The grand doors shut behind us with a heavy thud, muffling the hushed murmurs of the mages still discussing my results. I walked beside Lana through the marble halls, my thoughts still circling what just happened.
"You did well," Lana said softly. "Surprised even me."
"I wasn't trying to impress," I muttered.
"I know," she replied, flashing a small grin. "That's probably why it worked."
Her steps were light, but I could feel tension underneath her casual tone. We turned a corner, passing ornate windows that overlooked the outer walls of the capital. Soldiers patrolled below. The kingdom looked peaceful… but I knew better.
"Where are we going now?" I asked.
"You'll meet someone," she said. "Someone important. She'll want to see for herself."
"Another test?" I sighed.
"Sort of. She is my sister and she's my personal guard. Captain of the royal order."
I raised an eyebrow. "Your.... sister?"
Lana laughed. "No. Not by blood. But we were raised close. You could say she's family."
She led me into a quieter corridor—less gold, more stone—and finally stopped at a simple door guarded by two knights in full armor. They opened it the moment they saw her.
Inside stood a woman in full silver armor, tall and still as a statue.
The long and soft sliver hairs dancing in the breeze.
Her face was beautiful in that cold, distant way—not unkind, just unreadable. She turned, sharp eyes falling on me like I'd tracked mud into a temple.
"Celyne," Lana said.
"You snuck out again," Celyne said, arms crossed as her sharp gaze landed on Lana.
The princess shifted slightly, clearly not surprised by the reprimand. "You make it sound like a crime."
"It is reckless," Celyne snapped, her voice low but firm. "You left the palace without informing anyone. What if something had happened to you?"
"I handled it," Lana replied with a faint shrug. "Besides, I wasn't alone."
"That's not the point." Celyne's tone didn't waver. "You're royalty. If anyone saw you wandering around without an escort—"
"I had an escort," Lana cut in with a smirk, nodding at me. "Kind of."
Celyne looked at me briefly, unimpressed, before turning her attention back to Lana. "You know better. Next time, take me with you. That's my job."
Lana sighed. "You're always so serious."
"And you're never serious enough," Celyne said.
Lana gestured towards me."This is the outsider I told you about in the letter."
Celyne approached slowly, arms crossed behind her back. "The one who crushed a serpent with his bare hands?"
"It was more of a punch," I said.
She stared. "I see."
Her gaze swept over me. Not a flicker of warmth, not even curiosity. Just analysis.
"Name?" she asked.
"Ark."i replied
"Age?"
"...Old enough to know when I'm being sized up."
For a second, I thought she'd smile. She didn't. "You don't look like much," she said. "But neither did the last man who killed one of those things."
She turned to Lana. "You trust him?"
"I don't know," Lana replied honestly. "But I want you to see him yourself."
Celyne nodded once. "I would like to see your strength for myself. Follow me to the royal training ground."
As I followed her out, I noticed something. Lana had spoken to me like a person. Celyne, though—Celyne spoke like I was a weapon still being evaluated.
And somehow, that made her even harder to read.
We didn't have to walk far to reach the location.
The training grounds echoed with the light shuffle of boots against stone and the distant clang of steel.
Celyne Virellian stood before me in full uniform, her posture straight, her expression unreadable. She drew a practice sword from the rack with a smooth motion, weighing it in her hand.
She gazed at the stick I was holding in my hand like a sword."were you planning to fight me with that stick?"
"A spear..... also a sword.You could say it is a multipurpose tool."
She frowned her eyes like she was seeing an idiot.
"Try not to run," she said, not as a taunt, just a statement of expectation.
"I wasn't planning to," I replied, gripping my worn stick loosely. It looked ridiculous against the polished steel in her hand—but I had no intention of backing down.
We began.
She moved like a tide—fluid, inevitable. I didn't try to clash with her. Instead, I stepped to the side, let her blade pass where I had just stood, then again and again, letting momentum guide her past me.
A flicker of interest crossed her face as she adjusted her stance. "You're fast."
I didn't answer. She came in again, sharper now, reading my movements.
I ducked low, narrowly avoiding her strike, then spun the stick up just as she stepped in for a clean finishing blow.
Wood met steel with a sharp crack.
Silence.
Everyone watching froze. For a moment, I thought it was just the noise that had stunned them—but then I noticed the end of Celyne's sword lying on the ground.
Snapped cleanly in two.
She stared at it, then at me, her eyes narrowing—not in anger, but in calculation. "That shouldn't have happened."
My hand tightened around the stick. "I get that a lot."
Celyne lowered the hilt, studying the splintered break. Around us, murmurs stirred among the guards.
"Again," she said simply, voice quiet, but resolute. "But this time, I won't hold back."
The air shifted again.
Not wind. Not weather. Just… pressure. Like the world was holding its breath.
Celyne stepped forward. Her eyes sharpened, lips tight. And then it hit me—a cold wave, creeping across the training ground like invisible frost. The ground beneath my feet started to crackle. Tiny shards of ice bloomed across the stone.
She wasn't attacking, not yet. Just showing what she could do. Her aura flared out—quiet, controlled, and terrifying. It radiated from her body like a second skin, freezing the very air around her.
My instincts screamed at me to run. But I didn't. I stood there, gripping my stick like it was something more.
Celyne raised her sword slightly.
Then—
"Celyne, stop!"
Lana's voice cut through the tension.
She rushed between us, grabbing Celyne's arm.
"He can't use magic!"
The frost stopped.
For a moment, silence. The cold lingered on my skin, but the pressure was gone.
Celyne blinked. "What?"
"He has no core," Lana said. "No enchantments. He's been fighting without it."
Celyne's gaze shifted to me, brows furrowed. "...That speed, that strength—without enchantment?"
She didn't say it out loud, but I saw it in her face.
How?
I didn't have an answer. Hell, I was still figuring that out myself.
But now, she was looking at me differently.
Not as someone suspicious.
As something that didn't make sense.
She didn't look surprised—just thoughtful. A long pause passed as she examined me again, as if reevaluating everything she'd seen.
"No enchantments," she murmured. "Yet you moved faster than most trained knights."
Her gaze dropped briefly to the wooden stick still in my hand, then to the faint crack along the training floor from the impact. "And blocked my sword with that."
Still calm. Still quiet. But there was a subtle shift in the air around her—like a blade being slowly unsheathed.
Lana stepped forward. "The sword wasn't hers. Just a standard one."
Celyne didn't react. "Even so."
She walked past me, not even sparing a glance as she said, "The King will want to meet him. I'll make the arrangements."
That was all.
She left no room for questions, no invitation for discussion.
Just a decision—made like a sword strike.
I looked at Lana. She gave a faint shrug. "She's like that."
I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
The training grounds emptied slowly. A few guards still lingered at a distance, whispering to each other while casting occasional glances my way.
I lowered the stick. The wood was worn smooth from use, but it held strong. Stronger than the sword it blocked.
Lana stood beside me, arms crossed lightly. She looked less like a princess and more like someone used to watching chaos unfold.
"She's not mad," she said.
"I didn't think she was," I replied.
"She's just… Celyne."
That explained both everything and nothing.
We stood in silence for a while. The wind moved lazily through the stone arches around the courtyard, bringing in the scent of distant rain and flowers I didn't recognize. It was strange how peaceful this world could feel—when it wasn't trying to kill me.
"She noticed, you know," Lana said quietly.
"Noticed what?"
"You didn't flinch once. Even when she brought out her aura."
I didn't say anything. I remembered that chill—like the world held its breath. But after everything I'd been through in that hell like world, fear didn't hit as easily.
"I think she was testing you," Lana added.
"I figured." I glanced down at my stick. "She break weapons often?"
"She usually breaks people."
"…Good to know."
Lana laughed—softly, like she was trying not to. Then she sighed and looked up at the sky.
"They'll call you in soon. Probably to meet my father."
"The king?"
She nodded. "Yeah. He's… well, you'll see."
I wasn't sure if that was a warning or a joke. With Lana, it could be both.