The sky over Westvale dimmed early, soft clouds veiling the moon. Crickets sang beyond the palewood fence, and warm light spilled from the tall windows of the Wyrden household.
It smelled like stew and real comfort.
Nclai sat at the dinner table, stiff at first, hands folded politely as Lyra's younger brother peppered him with questions about his fight. Her mother, soft-faced and kind-eyed, refilled his bowl without asking.
"You don't talk much, do you?" the boy asked between spoonfuls.
"No," Nclai replied simply.
That made the boy grin even wider. "Cool."
Across the table, Lyra smiled. Not her usual smirk. This one was real.
.........
Later, the house quieted. Lyra lingered behind, watching Nclai take the guest room at the far end of the hall.
She tried to say something, goodnight maybe, but only managed a half-formed syllable before he closed the door gently.
Once inside, Nclai let the silence settle.
Off went his boots, on to positions of repose on the tip of the bed, and at last... breathed.
The silence did not seem natural.
Too clean.
He gazed, once more, at his hands, long fingers, bruised knuckles. The heat in his flesh had not gone. The shock of the crystal in him was yet a second pulse.
He looked to the mirror across the room.
Faint red still flickered within his pupils.
.........
System Update
Sync Ratio: 21.0% Reached
New Trait Unlocked: Blood Control – Level I
You now possess conscious control over ambient or personal blood within 5 meters.
Current Tier: Basic Shaping
Range: 5m
Cooldown: None
Active Limit: One stream or object
Your blood no longer flows only at your heart's command.
.........
Nclai stood slowly.
He drew a line across his palm with a fingertip, letting a single drop of blood fall to the floor.
It hovered.
Mid-air. As if gravity no longer applied.
He extended a finger, and the droplet responded, stretching into a fine red thread, then curling, twisting, splitting. Like silk made from war.
It didn't drip. It didn't stop.
It listened.
Nclai stared at it, his eyes cold.
Then with a twitch of his finger, it unraveled.
Even my blood listens now.
He pressed the wound shut. No mark remained.
No smile. No fear.
Just that stillness.
.........
Lyra, still waiting outside his door, had stayed in mid-knock-motion.
She had wanted to get something, perhaps concerning training, or how was he settling in. Sure then she heard it.
But no sound actually.
Something more of a hum. A pull.
She came to the knob... hesitated.
The pomp skipped her heart.
On the dinner-table she wondered what his face was like. The veiled stillness that seemed not calm. Stillness unpeaceful.
and then she saw his figure in her imagination, his naked chest which she had burst in on him that morning. The lines. The power. The scar at the base of his collarbone that thrummed like a smouldering coal.
She blushed.
She ran away down the hall.
.........
The next morning came slow.
Lyra waited near the front gate, arms crossed. She didn't speak when Nclai arrived.
Not because she was angry.
Because she was flustered.
Nclai nodded at her. She only nodded back.
And together, they walked.
Through the street. Past the murmuring neighbors.
All the way back to the Academy.
.........
At the gates, students whispered.
"Is that him?"
"He didn't even use spells…"
"I heard he beat two nobles without breaking a sweat."
"Don't look at him directly... his eyes do something…"
Nclai ignored it all.
But Lyra noticed.
For every voice in awe, there was one that dripped with fear.
She didn't blame them.
He didn't feel like a student anymore.
.........
Later, as the sun dipped lower and classes ended, the sky turned bronze.
And as they walked through the long northern path of the Academy garden...
"Hey," Lyra said suddenly, catching him before he turned to leave.
He looked at her.
She hesitated.
Then...
"Do you... want to stay at our place again?"
His brow lifted faintly.
"I mean, you don't have family here. And I don't know. It's weird eating alone, right?"
A long pause.
Then, Nclai gave a single nod.
"…Thank you."
She blinked. "You... you're welcome."
Her face turned red again.
.........