CHAPTER 13 B — White Silence

Returning to the training grounds, the time was now 5:13 PM.

"One more time," I whispered, hands out. "Focus, focus, focus…"

I tried to think about how I wanted to use Umbral magic.

Nurse safety.

First aid.

Shelter.

A light shone so hard from my hands that it made Nira, Mom, and Aunt Sera cover their eyes. I opened my eyes, expecting a failure…but I saw something floating around.

"Kyuu~ kyuu?"

I looked up. It was a sea horse.

My Ledger popped up:

[ UMBRA SEA HORSE ]

[ DURATION: 03:00 ]

Nira chimed in, voice sharp.

"So that's your power…"

"What?" I blinked.

My mom said her piece too, calm and serious.

"So your power to protect is strong."

I stared at it, and my mom continued.

"This is the first time I've seen something like this. A living familiar with its own sense of self…"

"Kyuu~"

"Uh… alright," I said, leaning closer. "Hey there, cutey. How are you? What's your name?"

While it floated around me—it moved before I did.

CRASH!

The sea horse blocked what looked like a staff and there was only one person I knew who carried something like that around. I snapped my head to the exit.

Prince Zephran stood there with a smug look… and a group of friends he apparently found.

My mom immediately stepped forward.

"Please leave this place now," she said. "We have authorization to use this place alone."

The prince stared at Aunt Sera like he had beef with her.

"No," he said—blunt, confident.

And it actually pissed me off. Saying no to my mom?

My mom?

"Alright, now you're pushing your luck here, boy," I said out loud.

The prince continued.

"I'm here to show your retainer some discipline, because she had the audacity to interrupt a prince."

Before I could say anything, my mom stopped me.

"He is right," Lysandra said, and her voice didn't shake. "What Sera did at the hospital—to a prince—was uncalled for."

Oh. Yeah. Being given orders on how to act in a place could insult a prince… so this was him making a stand for it. Aunt Sera stood up.

"Fine," she said.

"If you wish to continue and disrupt the princess's training—my mistress Lysandra's bonding time…"

She reached down her leg and pulled out two sai. Then she smiled, sharp and calm.

"Please, Prince… try to discipline me."

Aunt Sera stepped forward with her hands out, the sai pointed to the sides. The prince snapped his fingers. Four hooded friends stepped up behind him. They were elves—from Mom's homeland.

Aunt Sera recognized them right away.

Her face tightened.

These weren't random guards.

These were her elders—the ones who taught her how to be an assassin.

She called out, one by one:

"Elder Sally… Elder Nicky… Elder Ken… Elder Luke…"

Then Aunt Sera held out her skirt and bowed.

"The pleasure is all mine."

Elder Sally's voice came out calmer than the others.

"It doesn't have to be like this. Come back to the forest. Forget about your sister… and that spawn."

Elder Nicky just stared at Mom and me like we were something dirty.

"Just looking at that child and that woman makes my skin crawl."

Elder Ken's voice was cold.

"If you don't return quietly, we'll be forced to take you out. Don't make us do this."

Then Elder Luke walked up. He pointed his dagger at me.

"So this is my niece?" he said.

He twirled the dagger like he was showing off, then opened his arms.

"Come and give uncle a hug."

My eyes went wide.

Noxx felt my fear and got angry—his body grew a bit, like he was ready to launch. Nira floated beside me and said dryly,

"What a warm welcome…"

Then she activated her skill.

"Umbral Fairy Castle."

A dark, fairy-like castle shape formed around me—walls of umbral light and shadow, like a protective shell. Nira kept talking while I was still in shock.

"It won't hold up for long."

I grabbed Noxx's collar.

"Go find help!"

He didn't move. He just stared up at the stands. I followed his gaze. And my stomach dropped. It was the same girl that was with the boy earlier. And the boy was there too—sitting down like this was entertainment. He was just watching. I could see his horn peeking out from under his hood.

…That horn was big.

Almost like Dad. The girl leaned forward like she owned the place and said,

"Master… I won't take no for an answer."

Then she smiled, proud.

"I got permission from the prince."

Aunt Sera finally showed a pissed-off face—but she accepted the help anyway. Aunt Sera leaned in close to me, and I heard her call her name.

"Madina."

Then she spoke like it was simple math.

"I know you can handle two."

Madina took off her hood. She got into a stance with her bare fists… then pushed her claws out from her fingernails like blades. She dropped low—almost on all fours—Then vanished into the night.

Elder Luke and Elder Sally followed her. Luke sounded almost impressed.

"Looks like Sera took a disciple."

Sally and Luke traded blows with Madina while she ran on the walls like gravity didn't matter. She was fast. Too fast.

"She seems promising," Sally said. "Say, girl… why won't you come with us?"

Madina punched Sally so hard she hit the ground. Madina's voice was sharp.

"I'll never betray Prince Belzagus."

I looked at the boy the moment she said that.

Belzagus?

He was just watching. Moving his lips like he was talking to someone. But I could see it now—someone was close to Madina. It looked like a floating eyeball. And it blinked.

Aunt Sera was handling her own mess. She was trading blows with Elder Nicky while Elder Ken was shooting arrows from the darkness. Ken shouted,

"Come on, Sera! You are the prized elf in our village—why did you go with this cursed woman?"

Sera threw one of her sai. It flew like a bullet and impaled Ken's draw hand. Ken screamed and stumbled. Sera's voice stayed calm.

"Please. I chose this on my own."

She didn't even slow down.

"You trained me of your own volition," she continued. "My goals just didn't measure up to yours."

Nicky snapped.

"You are my childhood friend!"

She charged Sera. They exchanged strikes—fast, sharp—Then Nicky pulled a scythe from her cloak and swung at Sera. Sera caught it between the hooked ends of her sai, twisted, and tripped Nicky.

Then she stabbed Nicky's tendons in her arms. Nicky dropped, screaming—her arms useless. She couldn't fight anymore. Sera didn't blink.

"Target neutralized," she said.

Ken froze. He looked scared now, because he remembered why they didn't mess with Sera. She wasn't just skilled. She was built like a machine. A killing machine. Sera looked down at Nicky and spoke like she was giving a medical update.

"Relax. You won't die."

Then she added, almost casually,

"But the king will have a few questions for you."

Sera stepped back into the shadows—gone—moving on to the next target. Nicky shouted, unable to move,

"I DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT MAN! KILL ME INSTEAD!"

Sera's voice chimed in from the darkness, calm and cold.

"Relax. King Malphas ain't that cruel."

Then she hit Nicky where it hurt the most:

"He'll just punish you for laying hands on his daughter and mistress."

Nicky cried out, "NOooooooo!"

Like she was already imagining torture.

I turned to my mom, shaking.

"What the hell is happening with Aunt Sera?"

My mom's face stayed calm, but her eyes were serious.

Then she dropped lore on me.

"Your aunt is one of the most renowned assassins from our old homeland," Lysandra said.

"She was called White Silence."

Even the name felt cold. Like snow that falls so quietly you don't realize you're buried until you can't breathe. I could hear Bel cheering Madina on at first. She was doing well.

Fast.

Sharp.

Running on walls like gravity didn't matter. Elder Luke and Elder Sally were both moving, trying to box her in, and Madina chased them like she didn't know what "back off" meant.

She sprinted up the wall, claws out, and launched—Luke and Sally split apart like it was planned. And in that split second—they threw something.

Not a blade.

Not a glowing spell. Just a nasty little flick of the wrist. A sticky residue hit Madina's face. It splattered across her eyes.

Madina flinched so hard she shut them instantly.

"—Tch!"

She landed wrong. Her footing slipped. And she fell hard—THUD—hitting the floor like she got dropped.

Madina groaned and rubbed at her face, trying to wipe it off.

She tried to blink it away, but she couldn't.

Her breathing spiked.

Her claws scratched the stone as she pushed herself up, still rubbing her eyes like it burned. Bel's whole mood changed.

His voice cut through the air, pissed off and serious.

"Madina…"

A pause.

"…That's enough."

He stood up on the balcony of his private seat. The air around him got heavy, like the room itself knew who was standing.

He reached out into nothing.

A pocket of abyss opened—like a rip in space that didn't have a bottom. Nira's voice came out sharp for once.

"Uh… I don't know what that is, and I'm 5,000 years old."

My mom spoke to me after the Umbral Fairy Castle had expired. Calm, like she wasn't worried at all.

"It's fine," Lysandra said. "He is not an enemy. Just watch."

Belzagus took off his hoodie. I pointed at him so hard my arm stiffened.

"Mom…" I stuttered. "HE… HE… LOOKS LIKE FATHER WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER."

Then I heard a voice—Echo—making a joke while Bel was pulling the halberd out.

"So that's your sister…" Echo said. "You sure you wanna do this?"

Bel didn't laugh. He reached deeper into that abyss pocket. Something started to come out.

Slow.

Heavy.

Like it didn't want to be in this world. An Abyssal Halberd. Bel's grip tightened. His eyes locked on the elders.

"I'm not letting anyone hurt Madina," Belzagus said, voice low and dangerous, "even if I have to break Father's orders…"

The halberd finished forming. The blade looked too black to be metal.

Like it ate light.

And the training grounds went quiet.

Like everyone understood this part wasn't training anymore.

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