Chapter 16 – Shadow Beneath Glass
The wind whispered through the academy's courtyard, gentle and unthreatening. Twilight draped the grounds in violet hues, and lanterns sparked to life one by one. Students passed by in clusters, laughter and tension hanging equally in the air after the final duels.
Kael sat alone on the stone bench beneath the half-barren sycamore tree.
He didn't feel shame. Nor did he burn with the need to explain himself.
But silence had a weight—especially when it came from those who usually broke it for him.
Joran hadn't avoided him.
He simply hadn't found the right moment to speak.
Earlier, Joran had caught Kael's eye from across the training hall. No judgment there. Just patience.
A silent "when you're ready."
Kael had nodded once.
That was enough.
Above them, the academy's observatory dome caught the last rays of sunlight. Inside, the sigil of the Tower pulsed faintly—not in warning, not in revelation. Just watching.
But Kael wasn't the only one beneath its gaze.
Zero Black stood inside the dome, leaning silently against a support pillar carved from obsidian. The rest of the observatory was vacant, save for a few floating scrolls of data the staff had left unattended.
He didn't read them.
He didn't need to.
The sigil—gold and violet, embedded into the crystal ceiling—had started reacting to him days ago. It wasn't the first time something had pulsed in his presence.
He knew the faculty thought it odd. He heard their whispers behind the glass: "Untrackable," "no proper System signature," "shadows folding around him like a cloak."
But no one could say anything official.
He passed every duel.
He never broke the rules.
He just… won too quickly.
Too cleanly.
Too quietly.
Now, with the final duels over and students celebrating or sulking in the plaza, Zero remained here, unmoving, watching Kael through the glass dome below.
Something about him.
The way the wind curled around Kael like it knew him.
Like it feared him.
A flash surged behind Zero's eyes.
A memory he didn't ask for.
It hit like a wave of fire laced with ash.
A woman screaming.
A man clutching a strange blade made of shadowlight.
And him—smaller, no older than six—curled beneath a broken table, breath hitching, blood dripping onto his shirt from a wound he didn't remember receiving.
He smelled smoke.
He remembered the name: House Wraith.
He remembered being taken.
Wrapped in chains not of metal—but of silence.
Zero staggered back from the memory, hands braced against the dome's glass wall.
The Tower's sigil pulsed once.
His System chimed for the first time in weeks.
[System Notification]
User: Subject #0 — Classification: Null-Bonded
Name: Unknown
Designated Alias: ZERO BLACK
Stage: Disciple
Affinity: Darkness (Obscured), Curse
Traits: [Obfuscation], [Silent Echo], [Unseen Footsteps]
Memory Trace Recovered [1/4]: The Ash-Taken Flame
Additional Memory Fragments: Locked
Access to Pathway Relic Interface: Pending Synchronization
Status: Incomplete — Stabilization Required
He exhaled sharply.
Still no real name.
Still no family.
Just a list of traits and fragments that didn't explain who he was—only what he could become.
His fists clenched.
From the darkness behind the dome's curve, Instructor Vessra stepped into the glow of the sigil. Her expression was unreadable as always.
"You saw something," she said calmly.
Zero didn't answer.
"I'll make the report," she continued, more to herself. "The Wraith family's request will be delayed. They wanted you moved to their estate after the exams. But perhaps it's time we ask why the Tower allows them such deep roots here."
Zero turned.
"You knew," he said, voice soft, but sharp as a blade.
"I suspected," she replied. "You're not just a servant bred by House Wraith. You're tied to something older. The relics, maybe."
"Relics?"
Vessra glanced toward the floor beneath them—the one hiding the sealed entrance.
"This academy was built beside one of the Forbidden Zones," she said. "A relic was found decades ago. Just a shard of something larger. Four pieces exist, scattered across the continents."
Zero said nothing.
Vessra turned toward the window again. "You've awakened part of what's inside you. But it's not enough."
"I didn't ask for it."
"No one does."
A pause.
"But the boy down there…" She nodded toward Kael. "He didn't ask either. And the world is beginning to notice him."
Zero followed her gaze.
Kael was rising from the bench, walking toward the training hall.
The wind danced around him. Like an old memory trying to reach home.
"Are we the same?" Zero asked.
"No," Vessra said. "But you might cross paths sooner than you think."