30th Echo: Trial & Reverence

The whispers died out.Eyes fixed.The atmosphere tightened.

And in the midst of it all, Kael didn't move.

He was there, yes.His body. His silence. His gaze.But his mind hadn't fully returned.

A dark-haired silhouette.A hospital sheet.Tubes, slow, mechanical breathing.

Lyana...

The Guide's voice reached him,like a distant echo.He heard it, without truly listening.He had to be here, he knew that.

But he hadn't yet left the other world.The world of pain. Of coma.Of the promise that he wouldn't leave her.

He scanned the crowd slowly.A faint smile played on his lips.Then his eyes stopped on the still-fresh pool of blood near Kael.

— Hm.

He took a deep breath,as if the smell of blood was more an aesthetic nuisancethan a cause for concern.

— I see some scum disturbed you.

He addressed Kael directly.His voice contained neither reproach nor mockery.Just a perfidious politeness.

— Allow me to clean this up. This sight annoys me.I imagine you feel the same.

He bowed slightly to Kael.A reverent salute.Measured.Unthinkable.

Within the circle, the effect was immediate.

An even heavier silence fell.Even among those who had seen Kael pulverize a man...this scene unsettled them more deeply.

Gravyor swallowed.Veda blinked, her brows furrowed slightly.Narcisse, for the first time, was at a loss for words.

The Guide snapped his fingers softly.The body vanished.Cleaned. Dissolved. Forgotten.

He straightened up, then continued,as if nothing had happened.

— Now that things are a bit cleaner...let's talk about what awaits you.

Kael slowly raised his eyes.His face remained fixed.No anger. No approval.

Just a cold, expressionless gaze,cut off from all human emotion.A look that sought neither conflict nor submission.A raw gaze,as if forged in a silence older than the scene itself.

He didn't respond.He didn't salute.He didn't even look away.

The Guide held the gaze. One second. Two.Then he gave a pale, almost amused smile.

— Good. I see we understand each other.

The silence stretched,as if everyone feared breaking a taut threadbetween the Guideand this boy with an unreal presence.

But someone moved.Veda.

She briefly looked away from the Guide to look at Kael.What she saw pinched something deep in her chest.

That gaze...Empty.Extinguished, but not calm.

It wasn't hatred.It wasn't fear.It was something else.

An absence that, she knew,had not started here.

I had that same look.Exactly the same.When Dad died.When Mom broke down.When I had to choose between sleeping...or working to feed my brother.

So she approached. Gently.Not as one approaches a dangerous animal.But as one approaches someonethey don't want to leave alone too long.

She knelt at his level.He didn't look at her.Not yet.

— You don't look well, she murmured,her voice low but clear.

She hesitated, then added:

— I don't know what you've been through...but I've seen that kind of look before.And I know it's not the kind one chooses to have.

No words came in reply.But something stirred.Kael's gaze blinked. Once.Then he looked at her.He was back.

His eyes finally met Veda's.And a faint heartbeatresonated in his chest.

Not a memory.Not a flash.

Just... an overlap.A silhouette.A presence.

The same fire in the gaze.The same way of standing talleven when everything was collapsing around.

Lyana.

It wasn't her.He knew that.

But part of him hadn't distinguished it,not at the moment when that brute raised his hand.

He had reacted before even thinking.He would do it again, without hesitation.

He didn't speak.But his gaze no longer fled.

Veda held his gaze.And for the first time since arriving here...she felt seen.

Not just looked at.Seen.

He still didn't speak,but she didn't need him to.

She saw the blink.She saw the breath.And she knew.

— I'm glad you came back,she said simply.

No more words.She sat back down beside him.Closer than before.

The Guide watched the scene from the center.He hadn't moved an inch,but every muscle of hisseemed ready to applaud...or punish.

He lightly tapped two fingers against his glove.

— Interesting.

His gaze had fixed on Veda for a moment.Then on Kael.Then he smiled,as if he had just witnessed an unexpected...but promising chess move.

— Very interesting, he repeated.

Then, loudly, for all to hear:

— Good. It is time to explain to youwhat you are,what you're worth...and what you will become.

The Guide took a few slow stepsin the center of the room.

Each step was perfectly measured,yet it echoedas if he walked on somethingdeeper than the floor.

He barely raised his voice,but everyone heard.

— You wonder where you are.Why you.Why now.

He stopped abruptly.The silence grew heavier with each breath.

— You are the first wave.The vanguard.

A test, of course.But not for you.

For your world.

He turned slowly on himself,looking at the "chosen" and the "castaways" without distinction.

— Others will come.And if you fail,they will inherit what you did not conquer.

He paused.Then extended his hand.

A section of the floor opened a few meters away.

Slowly, a circular pedestal emerged —covered with weapons,shiny objects,potions,ancient blades,and shimmering vials.

Murmurs rose.Eyes gleamed.

And he, without raising his tone, declared:

— Here is what you may take.Weapons, potions, protections.Help yourselves.

I will not judge you.

He let silence bite.Then added, softer:

— But the Tower, it watches you.

He turned his head toward Kael,just a moment.Then back to the group.

— The heavier you enter...the lighter you will leave.

The more vulnerable you enter...the more changed you will come out.

He raised two fingers,black-gloved, pointed to the sky.

— Because here, nothing is physical.Nothing is bought.Nothing is exchanged.

You are only offeredwhat you deserve.

He paused,almost kindly.

— Those who survive without taking anything...

...will never need anything again.

A first candidate approached the armory.He hesitated.Pulled out a short blade.Then a potion.

He stepped back, nervous.Others followed.

Little by little,the equipment disappeared.

Some took everything they could.Others tried to remain "reasonable."

But all... took.

Except two.

Kael, sitting.Gravyor, standing beside him.

Neither of them moved,nor even glanced at the table.

Their eyes barely met.They did not coordinate.

But it was obvious that each, in their own way,had already decided.

Veda watched them.A question in her eyes.A doubt in her breath.

The Guide, for his part, smiled.His gaze was fixed on them.Steady. Slow. Calculating.

Around them, hands still trembledon barely chosen blades.

Some tried to convince themselvesthey had made the right choice.

They...hadn't even needed to choose.

— Now that's getting interesting!