Elara didn't move from the doorway.
"You weren't just there," she said. "You were in it."
rlin let the door swing open and walked inside. His boots left faint dirt marks on the floorboards, and he didn't bother to take them off. "You've been spying on now?"
"I don't have to." She followed him in. "You move different after a fight. Like your skin doesn't fit right anymore."
He tossed his coat over the back of the chair, not looking at her. "You're observant."
"That's not an answer."
'She's not going to let this drop.'
He went to the desk, poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher there, and drank most of it before setting it down. "Do you want to lie and say I stayed ho?"
Elara's jaw tightened. "I want you to tell why you keep throwing yourself at things the rest of us can barely look at without losing sleep."
He rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling the sting of dried ichor under his nails. "Soone has to."
"That soone doesn't have to be you."
'Yes, it does.' He didn't say it out loud.
She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms again. "You think you're going to outrun whatever it is you're chasing?"
He t her eyes for the first ti since he walked in. "No. I'm not chasing it."
Her gaze flicked over him like she was looking for sothing she didn't want to find. "Then what?"
"I'm making sure it doesn't catch anyone else first."
The silence stretched. Outside, sowhere down the street, a cart rolled by, the wheels crunching over uneven stone. Elara finally looked away.
"Next ti you go," she said quietly, "tell first. I don't like finding out from other people that you were in the middle of it again."
rlin picked up his coat and hung it on the wall this ti. "If I tell you, you'll want to co."
"Maybe I should."
He shook his head. "Not this one."
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't push further. Instead, she stepped toward the door. "Fine. Just don't make hear about your funeral from soone else either."
The door clicked shut behind her.
rlin stood in the empty room for a long mont. The hum of his system lingered at the edge of his thoughts.
[New Questline Update: Breach Activity Escalation]
[Main Objective: Prevent Quadrant Collapse]
[Ti Limit: 71 Hours 14 Minutes]
'That's going to be a problem.'
He stripped off the rest of his gear, dropped into the chair, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
The fight replayed in his head, how fast the small one had been, the way the Tier Six's leg had almost pulled through the blink even when crippled.
If they were coming through faster, it ant the barrier was weakening. And if the barrier was weakening… soone was doing it on purpose.
He didn't sleep.
—
By morning, the streets slled faintly of burnt stone and blood. The cleanup crews had done what they could, but the gouges in the paving and the blackened edges of the wall were harder to hide. People passed by without looking too closely. No one wanted to know.
Nathan was already waiting by the south wall when rlin got there. He had two practice blades tucked under one arm and a grin that said he'd been up since before dawn.
"You look like you wrestled a fireplace," Nathan said.
"Just didn't sleep much."
"Then today's going to hurt." Nathan tossed him one of the blades. "I've been working on my footwork. You're not going to dance around like last ti."
rlin caught the blade easily. "We'll see."
They started slow, Nathan circling, trying to keep his lead foot outside rlin's. He was quicker than last week, his balance better, his steps sharper, but still just a fraction too predictable.
rlin let him press the attack for a while, deflecting the swings without striking back, gauging the rhythm.
Nathan's breath was already coming harder after a few minutes. "What, you're not even going to try?"
"I'm trying," rlin said, blocking another slash. "You're just not giving much to work with."
Nathan scowled and lunged harder. rlin sidestepped, tapped the flat of his blade against Nathan's ribs, and moved back before the counter could co.
"Again," Nathan said.
They went on like that until sweat was dripping down both their faces and Nathan's frustration was visible in every movent. Finally, he threw his blade to the ground.
"This is pointless," Nathan said. "You're not even breathing hard."
rlin leaned on his weapon. "You're better than last ti."
"Doesn't feel like it."
"Because you're asuring yourself against ," rlin said. "Start asuring against who you were last week. You'll see the difference."
Nathan kicked at a loose stone. "Easy for you to say when you're ten steps ahead already."
'If you knew how far ahead.'
rlin just shrugged. "Everyone's ten steps behind soone."
Nathan looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he bent to pick up his blade again. "Fine. Again."
They trained until the sun was high enough to bake the dust into the cracks between the stones. When they finally stopped, Nathan's shirt was plastered to his back and rlin still felt like he had fuel to burn.
Nathan dropped onto a low wall, wiping his face with his sleeve. "So. You going to tell what's actually going on, or are you going to keep showing up looking like you fought a pack of wolves in the dark?"
rlin took a long drink from his flask before answering. "You wouldn't believe ."
Nathan smirked. "Try ."
rlin almost did. Almost. But the system's quiet hum in his head was a reminder. No one could know. Not yet.
"Another ti," he said instead.
Nathan rolled his eyes. "You're impossible."
rlin smiled faintly. "That's what they tell ."
They sat there in the heat a while longer before heading back toward the city. People passed them without much notice, just two n in training gear, no sign of the fight the night before.
But rlin kept scanning the rooftops. And the alleys. And the distant edges of the wall.
[Threat Probability in Vicinity: 14% and Rising]
'So much for a quiet walk ho.'
—
The next day.
The wooden swords clashed again, the impact sending a jolt up rlin's arms. Nathan grunted, stumbling back two steps. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and he was breathing hard.
He didn't even feel winded.
'It's not even close anymore…'
Nathan tried to co in from the side, swinging faster this ti. He stepped forward, catching his blade with mine and twisting it out of his grip in one motion. The sword clattered onto the dirt.
"Damn it," Nathan muttered, hands on his knees, panting. "You're… way too fast."
"You're getting better," rlin said casually, handing his sword back. "Just… not fast enough."
He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "You've changed, man. Before the Labyrinth, I could at least keep up with you."
'I'm not sure anyone can keep up with now.'
[System ssage: Combat Proficiency – 92% Sync With Rathan's Sword Techniques]
The ssage lingered for a second before fading from my vision.
rlin raised his sword again. "One more round?"
Nathan groaned but picked up his stance anyway. "Fine… but if you break my ribs again, I'm blaming you when Elara yells at ."
This ti, he wouldn't hold back on speed. Nathan's eyes widened, barely tracking his movents before his weapon was knocked from his hand again. He landed on the ground with a soft thud.
'Still too slow.'
He extended a hand to pull him up. "You need to stop telegraphing your moves. You drop your shoulder every ti before you swing."
Nathan groaned, brushing the dirt off his shirt. "Yeah, yeah… you're turning into an instructor now."
'I'm turning into sothing else entirely.'
—
Nathan tossed the wooden sword back toward the rack. "I'm done for today. My arms feel like lead."
"You're just dehydrated," He said, tossing rlin's beside his. "Drink more water."
"Sure," he said, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Or maybe you could just… train at half-speed like a normal person."
"I don't think I know what that is anymore."
'And I don't think I can afford to.'
We started walking back toward the gates. The dust stuck to my boots, clinging to the damp edges of his trousers.
Nathan talked about so rumor he'd heard at the market, sothing about a rchant swearing he saw shadows moving against the wall after dark, but he only caught pieces of it.
His eyes kept drifting upward.
Rooftops. Narrow ledges. Blind corners.
[Threat Probability in Vicinity: 18% and rising.]
'Not here… not now.'
"Are you even listening to ?" Nathan asked.
"So of it."
"Which part?"
"The part where you kept talking."
He groaned, shoving my shoulder. "You're impossible."
"Good. ans I'm harder to kill."
By the ti we reached the south gate, Nathan peeled off toward the barracks, muttering sothing about food and a nap. He stayed on the street a little longer, letting the crowd thin before he turned toward ho.
Halfway there, he felt it.
Not danger exactly, just weight. The kind of stillness that ant soone was watching.
He didn't turn my head. Didn't slow down. Just kept walking.
[Passive Scan Activated – No hostile signatures detected.]
'That's almost worse.'
The sensation lingered all the way to my door.
When he stepped inside, the air was faintly warm. Too warm for how long the windows had been shut.
Soone had been here.
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