Lígia sat at the edge of the training platform, elbows on her knees, hands holding her head with a tiredness that wasn't physical.
The silence around her was thick as velvet. The starry sky of the Academy turned slowly above her, indifferent to what had just happened.
She didn't cry. But she didn't smile either.
She just thought.
Lowered her eyes.
Breathed slowly.
Once.
Twice.
On the other side of the circle, Lady Asvalira had stepped back, like someone respecting a grief they didn't fully understand. She leaned against one of the floating columns, the wine glass back in her hand — but untouched.
Beside her, the system hovered in his ethereal cat form, curled on his floating cushion, eyes half-closed as if simply... listening to time.
Asvalira lowered her voice to a controlled whisper
"She's a genius. But she doesn't know it"
The system purred slowly, watching Lígia like someone observing a star that hasn't realized it shines
"Exactly why she's dangerous. Because she doesn't try to be better. She just is. And since she doesn't know what she has... she doesn't fake it. She doesn't manipulate"
Asvalira crossed her arms, watching the girl's curved silhouette
"A talent like that with arrogance would be a direct threat. But with that confused humility? She's a rare coin. Because her enemies will underestimate her until it's too late"
"And when they realize..." the system added, flicking his tail gently
"It'll already be too late"
The teacher slowly twirled the wine, its surface reflecting constellations in motion
"She passed Order One like it was a game. Deciphered emotions, lies, bloodlines with a precision I haven't seen in centuries. And still... she looks more worried about having worn the wrong outfit"
The system gave a short laugh
"She still thinks she's improvising. Hasn't realized she already became the standard"
Asvalira sighed dryly
"That makes her a weapon that hasn't realized its own edge. And that... is an advantage"
"For her?" asked the system, curious
"For us" Asvalira replied, her eyes seeing future battlefields
"Because the day she understands all that she is... the Empire won't be ready"
Their conversation ended as Lígia slowly raised her face.
Her eyes were calmer now, but within them was a new shadow. Not sadness. Something more mature. Firmer.
She looked at them, not having heard what they said, and asked honestly
"Is that what you wanted me to feel? This... whole mess?"
Lady Asvalira gave a slight smile. A smile without irony
"No. We didn't want it. But it was what you needed to find"
Lígia nodded slowly.
And as she stood, as if a part of her had left something behind in that circle, she murmured
"I found what was buried. Now I just need to decide if I leave it there... or carry it with me"
The system floated to her shoulder. Nuzzled her neck without a word.
Lígia looked up at the artificial sky and asked in a soft voice
"What comes after Order One?"
The teacher didn't reply immediately. She simply observed Lígia for a moment — as if deciding whether that question deserved a direct answer... or a living lesson.
Then, Asvalira walked slowly to the center of the platform, leaving the wine behind. Her eyes glowed a deep violet under the crimson light of the astral plane.
"The eyes come next"
Her voice now sounded like a blade
"Order Two is called The Predator's Eyes"
Lígia frowned
"Is that poetic or literal?"
"Both" Asvalira raised one hand, and rings of mana began to form around them, spinning in concentric patterns — like eyes that never blinked
"You'll learn to see the world not as it is..."
She gestured in the air. Instantly, the constellations above seemed to slow down
"...but as it's about to be"
The system hissed with a playful warning
"This is gonna sting a little..."
Lady Asvalira continued
"The perfect predator doesn't react. They anticipate. They don't watch the movement. They feel the intention before the action. You'll train your blood to catch micro-instincts. The decision before the muscle moves. The hesitation before a touch. The desire before the gesture"
She flicked her wrist. The platform reshaped into a circular field. At the center, a humanoid mana figure appeared — motionless, yet pulsing.
"When you activate the Predator's Eyes, time will seem to slow in moments of focus. Your body won't be faster. Your perception will be deeper. Sharper. Annoying even. Because you'll see everything others pretend not to notice"
Lígia stepped closer to the circle's edge
"So it's... like seeing the future?"
Asvalira smiled faintly
"No. It's like seeing the seeds of the future before they sprout. And deciding whether to step on them... or let them grow"
She snapped her fingers.
The figure in the center moved — slowly in appearance. But Lígia instinctively knew it wasn't slow. She was just seeing more clearly.
The figure's hands rose, preparing to strike.
"Watch. Before you act. Feel the decision before the muscle"
Lígia focused.
And then she felt it.
A faint pulse of intent. Like a breeze about to change. Like the silence before a blade falls.
She moved.
Not by reflex.
But because the world had already whispered what was coming.
She dodged before the figure could complete the strike.
Asvalira raised a brow
"Not bad"
"That was..." Lígia searched for the word, still breathless
"Intense"
"That was basic" the teacher said dryly
"But the sensation of seeing in layers is addictive. And costly. You'll see more than you'd like. The flaws. The impulses. Even the repressed desires. You'll know when someone lies with their eyes... and when they lie to themselves"
Lígia took a deep breath. The world still felt... sharper
"So I'll end up paranoid?"
"No"
Asvalira stepped closer, her presence heavy, like a thinking shadow
"You'll understand the world. And that hurts more than any physical wound"
Training figures multiplied around the platform. Now five. All ready to move in any direction.
"Ready to see too much?"
Lígia clenched her fists
"No. But I'll do it anyway"
Asvalira gave a proud little smile
"Excellent answer"
Lígia took her place at the center, her chest rising and falling with the weight of anticipation.
Lady Asvalira hovered above the field, her gaze focused like a predator's.
"Remember" she said
"It's not about seeing with the eyes. It's about feeling with the blood"
"Understood" murmured Lígia, her eyes glowing deep crimson
The figures began to move.
First slow.
Then faster.
But Lígia... saw it all.
The subtle lift of a foot. The intention in a shoulder's rotation. The microtremor in a wrist before a strike. Like symphonies of violence written in arcane instinct.
"First left. Vertical strike"
She turned, ducked, dodged with fluid grace.
"Second behind. Pulse hesitates half a second before impact"
She spun, sliding beneath the ether blade.
"Third... trying to break my step. Won't work"
She countered with a beam of compressed energy.
The figure vanished.
Lady Asvalira narrowed her eyes
"She's reading every heartbeat. Every intention. It's like she breathes the second before the second"
The system, still barred from intervening, watched with ears flat and tail tense
"She's going too deep. Too fast"
Lígia's eyes blazed with dangerous intensity. She was on the edge of perception — the world slowing around her, her mind running fast. Hungry. Focused.
"Fourth figure… missed the timing. Read it. Fifth... hesitating. Weak"
Two more dodges.
Another figure evaporated.
But then—
A flicker. A miscalculated hesitation. A seventh intention that didn't exist — or was too well hidden.
The figure she thought was hesitating… didn't.
It didn't strike where she predicted.
It changed in the last second.
And Lígia, who saw everything — saw too late.
"No—"
CRACK
The impact hit like a dry thunderclap.
The mana projection struck her stomach with brutal force, sending Lígia flying.
She flew five meters back, crashing through the magical circle with her body taut, landing hard on the ground like a discarded doll.
"AAAHH"
A scream torn from her lungs
Her hands flew to her face
"MY EYES—"
Blood.
Streaming from the corners of her eyes like tears of living ruby.
Lady Asvalira descended in a graceful leap. With a gesture, she dissolved the training field and sealed the floating mana threads.
"Don't move"
Lígia gasped, still holding her eyes. Her body shook. Blood stained her gloves and ran down her temples.
The system appeared, glitching in concern
"She pushed too hard. Perception exceeded neural channel limits. She's bleeding through arcane-sensory links—"
"I know" Asvalira's voice was firm
She knelt beside Lígia, pulling a glowing rune from the air and pressing it between her brows.
"You tried to see everything, Lígia"
"I... I saw almost everything" her voice trembled
"But the last one... it changed. Like... like it knew I was watching"
"Because you're starting to see so much... you're changing what's being seen"
Asvalira wiped the blood from her eyes with an enchanted cloth. The bleeding slowed, sealed by threads of crystal-fine light.
Lígia was pale. Weak. But conscious.
She whispered through clenched teeth
"I... failed"
Asvalira looked at her seriously
"You saw too much. That's the mistake of every new predator — thinking total vision is invulnerability"
The system purred softly with concerned affection
"Today's lesson: even the sharpest eyes... have eyelids"
Lígia didn't reply.
But in her aching eyes… there was still light.
Still hunger.
Still more to seek.