The academy courtyard was alive with motion, a vibrant tapestry of youthful energy. Laughter and conversation drifted through the air, mingling with the steady scuff of footsteps across sun-warmed stone. Shafts of morning light pierced the canopy of ancient trees, and golden motes danced in the glow, caught in the restless breeze.
[Daily Attribute Bonus: +1 CHA]
New CHA: 102
But for Leonidas, the world around him barely registered. He moved through the shifting crowd, his mind tangled in a web of strategy, speculation, and restless unease.
He'd barely slept the night before, haunted by half-remembered dreams and ominous premonitions. The morning had only made things worse. Faces in the crowd blurred together, every passing student a potential future threat or ally. He couldn't help but wonder who they truly were beneath their bright-eyed innocence — and what forces they would become in the years to come.
So lost in thought, he didn't notice the figure in front of him until it was too late.
A sudden jolt snapped him out of his haze. His shoulder collided with something firm. The sharp screech of wheels against stone followed, then a soft thud.
A chill gripped his spine.
Leonidas's gaze dropped.
A girl lay on the ground, her pale, silvery hair spread like a halo across the courtyard stones. Thin-framed glasses hung crookedly on her face as she reached up with trembling fingers to adjust them. Beside her, an elegant wheelchair lay toppled, one wheel still spinning.
It's her.
His pulse faltered for a beat.
Isolde Vernhart.
To most, she was nothing but a fragile, mute girl. A first-year with no reputation beyond whispered pity. Few noticed her. Fewer cared.
But Leonidas knew better.
She wasn't just another student. She was a linchpin — one of the hidden heroines of the tale he was desperately trying to rewrite. And not an ordinary one either. She held not one, but two rare musical instrument spirits. A gift so rare it could shake the foundations of the Holy Order itself if it ever came to light.
Before he could speak, a voice cut through the courtyard like a blade.
"Move."
A presence flared behind him — cold, sharp, and unmistakably dangerous. The air itself seemed to tighten, the temperature dropping as twin flashes of pale blue light appeared at his throat. Two katanas crossed before his neck, the edges mere millimeters from his skin. Their message was clear.
The boy wielding them was tall, sharp-featured, his gray eyes as cold and unyielding as stone.
Aurelian Crossfall.
Leonidas met his gaze, his face an unreadable mask.
Another future legend. A prodigy. Aurelian would rise to become Student Council President within two years, a wielder of twin weapon spirits, and the very one who would one day discover Leonidas's true nature and strike him down.
Leonidas's mind spun through his options.
In raw power, he still outmatched Aurelian. On paper, at least. But that meant little here. In the academy's current climate, in broad daylight, with so many witnesses, killing Aurelian would be suicide. Worse, it would bring down the Holy Order and every hidden force he was trying to avoid.
Aurelian's blades hummed with restrained energy, the vibrations nearly palpable. Even without fully knowing the extent of Aurelian's abilities, Leonidas wasn't foolish enough to underestimate him — not when his own power, primal and demonic, was harder to hide than a blade.
And then there was Isolde. Aurelian's silent shadow. In the years to come, she would be his most loyal ally, a deadly mystery Leonidas had no intention of provoking.
Killing them now was impossible.
A foolish move born of paranoia and desperation.
Leonidas forced a breath through his nose, keeping his voice calm and empty of challenge.
"My mistake," he said, raising his hands in a quiet, placating gesture. "I wasn't paying attention."
The blades lingered for a heartbeat longer, then dissolved into faint blue light.
Without a word, Aurelian knelt beside Isolde, his movements careful and uncharacteristically gentle. He adjusted her glasses, brushed silvery strands of hair from her pale face. She reached out with slender fingers, clutching his sleeve like an anchor.
Leonidas watched them, taking in every detail.
Aurelian and Isolde. Together, they would become his greatest obstacles. The walls between him and survival. Aurelian's relentless sense of duty and monstrous talent. Isolde's buried, unimaginable power. In time, they would command this academy, hunt down threats, and be the Holy Order's sharpest blades.
Including against him.
For a moment, a dark thought slipped through Leonidas's mind.
I could kill them now. End it before it begins.
But no. The risk was too great, the reward too small. Even if he somehow struck one down, the other would retaliate with the kind of fury that would ruin him. And the fallout — in a public courtyard no less — would be catastrophic.
Better to wait. To observe. To learn.
Patience was as sharp a weapon as any blade.
He burned the moment into his memory. The subtle ways Aurelian's brow creased, the gentle precision of his hands, the wordless bond between them.
The academy year was young. Few students realized the monsters hiding among their ranks. Aurelian looked like a disciplined noble's son. Isolde, a mute cripple barely clinging to notice.
It wouldn't stay that way for long.
Aurelian lifted Isolde gently into her chair, adjusting her seat before moving to wheel her away. She turned her head as they left, her pale gaze lingering on Leonidas.
There was something in her eyes. A quiet, knowing intensity. Did she sense what he was? The predator beneath his human skin? Or was it nothing but innocent curiosity?
He couldn't tell.
Neither spoke. They vanished into the crowd, swallowed by the tide of students.
Leonidas let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Not now. Not like this.
He needed to rebuild his footing, gather allies, learn the rules of this new game. The time would come to face them. To turn the tide. But today wasn't that day.
Turning away, Leonidas resumed his path through the courtyard, the weight of unspoken futures pressing down on his shoulders.
The academy was a storm waiting to break. Filled with hidden talents, ancient secrets, and dangerous ambitions.
And Leonidas intended to survive them all.