Yue finally rolled her eyes, sighing like a spirit centuries older than the nonsense she was enduring.
"Fine. I'm going. But if I find rats, I'm feeding them your socks."
"Deal."
And just like that, she vanished into shadow and mist.
Kael's limbs felt like lead, the exhaustion finally catching up with him.
The weight of battles fought — in flesh and in spirit — was too much to carry for another moment.
He reached out, half-blind with fatigue, and gently tugged Selene down onto the bed beside him.
"Wha— Kael!" she protested, struggling lightly as he pulled the blanket over them.
"Shhh," he murmured, already half-asleep. "Just… stay. You're warm."
She squirmed, tense for a heartbeat… then let out a soft sigh, resigning herself to the moment. Her cheeks flushed red as Kael's head settled against her shoulder, using her like a makeshift pillow.
"I swear, you're impossible," she whispered, voice barely audible.
But she didn't move again.
And within minutes, both drifted into the kind of sleep that only came after surviving something meant to kill you — deep, dreamless, and full of fragile peace
***
The morning sun slipped in through the curtains, casting pale light across the room. Kael stirred, reaching instinctively to the side — empty.
He blinked groggily. "Haa… she left." A pause. "Guess I really did fall asleep on her."
But the ache in his bones had dulled. The wounds had closed more than he expected. Whatever healing Selene and rest had done, it had worked.
Feeling human again, Kael got up, stretched with a low groan, and headed straight for the bath.
After a long soak and a change into clean clothes — dark tunic, fitted coat, silver-threaded cuffs — he looked at himself in the mirror, ran a hand through his hair, and grinned.
"Yeah… that's my body. Eyes like the abyss. Handsome as fuck."
The house was quiet — no servants around.
Perfect.
Kael shut the door softly and crossed to the far corner of his chamber, where a section of the wall — barely visible to the untrained eye — slid open with a soft grind, the whisper of stone on stone barely audible.
He slipped inside, descending a narrow step into the hidden vault built right beneath his room. It wasn't large — barely wide enough to stretch out both arms — but the walls were thick, lined with silence runes, and lit by a single, pulsing glowstone embedded in the ceiling.
There, laid in careful order, were the cursed relics: the blackened mask, the silent blade, the scrolls and that ...egg.
Kael crouched, muttering, "I need a space ring… but I'm broke as hell."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair again, staring at the forbidden treasures.
"And I have so many things to hide."
"Let's go to the market today," Kael muttered, eyes flicking over the dusty scrolls laid before him.
He sat cross-legged in the vault, carefully unrolling each one with a practiced hand. Most were Rank 2 — expected.
One by one, he scanned them. A few offensive, a few defensive.
Fireball. Water jet. Earth spike. The usual elemental nonsense. Flashy, but predictable.
Then his hand paused on one.
A tightly inscribed scroll, the mana lingering around it like static.
Arcanum Vortex
A raw ball of untyped mana. Destruction dependent solely on the user's input.
No element, no form — just force.
Kael grinned. "Now that's more like it."
He moved on, finding another:
Mana Dome
A barrier spell. Defensive. Briefly described as a dome capable of deflecting even a Rank 3 attack for a short time.
"Perfect."
He leaned back, nodding to himself.
The others, while decent, paled in comparison — elemental blasts mostly, with minor variations.
Kael tucked the two favored scrolls into the inner pocket of his coat — one destructive, one defensive — then carefully placed the rest into a makeshift satchel, wrapping them in cloth to muffle any sound.
"Let's go," he muttered to himself, stepping toward the hidden wall panel.
Just as he slid it open and stepped back into his room, a sharp knock rattled the door.
His eyes widened. "Shit—"
He shoved the satchel behind a cabinet with practiced speed. Straightening his collar, he walked to the door and opened it.
Selene stood there, holding a tray with morning tea. Her expression was unimpressed, her foot already halfway tapping.
"What were you doing?" she asked, voice sharp. "I've been knocking for how long?"
Kael offered his most innocent smile. "Morning meditation?"
She narrowed her eyes. "With thuds?"
Kael shrugged, trying to look casual but failing spectacularly.
"Well, you know, sometimes the best meditation involves a bit of... vigorous arm-flailing."
Selene crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.
"Vigorous arm-flailing? Is that what you call punching the air like a madman?"
"Exactly," Kael said with a cheeky grin.
"It's a new technique — very effective against invisible enemies."
Selene sighed softly and stepped inside, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. Kael quickly moved to lock it, the weight of caution settling over the room.
She placed the tray gently on the edge of the bed. Kael gave her a tired smile.
"Thanks."
As was his daily ritual, Kael sipped his tea while pacing through the morning news. But today, the moment his eyes hit the first headline,
He spat the tea all over the floor.
Selene cursed loudly from across the room.
Kael waved a hand apologetically. "Sorry… guess the tea wanted to get out too."
He bent down, scooping up the soggy pages, scanning the words with mounting disbelief:
BOUNTY OF 100,000 GOLD COINS ON THE PERSON NAMED 'DEVIL'
'WTF?!!!'