CHAPTER 51 – THE EYE BEHIND THE FRAGILE PEACE
Seryn still felt the vibration left by the third node throbbing in his chest as he exited the corridor. The invisible fissure ran subtly inside like an aching line, creating an indefinite tension with every breath. Even the stone walls of the Academy seemed quieter than normal; the low whispers of students, the distant sounds of mana practice, the echoes of footsteps in the halls… all seemed duller, more unnerving today. This wasn't solely due to the intensity of the exams. Seryn knew the truth well: the Temple was still watching him, and that surveillance had never fully ceased.
Valeria's last glance, the cold determination on her face as she closed the notebook… it was etched into Seryn's mind. He was no longer just a student or a test subject; the gray flow inside him, the potential he carried, and especially that invisible fissure, made him a focal point of interest for all the high-level powers in the Academy. This interest was never innocent. Even being the grandson of Duke Daskal did not completely neutralize this attention—it only made it more complex.
Lyra followed a few steps behind. She looked a little tired, but her usual gentle smile was present. Kai had his arms linked behind his head, staring straight up at the ceiling; Rien walked with anxious but controlled steps. "It's like a shadow has fallen over us," Rien murmured. Kai immediately replied: "Not a shadow. It's… the eye."
Seryn heard their voices but didn't react. He knew that if he spoke, he might create an involuntary tremor in the gray flow, possibly stressing the fissure. After the third node, his body was more sensitive than ever, especially his soul layers. Even his inner thoughts created an echo, and pushing his mind too hard resulted in a faint stinging warning from the line in his chest.
"Should we rest for a bit?" Lyra asked. Her voice was as soft as always, but it was clear that something hadn't fully settled within her.
Seryn nodded slightly. "Let's rest… and I also have things I need to think about."
The air was cold when they stepped outside. The wind swirled in the Academy's central courtyard, lightly sweeping the students' hair. For Seryn, this was not just a normal wind. The gray flow inside him perceived the faint touches of mana spreading into the outer world along with the wind much more clearly. It was as if his senses had expanded. This expansion was dangerous, because the fissure constantly vibrated when he tried to control it.
Kai immediately walked beside him. "Even outside, you're drawing too much attention. Your mana wave… it's not normal," he said, his brow slightly furrowed.
"It's normal for it not to be normal," Lyra whispered. "There is something inside… but that thing is compatible with you. That's why it hasn't exploded."
"Not yet," Seryn thought to himself, but didn't voice it.
The Academy courtyard was crowded at that hour. Students emerging from exams, those practicing, others holding study sessions for their groups… everyone was busy. But whenever Seryn passed by, a few gazes inevitably shifted to him, and a few whispers invariably started. Some from curiosity, some from envy, and some from fear. Very few knew what the gray flow was, but the expression on Valeria's face alone told onlookers that "something extraordinary is present."
Lyra found a bench and sat down. The mana around her still pulsed, but more faintly. Kai scanned the surroundings while looking at Seryn impatiently. "That fissure… aren't you going to tell us?" he asked with unexpected directness.
"If I explain it now, it will only become more complicated," Seryn replied. "I need to fully understand it first."
Rien crossed his arms. "At least you can control it… that's good."
"For now," Seryn thought internally.
They sat for a while, resting amidst the normal noise of the courtyard. But then, a mana wave slowly approached. As Seryn closed his eyes slightly, he felt that familiar, faintly golden aura drawing near. Lucien.
Lucien's aura structure was quite distinct. Powerful, clean, intense. Especially with Seryn's senses so sharpened, Lucien's presence felt like a beam of light. It was no surprise that he was one of the strongest students in the Academy.
Lucien stopped a few steps away. He briefly observed them, then focused on Seryn. "To survive the third node… impressive."
Kai's eyebrows slightly rose. Lyra smiled. Rien shrugged. But Seryn merely lowered his head. Because speaking shook the line of the gray flow.
Lucien noticed this. "Is there a problem?"
"I'm trying to control it," Seryn said. "Even talking affects it."
"It seems these exams are triggering things for you that are different from what we assumed," Lucien said. There was respect mixed with curiosity in his tone. But academic rivalry was also evident. Lucien wouldn't easily concede superiority to anyone. Seryn knew there was an invisible struggle between them.
"You need to rest for a while," Lucien advised. "But the fourth node is tomorrow. And that node… will be heavier than the others."
Seryn closed his eyes. He had heard what the fourth node entailed. This node tested not only physical endurance but also mental integrity. With an invisible fissure inside him, this node was much riskier.
"I'm ready," Seryn stated in just two words.
Lucien smiled faintly. "I'm glad to hear that. Because in the fourth node, you will be alone. No group cohesion. No help."
Seryn's gaze hardened slightly. This was going to cause trouble. With the fissure currently in a state that could rupture with a single lapse in focus, the isolation test of the fourth node would push him beyond his limits.
As Lucien walked away, Kai stepped closer. "He said that deliberately. Not to motivate you. But to gauge your level."
"Lucien is like that," Lyra said. "He respects you but wants to know your boundaries."
Seryn stood up. The fissure inside gave a slight burning sensation. "I need to prepare."
When they returned to the room, the gray flow was even more noticeable. Seryn sat on his bed and closed his eyes. He followed the rhythm of the flow inside him. The fissure was like a thin line in the center of his chest, giving the sensation that light was leaking out of it. But this light was cold, not warm. Something carrying a deeper meaning. Although the source of the gray flow came from his past life, this fissure had been formed entirely during the trials of this life.
"This thing…" he muttered to himself, "is elevating me as much as it threatens me."
As he continued to think, the fissure trembled faintly. Seryn immediately regulated his rhythm. Mental focus, breath control, stabilizing the mana flow… He had known these techniques since he was young. As a member of the Daskal family, such disciplines had been taught to him. But now, none of these disciplines were sufficient. Because the fissure was not at the mana level; it was at the soul level.
He remained in meditation for a while. Lyra had already fallen asleep. Kai was quietly reading a book, and Rien sat by the window, watching the lights outside. But all of them had noticed the danger within Seryn.
Late in the night, a slight flicker of light suddenly came from outside. Not mana… something different. Seryn's eyes opened slightly, and he immediately turned to the door. He took one step. This tremor was not coming from outside the Academy, but from its deeper layers. And the aura structure was familiar.
One of the Temple's surveillance spells had activated.
Rien immediately straightened up. "Is something wrong?"
"They're watching us," Seryn whispered.
Following his words, the gray flow subtly rippled. The fissure briefly became prominent. Not a mana wave… but a soul wave.
Kai quickly stood up. "Now? At this hour?"
Lyra sprang up from her sleep. "What happened?"
Seryn slowly walked to the door and touched it. He didn't open the door. He simply placed his fingertips on the cold metal. At that moment, the fissure in his chest responded with a momentary, icy sting.
"The Temple… is measuring the gray flow's reaction."
Lyra's eyes widened. "Why now?"
"Why not?" Kai replied. "For them, Seryn isn't just a student."
Seryn took a breath and stepped away from the door. "This is only the beginning."
In the deeper hours of the night, the others returned to their own rooms. As Seryn prepared to sleep, he suddenly felt a slight warmth within the gray flow. This warmth was not dangerous, but different. Like a message. Like a warning. As if the gray flow was preparing for something bigger, despite the fissure inside.
But the night wasn't over.
A shadow appeared in front of the door. Silent, faint, indistinct… but powerful. Too powerful to match a student's mana level.
Seryn approached the door.
A voice came.
"Seryn."
This voice… the voice of the Daskal family… the voice of one of the three figures at the apex of the Empire…
The voice of Duke Daskal.
Seryn didn't open the door. He couldn't. Because the gray flow inside suddenly churned dramatically.
That single word, heard in a whisper, caused the fissure inside him to react with an icy jolt.
Seryn was stepping not toward therapy, not toward an exam… but toward a threshold that would determine his destiny.
And before the fourth node had even begun, an unexpected visitor had emerged in the night.
His grandfather.
And no exam, no node, no fissure would be lighter than this encounter.
Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside—cold, measured, a rhythm unlike any student's. For a moment, even the air's resonance changed. Mana intensity abruptly increased; it was unnatural, far beyond even the Academy standard.
There was a pause at the door.
And at that moment, the voice came.
A deep, resonant voice carrying an unhidden authority…
"Seryn."
Seryn's throat involuntarily constricted. Duke Aurellius Daskal… the Head of House Daskal. One of the three SSS-level figures in the Empire. And Seryn's grandfather.
The door didn't burst open. First, the stone floor trembled as the mana lock dissolved. Then the door slowly, without any mechanical force, opened by itself.
Grandfather Aurellius stood in the doorway, a tall figure beneath his heavy black cloak. His hair was dark gray, turning silver; his face was hardened by the marks of years and wars. His gaze… those eyes… were deep, sharp, and merciless like a cold night sky.
Seryn involuntarily straightened.
"Grandfather…"
Aurellius Daskal stepped into the room; with every step, the mana current slightly rippled. Even the gray flow trembled in Seryn's chest. Seryn tried to steady his breath to avoid being affected.
The Duke's gaze fixed on a spot in Seryn's chest—as if he could see the invisible fissure.
"The tremor in your heart," he said with cold calmness. "Did you hope to hide it?"
Seryn flinched internally. "I am… controlling it."
Aurellius's eyebrows subtly rose.
"Control."
His voice didn't grow louder, but the intensity it carried increased.
"There is a big difference between controlling and suppressing. And what you suppress is more stubborn than you are."
Seryn's heart raced. The gray fissure trembled again.
The Duke walked to the exact center of the room, raising his hand slightly into the air. At that moment, all mana currents in the room fell silent—as if the world had held its breath.
"Come," he said to Seryn. "Show me the fissure in your chest."
"It cannot be seen," Seryn whispered.
"It is visible to me."
Seryn swallowed. He slowly approached him. The Duke reached out and placed his palm on Seryn's chest.
A searing coldness spread.
Seryn's breath hitched. The gray flow trembled in panic; the fissure shook like a chasm trying to widen.
But at that very moment, the mana radiating from the grandfather's palm entered the gray flow and stabilized it. Not violently—but with a terrifyingly gentle and silent power. Seryn felt how the gray flow instantly aligned under his touch.
"This thing," Aurellius said, without removing his touch, "is not what the Temple wants."
Seryn's eyes widened. "What?"
The Duke continued:
"The essence of the gray flow… is something ancient. Something that existed before this empire was founded, even before the first kingdoms. The Temple does not fully understand it. That is why they are watching you. You are a danger to them—a source of power they cannot control."
Seryn broke out in a cold sweat.
"Then… do you understand?"
Aurellius's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It's not that easy. But I know far more than the Temple."
When his hand was withdrawn, the gray flow in Seryn's chest was completely silent for a moment. No tremor, no fissure… nothing.
Then, the instant the grandfather's touch ceased, the fissure returned like a faint ache.
Seryn took a ragged breath.
"What did you do?"
"I touched it."
The meaning behind this answer was crystal clear:
For someone at the SSS level, silencing the fissure that Seryn was currently flirting with death over was merely a matter of touching it.
But there was no trace of concern on the grandfather's face.
"Seryn," Aurellius said, "power is not your ability. Power is not your fate. You are a spark born in the middle of a war. And no one knows where that spark will jump."
Seryn clenched his fists. "Why did you come to see me now?"
The Duke walked to the stone wall at the other end of the room and trailed his fingers across the surface. The stone vibrated like metal under his touch.
"Because," he said, "the trace of the fissure you tried to hide reached me."
Seryn was startled.
"How?"
"Even the Temple wouldn't understand this."
He turned his eyes back to Seryn.
"Your gray flow is not just an internal energy. It carries a resonance that can be felt even from afar. That is why it summoned me."
"The gray flow summoned you?"
The Duke nodded.
"Yes. Perhaps unwillingly. Perhaps instinctively."
Seryn's blood ran cold.
The gray flow had no will of its own… or so Seryn had thought.
"Inconsequential," Aurellius dismissed. "What matters is this: the Temple is watching you, the Academy is watching you, our enemies are watching you… and now I, too, must watch you."
Seryn took a deep breath.
"Did you come to protect me?"
A faint smile touched Aurellius's face—it was so brief that Seryn wasn't sure if he had truly seen it.
"No one can protect you," he said.
"Not even I."
Seryn's shoulders involuntarily trembled.
"There is no protection. Only guidance. And sometimes… intimidation."
Seryn didn't understand. "Intimidation of whom?"
The Duke turned his back, speaking as he walked toward the door:
"My entrance here is a message to the Temple and the Academy. They need to know they cannot touch you."
A heavy silence fell.
Seryn swallowed.
"What about me?"
"You?"
The Duke paused at the door.
"You deserve to know this too: not everyone watching you wants to seize you. Some… want to destroy you."
Seryn's pulse began to race. "Who?"
The Duke turned and looked into his eyes.
"You will learn who they are in time."
Seryn's entire body stiffened.
"I am still just a student. Why—"
"Because," the Duke said quietly,
"the gray flow inside you is what they hate the most. They want to dominate the ancient structure of this world. And you… are a potential to disrupt that structure."
Seryn struggled to breathe.
"Am I also pursuing those world fragments?"
The Duke did not answer.
This, in itself, suggested the answer was much larger.
Aurellius opened the door.
Before stepping out, he spoke one last time:
"Seryn. Listen to me well."
Seryn raised his head.
"Trust neither the Temple's intentions nor the smiles you see in the Empire. No one is innocent. But they fear you. And fear changes everything."
The Duke turned back.
"Your exams will continue tomorrow. But your real trials begin now."
And finally, before he left, these words escaped his mouth: Your re-acceptance into the family will be finalized. He then vanished into the corridor without a sound.
The door closed by itself.
Seryn could not move for a long time.
The gray flow was trembling in his chest again, but now it carried a broader meaning.
Fate, world fragments, the Demon King, SSS figures…
His grandfather's arrival had overturned all balance.
Afte
r a while, he took a deep breath.
"I will have to fight for myself," he whispered.
"Despite everyone."
The gray flow faintly glowed.
As if to affirm his words.