Heat in the Dark

Chapter 4

The next afternoon Erix went straight to the old storage building after classes. Shota and Kael came with him. Lira was already there, sitting on the same crate with her notebook open.

She looked up when they entered. “You brought friends.”

“They’re quiet,” Erix said. “And they won’t talk.”

Lira studied Shota and Kael for a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Just don’t make noise that brings instructors.”

They trained for almost two hours.

Shota corrected Erix’s footing. Kael showed him how to fall without hurting himself. Lira kept pointing out small mistakes in his balance. Erix listened and repeated every movement until his arms and legs burned.

The strange hunger grew stronger the harder he worked. The ache in his chest came and went like a second heartbeat. Once, when he pushed himself to climb the wall faster than before, the pain flared so sharp he almost blacked out. He gritted his teeth and finished the climb anyway.

When they finally stopped, Erix sat on the floor dripping with sweat. His twenty points still sat on his card, but he had spent five more on water and a cheap protein bar. Fifteen left.

Lira closed her notebook. “You’re improving. Not fast enough to catch the high ranks, but faster than most F-ranks.”

Erix wiped his face. “It has to be enough.”

Shota handed him a towel. “Ren hasn’t shown up today. That worries me more than if he had.”

Kael leaned against the wall. “He’s planning something. People like him don’t let a public loss go.”

They left the building just before the evening bell. The path back to the dorms was quiet. Too quiet.

Halfway there, five students stepped out from behind the corner of the dining hall. Ren stood in the middle. Two of his usual friends were with him, plus two older-looking students Erix had never seen.

Ren smiled. “Evening training? How cute.”

Erix stopped. Shota and Kael moved slightly closer to him. Lira stayed a step behind, watching.

Ren cracked his knuckles. “No instructors around this time. No cameras either. Perfect.”

One of the older students stepped forward. He was taller than Ren and wore a B-rank badge as well. “We heard an F-rank has been getting ideas. Thought we should remind him where he belongs.”

Erix’s chest ached again. He forced his voice to stay calm. “You already tried taking my points. It didn’t work.”

Ren’s smile widened. “This isn’t about points anymore.”

He nodded.

The two older students moved first.

Shota stepped in front of Erix and blocked the first punch. Kael grabbed the second student’s arm and twisted him away. Lira pulled Erix back by his sleeve.

“Run,” she said under her breath. “They’re not here to talk.”

Erix didn’t run.

He ducked under a swing from one of Ren’s friends and shoved the boy hard into the wall. Pain shot through his own shoulder, but he stayed on his feet. The strange feeling in his chest surged. For a second his arms felt stronger than they should have.

Ren came at him next.

Erix raised his guard the way Kael had shown him. Ren’s fist still got through and slammed into his ribs. Air left Erix’s lungs. He stumbled but did not fall.

Shota knocked one of the older students down. Kael had the other in a hold. Lira kicked the back of a friend’s knee and sent him sprawling.

It was five against four, and the fight was messy and fast.

A shout came from the far end of the path.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Two second-year students and a junior instructor were running toward them.

Ren’s face changed instantly. He stepped back and raised his hands.

“Just a disagreement,” he called out. “No one is hurt.”

The instructor reached them, breathing hard. His eyes moved over the group—scuffed uniforms, red marks on faces, Erix holding his side.

“Names. Now.”

Everyone gave their names. The instructor wrote them down with a tight mouth.

“Fighting on academy grounds without supervision. All of you will lose points. Ten each. And you will report for extra cleaning duty tomorrow morning.”

Ren looked furious but said nothing.

Erix checked his card later in the dorm. Fifteen points had become five.

Shota sat on his bed with a bruise forming on his cheek. Kael had a cut on his knuckle. Lira stood near the door, arms crossed.

“You should have run,” she said to Erix.

“I know,” he answered. “But I’m tired of running.”

She looked at him for a long moment, then sighed. “Next time at least have a better plan.”

After she left, the room stayed quiet.

Erix lay on his bed and pressed a hand to his ribs. They hurt, but the deeper ache in his chest felt different now—stronger, more awake.

He had lost ten points. He had a bruise that would last days. Ren had more friends than he first thought.

But for the first time, Erix had fought back.

And the thing waking up inside him seemed to like that.