The bell tolled once. Then again. Low and resonant, it echoed through the vaulted chamber like a judgment.
Aster stood at the threshold of the Mourning Hall, just inside the arched entryway, his silhouette framed by the pale morning light behind him. The cool scent of stone, candlewax, and memory filled the air. The chamber was vast—larger than even the Great Auditorium—with ceilings so high the lanterns floated like stars lost in fog.
Each glowing sphere bore a name.
Some flickered. Others burned steadily. A few dimmed by the minute.
And some had already gone out.
He stepped inside quietly.
Students were lined up in rows before an obsidian altar, heads bowed. Faculty dotted the edges like silent sentinels. No one spoke. No one dared. Even the air felt reverent, heavy with unspoken weight.
Aster found an empty space in the far back, near one of the cold braziers. The shadows suited him.
He wasn't wearing full uniform. His academy blazer still had dried blood along one sleeve, and the bandages beneath it pulsed faintly with suppression runes. He'd meant to change. But he hadn't moved in hours. Not since waking from another memory of teeth, blood, and system text flashing like lightning.
> [You have survived a Major Unforeseen Event. Trait Stability has increased.] [You are being watched.] [??? has marked you as "Anomaly." Surveillance engaged.]
He'd stopped asking questions. The system never answered them anyway.
The headmaster's voice rang out across the hall.
"We gather not to glorify the dead, but to remember them."
He stood before the altar, hands clasped. Behind him, a projection screen showed a slowly scrolling list of names. Over four hundred. Students who had died in the breach. Some first-years. Some veterans. Some never identified.
Every few seconds, a lantern overhead dimmed and vanished.
Aster watched it in silence. He didn't know their names. He'd fought to stay alive, not to be a hero. The system hadn't rewarded compassion. Only results. And yet...
He couldn't stop wondering who those lanterns belonged to.
---
After the ceremony, the hall emptied slowly. People moved like ghosts. Some cried. Some held each other. Aster stayed seated, staring up at the high ceiling.
Until a voice interrupted him.
"You're Aster, right?"
He turned. A student—tall, lean, with olive-toned skin and tired eyes. A faint burn scar laced his jaw like a pale vine. His posture was relaxed, not hostile.
"I am," Aster said warily.
"I'm Caius. Caius Neral. I just wanted to say... thank you."
That caught Aster off guard. He sat up. "Sorry?"
Caius stepped forward, hesitated, then sat down beside him on the cold bench. "My sister was in Hall Five when it collapsed. Said some shadow-faced guy ripped through a horde of demons and cleared a path. She only made it out because of him."
Aster blinked. "I didn't know anyone saw."
"She didn't see your face. But she described the movement. Fast, brutal. You cut through six demons with a steel rod. One-handed. That sounds about right?"
Aster didn't answer.
Caius continued, voice softer now. "They're calling you the Phantom Reaver, you know. Sixty-two confirmed kills. Probably more."
Aster swallowed.
He wanted to say it wasn't him. That the system had taken over. That he'd moved like a puppet whose strings were strung with instinct and dread.
Instead, he said, "I'm glad she made it."
Caius nodded. "She's all I've got. So... really. Thank you."
They sat in silence. No need for grand speeches. Just two survivors who'd been broken in different ways.
Then Caius stood. "People are gonna keep talking about ranks, about power. But some of us won't forget the ones who acted when it mattered."
Aster looked up. "Why tell me?"
Caius smiled faintly. "Because you looked like you needed to hear it."
Then he was gone, fading into the crowd.
Aster sat alone again.
He tilted his head back. Watched the last few lanterns flicker. One pulsed once with strange light—not blue like the rest. But violet.
He narrowed his eyes.
> [Status: Observed] [Entity Class: Unknown] [Observation Level Increased]
The lantern went out.
Aster exhaled slowly.
"...Guess I'm still not alone."
And somewhere high above, something watched back.