Hitake woke to the smell of antiseptic.
For a few moments, he didn't move.
His eyes remained fixed on the white ceiling above him. The infirmary was quiet except for the faint beeping of medical equipment and the occasional footsteps of nurses moving between beds.
The ceiling looks surprisingly comfortable.
That was his first thought.
His second was that his face hurt.
His third was that he had somehow lost a fight to a Level Seven student whose greatest achievement was probably remembering to wear matching socks.
Hitake slowly pushed himself upright.
Pain immediately shot through his cheek.
“Ah…”
A nurse passing by glanced at him.
“You're awake?”
“Unfortunately.”
She stopped and looked at his bruised face.
“Good. At least your humor survived.”
“My dignity didn't.”
“That wasn't injured.”
Hitake placed a hand over his chest.
“Are you sure? I feel like something important is missing.”
The nurse smiled.
“Very sure.”
She continued walking.
Hitake watched her disappear.
“Everyone in this academy is cruel.”
The infirmary door opened.
Zena walked inside.
She carried two bottles of juice.
The moment her eyes landed on Hitake, her expression changed.
She didn't smile.
She didn't say anything.
She simply stared at the bruises covering his face.
Then she walked toward him.
“Drink.”
She placed a bottle beside his bed.
Hitake looked at it suspiciously.
“What is it?”
“Juice.”
“Poison?”
Zena stared at him.
“If I wanted you dead, I'd have left you with Thorne.”
Hitake considered that.
“Fair.”
She sat beside his bed.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Zena's eyes remained fixed on his bruised cheek.
Hitake eventually noticed.
“Why are you staring?”
“You're injured.”
“I noticed.”
“I don't like it.”
Something about the way she said it made Hitake pause.
There was no embarrassment in her voice.
No hesitation.
It sounded almost like a statement of ownership.
Hitake decided not to question it.
Instead, he reached for the juice.
Zena watched him take a sip.
Only then did her shoulders relax.
“Why don't you fight harder?”
Hitake blinked.
“I did.”
“No.”
She leaned slightly closer.
“You gave up.”
Hitake stared at the ceiling.
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
He remained silent.
The question was simple.
The answer wasn't.
“Because I've been fighting for years.”
Zena's expression softened.
“I know.”
“Everyone else gets stronger.”
His fingers tightened around the bottle.
“I train. I study. I fight. I do everything I'm supposed to do.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Nothing changes.”
Zena didn't interrupt.
“I don't even know why I'm so weak.”
The words came out quieter than he intended.
Zena studied him.
“Your father?”
Hitake froze.
The silence that followed answered the question for her.
Zena's eyes softened.
“I'm sorry.”
Hitake shook his head.
“It's fine.”
But it wasn't.
His father was the one subject he hated discussing.
Twenty years ago, a strange spacecraft had fallen from the sky.
Inside was a badly injured man.
A Higher Human.
A being from beyond the known galactic civilizations.
Hitake's mother, Amara, had found him.
She took him home.
She cared for him.
Eventually, the two fell in love.
And Hitake was born.
But his father disappeared when Hitake was young.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Only one message.
Protect him.
Hitake had spent years wondering what those words meant.
Who was his father protecting him from?
And why had he disappeared?
Zena pushed the juice toward him again.
“Then become strong enough to find him.”
Hitake looked at her.
“You make it sound easy.”
“I didn't say it would be easy.”
She stood.
“I said you should.”
She turned toward the door.
“Zena.”
She stopped.
“Thanks.”
She looked over her shoulder.
A faint smile appeared.
“Don't thank me yet.”
Then she left.
Hitake watched the door close.
“…She's weird.”
A voice suddenly echoed inside his head.
You like her.
Hitake nearly fell out of bed.
“WHO SAID THAT?”
The nurse looked over.
“What?”
“Nothing!”
Hitake lowered his voice.
“You again.”
Silence.
“Who are you?”
Nothing.
Then—
[CONNECTION INTERRUPTED.]
Hitake stared into empty space.
“What was that?”
That evening, the academy announced a dungeon expedition.
The first-year students assembled outside the academy gates.
Their destination was an ancient dungeon discovered beneath a ruined structure several kilometers away.
Teams were assigned.
Hitake found himself with Zena, Mira, Elowen, Vicky, Thorne, Zack, and John.
Thorne looked at the roster.
Then at Hitake.
Then back at the roster.
“Why am I stuck with him?”
Professor Mira smiled.
“Because I'm the professor.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is when I'm holding the roster.”
Vicky laughed.
“She got you there.”
Thorne glared at her.
“Nobody asked you.”
“I know.”
Elowen adjusted her glasses.
“Could we focus on the dungeon?”
John raised his hand.
“Can we vote to go home?”
“No.”
“Democracy has failed.”
Zack nodded.
“Again.”
Hitake laughed.
For once, he didn't feel like an outsider.
Then he noticed something.
Zena wasn't laughing.
She was staring at the dungeon.
A faint shadow curled around her boots.
Hitake frowned.
“Zena?”
The shadow immediately disappeared.
“Hmm?”
“Your shadow.”
She looked down.
For a moment, something unreadable passed through her eyes.
“It's nothing.”
Hitake didn't believe her.
Everyone at the academy knew Zena possessed an unusual shadow-manipulation ability.
But nobody knew where it came from.
The Jonaly family had always been secretive about their bloodline.
Rumors claimed their ancestors had been among the earliest awakened humans to develop abilities connected to darkness. Some stories even claimed the family could communicate with shadows and use them as extensions of their own bodies.
Zena herself rarely spoke about them.
When she did, she always became distant.
“My family doesn't like people asking questions about our abilities,” she'd once told Hitake.
He hadn't asked again.
But now, standing before the dungeon, he noticed something strange.
The shadows around Zena weren't moving with the light.
They were moving toward the entrance.
As if they recognized something.
Zena suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“Stay close.”
Hitake looked at her.
“Why?”
She stared into the darkness.
“I don't know.”
Her fingers tightened around his sleeve.
“But something inside that place feels wrong.”
The way she held him made Hitake wonder if she was afraid for herself.
Then he realized—
She wasn't.
She was afraid for him.
“If anything happens,” she whispered, “don't leave me.”
Hitake smiled.
“Shouldn't I be saying that to you?”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
“I'll protect you.”
A strange chill ran through Hitake.
For just a moment, the shadow beneath Zena's feet stretched toward him.
Almost like it was claiming him.
Then it vanished.
They entered the dungeon.
The ancient stone walls were covered in symbols worn down by centuries of time. The deeper they walked, the colder the air became.
Professor Mira raised a hand.
“Stay together.”
The group slowed.
Hitake suddenly stopped.
His vision blurred.
A pressure formed behind his eyes.
For a fraction of a second, the dungeon disappeared.
He saw a shattered sky.
A white-haired man standing beneath it.
Kael.
Then the vision vanished.
[UNKNOWN ENERGY DETECTED.]
Hitake's heartbeat accelerated.
Another notification appeared.
[AWAKENING CONDITION: 73%]
His eyes widened.
“Seventy-three…?”
The number flickered.
[FOREIGN BLOODLINE SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
Hitake's breath caught.
Then something moved in the darkness ahead.
Zena's shadows immediately rose.
Her expression changed.
“Something's here.”
A deep sound echoed through the dungeon.
Not a roar.
Not footsteps.
A heartbeat.
THUMP.
The walls trembled.
THUMP.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
THUMP.
Hitake's eyes began to glow faintly.
Something ancient had awakened.
And whatever it was…
it wasn't interested in the other students.
It was looking for him.
Zena stepped directly in front of Hitake.
Her shadows spread across the floor like living creatures.
“No matter what happens,” she whispered, “stay behind me.”
Hitake stared at her.
For the first time, he wondered what exactly lived inside Zena's bloodline.
And whether her family had been keeping secrets about the darkness for far longer than anyone realized.
Deep beneath the dungeon, something opened its eyes.
And somewhere in the darkness—
a voice whispered.
The blood has returned.