The morning sun rose over the distant treetops, painting the sky with soft gold.
Jin was already awake.
Seated at his desk, he scribbled quietly into a leather-bound notepad—something he had purchased with his merit points. A rare indulgence.
Laid bare within it were his thoughts, raw and unfiltered.
Poetry.
His coping mechanism.
---
What are my dreams?
Is it peace? Or just rest for my tired bones?
Do I long for quiet,
Or simply for a home?
Many years on the battlefield taught me—
The only peace one gets…
Is after the grave.
He paused, pen hovering midair.
---
And what is the meaning to life?
Is it simply chasing strength?
And not being dead?
Or seeking immortality?
Or to buy a home? Maybe get a wife?
Is it living for some higher purpose?
Or just enjoying the silence of the moon, or the glow of the fireflies?
The simple things… keeping your inner child alive?
…Too bad. Mine already died.
---
He closed the book gently.
There was no point overthinking it.
He would live. Nothing more, nothing less. Overcomplicating this second chance would only poison it.
He slid his wooden sword beneath his sash.
Time for another day.
---
As expected, he was late.
Again.
The classroom was already full when the door creaked open and Rael Drayce walked in, calm as ever.
The teacher—Miss Elaera Vyne—did not even look up. She had given up on scolding him weeks ago.
She simply sighed and continued writing on the blackboard.
Rael scanned the room and walked to his usual seat—
But paused.
Because someone was already there.
Two people, in fact.
Jin, the son of House Cassius. Quiet, brooding, and still somehow managing to glare at the blackboard as though it personally offended him.
And beside him sat Jane, bright-eyed and sunny as ever. Her chestnut hair faded into snowy white at the tips, and her warm, hazel eyes twinkled.
Rael stared at them.
"What are you two doing?" he asked flatly.
Jin glanced up. "What? Can't we sit in the empty seats anymore?"
"Yeah, what he said!" Jane chirped, pointing at Jin.
"I… did not say that," Jin muttered.
Rael blinked once. Then slowly gestured around the room.
"…Do you notice the number of open seats?"
A beat of silence.
"Oh…" Jane said.
"…Damn," Jin muttered.
Before anyone could react, Rael walked calmly to the window and slid it open.
The wind rushed in. Birds chirped outside.
Jane looked up, concerned. "Hey Rael, what are you— Hey don't—!"
"WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP!" Miss Vyne snapped, slamming her pointer onto the table.
The class froze.
Only to find Jin staring out the open window.
He turned to the teacher slowly.
"Um… Miss Vyne," he said, monotone. "Rael just jumped out the window."
---
Murmurs erupted like wildfire.
"He WHAT?!"
"Crazy bastard! That's the fourth floor!"
"I blinked and missed it!"
"Classic Battle Saint move…"
Miss Vyne sighed and pinched her brow. "Ignore it. Continue the lesson."
---
Meanwhile, Rael landed safely in the courtyard, unbothered. His steps were feather-light, his expression blank.
He walked quietly into the library.
A place of solitude. A sanctuary.
A place where, for a time, the world didn't expect anything from him.
He browsed silently, passing through the History aisles… Philosophy… Skill Encyclopedias… until his fingers stopped on a strange book.
Not a scroll.
Not a martial text.
A proper book. Leather-bound. Neat ink. Refined paper.
Its title: Psalms and Proverbs.
The back bore a curious symbol—a sphere marked with strange blotches.
He had never seen this book before.
He flipped to a random page.
---
Proverbs 14
All hard work brings profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty.
The wealth of the wise is their crown,
But the folly of fools yields folly.
---
Then:
Psalms 131
My heart is not proud, Lord,
My eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
Or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
Like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forevermore.
---
Rael paused.
Who was this Lord?
What was Israel?
And who had written this?
He didn't know.
But he understood the intent.
He understood the peace behind the words.
For the first time, he felt it.
A stillness that didn't demand silence by force…
But invited it.
He continued reading, hour after hour.
Scriptures. Poems. Songs of war. Odes to faith.
Stories of kings and titans.
Of death, and something greater beyond it.
A being even stronger than dragons…
How wonderful it would be…
To hand over all burdens to something so vast.
What a shame…
---
He left the library at dusk, having spent more merits than intended just to keep the book. It was now his.
Back in his room, he sat cross-legged on the floor.
Today, he did not train.
Did not chase strength.
He simply meditated.
A single thought guided him now:
To advance.
To rise from Flicker to Ember.
To awaken his secondary skill.
---
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, he would begin.
---
But today wasn't over just yet.
---
In the classroom—earlier, after Rael's dramatic exit—the tension was broken by a loud crash at the door.
A boy burst in, panting, glasses askew, cloak half-tangled around his legs.
"I'm not late! I swear!" he shouted, then tripped over his own boots and face-planted onto the stone floor.
Silence.
Then:
"…You're late," Miss Vyne said without looking.
"…Dammit."
The boy got up, wiped his nose, and smiled brightly at the class.
Short. Round. Brown hair a mess of cowlicks.
A broad grin that seemed to ignore shame entirely.
"I'm Tamir of the Two-Tooth Sect!" he announced proudly. "I failed the entry test five times, but they let me in anyway because I paid!"
Jin blinked.
Jane leaned forward. "Two-Tooth Sect?"
"They specialize in surprise biting techniques," Tamir whispered dramatically. "Secret art."
"…Please sit down," Miss Vyne begged.
Tamir flopped into the seat beside Jin and Jane with a dramatic sigh.
"Man, you guys look so cool and dangerous. I can already tell—this is the squad!"
---
Later that night, Rael sat by candlelight.
The book of Psalms rested in his lap.
He flipped once more.
One last passage before sleep.
---
Psalm 29
The Lord gives strength to his people;
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
---
He read it again. Then closed the book.
No grand epiphany. No divine revelation.
Just… peace.
Real peace.
A rare, quiet moment in a world that only respected war.
He would remember it.
Because soon…
Peace would become much harder to find.