Kael didn't open the box.
Not yet!
He just stood there, staring down at it—this thing he'd crossed cities for, crawled through ruins, nearly lost hope over.
It looked unassuming.
A matte black surface, trimmed with faint silver veins that pulsed with magic, barely visible to the naked eye.
It felt… alive!
He didn't touch it again after that first contact. He didn't dare.
Instead, he pulled off his coat and carefully wrapped it around the box, hiding the runes from sight.
Kael carried it like it was a bomb.
He didn't linger.
Back through the hidden tunnel. Past the stairs and the rotted altar. His boots echoed over the temple floor as he emerged from the ruins.
The sky was still foggy, though the sun had climbed higher.
He hadn't realized how much time had passed—it felt like dusk, like the world should've shifted after what he'd just seen.
But it hadn't.
Everything looked the same.
The cracked marble. The ivy-covered stone. The wind.
Kael adjusted the coat-covered box under his arm, glancing around.
He started down the hill.
And the paranoia hit almost immediately.
What if someone saw?
No one should have been watching. The temple was abandoned. The whole district was half-dead.
But that didn't stop the feeling—the prickling at the back of his neck, the way his eyes darted toward shadows in doorways, alleys, under archways.
He picked up his pace.
"Just get back," he muttered under his breath. "Back to the dorm. Then I will open it!"
The streets felt too quiet now. Every footstep echoed louder than it should have. Every crow call overhead made his shoulders tense.
What if someone knew he was here? What if they followed him?
What if they were waiting?
The coat suddenly felt too thin.
Like it couldn't hide anything. Like the box might shine right through it, leaking power into the air.
He hugged it tighter.
A pair of old men shuffled past him near the plaza, muttering about fish prices. Kael flinched anyway.
He didn't take the main road.
Instead, he ducked through narrow alleys, moving fast, eyes constantly scanning. One hand hovered near the training dagger at his hip—not that it would help much.
He had no idea how many people in this city might kill for a box like this.
That thought didn't help his anxiety rather increased it.
He reached the teleportation terminal by noon.
"Back to Elaris," he said quickly to the attendant, voice a little too high-pitched. "Class resumption."
The old man looked him up and down. Kael kept his grip firm on the coat-covered bundle and paid 64 golds.
After showing his Id, the man nodded, scanned the Id then gestured toward the glowing arch.
Kael stepped through without hesitation.
And again, the world twisted.
Fell.
Flashed—
He stumbled onto the platform in Elaris, heart still racing. This time, he barely noticed the sickness in his stomach.
He didn't stop to admire the view.
Didn't greet the attendant nor the guards.
He just ran.
Through the Academy gates.
Past the garden.
Up the stairs.
He didn't even take the elevator orb.
He was too paranoid to wait.
Kael reached the dormitory hallway drenched in sweat, chest heaving.
The second he was inside his room, he shut the door, locked it—twice—and pulled the curtain over the window.
Then he slid to the floor, clutching the box to his chest.
Only when the silence of his room finally settled around him, when he was sure no one had followed him, when not even the wind made the curtains move—
Did he breathe out.
He placed the box gently on his bed.
And stared at it.
"Now…" he whispered, voice ragged.
"Let's open it!"
That night.
After a quick wash and a change of clothes, Kael sat cross-legged on his bed. The Sealed Box rested in front of him.
He took a deep breath.
"Whatever you are… let's see it."
His fingers brushed the carved surface—and this time, the box clicked open without resistance.
Inside was a single object:
A circular black orb—about the size of an apple.
The object was floating a little above the box, turning slowly, and letting out thin streams of very dark smoke that moved like snakes through the air.
Its surface was so dark, so perfectly smooth, it felt like looking into the void.
Kael reached out.
The moment his fingers touched it—
Pain.
His body jerked backward.
The orb didn't fall.
It moved with him, drawn to him, as if magnetized.
Then, without warning, it pressed into his chest—phasing through his skin like mist.
Kael screamed.
It felt like his entire body was burning from the inside.
He collapsed onto the floor, trembling violently.
Sweat poured down his face.
His limbs locked up, muscles spasming.
It was like being struck by lightning—again and again.
"What is this… thing…?!"
"In the novel, this skill doesn't describe this much painful as it is used to when Zereth acquire it"
"Is it because I am weak?"
He couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
It felt like he would die.
But even through the pain, his instincts took over.
What he always did when overwhelmed.
Meditate.
Focus.
Breathe.
Kael forced his eyes shut, his mind clawing for clarity.
He concentrated.
The pain remains in his body for one hour-
Two hours-
Then after few hours of endurance-
Silence-
The pain took a few hours to remain calm.
He could feel energy and knowledge from that skill.
" As described in the novel, this skill, Astral Severance, when used by the antagonist Zereth, dust erupted, creating the video slashin the stars"
But its presence shook the very illusion.
"Astral Severance."?
Kael's eyes widened.
His body felt different now—heavier, yet full.
He raised his hand, and a memory of the Astral Severance played in his mind.
He mimicked the movement.
But the technique was there. Etched in his body. Imprinted in his soul.
He opened his eyes—and returned from the pain.
Kael gasped as he sat upright.
His heart pounded.
His hands still trembled.
And the box was gone.
Its energy was now within him.
And in his mind, the sword art echoed—
"Astral severance"
The rest of the academy slept quietly.
"I should practice this skill so called Astral Severance".