After the Fight Ended – In the Academy's Back Corridor
As Nava walked away from the arena alone, a voice came up behind him:
???:
Wait... That's you, Nava, right?
Nava paused without turning around, then said calmly:
Nava:
Yes, what do you want?
A student with hair and curious eyes approached him. SHe was a first-year, holding an old instructional booklet.
Student:
My name is Celetia ... I've been watching you from the fight. The technique you used... wasn't from the traditional magic system, was it?
Nava was silent for a moment, then turned around, his eyes holding a calm gleam.
Nava:
You could take it as such. It's not part of what you're learning here, but I didn't invent it.
Celetia (more curious):
So... where did it come from? I mean... why would a student like us have this power? You don't look like us at all.
Nava smiled faintly—for the first time since entering the academy—a faint, barely noticeable smile, but he didn't deny Kyle's words.
Nava:
"I don't belong anywhere easily, but sometimes... I try to be a part of things, just to understand them."
Celetia hesitated, but she took a step forward and said:
Celetia:
"Can you... teach me?" Or at least explain to me what Shiden is?"
Nava looked at her, then up at the sky for a moment, as if recalling something from a distant past.
Nava: Shiden... isn't just lightning magic, it's an awareness of the frequency of existence itself. You don't release energy, you listen to it, reshaping it like you would rearrange an unfinished musical note.
Celetia (astonished):
...That's... amazing.
Nava (quietly):
And it gets boring, too, when you know all the details.
Celetia laughed lightly, as Nava continued walking, this time slowly.
Celetia:
Can I accompany you?
Nava:
I don't mind.
And so, for the first time, Nava wasn't walking alone. On the path leading to the Academy's dormitory—after sunset.
The two of them walked quietly, the sound of their footsteps the only thing breaking the silence.
Celetia (hesitantly):
You know... I didn't expect you to agree to come with me. Most of the students think you're Arrogant or... scary.
Nava (quietly):
Maybe because they judge people by what they see, not by what they understand.
Celetia:
And do you care what they think?
Nava (after a short silence):
In reality? No, I didn't.
Celetia stopped abruptly when she felt something in the air. He pressed his chest, as if his magical energy suddenly rippled.
Celetia (worried):
Something's wrong... Can you feel it?
Nava (looking up):
...A glitch in the energy fabric. Human-made, but clumsy.
Suddenly, a rift opened in space ahead of them, and a hybrid creature—half spectral, half physical monster—emerged from it, roaring with a mixture of anger and collapse.
Celetia:
What the hell was that?!
Nava (quietly, advancing):
A failed experiment, a recurring one.
He raised his hand calmly and whispered:
Nava: Shiden.
A violet spark shot from his hand, But it wasn't just energy. It was a thread of light piercing the air, striking the monster at the center of its being, creating a silent explosion that tore apart the soul before the body.
The monster disappeared completely, without a trace.
Celetia (stunned):
... Did you kill it... without touching it?
Nava: Shiden isn't just combat magic. It's understanding. If you know the center of an entity, you can touch the origin... without having to cut through the path.
Celetia:
And... is this just the beginning? I mean, do you have stronger abilities?
Nava paused, looked at her for a moment, then said in a quieter voice than before:
Nava: Tenmei Gyakuten... a technique I don't use often. It reverses the laws of fate, reshaping an outcome that has already been written.
Celetia (nervous):
"You... reverse fate?!"
Nava:
Yes. [His answer was simple and calm.]
Celetia (whispering):
Can... can it bring back my mother's death?
Nava looked at her in a long silence. Then he said: "This is from me to you. Don't think like that, because you can't bring back someone who has returned to the collective unconscious. This is the stage of nirvana, and I don't have any powers to that degree. Also, if creature dead, they won't want to come back because his life cycle has ended so that he can be freed from all restrictions. But I think your mother was a good woman because you seem to truly love her."