The following day, Stonehaven settled into routine like it always did.
Morning drills echoed from the mercenary yard. Steel clashed, boots scraped stone, and curses flew when someone misstepped. Owen moved through it all without drawing attention, training with a borrowed blade like he'd done a hundred times before.
No aura leaking.
No strange pressure.
No monster in human skin.
Just a man sharpening himself.
"Your stance is lazy."
Owen didn't turn. "You're standing too close for someone who dislikes me."
Lucius Styrar clicked his tongue, circling him ."You're aware of your reputation, yes?"
Owen adjusted his grip. "Manaless. Loud. Problematic. Pick one."
Lucius stopped in front of him. "Favored."
Owen finally looked up. "By who?"
Lucius smiled thinly. "Fate."
Their blades met, not a duel, just a test. Lucius pressed lightly, controlled, divine mana humming faintly beneath his skin. Owen yielded, stepped back, corrected his footing.
Lucius raised a brow."Hm. You're not as crude as I expected."
"And you're not as holy as you pretend," Owen replied calmly.
Zach, watching from a bench, burst out laughing. "Oh this is fun."
Lucius shot him a glare. "Shut up, Oriana."
Zach stretched. "Nah. Glauderia said teamwork. This is bonding."
Lucius scoffed. "This isn't bonding."
Zach leaned closer to Owen. "He says that, but give it a week."
Lucius walked away, muttering something about "barbarians and favoritism."
Owen watched him go.
"He hates me."
Zach shrugged. "Unlucky you."
Later that day, the three moved through the city together.
Not as a unit. Not officially.
Just… as fate would have it.
They stopped at food stalls, Zach arguing prices like his life depended on it. Lucius inspected holy seals sold by a suspicious old man and called every single one a scam. Owen listened more than he spoke, reacting just enough to seem engaged.
They passed the guild hall.
Owen didn't look at it for long.
"Tomorrow," Zach said suddenly.
Owen glanced at him. "What?"
"You said 'for a while,'" Zach continued. "Feels like tomorrow's when things stop being boring."
Lucius folded his arms. "Don't project your recklessness onto the situation."
Zach grinned. "You sense it too."
Lucius didn't deny it.
Owen kept walking.
That night, Owen visited another Tavern.
He sat inside a quiet corner, nursing a drink he barely touched.
A mercenary slid into the seat across from him.
"Mind if I sit?" the man asked.
Owen glanced up. Mid-thirties. Friendly face. Worn armor. Guild badge polished.
"Free Kingdom so sure I guess," Owen replied.
"Name's Rovan," the man said, offering a hand. "Saw you fight earlier. Clean work."
Owen shook his hand. "Owen."
"Just Owen, huh?" Rovan chuckled. "Figures."
They talked.
About jobs. About pay cuts. About how Stonehaven used to be quieter before the red letter came in the black rose guild.
Rovan leaned back, relaxed."I saw the kid," he said. "He looked broken man. The fact he carried both his party members for 2 days on his back, that's some insane willpower."
Owen put on a shocked face. "What happened to him after though?"
"Well" Rovan leaned forward. "I heard he disappeared. The grief was too hard to bare, despite being well over S-rank. He was manaless too. What a monster."
"Yeah he was." He relied as he smiled faintly.
Silence settled in.
"You know," Rovan said suddenly "it feels like something big is coming."
Owen sipped his drink. "People say that all the time. You're probably anxious about nothing."
"Yeah," Rovan agreed. "Probably."
-
Morning came once again.
No alarms.
No smoke.
No screams.
Just merchants arguing over fish prices and mercenaries nursing hangovers like it was a sacred ritual.
Owen stood on the balcony of the inn, watching the streets below. He wasn't thinking about conspiracies. He wasn't scanning rooftops.
He was just… watching.
Zach stepped out behind him, hair messy, shirt half-buttoned.
"You look like you're about to monologue about fate," Zach said, stretching.
Owen didn't even blink. "You snore."
"I breathe aggressively."
"You snore."
Lucius opened the door behind them. Fully dressed. Composed. Annoying.
"I don't understand how either of you sleep so carelessly in unfamiliar territory."
Zach grinned. "Because if something attacks, we've got you."
Lucius stared at him. "That is not how that works."
Owen leaned on the railing. "Relax. Stonehaven's peaceful."
Lucius' eyes lingered on him for a second too long.
"…That's what concerns me."
They split up for the day.
Zach wandered toward the training yard, probably to cause trouble.Lucius headed toward the cathedral district "to observe," as he put it.
Owen?
He walked.
No direction. Just letting his feet carry him.
Stonehaven hadn't changed much. Same cobbled roads. Same worn-down walls. Same bakery on the corner that always burned the first batch.
He passed the guild hall without stopping.
Inside, laughter echoed.
Rovan stepped out, spotting him instantly.
"Owen! You look alive. That's a good start."
Owen smirked faintly. "Wasn't planning on dying today."
"Disappointing," Rovan sighed dramatically. "Guild's slow this week. Makes me restless."
They walked together.
Not discussing anything serious.
Just normal things.
Complaints about contracts. Rumors about some noble hiring outside mercenaries instead of local guilds. The price of imported ore rising for no reason.
Small things.
Rovan kicked a pebble down the street."You ever think about settling somewhere?"
Owen blinked. "What?"
"Like actually staying. Building something."
Owen's expression softened, just barely."…No."
"Why not?"
Owen thought about Lysa laughing.Brunn arguing.The way Stonehaven used to feel like something close to home.
"Because if you stay," he said quietly, "you lose it."
Rovan studied him, then smiled.
"You look young though."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It because you talk like someone twice your age."
Owen didn't answer.
Meanwhile.
Lucius stood at a patrol outpost, speaking quietly with a commander.
"The mana readings," Lucius asked calmly. "Have they fluctuated recently?"
The commander hesitated. "Fluctuated… how?"
"Unnaturally."
The commander forced a smile. "Stonehaven is stable."
Lucius' eyes flicked to the stained glass windows.
Stable.
Outside, a faint tremor passed through the air.
Subtle.
Almost like a distant heartbeat.
Lucius felt it.
Just for a second.
Then it was gone.
At the training yard, Zach finished a spar by flipping over his opponent and tapping the back of his neck with a wooden blade.
"Dead," Zach announced cheerfully.
The mercenary groaned. "You knights are freaks."
Zach beamed. "I try."
He looked toward the horizon.
Something prickled.
He tilted his head.
"…Huh."
The wind shifted.
Carrying a scent.
Burnt mana.
Gone just as quickly.
Zach scratched his cheek."That's... weird."
Evening fell.
The city lit lanterns. Taverns filled again.
Owen found himself back near the guild hall.
He didn't know why.
Maybe habit.
Maybe something else.
Rovan waved him over again.
"You coming in or what?"
Owen hesitated for half a second.
Then nodded.
"Yeah."
Inside, the atmosphere was warm. Loud. Alive.
Mercenaries arguing over ranks. Someone singing badly. Someone else getting shoved for cheating at cards.
Owen sat at a table with Rovan and two others.
For the first time in months.
He almost felt normal.
And that's when it happened.
Not an explosion.
Not yet.
Just a vibration.
Deep.
From beneath.
The mugs on the table trembled slightly.
Rovan paused mid-laugh.
"…You feel that?"
Owen's smile faded.
The vibration came again.
Stronger.
From somewhere under the city.
Lucius, across town, froze mid-step.
Zach's grin disappeared.
Owen slowly stood.
Stonehaven was still laughing.
Still unaware.
But something beneath it had just awakened.