Wrath's Virtue

Aurelion woke.

His eyes snapped open, and he sat up slowly. He took a moment, scanning his body internally. There was no pain, no lingering ache from the crushing weight of the earth. He felt... fine.

His gaze shifted, and he found the familiar faces of Kael, Lyra, and Elara watching him from across the small infarmary room. He looked past them, his eyes settling on the intricate bone spear resting in Elara's hands.

"How long was I out?" His voice was raspy, but steady.

"About two hours," Lyra said, breaking the silence, a hint of her usual sass in her tone.

"You slept like a log."

"That referee... who is he?"

"You had the luck to run into Master Berg," Kael explained.

"He's more than a little skilled with earth manipulation."

"Yes, I noticed." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.

"He's a powerful one, isn't he?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Are you looking to get buried again, Aurelion?"

"I'm not an idiot, Lyra," Aurelion shot back.

"But I won't forget this."

"Master Berg was just following the rules of the challenge, and you attacked him,"

Kael said, a cautionary note in his voice. "I don't think you should push this any further right now. You could be punished."

"I'm aware that too." Aurelion's gaze drifted back to the door.

"That weakling bastard. What's his condition?"

Elara spoke for the first time. "He's being treated and they won't let you near him. People got hurt, Aurelion. Please, just don't make this any worse."

She took a step forward, offering him the bone spear. "Besides, the spear you got from him is better, isn't it?"

Aurelion took the weapon, its weight familiar in his hand from the brief time he'd wielded it.

He looked at Elara, his expression suddenly turned cold. "Do you really think that's what I care about, Elara?"

"No, but..." she stammered, taken aback by his intensity.

"They took something from me," Aurelion said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl.

"It doesn't matter if it was valuable or not. They did it. And they did it without earning it. Through the help of another, like the weaklings they are."

Lyra shrugged. "Technically, you couldn't protect your spear from Master Berg either, Aurelion."

Kael shot her a warning look. Lyra just met his gaze. "What? Even Aurelion would agree with me on this."

Aurelion turned with a smirk on his lips. "Yes," he said.

"You're right." And with that, he started walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Elara called out.

"Don't just get up and leave."

Aurelion paused at the door, but didn't look back.

"See you tomorrow," was all he said, and then he was gone, leaving them.

Aurelion didn't go back to his dorm. He walked under the darkening sky, his steps purposeful, seeking out a place where he would not be disturbed.

He found it in a secluded grove of gnarled trees at the far edge of the college grounds, a place plunged into deep shadow by the setting sun and the thick canopy above.

The only light was the pale sliver of a rising moon filtering through the leaves. He stepped into the deepest patch of darkness and closed his eye.

Void Focusing.

He tried again, extending his will, pouring his energy into the blackness around him.

And again, he failed. A faint, defiant golden glow pulsed from his skin, a beacon in the gloom.

He opened his eye and stared at the shadows, not as an absence of light, but as an opponent. A puzzle.

"I do not submit, and neither does my energy," he thought

"I am forcing my power to be something it is not. To try and make my energy hide itself is a fool's errand. It's a waste of time."

His mind drifted back to the arena, to the overwhelming sensation of being buried alive.

He recalled the sight of Berg's earth rising to meet him, the way the world had dissolved into crushing pressure, the gradual dimming of his vision, and then… the final, absolute darkness as the last ray of light was extinguished.

A new thought, sharp and clear as lightning, cut through his mind.

"I don't need to change my energy into a shadow," he reasoned, slowly a smile spread across his face.

"But if I can make it drown the light, if I can make it devour everything it touches... then isn't that a shadow, too? My energy may not be suited for hiding, but... why wouldn't it be suited for swallowing? Just as it attacks everything it touches, what if it could annihilate everything it touches? Even light itself."

He raised his open palm in front of his face. A sphere of familiar, brilliant golden energy coalesced above it, illuminating the grove with its proud, defiant light.

Aurelion stared into its core, and in a low, commanding whisper, he gave his power its new directive.

"Swallow the light."

At his command, the a profound change began. The golden luminescence wavered, then began to fade, not as if it were being extinguished, but as if it were collapsing inward on itself. The proud, brilliant glow turned pale, and then it was gone completely.

Where a sphere of light had hovered moments before, there was now only a perfect, dark silhouette against the moonlit leaves, a hole in the world that seemed to drink in the very light around it.

A smile touched Aurelion's lips. He channeled the new, altered energy, spreading it slowly across his entire body.

The faint golden shimmer that always clung to him faded into nothing. He was no longer a source of light. In the darkness of the grove, he became almost invisible. Standing motionless among the trees, he was a mere silhouette, its edges barely defined by the sliver of moonlight.

He wasn't entirely invisible, but it would be impossible for a normal eye to spot him if he didn't move.

He took a slow, step forward. He tried to blend his new energy with the shadows, reinterpreting Vespera's concepts of texture and weight through his own logic.

When he passed through a patch of moonlight, his form became more distinct, but when he stepped back into a shadow, he nearly vanished.

"Still not perfect," he thought.

"When I move, I disturb the natural balance of light and shadow. A perceptive eye could spot that distortion. But..."

A feral grin spread across his face. "...for a normal eye, I am now a ghost."

He focused his will, drawing energy back towards his Seals. The shimmering distortion around him stabilized, becoming less volatile.

"Be calm for now," he murmured to the hungry energy coiling within him.

"I will let you run wild later."

Emil's eyes fluttered open. His head throbbed, and a dull ache resonated from his shoulders and back, which were tightly bound in bandages.

He recognized the sterile white ceiling of the Academy infirmary and saw a figure sitting silently by his bed.

Merric held out a glass of water.

"You're awake," he stated. "You need to rest."

Emil took the water.

"I lost," he whispered, the shame of the memory stinging more than his physical wounds.

"Of course you lost," Merric replied without a trace of sympathy.

"No one expected you to win, Emil. But in your failure, you accomplished the task our clan gave you. You have brought us something valuable."

Emil looked up, confused. "What did I bring?"

"We saw his limits," Merric explained, his voice taking on a new intensity.

"We saw his true personality. We saw what he becomes when he's angered, and we saw the true violence of his power. And most importantly," he paused, leaning in slightly, "we saw how dangerous he can truly be."

Merric stood up. "Clan Leader Silas will be taking a personal interest in you. You will be rewarded for your courage. More resources will be allocated to your training. You have proven that there is potential in you, Emil. You are the first person to have revealed the Elf's true face."

Merric gestured to the spear leaning against the bedside table. "This is yours now. It was Master Berg's decision. You didn't let go of the spear until the very last moment, and even though you lost a weapon belonging to our clan, you compensated by taking the weapon of the one who defeated you."

With those words, Merric turned and left the room without a backward glance.

Emil stared at the spear.

Complicated emotions warred within him. There was a surge of pride, a sense of having earned this prize. But it was quickly followed by a cold dread.

This spear would make him a target for the elf, and for anyone else who wanted to prove themselves by defeating him.

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced himself out of bed.

Despite his wounds, he walked out of the infirmary and made his way back to his dormitory.

As he walked through the halls, he noticed a change in the way the other students looked at him. The usual disdain was gone, replaced by something different. A mixture of curiosity, and a newfound respect.

"Why should I worry?" he thought, a fragile confidence taking root.

"I'm on the right path. My Core will advance soon, and I won't be left behind anymore."

He reached his room, opened the door, and threw his exhausted body onto the bed in the darkness.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through his back.

He cried out and rolled off the mattress, staring back at it.

"What are those?" he grunted. At that moment, moonlight streamed through the open window, illuminating the surface of his bed.

And he saw them.

The shattered, splintered remnants of his old bone spear.