Kain's gaze remained fixed on Balens, even as the murmurs in the crowd began to die down.
That blue-grade aura didn't lie.
It didn't make sense.
He and Serena had trained together countless times since returning from the relic. Travelled together on some casual College missions they picked up (despite being in the Order, they still needed to complete the minimum amount of College Missions each year—and both had been behind on their goal).
In one mission where they needed to escort a caravan, they even fought side by side in a life-and-death situation when the caravan was almost overrun by wild spiritual creatures. There was no way he wouldn't have sensed something different if she had broken through at that time—right?
She hadn't just been "hiding" her spiritual energy—she'd buried it. Smothered it. Which meant…
'It must've been Balens,' Kain thought grimly. 'She probably made a wish. Something subtle like… "Let everyone think I'm still green-grade."'
