Naro heard three evenly paced knocks on his door and stirred on the narrow bed his white hair fell into his eyes as he blinked back to awareness. For a brief moment, he forgot where he was, then the familiar ceiling, the uneven stonework, and the faint scent of dried herbs pulled everything back into place.

  'Ah. Right. I'm home now.'

  Rami shifted beside him while mumbling something unintelligible before turning onto her side. Naro sat up carefully, rubbing his face with his remaining hand.

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

  'Who the hell- oh. The meeting !'

  He stood, grabbed a scrap of paper from the table, and scribbled quickly.

  Got called for the meeting Astor mentioned. I'll be back soon. Don't worry.

  Naro folded the note, placed it where she couldn't miss it and then pulled on his coat.

  He took the volcanic arm with him. It was still heavy, but he wasn't as exhausted as he'd been the first time he lifted it. He could manage it now, even if it still felt wrong in his grip.

  When he opened the door, Khiel was standing outside with his arms crossed.

  Up close, the years hadn't softened him much. He had same sharp posture, the same narrow eyes that always looked like they were measuring distance and weakness at the same time. His long black hair was tied back into a rat tail, red streaks catching the light as he shifted his weight and raised an eyebrow.

  "Man, were you hibernating?" Khiel said. "It was four hours, not five."

  Naro yawned. "Yeah, yeah. Good to see you too, buddy."

  Khiel exhaled in exasperation and turned on his heel, already walking away.

  Naro shut the door behind him and followed.

  The streets were quieter at this hour, the earlier noise dulled into distant murmurs and the steady sound of metal being worked somewhere far off. Naro breathed in the scent of the city and let it out slowly.

  They walked in silence for a while before Khiel broke it.

  "I heard about that man on the street."

  Naro's eyes narrowed. "What about him?"

  Khiel didn't look at him. "Did you know? He was one of the people I saved that day."

  Naro glanced at him, surprised. "Huh. Honestly thought Scylla would've done it," he said with a small smile. "You're not really the type for selfless acts."

  Khiel shrugged. "I have to use that 'good fate' of mine somehow."

  He paused, then added, "Besides..."

  They turned down a narrower street, stone walls rising close on either side. Rune-lamps embedded in the foundations lit their path in soft blues and whites.

  "You're not really the type to throw punches at the innocent either," Khiel said with a colder voice.

  Silence followed.

  Naro sighed. "It was the culmination of a lot of things," he admitted. "I know that doesn't excuse it. I'll try to visit him sometime."

  Khiel stopped and turned back to him. The light caught his face, disappointment clear in his expression.

  "No. That's not what I want from you."

  Naro frowned. "Then what do you want?"

  "Acts matter more than words," Khiel said evenly. "That's what Hama taught us. I'm sure he told you the same thing, since you're his son. Adoptive or not."

  Naro stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded.

  Khiel turned back and continued down the lit path. "Then you already know what to do."

  "Prove you're not a doom-bringer," he added without slowing. "To yourself, and to everyone else."

  Naro stood there for a second, then resumed walking beside him with a faint smile. "I had some... therapy earlier," he said. "I figured I'd have to back up my words with actions anyway."

  He glanced at Khiel. "Still. Thanks."

  Khiel looked thrown off for a moment, then exhaled. "Never mind. You didn't change a bit."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  They emerged from the alley into a wider street.

  Khiel rubbed the back of his head. "By the way... sorry about the flying swords earlier."

  "I would've done the same thing," Naro replied, gesturing with the hand holding the volcanic arm. "Don't worry about it."

  Khiel's gaze lingered on it. "Is that your replacement? I won't lie, it looks cool. Where'd it come from?"

  "Oh, this?" Naro said with a warm smile. "That's Paro's."

  Khiel hummed. "Ohhh. Paro's, huh?"

  They walked a few more steps in silence.

  "Wait, what ?"

  ————————————————————————————————

  Astor stood near the table, arms crossed, already mid-conversation with the others when the door opened.

  A slender woman with short dark hair wearing a blue blind fold was seated to his right with relaxed posture. She tilted her head slightly the moment Naro stepped inside.

  Yidra next, her voice blunt and unfiltered. "Well if it isn't the guy I stalked."

  A young man with spiky orange hair with goggles and long scarf draped loosely around his neck was sitting across from her. He was busy adjusting a small metal plate etched with runes, muttering to himself until he noticed the volcanic arm Naro was holding.

  His eyes widened instantly.

  'Oh boy... hopefully he lets me breathe a bit.'

  Those two were demigod candidates that had part of Spike's Authority, though it came differently for each of them. Yidra had "Thousands eyes" a way to see a little bit in the future or place tethers on people to get a bird's eye view on their actions. The young man, Agir instead had Spike's life Authority and rune-making.

  Khiel stepped aside to let Naro in fully and waved. "He's here"

  Astor turned and smiled. "Good, take a seat Naro."

  He nodded and took a seat beside Khiel, resting the volcanic arm carefully against the table leg.

  Agir leaned forward with a grin, barely containing himself. "Is that- no, wait, don't tell me... That arm's not normal metal... Adamantium ? Obsidian ? What is it ???"

  "Calm down Agir" Naro replied with a smile. "You'll have plenty of time to work on it, don't worry."

  The demigod candidate shook with excitement "I'll hold you on that !"

  Naro chuckled then looked around Earth-Shifter's lodgings. "Where are Eolka and the others ?"

  Yidra answered with her natural bluntness "They're patrolling near Fatale's territory to gather more intel on the Dark Forest, I can still see them right now."

  "They left a week after you went to Kresha with Rami, and said something like 'Those two can't be the only ones to fight alone !' and all that." Agir added while gesturing.

  Naro raised an eyebrow "Oh ? What prompted them to do that ?"

  "T'was your fight against that one magma-knight, Yidra showed us how you fought it," Soaring Blades said, "You were quite ruthless when you figured out how that thing worked."

  He chuckled, "Well, I can't afford to hold back when fighting tough opponents now, can I ?"

  Yidra knocked on the table two times to get everyone's attention "We're getting side tracked. Back to the topic at hand..."

  She gave a long look to Naro "What happened in the cave ? My thousand eyes couldn't quite follow you guys there and I couldn't reapply the tether."

  Naro exhaled slowly, then nodded. "Alright. I'll start from the beginning."

  He leaned back slightly, gathering his thoughts.

  "The moment I entered that hell, I was greeted by spears and axes. The enemies inside were shorter and weaker than the one you all saw, but no less dangerous. They moved like an actual army, prevented flanking maneuvers, controlled the environment around us to their advantage."

  His eyes gaze darkened

  "The walls, the heat... Everything was an enemy to us. I wanted ot keep her as safe as I could but Rami was still wounded many times, leading her to have the scars you see today."

  Everyone was silent at Naro's words.

  Astor exhaled . "Warriors from all around Gaon in the past used to go into the center of Kresha to get their last rest," The colour of Earth-Shifter's eyes dimmed "I think what you fought was their corpses."

  Now it was Naro's turn to be shocked.

  He remembered his thoughts at the time.

  No more tactics, huh ? This is what you creatures should do.

  Stop behaving like Gaonians and be the savages you guys are.

  He grit his teeth.

  'A fool. Again.'

  Unknown to his internal torment, Agir continued "Makes sense, they were now part of Paro's land and just like his children they got corrupted too." He said with a pensive expression.

  Khiel nodded "Yeah, corrupted Authority doesn't only affect things that are alive. Proof of that, the things Hama himself created turned on the people of Zyr, armor, swords, anything that was part of his Authority."

  Naro eyed everyone in the room.

  'I guess those guys aren't affected for some reason."

  Yidra felt is gaze and spoke "We aren't affected because Their Authorities eventually became our own, Naro."

  "Was it not taught to you in class ?" She said with a teasing smile.

  "I didn't inherit anyone's Authority back then, why would I have cared about those ?" He said defensively

  She shrugged, "I guess that is fair."

  Naro exhaled. "To resume, it was hell. The only positive was the fact I learned how to use the dash skill even more properly. I think I had killed more than forty of those magma-knights when utilizing both Storm Strike and Dash."

  "FORTY ?!" Agir and Astor said in surprise.

  Khiel raised an eyebrow at them as though he was offended by their reaction "Why are you guys surprised ? We all saw what that Dash skill could do. The potential of that thing's endless."

  Naro chuckled "I think they're surprised at the fact it was me of all people, Khiel."

  "I don't blame you guys. After all, I was an above-average knight before becoming whatever I am now." He shrugged with one arm, which was quite awkward to say the least.

  "Talking about becoming something else..."

  Naro grabbed the volcanic arm on the table. "You wanted to know what this was, right Agir ?"

  The young demigod nodded multiple times.

  The knight smiled "Well guys, that's Paro's arm. Pure authentic and solid stone with the veins of magma all intact ! Well I guess they're dimmed now.'

  Everyone except Khiel looked at him with a shocked expression.

  'Any second now...'

  After a moment they bombarded him with questions of all kinds.