Chapter 136: Cracking Pieces
Training ended shortly before noon.
Eric was sprawled on the grass, complaining about his shoulder.
"You hit too hard."
Damien stood over him.
"You challenged me."
"I changed my mind."
"You lost."
"That part is irrelevant."
Sophia laughed while Luna gathered the training equipment.
Laura stayed behind.
She watched Noah walk toward the academy building.
Something about him had been bothering her since the tournament.
Not his strength.
Not the strange system readings.
Something more subtle.
He seemed present, yet occasionally his attention drifted somewhere none of them could follow.
Laura finally made up her mind.
"I’ll talk to him."
Sophia looked at her.
"About your past?"
Laura hesitated.
"Some of it."
Luna glanced toward Noah.
"Are you ready?"
"No."
Laura smiled faintly.
"But I can’t keep avoiding it."
She followed him.
Noah stopped at the end of the corridor.
"You’re following me."
Laura stopped.
"I was walking."
"Behind me."
"Coincidence."
He smiled.
"Sure."
Laura rolled her eyes.
"Can we talk?"
Noah leaned against the wall.
"About?"
"My family."
His expression became more attentive.
Laura looked toward the window.
"I didn’t leave home because I hated them."
Noah remained quiet.
"I had everything people think they want. Money. Status. Protection. A future already planned for me."
She paused.
"But I hated how little of that future belonged to me."
Noah listened.
"My family decided what I should study. Who I should meet. Where I should go."
Her fingers tightened slightly.
"They didn’t mean to hurt me. That’s what made it difficult. They genuinely believed they were doing what was best."
Noah looked at her.
"So you left."
"Yes."
"Just like that?"
Laura laughed softly.
"Not exactly."
She looked down.
"There were arguments."
"How bad?"
"Bad enough."
Noah didn’t push.
Laura appreciated that.
"There are still things I haven’t told you."
"I figured."
"You aren’t angry?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you don’t owe me your entire life story."
Laura looked at him.
For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
"You really are strange."
"So I’ve been told."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Thank you."
Noah nodded.
Laura started to walk away.
She stopped after a few steps.
"There is one thing I want you to know."
Noah waited.
"My family is more powerful than I made them sound."
She glanced back.
"Much more."
Noah’s expression remained calm.
"I believe you."
Laura smiled.
"That’s all for today."
She walked away.
Noah watched her disappear around the corner.
Inside his mind, Dead Zone spoke.
"She’s afraid."
Noah frowned.
"Of what?"
"Of being found."
Noah looked toward the window.
"By her family?"
Dead Zone didn’t answer.
That evening, Laura sat with Sophia and Luna.
She had expected to feel relieved.
Instead, she felt exposed.
"I told him."
Sophia smiled.
"Everything?"
"No."
"Some of it?"
"Yes."
Luna nodded.
"That’s enough."
Laura looked down.
"I still haven’t told him the most important part."
Sophia reached over and squeezed her hand.
"You will."
Laura looked toward the window.
The three moons were beginning to rise.
For a brief instant, she thought she saw something in the reflection.
A golden shape.
She blinked.
It was gone.
Laura frowned.
"Did you see that?"
Sophia looked up.
"See what?"
"Nothing."
She turned back toward the window.
The reflection showed only the three moons.
Yet somewhere beneath Hildgard, an ancient mechanism had begun to turn.
And for the first time in years, one of the city’s oldest seals moved.
The next morning, Hildgard’s streets looked unchanged.
That was becoming unsettling.
Laura had spent most of the previous night thinking about the strange reflection she’d seen.
A golden shape.
For less than a second.
She couldn’t decide whether it had actually been there.
By breakfast, she’d convinced herself it was nothing.
Until the floor moved.
Just slightly.
A cup on the table trembled.
Laura looked up.
Sophia noticed it too.
"Did you feel that?"
Luna nodded.
"Very small."
Eric looked around.
"Another earthquake?"
Damien shook his head.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Damien pointed toward the window.
"Look at the buildings."
The hanging signs outside were moving.
Not randomly.
They were swaying in the same direction.
Laura stood.
"That’s not an earthquake."
The movement stopped.
A few seconds later, the dining hall returned to normal.
Students began talking again.
Someone laughed.
Another person blamed construction.
Life continued.
But Laura couldn’t shake the feeling that something had just happened beneath their feet.
Later that afternoon, the group walked through the eastern district.
Noah had barely spoken since breakfast.
Eric eventually nudged him.
"You’ve been staring at the ground for ten minutes."
"I know."
"Why?"
Noah stopped.
"I felt something."
Damien looked at him.
"Mana?"
"No."
Noah crouched and placed his palm against the stone pavement.
Nothing happened.
He stood again.
"I’m not sure what it was."
Sophia looked around.
"Could it be connected to the bell?"
"Maybe."
Laura watched Noah carefully.
"Does Dead Zone know?"
Noah looked at her.
"You remember that?"
"You told me enough."
He smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
"What did it say?"
Noah’s expression became serious.
"It said something is moving."
Luna glanced toward the surrounding buildings.
"Something underground?"
"Probably."
Eric scratched his head.
"That’s reassuring."
Damien gave him a flat look.
"It wasn’t supposed to be."
They continued walking.
Nobody noticed the faint crack beneath the pavement behind them.
It was only a few centimeters long.
But deep beneath the stone, that crack continued downward.
That evening, Alcris returned to the abandoned building.
He entered the underground chamber and immediately noticed something different.
The three medallions were no longer lying flat.
They had risen several centimeters above the stone surface.
Alcris stopped.
"What happened?"
The medallions rotated slowly.
Balgard.
Sylthin.
Flaros.
A faint golden thread connected them.
Alcris approached cautiously.
The moment he reached toward Flaros, the woman’s voice returned.
"Not yet."
He froze.
"You’ve said that twice."
No answer.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Alcris’s patience thinned.
"You brought me here."
The golden thread brightened.
"You brought yourself."
Alcris stared at the medallions.
"What do you want?"
A pause.
"What you seek."
His eyes narrowed.
"Ragnarok."
The chamber became completely silent.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Alcris smiled.
"So you know."
The voice whispered again.
"I know what sleeps inside him."
Alcris’s smile disappeared.
"You mean Noah."
No response.
He looked toward the ceiling.
For the first time, uncertainty entered his thoughts.
If this entity could see inside Noah...
what else could it see?
The medallions suddenly dropped back onto the stone.
The golden light vanished.
Alcris stood alone.
Outside, Hildgard remained peaceful.
But beneath the city, the first seal had developed a hairline fracture.
And something on the other side had noticed.