"What was that?" Taria’s voice came out dry, her eyes still watering from the suffocating pressure that aura had brought down on them.
Kaedros almost smiled.
That question ’What was that?’ had become the most asked phrase since they stepped into the Throne of Ruinlight. It seemed like everything they encountered prompted the same reaction, the same stunned disbelief.
But this one... this one had been different. More than just terrifying. The air itself had become fear. Breathing had felt dangerous. It wasn’t just pressure, it was the sensation of a sword poised at the back of your neck.
"It was like facing a horde of monsters with nothing but a knife," Rauk muttered, shivering. The hair on his arms still stood upright.
Kaedros recognized the aura. Or something very close to it.
He had felt it before, surrounding only the highest of the high, the Demon Queen heeself and he only felt it from a distance.
It was the aura of death. Of thousands of deaths layered upon one another. It was something no spell could replicate. It only came from experience... and the number of lives taken.
Thalso must have killed thousands to emit an aura like that. The weapons lining the training hall’s walls? Not decorations. Trophies of death.
He’d said it himself. Taken from the hands of the dead.
Kaedros’s eyes drifted back to him, tracing the chains wrapped around Thalso’s torso and upper arm. When they’d first met him, Kaedros assumed those chains were just part of the armor, adornments or perhaps symbolic bindings. Even when he’d seen them move, he dismissed it.
Now? He wasn’t so sure.
Earlier, those same chains had tightened and drained the darkness from Thalso’s armor.
’...It’s not as simple as it looks..’ Kaedros thought.
Thalso shuddered. His hand still clenched around the sword hilt, though his body trembled slightly, silent laughter escaping him before he straightened with a ragged exhale.
"It’s been a while," he said. His voice was hoarse, rougher than they’d ever heard it. Yet under the gravel, there was something else. Not pain. Not madness.
Joy. Faint, but unmistakable.
"What’s been a while?" Kaedros asked carefully, wary of another surge of power.
Behind the smooth metal of Thalso’s helmet, there was no expression to read. "Holding a weapon," he said after a pause. "It’s been a long time."
That’s it? Kaedros thought. Just holding a sword again brought all that power to the surface? It couldn’t be so simple. There had to be more.
They were steady again now, though none dared to get too close.
"Because you miss the weapon?" Taria asked. "Is that why?"
Thalso grunted and gave the blade a lazy swing. The motion created a gust that blasted their faces and sent them back as though a wind spell had gone off.
"This is just a normal weapon," he said flatly.
Taria’s eyes locked onto the sword, taking quick breaths. That swing made that wind? Her instincts screamed at her not to get in front of that blade.
And yet... her stomach twisted, not in fear but excitement.
She wanted to feel it.
To clash her spear against that sword.
She grinned, glancing at the others, hoping they felt the same.
But Rauk looked dumbfounded, mouth slightly open.
Kaedros, meanwhile, was frowning, deep in thought, his eyes tracing Thalso like he was dissecting a puzzle made of blood and iron.
Disappointed, Taria turned back to Thalso.
He was already watching her.
Despite the helmet, she could feel his gaze like a physical thing, pressing into her, challenging her.
She raised her spear slowly, pointing it forward.
"Well, come on then," Thalso said, motioning with his sword. "Let’s see it."
Kaedros didn’t need words to understand what was happening. He was a Dragon, and he knew the language of warriors.
This was a challenge.
He stepped back, giving them room. Rauk followed suit.
Taria launched forward, a streak of grey and black. She blurred behind Thalso with blinding speed, spear descending in a clean, ruthless thrust.
Thalso raised his sword.
A simple, practiced block.
And it made her eyes widen. Her feet dug into the floor as she stopped herself mid-swing and retreated in a flash, leaping backward.
Kaedros blinked. What just happened?
Taria’s hands clenched tightly on her spear. Her jaw was locked. Her eyes narrowed at Thalso, burning.
If he hadn’t known her better, he might have said she was scared. But that was absurd. Thalso hadn’t even used his aura. He hadn’t moved.
"Why did you stop?" Thalso asked, resting the sword lazily on his shoulder.
"I... I don’t know," Taria said, her voice stiff. "I went in. I attacked. But when you raised your sword, I just felt it. Like I was charging at a high-tier monster."
Kaedros understood now.
Thalso’s aura wasn’t something that turned on and off. It had soaked into him so deeply, his presence alone could evoke fear.
Even when suppressed, it was there.
"Really?" Thalso murmured, looking at his weapon. "It’s been so long since I fought. I must be leaking too much of it..." He nodded to himself. "There. I’ve toned it down."
Immediately, the room’s oppressive weight disappeared.
Kaedros hadn’t realized he was still tensing until the tension vanished. His muscles loosened automatically, as if finally released from a silent command.
It was a strange, humbling thing, to flinch instinctively before power.
Taria nodded, shifting her grip. Her stance was relaxed now. She knew she wouldn’t win. But that wasn’t her goal.
She just wanted one clean hit.
With a deep breath, she lunged again, this time slicing sideways. At the last second, she spun her spear and used the shaft to feint and redirecting into a quick upward thrust.
Thalso moved slightly, just enough.
His sword was already there, blocking her perfectly.
"You’re bold," he said. "But you shouldn’t have come that close."
With a single step, Thalso was inside Taria’s guard. She barely had time to react, her spear was too long, too slow to pull back.
She leapt backward to create space, but his fist still found her.
The punch landed square in her stomach, lifting her completely off the ground.
Taria gasped as she slammed into the floor. Her vision swam, a blurry mess of metal and breathless shock. Still, she forced herself upright, spear raised defensively, ready for a follow-up.
But Thalso was exactly where he had been, unmoving.
He hadn’t even pursued.
It happened so fast, Kaedros thought. Taria was the fastest of them, maybe faster than him in his human form or Rauk, but it hadn’t mattered.
"You’re getting faster," Thalso said.
"But not fast enough. You saw all my attacks coming from miles away," Taria muttered, biting her lip in frustration. No, not miles... light years. His blocks weren’t casual, they were surgical. She felt like a crawling snail attacking a mountain.
Thalso shrugged. "I’m working within your ability. My strength and speed are beyond you. They aren’t something you can compare yourselves with... not yet."
Taria clenched her jaw at the truth in his words.
Then I’ll keep training. I’ll keep closing the gap, she thought. She adjusted her grip and lunged again.
Kaedros and Rauk watched silently as the clash resumed, spear and sword trading blows.
Thalso was clearly holding back, it’s was simply impossible not to or else a single swing was enough to erase her. And even then, he was still limiting himself because even as he reduced his power to her, it was still more than she could handle.
He was letting the fight last. And yet, every exchange ended the same way: with Taria on the ground.
Still, each time she rose.
What fascinated Kaedros most wasn’t her stamina, it was how she adapted. She didn’t get faster, but she moved more efficiently. Less wasted motion. Cleaner technique. She was beginning to anticipate.
"Well," Rauk said, glancing sideways at Kaedros just as Taria was kicked across the room again. "Maybe we won’t have to fight after all."
Kaedros wanted to agree. He would prefer not to fight... and yet, his eyes lingered on the faint smile growing on Taria’s lips.
Kaedros had fought plenty, but always for survival. Never joy. Never . Fighting was something he did to preserve his own life.
But Taria grinned as she ducked under a punch and spun away from a sword stroke like it was a dance.
"Yes," Kaedros said slowly. "Maybe we won’t have to fight..."
Or maybe we could just fight with mana. His core was full of mana begging to be released. But he hadn’t used a single spell since so long.
Taria crashed into one of the pillars, rebounded, and groaned as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Enough," Thalso said. He pointed his sword at her. "You’ve done well for today. I have a sense of your power now, and I can tell where you’re lacking. I’ll adjust your training accordingly."
He turned to Kaedros and Rauk, motioning them forward.