"Sorry to trouble you... but could you help me, please?"**
Soft rays of pale gray sunlight filtered through the cloudy sky above, casting a gentle shimmer over **Kalm** and the blind girl standing before him.
The light wrapped around them like a silent blessing—fleeting, soft, and strangely intimate.
Kalm's heartbeat surged in his chest like distant drums announcing a coming shift.
A strange sensation swept over him…
It wasn't love.
Nor attraction.
Nor fear, nor hatred.
It wasn't even unease.
It was something deeper. Stranger.
Something about this girl resonated with a place inside him he didn't know existed.
He stared at her for a breath, his dark eyes unmoving.
Then, quietly, he took a short breath—
Steadying himself.
Drawing a slow inhale that filled his lungs.
A small, calm smile found its way to his lips as he stepped closer.
**"Of course.
How can I help you?"**
Kalm was kind by nature. Pure of heart, but not foolish.
His life in the harsh outskirts had taught him how easily kindness could be twisted into vulnerability.
Yet despite that, something in his spirit—deep and instinctive—urged him to help this blind, beautiful girl.
Her delicate fingers clutched her cane gently.
Then, slowly, she extended her other hand toward him.
**"Forgive me for asking this out of nowhere...
But may I borrow your shoulder for a while?
The academy is enormous—like a small city—and without guidance, I may never reach the hall in time."**
Her voice was soft, composed.
Though her blue, unseeing eyes stared into nothingness, they seemed to patiently wait for his reply.
Kalm glanced at her hand—then understanding flickered behind his gaze.
Ironically, he had never been inside the academy himself.
He didn't know the way either. There was a real chance he could get lost, too.
But leaving a blind girl to wander alone…
That would be too cruel. Even for someone like him.
He couldn't turn her down.
Raising his right hand, he gently took hers.
Her skin was soft, well cared for—clearly someone who looked after herself with quiet grace.
He firmly pushed aside any foolish thoughts that threatened to rise in his mind.
Then, with careful movement, he guided her hand toward his shoulder.
She was slightly taller than him.
It wasn't awkward. It wasn't strange.
Not for her.
But for Kalm—
It reminded him, once again, that he stood shorter than most his age. It stung, just a little.
The girl smiled softly.
Her gentle face lit up with a delicate, glowing expression.
**"Thank you.
By the way… I'm *Shuchan*.
Would you mind telling me your name?"**
They began walking slowly toward the grand gates of the academy.
Kalm answered with a small smile of his own.
**"Ah… It's Kalm."**
A faint shimmer passed behind Shuchan's blind eyes.
Her lips curved once more, adorning her face with a tender smile.
But she said nothing else.
As if not to disturb the moment.
Or perhaps… she too was silently reflecting.
Just like he was.
This was the first time he had ever been this close to a girl like her—
Well, unless you counted *kalystra*.
Either way, his foolish heart refused to calm down.
It beat like a war drum—announcing something big, something irreversible, had begun to stir.
He fought against the rising tide of thoughts—like waves battering the shore of his mind—
And overcame them.
His usual calm returned.
His dark eyes regained their stillness.
But the weight in his chest…
That wasn't normal.
Somewhere deep inside, he felt as though the world had shifted.
Or perhaps, he had done something that would make it shift.
And yet…
All he could do was pray—
—**pray that this moment had nothing to do with the cursed mark of the \[Child of fate]**,
That it wouldn't drag him into another storm tied to the Lost Ones, the Rulers, or the fate of the world itself.
**'Yeah… That would be terrifying.'**
He redirected his thoughts.
After all, it wasn't impossible.
Attraction at first sight—it happened.
People experienced that every day.
Everyone…
**Except maybe him.**
But was it truly just attraction?
**'No… definitely not.
If only it were that simple.'**
He thought to himself.
Together, the two of them approached the academy's towering gate—
A massive structure of blackened steel, topped with a domed arch that shielded it from the sky above.
The outer wall loomed, grim and tall.
Kalm lifted his gaze in awe.
His eyes shone faintly with wonder at the sight.
Then, he noticed a pair of monitoring cameras floating near the gate.
He raised a hand to signal one—
But before he could say anything, **Shuchan's hand** gently pressed on his shoulder.
**"Ah, no need for that.
The gate will open once someone else arrives—just a few more minutes."**
Kalm looked back at her over his shoulder, surprised.
Then he lowered his hand.
He didn't argue.
Didn't resist.
**"Alright then…
Let's wait a little."**
But even as they stood in silence, **Kalm's mind had already begun to wonder—**
About her.
About the power **Shuchan** had gained from her Awakening Trial.
Was that how she knew what would happen?
Was it instinct?
A prophetic ability to glimpse fragments of the future?
Whatever it was, it cloaked the blind girl in a veil of mystery—
A quiet, unshakable enigma that made her presence feel deeper than what met the eye.
A soft, cold breeze swept past them, rustling their hair and stirring their clothes,
as gray clouds rolled in above and veiled the sky in a heavy, looming shadow.
The world darkened.
No sound filled the air save the wind's whispering cry—
As if even nature held its breath, preparing for someone to arrive.
Then—
Soft, nearly soundless footsteps echoed on the stone.
A boy was walking toward them.
A teenager, with long, snowy-white hair that draped down his back,
wearing the same gray uniform as Kalm.
His skin was pale, like ice kissed by moonlight.
And his face—strikingly handsome.
But his eyes…
Silver.
Still.
Like a boat resting on a silent sea.
They carried no anger. No hatred.
No heavy emotion at all.
Yet something in those eyes made **Kalm** feel uneasy.
It wasn't that they were cold.
It was that they didn't feel *human*—or *inhuman*.
They simply felt… void.
Like eyes that belonged to someone who walked a path entirely alone—
unbothered by the world, unshaken by the lives around him.
Aloof.
Far away.
Cold—like the peaks of ancient mountains.
And yet, his expression was one of kindness.
Gentleness.
Warmth.
He was a paradox wrapped in flesh, walking on two feet.
The white-haired teen stopped a few steps away from **Kalm** and **Shuchan**,
no more than five meters between them.
He didn't speak.
He only smiled softly—
Then nodded politely in greeting.
But **Kalm** felt something stir again.
That same strange feeling.
Just like what he felt when he met **Shuchan**.
Fainter, yes—
But unmistakably the same.
**'Weird. This world… it really is full of odd people.'**
No sooner had he thought that than the massive iron gate behind them let out a deep groan—
its sound echoing across the silence.
Slowly, the gate began to open.
The white-haired boy walked forward in silence,
his silver eyes reflecting the world's muted gray.
And behind him—
**Kalm** and **Shuchan** followed.
**'I wonder…
What's waiting beyond that gate?
This… academy of the Awakened?'**
A faint glimmer pulsed behind Kalm's dark eyes.
And deep in his chest, a subtle ember of longing flickered to life.
A little hope.
A little fear.
But more than anything—
It was *curiosity*.
*Eagerness*.
Like a seed newly planted,
nestled quietly in the soil of his heart.
And what awaited him now—
would determine whether that seed would one day bloom into a beautiful flower…
or wither,
and become nothing more than soil for another's story.