Ken woke up to silence.
Not the calm kind. The empty kind.
No screams. No steel. No vibration tearing through the air. Just stillness, thick and unfamiliar. His body felt heavy, like it had been dropped into deep water.
He tried to move.
Pain answered immediately.
A sharp pulse ran through his ribs, his arms, his spine. Ken sucked in a breath and clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to make a sound.
So he was alive.
That was new.
Light filtered through his eyelids. Warm. Steady. Not the burning glow of the battlefield. Ken opened his eyes slowly.
A white ceiling.
Stone, smooth and carved with faint symbols. Mana conduits ran along the edges, glowing softly. The air smelled clean. Metal and incense.
A recovery hall.
Blade Order.
Ken exhaled.
"So you're finally awake."
The voice came from his right.
Calm. Clear. Female.
Ken turned his head slightly. A woman was leaning against a nearby pillar, arms crossed. She wore Blade Order armor, lighter than most, designed for movement rather than brute force. Dark fabric layered under polished steel plates. No helmet.
She was looking at him with open curiosity, not concern.
"Good," she added. "I was starting to think you'd sleep through the whole extraction."
Ken swallowed. His throat felt dry.
"Extraction?" he asked.
"You collapsed right after cutting reality in half," she replied casually. "The healers were very upset about it."
Ken blinked.
"…I did what?"
She smiled.
It wasn't mocking. It wasn't warm either. It was sharp. Interested.
"I'm Lyra Valeen," she said. "Blade Order. Vanguard unit."
She pushed herself off the pillar and walked closer. Her steps were light. Quiet. Ken barely heard them.
"You're Ken Elyoss. The new one."
Ken nodded slowly.
"That depends," he said. "Am I dead?"
Lyra tilted her head.
"If you were, I wouldn't be here," she said. "And the ceiling would look very different."
Fair.
Ken tried to sit up. His body protested violently, but Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.
"Don't," she said. "Your resonance nearly tore your muscles apart. You're lucky you didn't liquefy your own arms."
Ken frowned.
"…That bad?"
"That impressive," she corrected.
She pulled a small crystal device from her belt and activated it. A familiar interface flickered into the air between them.
Battle Record
Confirmed Champion Kill
Resonance Type: High-Frequency Manipulation
Guild Affiliation: Blade Order
Threat Rating: Updating
Ken stared at the words.
Champion kill.
He had actually done it.
Lyra watched his reaction closely.
"You scared them," she said. "Not just the enemy. Our side too."
Ken looked at her.
"Is that a problem?"
She smiled again.
"In this guild?" she said. "No. That's a requirement."
She turned away and walked toward the exit. Before leaving, she glanced back over her shoulder.
"Get some rest, Ken Elyoss," she said. "You made a very loud first impression."
She paused.
"And next time, try not to break yourself. I'd hate to lose someone that interesting so early."
The doors closed behind her.
Ken lay back against the stone bed, staring at the ceiling. His body ached. His mind raced.
Blade Order.
Champion killed.
A girl who didn't look afraid of him at all.
He felt it then.
Deep inside his chest.
A faint vibration.
Not from the world.The vibration didn't fade.
It stayed there, low and steady, like a distant echo trapped behind his ribs. Ken focused on it for a moment, expecting pain.
None came.
Instead, it felt… contained. As if whatever had nearly torn him apart on the battlefield had settled, coiled tightly inside him, waiting.
Ken let out a slow breath.
That was new too.
He shifted his fingers. Then his wrist. A dull ache responded, but nothing sharp enough to stop him. His body felt damaged, yes, but not broken. Someone had done good work on him.
He turned his head and noticed the faint glow beneath the stone bed. Thin lines of light pulsed in rhythm, almost like a heartbeat.
Stabilization runes.
Blade Order didn't take chances.
Footsteps echoed softly beyond the hall doors. Multiple sets. Voices followed, low and controlled. Ken caught fragments.
"Champion confirmed."
"Resonance spike exceeded threshold."
"…seventeen years old…"
That last one lingered.
The doors opened again.
Two figures entered this time. One wore the heavy armor of a frontline commander, broad shoulders marked with deep scratches that had been repaired rather than polished away. The other was robed, carrying a staff etched with healing sigils that still glowed faintly.
Both stopped when they saw Ken awake.
The commander studied him without speaking. His gaze was sharp, practiced. Not impressed. Not disappointed either.
Just measuring.
"So," the commander finally said. "You're the one who broke the line."
Ken met his eyes.
"Apparently," he replied.
The healer snorted quietly.
"That's one way to put it," she said. "Another would be reckless. Or suicidal."
Ken shrugged as much as the bed allowed.
"Still here."
The commander's lips twitched.
"Barely," he said. "But barely counts."
He stepped closer, standing at the foot of the bed.
"You're officially registered now," he continued. "Ken Elyoss. Blade Order combatant. Vanguard-adjacent classification, pending evaluation."
Another interface appeared above Ken's field of vision, cleaner and more structured than the battlefield one.
Blade Order Registry
Name: Ken Elyoss
Affiliation: Garnafall
Resonance Class: Variable
Status: Active
Restrictions: Temporary
Restrictions caught his attention.
Ken frowned.
"Temporary?" he asked.
"You overloaded your resonance," the healer said before the commander could answer. "If you try to output at that level again right now, you won't survive the recoil."
Ken looked at his hands.
"And later?"
The healer smiled thinly.
"Later," she said, "you might."
The commander turned to leave.
"Rest," he said over his shoulder. "Training begins once you can stand without shaking the building."
The doors closed again.
Silence returned, but it felt different now. Less empty. More expectant.
Ken stared at the ceiling once more.
Champion kill.
Blade Order.
Restrictions.
Lyra's words echoed in his mind.
Interesting.
He closed his eyes and listened again. Not outward this time. Inward.
The vibration answered.
Still there.
Still his.
Ken smiled.
Whatever this war was meant to turn him into, it wasn't done shaping him yet.
And for the first time since the bells had rung on his seventeenth birthday, Ken Elyoss felt something he hadn't expected to feel at all.
Anticipation.
From himself.