Caelrisu walked toward the section where Vermas was instructing the rest of the students in bow, hammer, and spear. The clang of metal and the twang of bowstrings filled the air, but she waited patiently until there was a pause in the lesson.
"Elder Vermas," she called, approaching with her usual unbothered grace, "I'd like to ask you something."
The old man's stern face softened the instant he saw her. "What is it, dear?" he asked warmly, his tone carrying that unmistakable hint of doting affection.
"Well," she began with a sweet smile, "I want to learn Instructor Namgoong's techniques personally. I, uh… may have already offered him a place to stay, a stable salary, no worries about retirement, and," she tilted her head mischievously, "a date with one of our aunties from the clan in exchange for teaching me. Is that alright?"
Vermas blinked. Then again.
"...You what?" he said at last, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright, that's enough practice for now! All of you, dismissed!"
The children scattered instantly, grimacing due to pain in their muscles. Once the space was empty, Vermas turned to both of them, leading the way toward his office.
Inside, he sat behind his desk and gestured for them to sit. His expression was a mix of disbelief and resignation.
"Is that true, Namgoong?"
Namgoong Gyo scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Everything except the part about the date."
"Tell me everything," Vermas said tiredly.
So the instructor explained Caelrisu's talent, the wager to last one minute against him, and her desire to learn Martial Arts. When he mentioned that true mastery would require leaving the safety of Aurelis Mountain for years, Vermas's brows drew together.
"Hmm…" Vermas leaned back, fingers drumming lightly on the desk. "Normally, I might approve such training. But Cael, my dear, you do understand your position in the Clan, yes?"
"Yes, Uncle," she replied softly, posture straight, eyes steady.
"Even if you're not the successor, you're still the daughter of the late Clan Head, niece to the current Clan Head, and sister to the current successor. You're… precious to the Clan."
Namgoong Gyo crossed his arms. "Are you worried about a hostage situation?"
"Yes," Vermas admitted simply, thinking of the impending war. "We've made too many enemies to take that lightly. So tell me, why must this training happen outside the mountain range?"
Namgoong Gyo nodded, expecting the question. "Because, Elder, Martial Arts can't be perfected in safety. To truly learn it, she'll need real battle experience, danger, fatigue, pain, and everything that awakens instinct. Those things don't exist inside these walls."
Vermas gave him a long, considering look. Silence hung heavy for a moment.
Then Caelrisu leaned forward on the desk, clasping her hands under her chin, her eyes shimmering like two stars caught in moonlight. "Pleeeeeeeeease, Uncle."
Vermas froze. Those pleading eyes, bright, wide, and devastatingly innocent, were his greatest weakness.
He sighed deeply, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine. Go to the Clan Head and ask for approval."
"Yay!" Caelrisu beamed, hopping up with infectious delight. "Thank you, Uncle!"
"Don't thank me yet," Vermas grumbled, watching her skip toward the door. "You still have to convince your Uncle…"
Namgoong Gyo chuckled under his breath. "She will."
Vermas shot him a weary look. "I know."
Before standing up and going somewhere with a cold look in his eyes.
***
After Caelrisu explained everything, exactly as she had told Vermas, the Clan Head sat in silence.
His eyes lingered on her for a moment, expression unreadable, before he finally spoke.
"Would you please step outside for a while, child? I have a few matters to discuss with Instructor Namgoong."
Caelrisu blinked once, then nodded politely. "Understood, Clan Head."
She bowed lightly and left the room, closing the heavy wooden door behind her.
The moment it shut, the stillness in the chamber changed.
The Clan Head's expression melted into a perfect mask of nothingness. A faint smile bloomed on his face.
And then, an enormous pressure flooded the air, thick and suffocating.
Namgoong Gyo gasped, knees bending instinctively under the strain. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, which he now used to keep himself from collapsing completely. The floor beneath him seemed to groan.
"Tell me, Namgoong Gyo," the Clan Head's voice was soft, almost kind.
"What do you really want?"
Namgoong forced air through his lungs, each breath a struggle.
"What… do… you… mean, Clan… Head?"
"Oh, come now," the Clan Head said, still smiling faintly. "You don't truly believe I'm as oblivious as the others, do you?"
He rose slowly from his chair, every motion deliberate and graceful.
"When you entered this Clan as a mere instructor, I ran a background check, as I do with everyone who steps inside this mountain.
Imagine my surprise when I found that you, a man capable of challenging an Elder with your Martial Arts and Awakened Ability, along with being the current head of a small faction of Martial Alliance, were hiding among ordinary trainers."
Namgoong's eyes widened slightly.
The air grew heavier. The light in the room seemed to dim.
"I had my eyes on you," the Clan Head said, stepping closer.
"You used your Awakened Ability or maybe Martial Arts to sneak through restricted areas. You observed both Lunaris and Caelrisu. And when you saw her, wielding a broadsword, hungry for strength, you changed your work from a normal sword instructor to a broadsword instructor."
Each word landed like the toll of a bell.
Cold sweat streamed down Namgoong's back.
"H-how much do you know, Clan Head!?"
"Well," the Clan Head said with mild amusement, "everything… except your reason for being here."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze sharpening into something inhumanly precise.
"You should be thankful, Namgoong Gyo. Had I not intervened, certain…angry old women would have burned you alive, or perhaps that stern old man would have cut you down before you even realized your throat was open."
The pressure intensified; the air cracked faintly. Namgoong's sword screeched against the floor as his legs finally buckled.
"So," the Clan Head said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper in the dark, soft, cold, and absolute.
"Tell me, Namgoong Gyo. Why are you really here?"
Namgoong's jaw clenched. "Do you think I will tell you!?"
The Clan Head smiled faintly. "My, my… why are you trying to make this so difficult?"
"I said I won't tell you!" Namgoong snarled, breath ragged. "Torture me all you want, I'll never reveal anything to you!"
His body trembled, not from fear but defiance. Gathering spit in his mouth, he flung it straight toward the Clan Head's face.
The droplet froze midair.
Namgoong's eyes widened. His pulse stuttered.
"…What…?"
The spit hung suspended like a crystal bead, motionless, shimmering faintly in the heavy air.
The Clan Head's expression didn't change. Only his gaze sharpened, amusement flickering at the edges.
"How…?" Namgoong whispered, disbelief breaking through his anger.
"How could someone so young as you… reach it!? How could you reach the Transcended Realm!?"
The Clan Head tilted his head, almost mockingly.
"Oh, this?" He smiled thinly. "It wasn't that hard."
With a flick of his wrist, the floating droplet reversed course, slicing through the air like a tiny bullet, and shot straight back into Namgoong's mouth.
Namgoong's throat convulsed. His eyes bulged as an invisible force twisted his insides, forcing the droplet downward, the wrong way.
"Ghh, guh!!"
He collapsed to one knee, choking violently, his hands clawing at his own neck. His sword clattered to the floor, ringing through the suffocating silence.
The Clan Head merely watched, unmoving, indifferent, his shadow stretching long across the floor.
Only when Namgoong's body went limp, his consciousness slipping away, did the Clan Head release the hold.
Namgoong gasped desperately, dragging air back into his lungs as his face turned a sickly pale.
The Clan Head stood over him, voice calm once more, almost gentle.
"Next time you choose to defy me, Namgoong Gyo… make sure you understand who you are defying."
Just then, two figures appeared by his side, one like a living volcano about to erupt, the other like a storm poised to tear the world apart.