After the Trial, silence followed Kael like a shadow.
Students stepped aside when he passed. Instructors avoided eye contact. Even the bullies who once laughed now whispered behind closed doors.
He had become something new.
Something dangerous.
But Kael felt no pride.
He felt the weight.
Because the whispering beast had not vanished.
It was still there.
Watching.
Waiting.
That night, Kael climbed the tower ruins behind the academy. From the top, he could see the forest that marked the border of Guild territory. Beyond that... the world. A world that once rejected him.
Now it was starting to take notice.
"You should not have revealed me so soon" the voice spoke again.
Kael didn't flinch.
"I didn't have a choice."
"You never do. That's the curse of your kind."
Kael turned.
"What am I"
The shadow beside him shifted. It had no true form. Just presence. Cold and endless.
"You are a Binder of the Deep. Not a summoner. Not a tamer. You don't command beasts. You chain what should not be chained."
Kael stared at the stars above.
"Why me"
A pause.
"Because your blood remembers. And your heart... does not fear the abyss."
Kael clenched his fist.
Then he felt it.
A new presence.
Watching him from below.
In the forest outside the academy, a figure in silver robes stood beneath the trees. Eyes covered. Holding a staff made of bone and gold. Tattoos wrapped around his fingers.
He watched the tower.
He had seen the Trial.
He had seen the beast.
And now... he would report.
He touched the side of his head. Whispered into the wind.
"The Binder has awakened. The seal is broken."
A cold voice answered from nowhere.
"Observe. Do not interfere."
The man nodded.
Then disappeared into the shadows.
Back at the academy, Kael descended the tower slowly.
He could feel it.
The game had changed.
Not just for him.
But for everyone.
The Trials were just the start.
The Guilds would come next.
And this time...
He wouldn't run.
He'd break their chains too.