The curtain rustled faintly as the medic stepped in, clipboard in hand. His coat was too big for his shoulders. He didn't look like someone who'd stitched battlefield wounds… but the way he exhaled told otherwise.
Doctor:
> "You've got multiple minor injuries—cuts, bruises, mild internal strain…"
He paused, flipping a page.
Then his expression darkened.
Doctor:
> "But the most serious one is…"
He looked up slowly.
Doctor:
> "Your left arm." "Severe burns. Multiple fractures. Tissue damage."
He stepped closer, pulling Katrina's chart down with a grim frown.
Doctor:
> "A normal person would've fainted from the pain hours ago."
Katrina blinked, unfazed.
Katrina:
> "It hurt. A little, for sure." She glanced at the IV bag. "But after the painkillers, it's fine."
The doctor sighed, mumbled something about "maniacs with lightning toys," and stepped out.
Katrina sat back in the bed, arm bandaged heavily, hair tied in a messy bun. She stared at the ceiling.
Katrina (mind):
> "100% recoil… it really was overkill."
---
[Scene: Ashen's House – Late Evening]
Wooden spoons clinked. Steam floated above the rice pot. Lira placed the final dish—vegetable curry—with a satisfied hum.
Lira:
> "Ashen, sweetie, where's your teacher?" "She couldn't have dinner with us?"
Ashen's hand froze halfway to his mouth.
A single drop of sweat rolled down his temple.
He forced a smile.
Ashen:
> "Ah—she went to… the guild! Yep." "She went to the guild. For something."
Lira glanced up from her plate. Her eyes narrowed—not full suspicion, but that motherly hunch was definitely there.
Lira:
> "Mm. At night?"
Ashen (nervous chuckle):
> "Yep. Super normal for adventurers. Paperwork… and stuff."
She didn't press further.
---
[Flashback – Earlier That Day]
Katrina, cloak draped over her burnt arm, stopped near the edge of the neighborhood path. Her breath was steady but sharp, like she was holding back everything from winces to warcries.
She crouched beside Ashen, eye-level.
Katrina:
> "Listen, kid." "Don't tell your parents. Especially your mom. About the fight."
Ashen blinked.
Katrina:
> "You do, and you can kiss your training goodbye. They'll never let you out of the house again."
Ashen nodded, serious.
Internally:
> "Of course. I'm smart enough." "What does she think I am? A 4-year-old?" "I'm almost 30 when you count both my lives…"
Then realization hit him.
Ashen (out loud):
> "Wait—that means you'll actually train me?!"
But—
> She was gone.
Gone like wind over water.
Ashen stared at the spot she'd been.
Ashen:
> "…Shit. I was too late to ask the details."
---
[Back at Dinner]
Ashen picked up a chunk of potato with his spoon, muttering to himself.
Ashen:
> "I never got to ask about that mana-test results. I hope she hasnt rejected me."
Lira raised an eyebrow.
Ashen (quickly):
> "I said the curry is amazing!"
Lira kept watching him.
The night went on—quiet, warm, and full of tension no one but a lightning-burned woman and a reincarnated kid truly understood.
Meanwhile.
> SNORE— A deep, rumbling wheeze rattled through the old guild quarters like thunder trapped in a box.
Katrina stood just outside the door, arms crossed, bandages wrapped all the way up her left side. Her face was blank, but her eye twitched.
Katrina (muttering):
> "Geez. The old man's snoring got worse again… is he breathing through gravel?"
She raised a hand.
> Knock. No response.
> Knock knock. Still nothing.
Katrina:
> "Okay. Cool. Fine."
She stepped back.
> BAM!
The wooden door exploded open as Katrina slammed it inward—with her right hand, since the left one still looked like it was barbecued.
Madhav shot up in bed, eyes wide.
Madhav:
> "WHAT??"
He blinked.
Katrina, standing in the doorway, looked like she'd crawled out of a warzone and showered in mana sparks.
Madhav (softer, now awake):
> "…Child. What happened?"
Katrina:
> "That's why I'm here."
---
[Scene: Forest Clearing – Just Before Dawn]
> The mist had thinned. The trees stood silent. Dew shimmered across torn grass and broken bark.
In the very same spot Katrina and Zoteb had clashed, the assassin was still there—restrained by some magic item, which looked like handcuffs.
His limbs wouldn't move.
But his eyes were very much awake.
Zoteb (out loud, dryly):
> "I would hate to die as some wild animal's breakfast."
A voice rang out from the fog.
Familiar. Tired. Disgusted.
Katrina (from afar):
> "Even wild animals have standards." "They wouldn't eat you."
> Footsteps.
Two silhouettes emerged.
Katrina. And beside her—Madhav.
But this wasn't the laughing, sleepy old man from the guild. This was Madhav the Guild Master.
> His walk alone radiated wrath.
Madhav reached Zoteb.
No questions.
Just—
> CRACK!
A kick to the face.
Zoteb's body flying dozens of yards backward like a launched sack of rice.
He coughed. Loudly.
Katrina groaned.
Katrina:
> "Oi. Don't kill him." "We need intel. And you're making us walk all the way over there again."
Madhav didn't answer. Just turned and walked off like it was part of a daily chore.
---
[Scene: Next Morning – Whisper's Light Guild Hall]
> A man, bound to a reinforced iron chair, chains humming with mana-lock seals. Face bruised. One eye swollen. Shirt ripped open at the shoulder.
Alex Zoteb.
He looked like a rogue character off-script.
Across from him stood five members of Whisper's Light.