THE SHIFT IN KAEDEN
Running through the building was a young man in his combat uniform: a black top, belt, black trousers with huge pockets at the knees and sides, with rubber at the end that made it tighten, and a white canvas jacket complementing his silver neck chain that swayed with every step he took.
"Damn... How did I wake up this late?!" he thought in shock, his boots clanging across the metallic floor. The sun had already risen high enough to cast aggressive shafts of light through the tall academy windows.
It really was strange how he'd overslept. He never did. His internal clock was a goddamn marvel. And no matter how much he thought about it, this definitely had something to do with the transformation his body was undergoing. It was subtle at first, but now the changes were piling up, undeniably real. It was changing him in ways he really hoped wouldn't come to destroy what he was entirely. His appearance had already taken a 180-degree flip. Now he looked like someone else entirely. Gone were his blue eyes. Gone was the slightly tanned skin from the long hours he used to spend training in the sun when he'd first joined the academy, foolishly thinking that grinding every day would fix everything.
And then there was the height. He'd shot up like a damn tree. Nothing about him felt familiar anymore. How was he supposed to explain that to anyone who knew him just three weeks ago?
Well, he owed no one in the academy an explanation. Let them whisper. Let them assume. Anyone taking notice of these changes was none of his concern. Well... except the professors, particularly those involved in the investigation regarding what had really happened to the lab. That mess. That one damn incident was still a dark cloud hovering over him.
That was a problem. A big one. Because if they started connecting his bodily changes to the incident at the lab, things could go south, fast. And right now, he had a gut feeling Professor Einer—the alchemy professor for second-year students—was already on that trail.
Hell, it was stupid to think he wasn't already involved. Knowing who Einer was and how obsessed he was with the 'unexplainable,' there was no way that man wasn't sniffing around. He would absolutely be trying to dissect what caused the vaporization of an entire lab.
"!" Suddenly Kaeden froze in place, eyes wide. A memory jolted into his head like a bolt of lightning.
"Wasn't I supposed to get some scans done at the lab yesterday?" he asked no one but himself, horror tightening his chest. He had completely disregarded Professor Harion's direct order. That was bad. Very bad. That man didn't tolerate disobedience, and Kaeden knew firsthand how much the professor hated being ignored.
'CRAP!' He clutched his head, grinding his teeth, his brain now spiraling into damage control mode. This was more than a missed appointment. The professor would take this as a blatant act of disrespect—and that meant retaliation. Not directly, of course. These people didn't work that way. No, Harion would fail him where it counted most—on paper.
That thought hit Kaeden hard. He relied so much on his written exam scores. Without those, he'd drop like a stone in the rankings. 'What if he fails me intentionally?' That bastard could tank him. Just like that.
'I have to do something… Do I apologize?' he muttered internally, walking now, slow, biting his nails as anxiety tangled in his stomach. 'Tsk, no. The bastards in this academy are too petty… and that bastard always had it out for me.'
He knew better than to believe in fairness. The professor in charge of ether resonance had never liked him. From day one, the tension was there, unspoken but sharp. He'd even reported to the principal once, claiming his exam scores were being unfairly docked.
Kaeden wasn't an idiot. Never was.
He could smell a setup from a mile away. The question was: why him? Why had he become a target? Last semester, his scores were completely off—almost as if he'd missed an entire exam. That screw-up alone had dropped him to 30th place in the rankings. That hurt. Combat exams were the big point-earners, but he never relied on them. He played it safe with written tests. So when his results didn't add up, he knew something was off. He ran the numbers. Tracked patterns. Eventually, he found it.
Ether resonance.
That was the missing piece. The exam he'd nailed—only it didn't reflect in his scores. Suspicious, right?
"HEY! SON OF A BITCH!" a shout shattered his thoughts.
Kaeden turned instinctively, eyes snapping to the source. A young man with blond hair and piercing green eyes stood at the end of the hallway, his face twisted with rage.
"Lungris," Kaeden muttered, his pulse spiking.
Lungris had once been a friend. Back in the early days, when everything was shiny and hopeful, when Kaeden still believed the academy was a place for growth and camaraderie, he'd had a small group. Four friends. Lungris was one of them.
But betrayal had a way of rotting things quickly. Lungris's actions had burned that friendship to ash. That's when Kaeden learned the harsh truth about this place.
The weak had no friends here. Trust no one.
"I was sent out of combat class... to find your shitty ass, and here you are thinking about your worthless existence?!" Lungris's voice cracked with disgust as he stormed forward, his body radiating hostility. Clearly, he found the task humiliating—and he was about to vent that frustration the only way he knew how.
Kaeden didn't flinch. Not out of bravery, just numbness. He was used to Lungris's violence by now. It had become part of the routine ever since their friendship fell apart.
In a blink, Lungris closed the gap between them. His fist flew, ether-enhanced, aiming straight for Kaeden's face.
'Crap!' Kaeden panicked, instinct screaming. He didn't like pain—who the hell did?
'Wait.'
He moved.
Sidestepped. Smooth. Effortless.
Whoosh!
'Huh?' His brow furrowed. Time… slowed?
Lungris missed. His punch cut through empty air.
"How?!" Lungris gasped, his face registering shock. He spun, throwing his elbow toward Kaeden's jaw. Another miss. Kaeden stepped back with a grace he didn't recognize.
'How am I doing this?' he wondered, adrenaline buzzing. But then—he remembered.
The experiment.
The rats. The results. The mutated DNA. They'd shown visible changes after being exposed to the sample. Was it possible the DNA was changing him at this level too?
He scanned Lungris's stance, spotting a weakness in the placement of his leg. Kaeden reacted instinctively.
He kicked.
Crunch.
"…Fuck!" he cursed as pain bloomed through his own leg.
It broke.
Well, it seemed… he was still weak.