Kael was walking back to the cohort's living quarters. he looked calm on the outside, hell, he felt calm, but his thoughts were very turbulent.
His mind was churning.
"I better be careful with how I approach things, I can never be too sure about their thoughts or what their intentions are. Whether it's good or bad."
He held his hand out and looked at his palm, "So, it seems I'm not as powerless as I thought. But how do I harness this core? It's reassuring not to be completely helpless, but having an energy no one's even heard of… that doesn't exactly make things easier. I'm stumbling around in the dark here."
"Hee..."
Regardless, Kael found himself chuckling and smiling.
'I won't lie, it makes me very happy to know that I have some strength at least, it's reassuring. Honestly, I would have hated every moment, being at the mercy of other people for the rest of my life, that would be just depressing.'
He kept pondering his thoughts, and continued to walk, more and more, until he realised he was headed nowhere near close to the residential area.
He had unknowingly wandered to the outskirts of the settlement, as far from the main gate as one could be.
Now, standing at the edge of some sort of checkpoint, he could see the full layout of Raventhorne from a new perspective.
"The city was built in a large basin. How convenient. That way, we are protected from all sides. Very fitting for a stronghold that is so crucial for humanity's survival."
He froze for a long while, staring at the mountains surrounding Raventhorne.
'If, say, there comes a time when I have to escape from this place, how would I do that, and where would I go?' He thought.
He was not about to blindly put all his trust in people he had just met. Who knew what plans they would come up with if they decided to use him and his anti-dream core to their benefit.
'Hopefully, it doesn't have to come to that.'
Yeah, Kael had decided to call it the anti-dream core. "Sounds kind of cringe…" he muttered to himself.
The further he walked away from the admin area, the more the contrast in the settlement's districts became glaringly obvious.
He had already passed the lowest point of the valley. Now, the environment was grimy, with rundown makeshift buildings, scattered debris, and an air of neglect.
But it wasn't the filth that unsettled him. It was the people.
The people here, though few in number, were a stark contrast to the polished fronts of Raventhorne's core districts.
They sat slumped against crumbling walls or wandered aimlessly, like shadows of what they once were.
Most were malnourished, their skin clinging tightly to bone. Deep bags hung beneath hollow, sleepless eyes.
Their gazes were vacant, empty, as though life had drained from them long ago and no one had bothered to give it back.
Kael kept walking.
The few that looked like they had it all together looked like they were up to some shady business. Stall owners and the like, selling wares that were hidden behind covers.
One of them waved his hand at Kael.
"Young man, would you like to try this solution I've been working on? It works wonders in certain...activities, you know, makes you extremely active and vigorous."
A crooked smile was plastered on the man's face as he spoke. His head was bald, and the way he was rubbing his hands did not help the sight as a whole.
No one in their right mind would buy anything from this man. But Kael did not say that, "Oh, what could that be, I wonder? I'll admit, I'm very curious as to what you are referring to, but I'm in a rush, you see, maybe some other time."
"Ahhh, what a shame, maybe some other time then." The man looked genuinely disappointed.
"Say, let me give you a word of advice, if you plan on going further up the slums, stay clear of the white painted building, a lot of disappearances there lately. "
"I'll keep that in mind," Kael responded, narrowing his eyes.
He did not know how this suspicious man had come to the conclusion that he intended to keep going further away from the central city, but that was exactly what he was planning on doing.
He didn't know why, but something pulled him deeper into this neglected zone, this forgotten corner of Raventhorne.
Of course, there were fewer and fewer people the further along he went. But there were a few individuals of note, some who looked to be in terribly dire conditions.
He passed them slowly: An old man with sunken cheeks and a ragged cough, a child digging listlessly in a pile of debris, and a young woman cradling something that might've once been a doll, or a corpse.
He did not know which.
And still… nothing.
He felt no stirring of pity.
No flare of anger.
No disgust.
Only a strange, descending calm settled on his psyche.
In fact, the longer he stayed in this place of sorrow, the more serene he became.
His mind, once stormy and brewing with thoughts of power and plans, now lay still.
Not clear, hollow.
That's when it hit him.
'I… don't care.'
He looked again, truly looked at the faces of the broken people around him, women, children, hollow men held together by thin threads of breath.
And not a single fiber of his being moved in response.
It didn't disturb him.
It didn't matter.
They didn't matter.
Suddenly, a tug at his leg broke his stillness.
A woman, gaunt and dirt-covered, had clutched onto his foot.
Her face was twisted in desperation as she looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"P-please… food… anything," she whimpered, her voice cracked from dehydration.
Kael looked down.
And she looked up, into his eyes.
The moment their gazes met, her breath caught, her eyes trembled, narrowing in pinholes.
She recoiled instantly, gasping, her eyes wide with raw terror.
"A-Ah! No! Get away, what are you?!"
She shrieked, crawling backward like a cornered animal, tearing her already bleeding hands against the stone as she fled.
Kael was not even offended by her reaction, he just coldly looked at the direction she had fled in.