Trinity of Magic

Zeke's eyes opened slowly, the lingering regret still fresh in his mind. This had been his chance to learn more about his enemy without risking himself—yet the dream had ended too soon. Still, there was no use dwelling on it. He was back in reality, and the present took precedence over everything else.

Instinctively, he moved to eject his Soul, keeping up the facade of nonchalance he had settled on. But before he could follow through, something gave him pause. Unlike before, when the loss of his—no, Cal's—friends had torn him apart, he now felt surprisingly… fine.

It wasn't that he felt happy, but neither did his heart ache. If anything, he felt strangely numb—almost indifferent to the experience.

Zeke usually wasn't the type to question good fortune when it came his way, but this sudden shift made him wary. He hadn't spent nearly enough time in his final dream to justify overcoming such a devastating loss. By his own estimation, it should have taken days to regain even a semblance of normalcy. Yet somehow, it had happened in an instant.

He examined his emotions—or rather, his lack of them—with careful scrutiny. He replayed the scenes in his mind, recalling each moment as his party members were crushed by the fledgling dragon. Yet, even as he relived those painful memories, there was nothing. No pain, no sorrow, no longing. It was as if those events held no meaning for him at all.

He felt disturbingly detached, as though he were hearing about the fate of complete strangers rather than people he had fought beside. He didn't care—not even a little. And that realization sent a chill down his spine.

It reminded him of the way the devourer had thought.

Zeke's blood froze. Could it be? Had merging his mind with the Devourer stripped him of his ability to feel? It was a fate too cruel to even imagine. However, he could not rule the possibility out, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. He had feared that there would be some price to pay for this, but he didn't expect it to be this steep.