The Talentless Boy Who Challenged the Devil

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PRICE OF WEAKNESS

Kael knew something was wrong the moment he saw his mother.

The academy had surprisingly granted his request when he told them he wanted to visit.

Clara stood outside their small house with a wooden crate balanced against her hip, her shoulders trembling beneath its weight. A strip of dirty cloth was wrapped around her left wrist, and her face had grown thinner since his last visit.

His younger brother was beside her, struggling to drag a sack across the courtyard.

Neither of them noticed him approaching.

Then the crate slipped.

His mother gasped as it struck the ground, scattering metal components across the dirt.

“Careful, woman!” a man barked. “Do you think those things grow on trees?”

Kael stopped.

The man wore a dark uniform bearing the silver crest of House Veyr, one of the influential families whose members occupied the highest ranks in the academy. He held a glowing rod in one hand and a ledger in the other.

His mother immediately bent to gather the scattered components.

“I am sorry, sir. My wrist is injured. I will finish the work.”

“You said that an hour ago.”

“I only need a little more time.”

“You have already been given more time than your household deserves.”

The man raised the glowing rod.

Kael moved before he could think.

“Don't touch her!”

The words tore from his throat as he crossed the courtyard.

His mother looked up.

For a moment, relief flooded her face. Then she saw the anger in his expression, and the relief disappeared.

“Kael,” she whispered. “No.”

He ignored her.

His eyes were fixed on the rod in the man's hand.

“What happened to her wrist?”

The official looked him over, then laughed.

“So the academy has finally returned you. I thought they might have discovered a use for you by now.”

Kael's jaw tightened.

“I asked you a question.”

“And I have no obligation to answer a talentless boy.”

The official struck the ground with his rod. A pulse of red light spread across the courtyard, rattling the windows and forcing Kael's brother to stumble backwards.

Kael recognized the spell.

Even the weakest recognized talents could produce magical force. The official's ability was probably several ranks above that.

Kael had no powers. Not even the faintest spark during his sixteen years of life.

But he had watched his mother work until her fingers bled.

 He had watched his brother skip meals to save food for the family. He had watched people with expensive clothes and powerful talents walk through their courtyard as though the family were part of the dirt beneath their feet.

He was done watching.

“Whatever debt my family owes, I'll work it off,” Kael said. “Leave them alone.”

The official raised an eyebrow.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“You couldn't survive a three-minute assessment at the academy, and now you want to negotiate with me?”

Kael's stomach twisted. How come he knows? 

News travelled quickly when it could be used to humiliate someone.

The official opened his ledger and tapped a line with his finger.

“Your household was assigned additional labor following your failure to meet the academy's preliminary standards. That decision was made in accordance with regional regulations.”

“My family wasn't the one being assessed.”

“Your family benefits from your status. They also suffer from it. That is how the system works.”

“That isn't fair.”

The man's smile vanished.

“Fairness is a privilege granted to those who have earned it.”

He moved towards Kael's mother.

Kael caught his arm.

The courtyard went silent.

His mother dropped the remaining components.

“Kael, let go!”

“For the love of Astraveth, please!” Her mom cried, but Kael wasn't even listening.

The official stared at the hand gripping his sleeve.

Then he turned slowly.

“You have made a very foolish mistake.”

Red light flashed.

Kael was thrown across the courtyard. His back struck the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs. Before he could recover, the official seized his collar and dragged him upright.

“You think attending Veylcrest makes you equal to people like me?”

Kael struggled against his grip.

The official slammed him against the wall again.

“Arghhhhhhh!!!”

Pain burst through Kael's shoulders. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he couldn't hear anything except the pounding of his heart.

Through the haze, he saw his younger brother rushing towards them.

The official flicked his free hand.

A pulse of magic sent the boy sprawling.

“NO!”

Kael's cry ripped through the courtyard.

He stopped struggling.

His brother lay on the ground, clutching his injured arm. Their mother hurried towards him, tears running down her cheeks.

Something inside Kael broke.

The last fragile belief that hard work alone would eventually make people treat his family like human beings.

The official released him with a look of disgust.

“Your next labor assignment will be delivered tomorrow. Fail to complete it, and your household will lose its residential privileges.”

He turned towards the gate.

“And boy?”

Kael slowly lifted his head.

“Next time you grab someone above your station, make sure you possess the strength to survive the consequences.”

The gate slammed behind him.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then Kael's mother hurried to his side.

“Why would you do that?” she whispered, pressing a trembling hand against his cheek. “Why can't you just stay out of trouble?”

Kael stared at her.

Her voice cracked.

“Every time you fight them, they make things worse for us.”

He wanted to tell her that he was sorry. He wanted to promise that it would never happen again.

But the words would not come.

Because he had done everything he could think of, and it still hadn't been enough.

He had entered the academy believing that admission was the beginning of a better life.

Now he understood the truth.

A place inside the academy meant nothing if he remained too weak to protect the people waiting outside its gates.

---

Kael stayed until evening, helping his mother finish the work that had been assigned to her.

His shoulder hurt whenever he lifted a crate, and his ribs ached with every breath. But he ignored both.

His younger brother sat nearby, his injured arm wrapped in fresh cloth.

“Will you really become strong enough to stop them?” the boy asked.

Kael paused.

He could have lied.

He could have promised that the academy would make him powerful, that he would awaken a talent soon, that nobody would ever touch their family again.

Instead, he looked at his hands.

“I don't know.”

His brother's face fell.

Kael swallowed.

“But I'm going to find a way.”

His mother watched him from the doorway. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but she turned away before he could read her expression.

That hurt more than he expected.

She had always believed in him. Even when the other children awakened their talents, even when the neighbors began whispering, even when the academy rejected his application, she had insisted that his time would come.

Now she was afraid to hope.

Kael could not blame her.

Before leaving, he knelt beside his brother and adjusted the cloth around his arm.

“Next time I come home,” he said quietly, “things will be different.”

His brother nodded.

Kael rose and walked towards the gate.

He did not look back until he reached the road. He couldn't.

His mother was still standing in the doorway.

For a moment, their eyes met.

Then she raised a hand.

Kael raised his own and continued walking, carrying a promise he had no idea how to fulfil.

---

The beast training grounds smelled of damp earth and burning crystal.

Kael arrived the following morning to find several instructors gathered around a circular enclosure. Iron pillars surrounded the area, each engraved with glowing runes that formed a containment barrier. Beyond them, a large creature paced restlessly across the ground.

Its body resembled that of a wolf, but it stood nearly as tall as a horse. Dark scales covered its shoulders, and pale blue markings pulsed beneath its skin. Two curved horns swept backwards from its skull.

A Frostfang.

Kael had seen illustrations of them in the academy's public library. They were classified as mid-tier magical beasts, intelligent enough to recognize threats and powerful enough to tear through an ordinary soldier.

Today, the academy was using one to demonstrate creature restraint.

“Keep your distance from the barrier,” an instructor ordered. “The creature is agitated, and we have not completed the stabilisation process.”

Kael had been assigned to carry equipment for the handlers. Nobody had bothered to explain the procedure to him.

He placed the crate beside the enclosure and stepped back.

Suddenly, the Frostfang stopped pacing.

Its ears flattened, and a low growl rolled through the training grounds.

One of the handlers tightened his grip on the restraint chain.

“What's wrong with it?”

“Keep the stabilisers active,” another instructor replied. “It,s magical output is fluctuating.”

Blue light surged beneath the creature's scales.

The Frostfang struck the ground with its forepaws.

The barrier shuddered.

Students backed away as the runes along the iron pillars flickered.

“Reinforce the western anchor!” someone shouted.

Two handlers rushed towards the nearest pillar, pressing their palms against the runes. Their talents illuminated the enclosure as they channelled energy into the barrier.

For a moment, the light steadied.

Then the Frostfang screamed.

The sound was so sharp that Kael felt it behind his eyes.

The creature lunged towards the western side of the enclosure, and the barrier cracked.

A burst of blue energy tore across the ground, throwing one handler backwards. The western anchor shattered, and the containment field collapsed.

“Everyone back!”

The Frostfang surged through the opening.

Students scattered in every direction.

One stumbled and fell. Another froze in place until an instructor seized his collar and dragged him away. Magical attacks struck the creature's scales, but the blasts only enraged it further.

Kael backed towards the equipment crates.

He couldn't run, something about the creature's movements caught his attention.

It was not attacking the nearest people indiscriminately. Each time someone released a burst of magic, the Frostfang twisted towards the source. 

Its claws tore through the ground as it lunged at the glowing weapons and enchanted barriers.

Then it turned towards Kael and he stopped breathing immediately.

The creature lowered its head, its pale eyes fixed on him.

Kael could hear the instructors shouting behind him. He could hear the pounding of his own heart.

Yet beneath all that noise, another sensation stirred.

It was faint at first, like a pressure building behind his forehead.

Then came something he could not explain.

Fear from the creature.

Kael stared at it.

The Frostfang's muscles remained tense, its claws digging into the earth. Its mouth opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth, but the feeling pressing against Kael's mind did not resemble the hunger or aggression he expected.

It felt trapped.

Terrified.

And furious that nobody understood why.

“Kael, move!” an instructor screamed.

The Frostfang charged.

Kael's body refused to respond.

The creature closed the distance in a heartbeat, its claws tearing up the ground. 

He saw the blue light beneath its scales flare, saw its horns lower towards his chest.

Then the creature began charging towards him with full force.