"Who are you?" Aeneas asked, his voice like a drawn blade, as Kallen stepped clear of the smoke.

"I'm new here," Kallen replied, awkwardly. He hadn't thought through an introduction. He looked at the pair, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible.

"Call me Kallen," he added a beat later. If the Crimson family was searching for him, leaving breadcrumbs might help them find him.

"You just got here?" Aeneas asked, tone suspicious and still sharp.

"Yes. Menelaus brought me today," Kallen answered.

"How so?"

Kallen hesitated. Was he supposed to say he'd been kidnapped?

"I'm Yula," the girl behind Aeneas said quietly, stepping halfway out from his shadow.

Aeneas's pupils constricted.

"Hello, Yula," Kallen greeted her with a smile, warm and disarming. He could tell she was timid, shy and soft-spoken, perhaps more open.

"What are you doing?" Aeneas turned his head, scolding her softly.

"Uhm…" She shrank back, looking down. "He's just a kid. A human kid."

The last part came out like a whisper, like she didn't want to offend Kallen by acknowledging what he was. Her tone was almost apologetic.

Aeneas didn't respond right away. His sword hand twitched, uncertain.

"I see you've created a disturbance again," a new voice cut through the air.

From the tunnel's entrance, Democles strode in, expression unreadable, but gaze sharp. His eyes found Kallen, and narrowed like a blade narrowing to a point.

"You might want to stay away from that human," Democles said, voice calm but cold. "He's dangerous."

Aeneas didn't need a second warning. He pulled Yula behind him and stepped back immediately. The unease he felt earlier flared into something colder. Democles' words only confirmed what his instincts screamed.

Kallen said nothing. He simply sighed, low and quiet. It was impossible to tell what was going through his head.

"Dangerous?" Aeneas asked, eyeing Democles now with more weight.

The young orc was unusual—lean and lanky compared to most of his kind, less brawn and more brains—but his instincts had always been sharp. He gripped his sword a little tighter.

"Mmh," Democles hummed, his cold, vigilant eyes fixed on Kallen. "Nestor," he spat through clenched teeth. He knew Aeneas had a good heart—so it was best to poison it against the human right away.

"Nestor? Wha..." Aeneas suddenly shivered. His grip on his short sword tightened, his eyes turning ice cold as he instinctively shoved Yula entirely behind him, shielding her with his body.

"What about Nestor?" He asked darkly.

Democles didn't reply only shaking his head, but that was more than enough for Aeneas to tremble.

"That's why your father was mad earlier?"

Democles' face also darkened considerably and he nodded with clenched teeth.

Kallen sighed again. He knew the situation was unraveling fast—and there was no point in lingering around.

He turned and began walking back to the chamber. The smoke was half cleared now, filtering through vents and hidden gaps in the structure.

Aeneas moved to follow him, but Democles stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You should take her home," he said, glancing at Yula. "…Your girl. Until Father decides what to do."

Aeneas opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and gave a stiff nod. He turned, pulling Yula gently by the wrist.

As they walked away, Yula kept glancing over her shoulder—watching Kallen until he vanished into the shadows of the passageway.

Democles watched them both disappear beyond the tunnel, and he entire gait changed becoming very calm and composed.

His mind instead, was on Yula.

"I don't understand why Father allows him to bring her here… or why she's even still alive. She's a danger to this place. After all he said so himself... no other orc can know of this place."

---

"I see..." Kallen muttered inwardly as Democles walked past him into a room and shut the door.

Unbeknownst to the orc, Kallen had been there the entire time.

[Trait(s): Regeneration, Illusion]

[Illusion: With your Will, create illusions and mirages, with already present, distortions in the atmosphere]

What they had seen was nothing more than an illusion—an image of him walking away toward his room. The real Kallen had never moved.

It was his first time using the skill, so he dared not make even the slightest noise. Every breath, every heartbeat was controlled. He poured all his focus into maintaining the mirage.

It was good that the smoke was enough distortion in the air for him to use this trait.

And it worked... almost perfectly.

Almost.

What unnerved him was Yula.

Just before she and Aeneas turned into the tunnel, her gaze had remained on his retracting figure. However, at the last second, her eyes shifted—right to where he stood. Not where the illusion had gone.

Right at him.

For the briefest of moments, their eyes locked.

He wasn't sure if she saw him, or just felt him. Or maybe it was a complete coincidence.

But the intensity of that glance was something else.

And still, he smiled.

There was something about her; timid yet perceptive. She could become a valuable piece on the board… or maybe just someone interesting to talk to.

Slowly, others began to trickle into the rest chamber.

Kallen, now more confident with the use of his trait, slipped through the shifting shadows and flickering light gems.

This time, he walked back to his room for real, masking his presence like a whisper in the wind, shadows curling softly around his steps.

He returned to his room in silence, shutting the door with a soft thud behind him. There would be no rest—not yet.

It was time to train. He still had the Pathfinder quest to complete.

Until it was time to act again, he would keep sharpening himself in the shadows.

He wasn't banking on the Crimson family to come for him. When the pieces were aligned, when the time was right—he would return to them on his own terms.

Still, he missed it.

The training grounds back in the Crimson Castle...

The polished sparring halls, the layered drills, the focused atmosphere...

But most of all, he missed the gravity chamber—that intense crucible that tempered both body and spirit. It was the best for speed running his quest.

Nothing here could compare.

No equipment. No structured challenge.

Just him.

His body had already adapted entirely to the overwhelming challenge of the pressure suit, so his stats were still shooting upwards. But it wasn't enough he needed it to be faster.

So, he'd improvise.

He took a breath, settling into a stance.

Shadow boxing, from the technique of the limit breaking physique, would have to do for now.

His mind wandered briefly as he threw a clean jab into the air, followed by a sharp cross.

'More so... this place is a forge, right?'

A thoughtful glint lit his eyes. Perhaps there were ways to turn the forging equipments of this hidden place into fuel for his future.

He kept throwing punches, each one tighter, sharper.

'It'll have to work.'