CHAPTER 4 – KINGS & PRIESTS

The walk back from the Whisperwood was long and silent. The two soldiers Elara brought with us were marching a few feet away, but the space between us felt like a mile-wide canyon. They kept shooting us looks that said we were traitors, monster-lovers. Elara herself was a stone wall, her face giving away nothing. She just walked, leaving us to drown in our own anxiety.

We didn't go back to the barracks. We were led to a different wing of the castle and shoved into a large, circular room with high ceilings and beds arranged along the walls. It was nicer than the barracks, but the heavy sound of the iron bolt locking behind us was exactly the same. We were in a gilded cage.

The moment the guards' footsteps faded, the room erupted.

"Can you believe those guys?" Lucas exploded, pacing the room like a caged animal. "They were going to kill a kid!"

"It was a tactical risk, Lucas," Emma countered, her arms crossed. "We were on a mission. We can't let our emotions dictate our actions."

"A strategy to do what? Let children die?" Olivia shot back, her voice dripping with scorn.

As they argued, Takumi, who had been inspecting the room's single barred window, spoke without turning around. His voice was cold and logical. "The soldiers saw us defy a direct order. The commander saw us use abilities we're not supposed to understand yet. And we left a witness in the forest who knows a healer is with us. Emotionally, it was a success. Tactically, it was a disaster."

"So what were we supposed to do?" I asked him. "Just watch?"

Takumi finally turned, a flicker of empathy in his eyes. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it's more complicated than just 'the right thing to do'."

Hana, who had been standing silently with Chen Yu, finally spoke. "He's right. It is complicated." Chen Yu put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "But Lucas is right, too. We couldn't have just left it there."

"We protect our own," Chen Yu added, his voice a low rumble. "That is the only rule that matters right now."

"We're all on the same side here!" Advik said, stepping into the middle of the room. He looked stressed, running a hand through his hair. "Fighting each other is exactly what they want." He sat down at a heavy stone table in the center of the room, his fingers starting to tap out a restless beat on its surface, a habit to calm his nerves.

The rhythm of Advik's tapping grew faster, more frantic, matching the rising tension in the room. And then something happened. A low hum started to emanate from the stone table, resonating with the very stones of the floor.

"Advik, stop," Bela said suddenly, her eyes wide.

But it was too late. Advik's final, stressed-out tap was less of a tap and more of a strike.

BOOM.

A wave of pure sonic force erupted from the table. It wasn't an explosion; it was a physical push of sound that threw us all back a step. A spiderweb of cracks shot across the stone tabletop.

The iron bolt on the door screeched open and a half-dozen guards burst in, swords drawn. They froze, staring at the cracked table, at us, then at Advik, who was looking at his own hands in utter shock.

Elara appeared behind them, her face a mask of cold fury. "What did you do?"

　◆ ◆ ◆

An hour later, we were marched to a part of the castle we hadn't seen before and halted before a set of massive, gilded doors, under heavy guard. The "wow factor" of our own power had worn off, replaced by a cold dread. We weren't just disobedient kids anymore. We were volatile, uncontrollable and maybe even dangerous.

The doors opened, revealing a vast throne room. The atmosphere inside was so heavy it felt like a physical weight, pressing down and making it hard to breathe. High Priest Valerius stood beside his throne, his face a frozen, hateful glacier. On the main throne sat the King. He was an old man with a weary face, the heavy gold crown on his brow seeming to weigh him down. His robes were rich, but his eyes held the deep exhaustion of a man fighting a losing war. This was the ruler of the kingdom, King Theron Mori.

He watched us enter, his gaze filled not with anger, but with a profound, sorrowful worry.

The "debriefing" was brutal. Valerius's cross-examination was twice as sharp, now bolstered by the "dorm incident." He painted a picture of us as emotional, unstable children with the power of gods, a danger to ourselves and the kingdom.

"They defy orders, they aid the enemy, and now they destroy castle property with uncontrolled bursts of power!" he finished, his voice ringing with condemnation. "They are not heroes, they are a liability!"

Just as Lucas was about to retort, the King raised a hand, and the room fell silent.

"That is enough, Valerius," the King said, his voice quiet but firm. He rose from his throne and descended the steps, stopping before us.

"I was the one who had you moved to these quarters," he said, his voice laced with regret. "I had hoped to provide you some small comfort, not a new stage for... incidents." He looked at Advik with sympathy, not anger. "Your power is new to you. Uncontrolled. That is not a sin."

He then turned to Olivia and Lucas. "And you. You showed compassion in the face of doctrine. I will not punish you for that. That is the quality of a hero."

As he spoke, my vision flickered. His status screen had changed.

[Name: Theron Mori]
[Class: King]
[Status: Fatigued, **Strategic**]

Something had shifted. This was no longer just a scolding.

"But the High Priest is not wrong," the King continued, his tone becoming serious. "You are volatile. And this kingdom cannot afford another mistake." He looked past us, to Commander Elara. "It is clear the current training is insufficient. They are not ready for field missions."

He turned back to us, his fatherly demeanor replaced by that of a king making a decree.

"Your reconnaissance duties are suspended, indefinitely," he declared. "You are hereby placed under the sole command and intensive training of Commander Elara. You will not leave the training grounds without her express permission until she deems you fit for service."

He gave us a final, weary look. "Commander Elara will forge you into the weapons we need. Pray you survive the process."

With that, he turned and walked back to his throne, a silent dismissal. We were ushered out, the heavy doors closing behind us. In the antechamber, Elara faced us, a new, dangerous glint in her eyes.

"You heard the King," she said, a faint, almost cruel smile on her lips. "The games are over. The High Priest sees you as flawed weapons. The King sees you as children. Starting tomorrow, I will teach you what you really are: soldiers."

She looked us over one by one, her gaze lingering for a second on me. "Tomorrow at dawn, your real training begins. Not with golems, with my elite unit. We are going to find the limits of your power and then we are going to break them."