Their second entrance into the coliseum felt different.There was no calm.No anticipation.
There were cheers.Applause for the "Terna Trio."The surprise from the last round had left an echo.
Elois waved at the crowd with a raised hand.Vex took deep breaths.Kaen… said nothing.
From the other side, their opponents appeared.
First came two boys from Terna.One trembled slightly as he walked.The other held his sword backward—without even noticing.
The audience laughed.
And then… the third walked in.
The air changed weight.
A young man with pale skin, jet-black hair slicked back perfectly, and eyes like carved emeralds.He carried a double-edged sword sheathed on his back.He walked with the ease of a predator that didn't need to run.
The crowd didn't cheer this time.
They whispered.
"Isn't that… the top-ranked Umbra student?" someone muttered.
Vex swallowed hard.
The difference was impossible to ignore.It was like seeing a tiger walking beside two scared housecats.
Still, the trio tried to keep their spirits up.
— "I'll do the same as before," Elois said, spinning his spear."Glorious formation."
— "No," Kaen said firmly."That guy's the problem. We take him down first."
Elois hesitated. But nodded.
The signal rang.
Kaen and Elois moved in such perfect sync that Vex stared for a second, stunned.
"Since when… are they like that?"
Kaen blocked a fast strike, spinning to the left.
— "Vex! Get ready!"
Vex raised his bow.Drew the string.
"It's not about force. It's harmony. Like reaching for a glass…"
And then—
— "Now!"
He released.
The arrow flew perfectly. Silent. Aimed right at the Umbra's chest.
It would've hit—
—if he hadn't used Kaen as a shield.
The Umbra shoved Kaen forward, blocking the arrow with his teammate's body.Kaen cried out in pain.At the same time, Elois was sent flying six meters back by a brutal spinning kick.
Vex froze.
Elois couldn't stand.Kaen struggled to stay conscious, barely holding himself up by the weight of his trident.
The Umbra grabbed him by the neck.And with inhuman strength—slammed him into the ground.
Then used Kaen's body to block another arrow from Vex.
— "No…!" Vex backed away.He fired again.Missed.
A third shot—sliced midair, broken by the Umbra's sword like it was nothing.
That was the final drop.
"Is this… helplessness?"
The Umbra turned to face him.Crossed the battlefield without rushing.
When he stood before Vex, the archer could barely move.The boy's gaze was that of an animal with ancient hatred.
— "Trash," he whispered.
Then kicked him—hard—straight in the chest.
Vex went down.No time to block.The pain hit immediately.A snap in his arm.A scream he didn't know he could make.A burn that blurred one eye.
"Why…? Why so much rage?"
The Umbra stabbed his sword into the ground—
Right next to Vex's head.
"Match over.Winners: Umbra–Terna team."
The announcement rang like a gunshot.
Vex didn't hear the applause.He didn't see them walk away.
All he felt were the tears—mixed with sweat, with blood… and shame.
"Why are we this weak?""Why did we have to start so low?""Why do they… have so much… and we… nothing?"
It was the first time he felt what true defeat was.
Not just losing—Being crushed.
And he passed out.
He woke up in a white bed, in the infirmary.
The ceiling was flat.Too flat.Like the silence.
His arm was wrapped in rune bandages.The pain had lessened… but it wasn't gone.
In front of him, sitting against the wall, was Elois.He had a tired, forced smile. One eye still swollen.
— "You alive?" he asked, like it was a joke.
— "Barely," Vex muttered.
— "In case you forgot—we lost. But hey, at least we survived with some dignity...I think."
Silence.
— "Kaen?" Vex asked, turning slowly.
— "Gone. First to leave. Didn't say a word.Just walked out. Like always."
— "…Yeah."
Vex sat up, slowly.His body hurt less than his soul.
— "I'm going for a walk. You coming?"
Elois hesitated.
— "Later. I need to… make sure my organs are still in place," he tried to joke, but his voice trembled.
Vex said nothing more.He just walked out.
The park was nearly empty.
The twin moons, Serya and Thalos, bathed the paths in a dual glow.Vex walked without direction.
"Was that… our best?""Is that all we are?"
He thought of his mother's face.Of Jeremy.Of the promise he made—to not be a coward.
And still… he couldn't even stand up to one single person.
"I have to get stronger.""Not for glory. Not for a name.""But because… if I fall like that again, I won't get back up."
He entered the personal training room.
It was already occupied.
Kaen.
Bloody hands.Repeating the same strike against a reinforced column—Over and over.
He didn't look up.
— "You okay?" Vex asked quietly.
— "Why wouldn't I be?"
Cold.Flat.Not a single pause in his movement.
Vex didn't reply.He just walked to the back.
Stood before the target stand.Drew the bow.
Shot.Missed.
Took a deep breath.Drew again.
Missed again.
But he didn't stop.
He wouldn't stop.
Because a stone that starts at the bottom…can still break mountains.
It just has to be sharpened.
And that night…no one saw them cry.No one applauded.No one offered a hand.
All that remained was the echo of those who were still no one.
And yet—they were still there.