Nyra’s silence was heavy. When she finally spoke, her voice was tight with restrained fury. "It’s not a good thing. Do you know the kind of pain the victims went through before the experiment worked? Hundreds died in agony. Hundreds more were discarded like failed projects."
Kaedros could see it in her eyes, emerald-green and flashing like sharpened gems. Her fur bristled, and for a moment, he thought she might leap at him.
"So, you were the hero who saved the day?" Rauk asked, a slight grin on his face. He liked the idea, but he couldn’t quite imagine a cat being anyone’s savior. He wisely kept that thought to himself.
Thalso snorted again, and gently patted Nyra’s fur. "Her? A hero?"
Nyra shot him a sharp look but continued in a flat, even tone. "I wasn’t a hero. I was a captain of a mercenary group back then. Killing those scientists and hunters was just a job to me."
Kaedros, Taria, and Rauk were all stunned. A captain? Of a mercenary group? A cat?
It was happening again, Kaedros thought. His perception of the Castle’s residents was shifting once more. Nyra wasn’t as innocent as she looked, just like Thalso.
He made a mental note not to forget how dangerous these people really were.
"Mercenary?" Taria echoed, her eyes lighting up with curiosity. She had heard of mercenaries rogue professionals who took missions from villages, nobles, or anyone willing to pay. They often operated outside the Celestial Order and the bounty hunter’s Association.
They formed private forces, took contracts directly from the people, and were known for honoring their pay. Unlike the bounty hunter’s Association, mercenary groups accepted ordinary people, not just Ascendants, Taria had once considered joining a mercenary guild if she’d been given a path.
"Yes!" Nyra’s tone turned cheerful again. "I led one of the most elite mercenary groups of the time. You had to be filthy rich to hire us. Good times!"
"More like troublesome times," Thalso muttered. "You were a menace, Nyra. You and that outlaw band you liked to call a mercenary group. You were declared criminals."
"People just hated that I was having fun," Nyra purred.
"They wanted your head because your ’fun’ left thousands dead. You destroyed entire cities and towns. The people you led gave off killing intent like it was perfume," Thalso said, still petting her.
Kaedros looked at them and again, his perspective shifted.
He wasn’t a hero. He wouldn’t lose sleep over killing humans. But why were these two talking about the deaths of thousands like it was some fond memory?
He hadn’t expected them to be saints, but the casual way they teased each other about bloodshed chilled him.
And maybe part of it came from the fact that he killed because he had to. To survive. And hungry.
Nyra narrowed her eyes at him. "And you didn’t? You’ve killed more people than all of us combined."
Thalso cleared his throat, glancing up at his students, who now looked at him in stunned horror. He shrugged.
"That’s who I am. I make no excuses for the past."
"Okay, we killed a lot," he went on, grinning, "but I don’t go around pretending I’m some kind of mercenary or hero."
He laughed when Nyra shot him another sharp look.
"I’m an outlaw and I accept it. You, on the other hand, were playing at being a pretend savior."
Nyra’s emerald eyes narrowed to slits. "It was fun. And people still hire us anyway. It’s not like we go around doing this for free. People pay us. Most times."
Thalso laughed again, and Nyra smiled faintly to herself. She had almost forgotten how his laughter sounded. All thanks to these... students.
Those same students were still staring at them in silence, their expressions caught somewhere between awe and fear.
Taria didn’t know what to say. She already understood that Thalso wasn’t some noble knight, the weapons lining his walls had proven that. And strangely, it didn’t bother her.
Rauk was torn. If a band of mercenaries like Nyra’s had caused chaos in his kingdom, maybe he should feel outrage. But why should he? If trouble came, he’d fight it. That’s why he was here. To gain power.
They were drifting off-topic. So Kaedros steered them back.
"The experiment. How did it go?"
"It was brutal," Nyra said. Her voice grew colder. "It was led by an organization back then, Joint Accord. That was their name. Powerful people. They were obsessed with improving their abilities, and always sought ways to do it without effort."
She said it with disdain, as if gaining strength without struggle was inherently disgraceful.
Kaedros frowned and glanced at Taria, raising an eyebrow. His look said, Looks familiar, doesn’t it? No matter where you are, there’s always some group like that, he thought.
Nyra purred, stretching lazily. "My band and I managed to destroy their branch at the time. But the experiment that allowed them to remove Bloodline abilities had already been completed. Successfully."
She turned to Kaedros. "The conclusion was made public. Everyone knew it worked. We didn’t know how it worked... but we knew that those affected lost the use of their Bloodline ability permanently."
"Oh," Kaedros said, a twinge of disappointment tightening in his chest. He had dared to hope, maybe this was his way out to completely wipe out the curse in him. "So you don’t know how to remove it?"
Nyra eyed him. "Are you really that desperate?"
"Yes." He didn’t hesitate.
He had lived with it his whole life. This Bloodline Trait had shaped him, defined him, marked him as something apart. Something other. A stigma that had never faded. His curse.
"How desperate?" she asked quietly.
"Desperate enough to pay whatever price I must."
"Kael..." Taria whispered. She still didn’t know what kind of Bloodline he had, or why he was so desperate to remove it.
"Why are you so eager to get rid of it?" Nyra pressed. "It weakens your spells, sure. But you could work around that with shorter spell formations. They’ll cost more mana per cast, but it’s doable."
Kaedros stared wide-eyed as Nyra began explaining how she’d found spellbooks and Flow techniques that could amplify his spells. Her suggestions were valid but they didn’t solve the real problem.
Although with the Seed of Light of Annihilation he could overcome not advancing. The other aspect of the curse was still in him.
He appreciated Nyra’s help. He truly did. She had taken time to comb through her library for him. But his Trait wasn’t just about weakening spells.
It meant that if he ever fought someone of his own kind, another Noble Dragon, his strength would weaken dramatically. No matter how powerful he became, his attacks would be reduced. His physical power would falter. His magic flow would stutter. That was the true curse of his Bloodline Trait.
The curse that was transferred over to him.
The idea of finally removing it had lit a spark of hope in him but now, that hope flickered out.
He’d lived with this his whole life, even during his time in the Dragon City. Why had he believed it would ever change?
"Thank you, Nyra. I’m sure the spells you found will be useful," Kaedros said quietly. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She had genuinely tried to help.
It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t the system that had cursed him with the Trait of being "Lovely."
"You’re welcome," Nyra said, watching him carefully. "But you don’t look happy."
Kaedros tried to smile. It came out as a grimace. "I thought I’d finally be free of it."
"Wait," Taria said suddenly. "I’m guessing it was a research-based experiment, right? Can’t we find records from where they carried it out?"
"I mean, experiments always need documentation," Rauk added with a hopeful nod.
"Maybe," Nyra mused, then grinned sheepishly. "But I burned that place down a long time ago. It’s gone."
Taria’s shoulders slumped. She’d thought she had a solution. Instead, it was just another dead end.
Kaedros nodded slowly. Just my luck. My only lead... burned to ash.
"Well..." Nyra’s voice dropped. Her expression shifted into something more serious, almost reluctant. "There’s a way. A very hard way."