Chapter 107 - Shadows After the Gavel

Date: January X788 — Same Night

Location: Gultari Reaches — Auction Perimeter, North Escape Tunnel

The false moon above the Gultari Reaches loomed heavy, like an eyelid refusing to close. Smoke curled upward from the shattered arches of the auction hall, drifting into the star-laced sky.

Traders, mercenaries, and smugglers scrambled through the wreckage, clutching relic cases or dropping them in their panic.

Teresa moved through them like a passing fog. Silent. Purposeful. The blade from Lot Thirty-Two—now strapped across her back beneath her cloak—vibrated faintly, humming with mimic energy she ignored entirely. Her focus was on the exit.

Near a broken pillar, a bidder sprawled in the dirt, a gemstone rod clutched to his chest. He looked up as she neared, terror twisting across his face.

"Please—don't kill me! I didn't know," he stammered, scrambling backward until his heel caught on a loose stone.

Teresa paused. Tilted her head slightly. Her voice came out low, almost indifferent.

"I'm not here for you."

The words fell like a cold wind. His breath caught; relief shivered through his limbs, and he fled without daring to look back.

Location: North Tunnel — Relay Post

Romeo leaned against a cracked support beam, fingers tapping anxiously at the edge of his sleeve. The echoes of the skirmish above still rattled faintly through the stone.

Kinana stood nearby, quiet and watchful.

"She'll be fine," she said softly.

Romeo let out a shaky laugh.

"I know. But every time I see her move… it feels like watching a storm decide where to strike."

Kinana smiled, but there was a weight to it.

"You want to move like her someday, don't you?"

Romeo looked up quickly, his eyes almost fierce.

"No. I don't just want to move like her. I want to understand why she moves the way she does. Why does she step instead of lunging? Why does she never cut more than she has to?"

Kinana's gaze softened. She squeezed his arm gently.

"Then you should ask her. When she comes back."

Location: Tunnel Mouth — Outer Exit

Teresa emerged into the cold night air, cloak billowing behind her. The valley opened out before her in pale moonlight, shards of broken rune stones scattered across the path like old bones.

She paused, her breath still and even. Something in the air shifted—a ripple in the mana field, sharp and deliberate.

Four figures emerged from the left ridge, weapons drawn. Two carried curved sabers, one wielded a jagged hammer laced with molten glyphs, and at their center stood a mage-warrior with silver hair and a rune-carved staff.

The leader took a single step forward, voice calm but edged.

"That blade belongs to the Eastern Archive," he called. "Hand it over. We'll let you leave intact."

Teresa didn't respond.

The leader tilted his head, a smirk curling at the edges of his mouth.

"Silent type, huh? You must be the 'silent blade' they whisper about in the lower halls."

The hammer-bearer snorted and stepped forward, glyphs flaring across his weapon.

"I won't wait for her to answer."

He lunged.

Teresa did not retreat. She pivoted, the hammer crashing into the earth beside her in an explosion of shattered stone. Before the dust cleared, she had already slipped past him.

Her blade flashed out once. Then vanished back into its sheath.

The hammer-bearer stumbled forward, dropping to his knees. The glyphs along his hammer sputtered and died, severed at their core. No blood. Just collapsed magic.

The saber twins came next, moving in eerie sync. Teresa let them close in. She shifted her stance, breath steady.

The first saber slashed downward.

She caught it on her blade's flat edge, twisting just enough for his grip to break. A flick of her wrist sent the weapon spinning into the dark. Before he could react, she pressed the blade flat against his shoulder, dropping him unconscious with surgical force.

The second saber lunged low, aiming for her legs. Teresa bent her knee, sidestepped, and pressed her sword's pommel into his gut with a sharp, precise push. He crumpled, gasping.

The last mage advanced, staff glowing bright. His eyes darted to his fallen comrades, his courage faltering.

"You don't have to do this!" he stammered. "We—we only meant to contain it. For research—"

Teresa studied him, eyes like cold dawn. Her voice cut through the night.

"Then you should have stayed in your libraries."

He hesitated, staff trembling.

Her blade rose. Swift. Quiet.

A single arc, and his staff split cleanly in two. The top half clattered against the stones.

The mage fell to his knees, hands shaking in surrender.

"I… I yield," he breathed.

She sheathed her blade without a glance. Then turned and began walking past him, each step unhurried. He didn't dare move.

Location: Tunnel Entrance — Relay Post

Romeo stood at the edge as Teresa approached, cloak settling around her. His voice cracked slightly as he stepped forward.

"Master…" He swallowed hard, then steadied himself. "Will you teach me? Not just sword swings. How to move like you. How to think before cutting."

She paused. Slowly, she turned to face him.

Silence stretched. Romeo's fists clenched at his sides, but he didn't look away.

Finally, she reached into her cloak and drew out a folded wooden practice blade—weathered, but perfectly balanced.

She extended it to him.

Romeo stared, stunned. Kinana's eyes softened, watching quietly from behind.

He stepped forward, hands shaking, and accepted the blade.

Teresa gave a single, almost imperceptible nod. Then she turned and continued toward the ridgeline, the moonlight catching the edge of her cloak like a whisper.

Romeo exhaled, clutching the blade to his chest. His breath came fast, but his eyes shone, filled with something new.

Not just determination.

A quiet, steady joy.