened three months after classes began.
Vaelor was returning from his monthly visit to Lyria when he heard the sounds of a fight behind the beast stables. Through Gris, he identified the participants: three second-year students surrounding Theo, who was curled on the ground protecting his Salamander.
"Do you think a commoner like you deserves a beast like that?" One attacker kicked Theo in the ribs. "Salamanders are for nobles, not blacksmiths' sons."
Vaelor could have ignored the situation. It wasn't his fight. And getting involved in unnecessary conflicts went against his low-profile strategy.
But he remembered how he had felt in the tower, isolated and hated for something he couldn't control.
He sighed and walked toward the group.
"Leave him alone."
The three students turned. When they saw the mask, their expressions shifted from surprise to hostility.
"The border freak." The leader, a burly boy with a family crest embroidered on his clothes, stepped forward. "Come to defend your little plebeian friend?"
"I came to tell you to leave him. If you don't want to listen, that's your problem."
"Are you threatening us?" The burly one laughed. "We're three against one. And we're second-years."
"I know." Vaelor adopted a relaxed stance. "That's why I'm giving you the chance to walk away."
What followed was swift.
The burly one attacked first, throwing a punch Vaelor effortlessly dodged. A precise blow to the solar plexus left him breathless. The second attacker tried to grab him from behind, but Vaelor was already moving, using the man's momentum to throw him against his companion.
The third had the sense to back off.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked, voice trembling.
"Someone who doesn't tolerate cowards." Vaelor helped Theo up. "Tell whoever sent you that next time, send someone competent."
The second-years fled.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Th-thank you." Theo trembled, holding his Salamander. "You didn't have to do that."
"No, I didn't." Vaelor admitted. "But I did anyway."
"Why?"
It was a good question. Vaelor considered several answers before choosing the most honest.
"Because I know what it feels like to be hated for something you can't control."
Theo looked at him with a mix of confusion and gratitude.
"You're… different from what I thought."
"What did you think?"
"That you were cold. Distant. That you didn't care about anyone."
Vaelor almost smiled beneath his mask.
"I don't care about most people. But you… you're not so bad."
It was the closest thing to a compliment he could offer.
◇ ◇ ◇
The news of the incident spread quickly.
By the next day, the whole academy knew the "border freak" had humiliated three second-year students. Reactions were mixed: some admired him, others feared him, and a significant group hated him more than before.
Cassian Valoris was among the latter.
"You think you're special, don't you?" he confronted Vaelor in the hallway between classes. "Defending plebeians, challenging your superiors. Who do you think you are?"
"Someone who can do whatever he wants," Vaelor replied without stopping.
"You'll regret this." Cassian clenched his fists. "I promise you."
Vaelor didn't dignify him with a response.
◇ ◇ ◇
But not everything was negative.
That same afternoon, Mira from Green Valley found him in the library.
"I heard what you did." She sat across from him without asking. "It was stupid."
"Probably."
"But it was brave too." She tilted her head. "Not many would dare face second-years, especially not for someone like Theo."
"Someone like Theo?"
"A plebeian with no connections. A nobody, according to the academy's hierarchy."
"The academy's hierarchy is garbage."
Mira smiled, the first genuine smile Vaelor had seen from her.
"Agreed." She extended her hand. "I think we could be allies, Vael."
Vaelor studied her. Through Gris, he read her body language: relaxed but alert, genuinely interested but cautious. No sign of deceit.
"Why?"
"Because you and I are similar." Mira lowered her voice. "We both come from places the elite here despise. We're both better than they let us show. And we both have… secrets."
The last word hung in the air.
"What kind of secrets?"
"The kind you don't discuss in public." Mira stood. "Think about it. If you decide you want to talk, you know where to find me."
And with that, she left.
Vaelor watched her walk away, processing the conversation.
'Secrets,' he thought. 'Everyone here has them.'
The question was which ones were worth uncovering.
◇ ◇ ◇
That night, Vaelor made a decision.
He had operated alone too long, trusting only himself and Lyria. But the academy was a complex ecosystem, full of threats and opportunities he couldn't navigate without help.
He needed to build a network.
Theo would be his first official ally. The boy was loyal, hardworking, and had potential others overlooked.
Mira would be the second. Whatever she was hiding, she clearly had her own reasons to challenge the established system.
And eventually, he would find more.
'An army isn't built in a day,' he recalled Nyx's words. 'But every soldier counts.'
Vaelor smiled beneath his mask.
His army had just gained its first recruits.