CHAPTER 9 — The Excursion That Wasn’t in the Plan
Caelum had barely sat down when the murmur spread through the classroom.
It wasn’t the usual noise of students settling in, or the whisper of trivial conversations. It was something else—contained vibration, uncomfortable anticipation slipping between the benches like a cold current.
The instructor snapped his book shut with a dry thud.
“Attention,” he said. “Change of plans.”
That was enough to make the murmur swell.
Caelum lifted his gaze without moving his head. The fatigue from the previous night still weighed on him—not as physical exhaustion, but as a lingering tension that hadn’t fully drained.
“By direct order of academy command,” the instructor continued, “all first-cycle squads will conduct a reconnaissance excursion outside the immediate perimeter today.”
Several students exchanged looks. Some smiled. Others frowned.
“This is not a recreational outing,” he added. “It is an extended evaluation of behavior in semi-open terrain. There will be supervision by senior cadets and armed instructors.”
Something clicked inside Caelum’s mind with a hard, dry sound.
Too fast.
The previous night, the Sin of Envy’s human mole had died. Not even a full dawn had passed… and suddenly a mass excursion was being organized beyond the safe perimeter.
Not a coincidence.
The instructor kept speaking, but Caelum was already listening to something else: the rhythm of the enemy adjusting its plan.
“Squads will assemble in thirty minutes in the eastern courtyard,” the instructor concluded. “Senior cadets in charge—keep your groups in order.”
Benches scraped. The room filled with noise. Caelum rose with the others, blending in without drawing attention.
When he stepped into the hallway, he saw her.
Lyra walked toward him from the far end, reviewing an order tablet. She didn’t look up at first.
Focused.
Caelum instinctively slowed.
Not out of fear.
Out of control.
“Team 3,” Lyra said without stopping. “Immediate assembly. East courtyard.”
Darius raised his hand, excited.
“A real excursion?” he asked. “Finally something different!”
Lyra glanced at him.
“This isn’t a walk,” she replied. “And if anyone behaves like it is, they’ll come back carrying the wounded.”
The excitement died quickly.
Selene walked in silence, alert to everything. Bram looked nervous—but less than yesterday.
Caelum watched.
Lyra.
The other squads.
The instructors moving with more weapons than usual.
The eastern courtyard was packed when they arrived. Squads aligned, senior cadets distributed like control nodes, instructors patrolling the edges.
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This excursion wasn’t improvised.
It was a response.
“Mixed Squad 3,” Lyra ordered. “Tight formation. Maintain visual contact.”
Caelum took his position without argument.
Two meters from Lyra.
Exactly where she had placed him last time.
She wants me close.
She doesn’t know why… but she feels it.
The group moved with the rest of the squads. They left the academy perimeter through a secondary route, crossing a forested zone used for advanced drills.
The air was cool. The ground damp. The sky covered by low clouds.
Nothing seemed out of place.
And that was what bothered Caelum most.
“Keep pace,” Lyra ordered. “No stragglers.”
They advanced for nearly an hour without incident. Instructors gave minor corrections, pointed out landmarks, marked reference points.
Too calm.
Caelum felt the first fracture before anything visible happened.
A silence.
Not absolute.
Selective.
Birds stopped singing.
The wind continued, but it sounded hollow—as if it were passing through something denser than normal.
Caelum tightened his fingers.
Now.
The first explosion tore through the right flank.
It wasn’t magical.
It was mechanical.
Earth and shattered stone blasted upward, throwing two students to the ground. One screamed.
The other didn’t.
“Contact!” an instructor shouted. “Everyone to cover!”
Chaos spread like dry fire.
Armed figures surged between the trees. No insignias. Their movements were too clumsy for professional soldiers…
But far too determined to be simple bandits.
“They’re not beasts!” Selene shouted. “They’re moving with intent!”
Caelum saw it immediately.
They weren’t attacking military formations.
They were attacking people.
Clusters of students.
Less protected squads.
Zones where panic could multiply.
“Lyra!” Darius yelled. “We’re getting surrounded!”
Lyra reacted instantly.
“Defensive formation! Protect the wounded! Do not pursue!”
But the attackers weren’t trying to escape.
They were trying to provoke.
One of them threw a device toward a neighboring squad. The explosion was controlled, but enough to unleash screams and confusion. Two students fell with open wounds.
“This isn’t an exercise!” someone screamed.
Caelum felt cold slide down his spine.
Collateral damage.
The Sin of Envy was willing to pay any price.
An attacker appeared between the trees, aiming directly at Lyra. No shout. No hesitation.
Caelum moved before he could think.
He intercepted the strike with a lateral cut, diverting the impact into the ground. The blast shook the earth—but didn’t reach the squad.
Lyra snapped her head toward him.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Back to position!”
Caelum didn’t answer.
Because in that instant, he understood something with absolute clarity:
They won’t stop.
Not until they forced him to expose himself.
Another attack.
Another explosion.
A student collapsed with a leg wound, screaming in pain.
The instructors tried to regroup, but the attackers scattered, struck, withdrew. It wasn’t a battle.
It was a hunt.
Caelum looked at Lyra.
He watched her shield a wounded student. Watched her move fast—precise, decisive.
If I keep holding back…
The answer came instantly.
Caelum drew his sword.
The sound was almost inaudible.
But the moment steel cleared the sheath—
Everyone felt it.
It wasn’t a wave.
It wasn’t a roar.
It was a presence.
As if something enormous had stood up behind Caelum—unseen, unmanifested…
But occupying everything.
The attackers hesitated.
They didn’t know why.
They only knew something had changed.
Caelum stepped forward.
He didn’t run.
He didn’t shout.
He moved with the calm of someone who had already made an irreversible decision.
The first attacker tried to react.
Caelum pierced him with a direct thrust to the chest.
The body dropped without a sound.
The second raised his weapon.
Caelum turned his wrist and opened his throat with a clean cut.
Blood splashed over wet leaves.
The third tried to run.
Caelum threw his sword.
Not with rage.
With precision.
The body fell between the trees.
The forest went silent.
Not because the fight was over.
Because fear had changed owners.
The remaining attackers backed away. Some dropped their weapons. Others stared at Caelum as if they couldn’t understand what they were seeing.
There was no aura.
No markings.
No transformation.
Only that unbearable pressure in the chest.
Only that primal instinct screaming that they should not be here.
One attacker tried anyway.
Caelum blocked, disarmed, and slammed him down with a blunt strike.
Unconscious.
The rest fled.
Not in order.
They fled like animals who had realized—too late—that they had attacked something they couldn’t handle.
The pressure faded slowly.
Not all at once.
Like a storm retreating, leaving the air heavy, thick with fear.
Caelum wiped his blade.
Sheathed it.
And then the world returned.
Screams.
Orders.
Rushing footsteps.
Lyra approached.
Not with suspicion.
With something more dangerous.
“What was that…?” she asked quietly.
Caelum looked at her.
“Survival,” he replied.
Lyra studied him for several seconds.
She said nothing.
But there was something new in her expression.
Not doubt.
Not fear.
Respect.
And far away, in a darkness that wasn’t present…
The Sin of Envy stopped smiling.
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