Everything slowed down.
The dust motes dancing in the sunlight filtering from the stairs. The rhythmic drip of condensation from the cavern ceiling. The frantic thudding of my own heart.
He's finding her early, I realized, cold panic washing over me. In the first timeline, they didn't meet until our second year. Why is he here now?
Because of me.
Because I changed things. By retaining my memories, by altering my trajectory, the System—or fate, or the gods—was accelerating events to compensate.
Rylen walked toward us. The other cadets instinctively parted for him, intimidated by the sheer weight of his 'Hero' aura. It felt like standing in front of an open furnace. It was designed to make you feel small, to make you want to kneel and bask in his warmth.
To me, it felt like rot.
"Hello," Rylen said, stopping a few feet away. He ignored me entirely, focusing solely on Sera. "I'm Rylen. What's your name?"
Sera shrank behind me, her fingers nervously gripping the hem of her oversized tunic. "S-Sera. Sera Valerius."
"Valerius." Rylen tilted his head, feigning pleasant surprise. "A noble name, though a fallen house. I thought I sensed Holy Mana in this room. It's very rare to see it in the Support classes."
"My... my mana is unstable," Sera mumbled, staring at the floor. "I can't fight. I only know how to mend minor wounds."
"That's exactly what I need," Rylen said, extending his hand toward her. His voice dripped with practiced empathy. "You don't belong in the dark, Sera. The Support class will just break you down. Come with me to the Vanguard. I'll protect you. I promise."
I'll protect you. I promise.
He had said those exact words to me. Six years ago, outside a burning village.
I felt the Void core twist violently. A thin, black mist began to rise from my knuckles. I was losing control. The sheer, concentrated hatred I felt for the boy standing in front of me was overriding my logic.
If I killed him now, I would be executed. Lyra would abandon me. Elena would be left defenseless.
Hold it back, I screamed at myself. HOLD IT BACK!
"She's not going with you."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
The entire cavern fell dead silent. You could have heard a pin drop on the stone floor.
Rylen blinked, pulling his hand back slightly. For the first time, he actually looked at me. His golden eyes swept over my ragged clothes, my pale face, and the crude wooden sword at my hip.
"Excuse me?" Rylen asked, his polite smile straining at the edges.
"I said, she's not going with you." I stepped fully in front of Sera, blocking Rylen's view of her. I kept my voice perfectly level, stripping it of all emotion. "Instructor Thorne just gave us our assignments. We are currently undergoing evaluation. She can't leave."
Rylen let out a soft, amused breath. He looked at Thorne. "Instructor? Is this Dreg speaking for you?"
Thorne stood near the wall, his arms crossed. His black eyes darted between me and Rylen. He was a creature of the shadows, and he could smell the killing intent pouring off me, even if Rylen was too arrogant to notice it.
"Cadet Kael is correct," Thorne said smoothly. "No transfers out of Group B until the first week of evaluations is complete. Academy rules, Cadet Rylen. Even for the Vanguard."
Rylen's jaw tightened infinitesimally. The mask slipped, just for a fraction of a second, revealing the spoiled, ruthless child beneath the hero's veneer.
"I see," Rylen said, recovering his smile. "Rules are rules. I respect that."
He looked back at me. His eyes were no longer warm. They were analyzing me, weighing my worth, and finding me lacking.
"You're the boy from the courtyard," Rylen noted. "The one with the bad attitude. What was your name? Kael?"
"Yes."
Rylen stepped closer to me. The heat of his Holy aura pressed against my skin. It was suffocating. It wanted to burn the darkness out of me.
"You're very protective of her, Kael," Rylen murmured, his voice low enough that only Sera and I could hear. "But you're weak. I can sense your mana. It's practically non-existent. You can't even protect yourself, let alone a girl with a noble bloodline. Don't drag her down into the mud with you just out of spite."
He patted my shoulder.
The moment his hand touched me, the System shrieked.
[CRITICAL ALERT]
[HOLY MANA INVASION DETECTED]
[AUTOMATIC DEFENSE PROTOCOL INITIATED]
The Void core didn't just wake up. It exploded.
A microscopic pulse of absolute negation ripped through my shoulder, meeting Rylen's Holy aura.
There was no sound, no flash of light. But Rylen gasped, ripping his hand back as if he had touched a red-hot iron. He stumbled backward, his eyes wide with sudden, genuine shock.
He looked at his palm. The skin wasn't burned. It was gray. For a split second, the life had been drained right out of his flesh.
"What... what are you?" Rylen whispered, his heroic facade completely shattered.
I didn't blink. I didn't move. I just stared at him with dead eyes.
"I'm a Dreg," I said softly. "Watch your hands, Vanguard. The mud down here is toxic."
Rylen stared at me, his breathing shallow. He was terrified. He didn't know why, he couldn't comprehend the power he had just touched, but his instincts were screaming at him that I was death incarnate.
He recovered quickly, hiding his graying hand behind his back and forcing a stiff smile.
"I'll... I'll check back next week," Rylen said to Sera, avoiding my gaze entirely. "Have a good training session."
He turned and walked back up the stairs, his pace significantly faster than when he arrived.
The heavy iron doors slammed shut behind him, plunging the cavern back into gloom.
I let out a slow, shaky breath. My legs felt like lead. The brief clash between the Void and his Holy aura had drained nearly all the mana I had stolen from Krell earlier.
[WARNING: MAGICAL DEPLETION]
[VOID CORE SATIATION: 4%]
"Kael?"
I turned. Sera was looking up at me, her hands clasped against her chest. Her eyes were shimmering with tears, but she wasn't crying out of fear.
"Why did you do that?" she asked softly. "You don't even know me. He's a First-Tier noble. He could have you flogged."
Because I owe you my life, I thought. Because you died crying for me.
"He looks at people like they're stepping stones," I said aloud, my voice raspy. "I don't like bullies."
Thorne clapped his hands, breaking the tension in the room.
"Enough drama!" Thorne barked. "Vanguard plays politics. We play for survival. Pair up! Hand-to-hand combat, no magic allowed. Kael, you're with Valerius. Teach her how to throw a punch before she breaks her own wrists."
The other cadets scrambled to find partners.
Sera hesitated, then stepped toward me. She looked incredibly fragile, like a porcelain doll amidst rusted iron.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm going to be a terrible partner."
I looked down at her. I saw the ghost of the woman she would become—the Saint who would bleed herself dry to keep her friends alive. I had failed to protect her once.
Not again.
"Put your hands up," I said gently, raising my own. "Don't apologize. And don't ever look down when someone is talking to you. You are a Valerius. Act like it."
Sera blinked, a tiny spark of defiance lighting up in her blue eyes. Slowly, awkwardly, she raised her fists.
"Good," I said. "Now, try to hit me."
Across the room, Thorne was watching us, a thoughtful scowl on his scarred face. And somewhere far above us, in the sunlit halls of the Vanguard, Rylen was undoubtedly looking at his withered hand, wondering what kind of monster he had just awakened.
Let him wonder.
The regression had changed the rules. The board was reset.
And this time, I wasn't playing to win the game.
I was playing to break the board entirely.
[QUEST UPDATED: THE HEALER'S FATE]
[BOND ESTABLISHED: SERA VALERIUS]
[CURRENT ALIGNMENT: ALLY]
I smiled. A real, cold smile.
Your move, Hero.