"Ok then class, tomorrow you will learn to activate your relics," Professor Gabriel said.
The classroom emptied slowly, golden sunlight stretching long across the floor as students filed out in soft footsteps and murmurs.
Nola lingered.
The katana was still strapped across her waist, and even though she wasn't holding it, she felt its weight pressing down. Not heavy, though. Just present. Like it knew something she didn't.
'What am I actually doing here?'
Maika stood beside her, turning her potion bottle slowly in her hands like she could hear something inside it. Her expression was unreadable, it was rare for someone who was usually all jokes and sunshine.
They hadn't spoken much since Relic Summoning. Something about that room had shifted the floor under all their feet. Like it had pulled back a curtain they weren't supposed to look behind just yet.
But Nola couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Maika," she said quietly, "can I ask you something?"
Maika blinked, eyes refocusing. "Yeah. What's up?"
"Why are we really training?" Nola asked. "I mean, it's not just about learning to control our powers, is it?"
Maika stilled. "How do you not know yet? Didn't your brother tell you" She whispered.
Nola felt the shift immediately, the way her question sucked the air out of the room between them.
Maika glanced around the classroom, now empty, then gestured for Nola to follow her out into the hallway.
They walked in silence.
The light outside the room was gentler—muted—but Nola still felt the same pressure building behind her ribs.
"Okay," Maika whispered. "I wasn't sure when to bring it up. Most people don't talk about it until later after their third year when they need to intern in a legion."
"Talk about what?"
Maika chewed her bottom lip. "You ever heard of the Tenth Tower?"
Nola blinked. "I thought there were nine."
"There are." Maika leaned against the stone wall, her voice dropping. "In this realm. But there's another one. It's called the Inverted Tower."
Nola frowned. 'Inverted?'
"It doesn't rise into the sky like the rest," Maika went on. "It goes down. Or… falls down. Into something else. A place that doesn't make sense. No light. No sky. Just black geometry and broken rules."
She felt her pulse quicken. "And that has to do with us?"
"That's why we train."
She realised what it meant..
Maika didn't flinch. "That tower births monsters. Not like demons or corrupted humans. I mean soulless things. Born from void, pure hunger, no sense of self. They pour out into our world through rifts. They want wills of their own."
Nola stared at her. "But I thought this was about balance. Not hurting people. Learning to contain what's inside."
"It is," Maika said, softer now. "That's part of it. But that's just the foundation. Once you master yourself, the real work starts."
Nola's chest tightened.
She felt lied to. Not by Maika but by the silence that had wrapped around the school, the way no one ever said it directly. Not her brother, not the headmistress.
"There are nine legions," Maika said. "Groups of Will-bearers trained to hold the line. Your brother is the commander of one. Auriel. He fights them."
Nola stepped back, shaking her head slightly. "No… he told me I was special. That I needed guidance. Not, not this. Not to fight a war."
Maika didn't respond. Just watched her quietly.
Nola felt the floor tilt beneath her.
Her breath was shallow.
"Why didn't anyone say this?"
Maika's expression twisted. "Because it breaks people. Some students never awaken their Will because deep down… they don't want to. The ones who do? They're either brave, reckless, or they've already lost something."
'Lost something.'
Nola didn't know why, but her thoughts immediately flashed to her childhood bedroom. Silent, small, full of questions no one would answer. A girl staring into a mirror, wondering what was wrong with her.
'Was I always meant to become this?'
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Auriel.
She stared at the name glowing on the screen. For a heartbeat, she didn't want to answer. But her thumb moved anyway.
"Auriel," she said, her voice tight. "You knew."
A pause.
"I did," he said softly. "I was hoping you'd have a little more time before someone told you."
Her chest tightened. "The Tenth Tower? The monsters? The legions? I had to hear it from Maika."
"I wasn't hiding it to hurt you, Nola," Auriel said. "I just… didn't want this to be your world until it had to be."
She closed her eyes, fighting the pressure building behind them. "Well, now it is."
There was a beat of silence.
"I know," he said. "I'm sorry."
She bit the inside of her cheek. Her voice dropped. "So what now? I'm just… supposed to train to die in a war no one talks about?"
"No," he said, and there was something firm in his voice now. "You're supposed to learn to survive it. And I'll be here. Every step. I swear."
"You're a legion commander. You can't just babysit me—"
"I don't care," he interrupted gently. "Nola, listen to me. I'm not going anywhere. I don't care how far you get pulled into this. I'll be your shadow if I have to. You will not be alone."
She didn't reply.
"I will protect you," he said. "With everything I have. I will not abandon you. I am your brother."
Her heart clenched.
But it didn't fix the feeling of betrayal. It didn't undo the silence. It didn't change the fact that he had left her in the dark until it was too late.
"I never wanted this," she whispered.
"I know," he replied, his voice soft and steady. "But I'll still be here. When it gets bad. When it gets worse. Even if the rest of the world doesn't understand you, I will."
She pressed her lips together. Her throat burned.
"I love you, Nola."
She closed her eyes.
The screen dimmed.
Then, without a word, she cut the call.
Not because she didn't believe him.
But because belief wasn't enough anymore