(Killing those beasts is done only by heroes in the novel... i feel sorry)
The beast continues.
"To stay would an dragging Myra into the sa storm."
He forced a faint, rueful smile.
"I understand what young love ans," he said quietly. " but... ", then Kael cut through.
"I don’t want to cause trouble."
Myra felt a little sad
"Yo.. "
"It’s all right," he interrupted.
"You saved . That’s more than I could ever repay. But if staying puts you in danger, then leaving is the only choice."
(I should make a quick excuse to leave) he thought.
The elder felt little respect.
He stepped aside, granting Kael passage.
He offered Myra a small bow.
"Thank you, Myra. For everything."
She bit her lip.
"You... will you co back?"
He hesitated, searching for an answer that would not be a lie.
"I should."
On that day ti!
Cecelia walked in, the search team made their way back toward the academy.
(He should return by now), she thought.
They had searched for hours and hours, combing the riverside and every path they could safely take, but there had been no trace of Kael.
There were no footprints, no torn fabric and not even a faint mana trail.
The dread of what might be lurking deeper inside—the feral packs and dread-rank beasts—kept them from pushing further.
Cecelia’s shoulders sagged as they crossed the courtyard.
Inside the staff room, Professor Slyvia looked up from a stack of papers as the group entered.
Cecelia stepped forward.
"Professor... we couldn’t find Kael," she said quietly. "We searched as far as we could into the deeper forest."
For a long mont, the professor simply regarded them with unreadable eyes.
She set down but said nothing, only giving a slow, thoughtful nod.
There was silence until Orwen, standing just behind Cecelia.
"Maybe we should just... wait," he said, "If Kael is alive, he’ll find his way back. Pushing further might only put more of us in danger."
Cecelia nodded. Waiting felt unbearable, but deep down she knew Orwen was right.
For now, all they could do was hope that Kael was strong enough to return on his own.
Inside the personal training room.
At one end of the room, Edwin leaned casually against a practice dummy, Elysia stood beside him practicing her swords style.
They had just finished a round of sparring. As they rested, their conversation drifted to the other first-year students, those who struggled to even complete basic drills.
By the ti Kael finally reached the edge of the forest, it was evening.
Kael paused for a brief mont, turning back toward the darkened woods. Among the twisting branches and shadows, he caught sight of a small figure standing far away. And it was Myra.
Even with the distance between them, Kael could see the faint outline in her shoulders.
She stood perfectly still, half-hidden by the fading light.
Without another glance, he turned and stepped out of the forest.
The path back to Arcadia Academy felt short when he went back.
By the ti the academy’s stone walls ca into view, so of the first years were already dispersed.
The guards of the arcadia looked at Kael carefully and then entered.
Kael crossed the gate and entered the training grounds, Ground One, just as a group of students were finishing their evening drills.
Conversations halted the mont they saw him.
"Kael?" soone whispered in disbelief.
He walked calmly towards the field, as if he had simply gone for a casual stroll instead of vanishing for an entire day in one of the most dangerous beast forests in the region.
His uniform, however, was different.
Torn in several places and patched with large green leaves tied by thin vines, it looked more like a forest disguise than academy clothing.
Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd.
"He’s back...?"
"But how—"
"Nothing happened to him!" a student blurted out.
So of the braver ones laughed, pointing at the makeshift leaf coverings on his shoulders and chest. "Look at his outfit! Did the forest adopt him or does he have forest skill?"
Kael only gave a faint smile, unfazed by their stares and jokes.
The news spread across the training grounds. By the ti Kael reached the field where his sword was, a voice called his na.
"Kael!"
He turned just in ti to see Cecelia rushing toward him as she crossed the courtyard at full speed. Without a word, she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"You’re safe," she breathed. "Where were you? We searched everywhere!"
Kael blinked and got montarily frozen. It wasn’t like Cecelia to show such open emotion.
Before he could answer, she stepped back and raised her hands, a faint glow of blue-green mana gathering around her fingers.
Her healing spell swept over him in a gentle wave, scanning for injuries. Her eyes narrowed as she focused, expecting bruises, cuts—anything.
But there was nothing. His body was perfectly fine, not even a scratch where she had seen blood before.
Her lips parted slightly in surprise.
"No wounds...? Not even fatigue..."
Kael gave a small. "I told you I’m fine."
But Cecelia barely heard him. For the first ti, a tiny seed of doubt stirred in her heart. (Is he... really strong?)
Her thoughts flashed back to Elysia’s wary glances during training, the way Elysia always seed on edge around Kael.
(Is that why Elysia was afraid of him?)
She shook the thought away quickly. (Never mind. This isn’t the ti.)
Not far from Ground One, three of them moved quickly through the personal training room.
Elysia, Jin, and Edwin had all heard the sa rumor at nearly the sa ti, Kael had returned.
Edwin said, "So it’s true? He actually ca back? After disappearing into the beast forest for a whole day?"
Jin, rubbed the back of his neck with a puzzled frown. "That place is crawling with dread-rank monsters. No one cos back without a single scratch."
Elysia said nothing.
She had expected Kael to be dead by now. But if the rumors were right and he had returned unhard, that ant sothing was far more unsettling.
As they reached the edge of Ground One, the sight before them froze her in place.
Kael stood at the ground where his sword was, his torn uniform patched with leaves but his body perfectly whole.
Jin laughed, pointing towards Kael, "hahaha... look at his uniform,...."
Elysia began to sweat out of fear. (He’s strong... )
(From here on, I can’t take chances. If the future is to change, I need a plan. An assassination plan.)
(i can barely recollect the events and future war but i have to recollect anyhow), Elysia thought.
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