The snow had been gone for a long time.

  Warm wind, dense forests, wide steppes where the wind whistled through the grass…

  Sometimes mountains appeared in the distance — dark, even, like walls.

  Finn rode closer, holding the reins with one hand.

  — You’ve become… quiet.

  I didn’t answer.

  There was no point.

  And honestly — I didn’t understand why people talked at all anymore.

  Everything around felt dull. Empty.

  People. Roads. The mission.

  As if the colors of the world had been erased.

  Siren and Tara rode up.

  They watched me closely.

  — Zen, — Siren said, — why did you hide your power?

  — At the Academy you could have saved dozens.

  — In the capital — hundreds.

  — Why?

  Tara added:

  — You had a reason, didn’t you?

  I stared at the ground.

  At one point.

  For a long time.

  And the longer I stared, the clearer it became:

  I had been an idiot.

  Hiding my strength to stay in the shadows?

  Pretending to be weak?

  Why?

  So no one would notice me?

  So I could live quietly?

  What stupidity.

  Siren repeated:

  — Why, Zen?

  I answered shortly, coldly:

  — I don’t know.

  He rode off, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

  We stopped in the forest.

  Training with Seteya was hard — for the first time in a long while, I didn’t hold back.

  I needed to train my body.

  It couldn’t endure my power.

  It cracked from the inside whenever I used too much.

  That night, the nightmare came.

  I was enraged again.

  I stood in some dark gorge, and in front of me were dozens of demons.

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  Huge. Horned. Deformed.

  They hissed, rushed forward — and I cut them down without stopping.

  Every swing of my hand caused an explosion of ice spears.

  Every thought turned into lightning.

  The screams merged into one roar, and I felt…

  Pleasure?

  No.

  Nothing.

  I was just cutting them down, without purpose.

  One demon leaped at me — I tore open its chest with lightning.

  Another turned into crushed ice.

  And then…

  The silhouettes began to change.

  Horns vanished.

  Claws retracted.

  Wings flattened.

  Skin darkened… lightened…

  And in fractions of a second, the demons turned into people.

  Ordinary people.

  Soldiers.

  Citizens of the capital.

  Academy students.

  Even children.

  But I didn’t stop.

  I struck again — and a human fell just like a demon.

  Another strike — and a voice, sounding like Finn’s, screamed.

  One more — and I saw Reynar’s face, but my hand still went forward.

  I wanted to scream. To stop.

  I couldn’t.

  The shadows turned back into demons.

  Then people.

  Then demons again.

  Again.

  Again.

  The world was like a mirror shattered by something inside me.

  — Zen! — someone shook me.

  Norris.

  Silver stood nearby, pale.

  — Your amulet… it’s glowing. Very strongly.

  — You were thrashing all night… and saying something.

  — Ah… sorry, — I said and lay back down.

  He left, worried.

  A couple of days later Siren said:

  — We’re halfway there. Not much left.

  But the forest around us had become… quiet.

  Too quiet.

  — Stay alert, — he added. — This forest… is strange.

  I closed my eyes — and the world changed.

  I could sense them.

  — Behind that rock — a goblin squad, — I said. — Five.

  — In the trees — thirty archers.

  — Twenty more in the bushes. Support.

  — And two ogres. On the left. Pretending to be boulders.

  Haras narrowed his eyes.

  — Which rock?

  — The big one. Three hundred meters away.

  Everyone looked at me as if I’d said I could see through mountains.

  Elinia strained her mana, scanned the area — then shook her head.

  — I… don’t sense anyone. How did you do that?

  — Easily, — I answered.

  Norris outlined the plan quickly:

  — I take the nearest ones. Mages — dome against arrows.

  — Archers go down first.

  — Support — one by one.

  — Seteya, Haras — melee only if necessary.

  Seteya snorted.

  — Zenhald… couldn’t you just kill them from here?

  I shrugged.

  — I could. But it’s far.

  And I struck.

  Boom.

  The forest ahead turned white.

  Not just white — frozen, snow-covered, glazed with frost.

  A whole strip of land, hundreds of meters long, became a corridor of winter.

  Goblins were pierced by ice spears.

  Trees froze.

  Arrows turned into brittle ice.

  We moved closer — the goblin camp was still standing, but they were in panic.

  Running. Screaming. Falling.

  Trying to understand what was happening.

  — Zen, — Norris said, — don’t kill them.

  — Let the team train.

  I nodded.

  Five ogres charged out of the camp — massive, fleshy brutes with gray skin and tusks like wild boars.

  The ground trembled under them.

  Finn exhaled sharply, clenched his fist — and his hand burst into flame.

  But this time he didn’t just throw a spear.

  He twisted the fire, stretched it, shaped it like an arrow.

  Then fired it like a bowshot.

  The flaming spear sliced through the air with a whistle and struck an ogre straight in the chest.

  Not just hit.

  Perfectly slid between the ribs.

  The ogre twitched, slowed…

  and dropped to its knees, smoking.

  Finn, panting, grinning proudly:

  — Did you see that?! That’s it! DONE! — he raised his hand triumphantly.

  Siren smirked.

  — Style’s there. Still needs work.

  The next ogre rushed forward, swinging a massive club.

  Kayren was already in a fighting stance.

  He raised his hand slowly — air spiraled around him like a miniature vortex.

  He formed a wind spear — not a simple mass.

  The tip vibrated, resonated, meant to pierce, not just cut.

  He threw it.

  The spear slammed into the ogre’s stomach with a wet crunch.

  Something cracked inside, but it didn’t go through.

  The ogre roared so loudly birds burst from the trees.

  — Damn it! — Kayren cursed. — Tough one! Hold on… again!

  He raised his hands, doubled the wind’s rotation.

  His hair flew upward, stones beneath his feet trembled.

  He hurled a second spear.

  This one pierced.

  With a crunch. A burst of air. A furious whistle.

  The ogre collapsed face-first into the ground.

  — Please just stay down, — Kayren breathed, wiping his forehead. — Or I’m next…

  Finn snorted.

  — Two hits? I did it in one.

  — That’s because you’re a cheater with your royal fire line! — Kayren snapped.

  — But it’s flashy.

  — And loud.

  — And deadly.

  — And annoy—

  — HEY! — Seteya barked. — MEASURE LATER! BACK TO THE FIGHT!

  The remaining ogres were already tied up with Haras, Tara, and Siren.

  In the trees, goblins tried to fire — Elinia swept them down with one powerful gust, like clearing trash.

  Miella finished off the fallen, Edgar covered her back, Astra healed anyone scratched by arrows.

  Within a minute the fight was over.

  A couple more — and everything was finished.

  Norris assessed it.

  — Better. You’re starting to work as a team.

  Everyone nodded.

  And then…

  They all looked at me.

  For a long time.

  In silence.

  As if I wasn’t a comrade…

  but a threat.

  With suspicion.

  With a shadow of fear.

  With a question in their eyes — who are you now?

  And we moved on.