The Talentless Boy Who Challenged the Devil

CHAPTER SEVEN: PERHAPS THERE'S A TALENT?

Across the training grounds, a barrier surrounding one of the larger enclosures flickered violently.

And blue runes flashed along the stone pillars before several went dark at once.

A deep roar shook the trees.

The enormous creature Kael had heard earlier slammed its body against the enclosure.

And that particular barrier fractured.

"Everyone back!" an instructor shouted.

A second impact sent magical energy rippling across the ground. 

Students struggled to stand, but they kept stumbling as the protective field buckled, and a violent surge of power burst from the damaged pillars.

Then the barrier collapsed.

And immediately, the creature surged through the opening.

It was a Frostfang just like the other time, a beast with the body of an enormous wolf, scaled shoulders, pale blue markings along its flanks, and two curved horns that swept backward from its skull.

 It stood nearly as tall as a horse, and its claws tore deep furrows into the earth as it charged.

The nearest instructors reacted immediately.

"Containment formation!"

"Clear the eastern path!"

"Get the students behind the inner barrier!"

Magical weapons appeared in their hands. Runes ignited beneath their feet as several instructors formed a line to intercept the beast.

But the Frostfang did not retreat.

It struck the ground with its forelegs, releasing a pulse of freezing energy that spread across the grass. One instructor raised a shield just in time, while another was thrown sideways into a crystal formation.

Students screamed.

The orderly assessment dissolved into chaos.

"Move!" someone shouted.

Kael grabbed his recording slate and ran with the others.

A second shock wave struck the ground.

The students scattered in different directions, and the crowd pushed Kael away from the main path. 

He stumbled over a fallen branch, caught himself against a stone pillar, and looked up just as a section of the outer railing collapsed.

The Frostfang was no longer facing the instructors.

It had turned toward the students.

His heart hammered against his ribs as he raced down the ground, glancing over his shoulder. 

The ground beneath his feet became slick with frost. He barely managed to avoid a patch of frozen grass before a heavy impact shook the earth behind him.

The creature was following him.

Why?

There were dozens of students in the area. Several were carrying weapons, and others had already activated their talents. 

He had nothing. No magical weapon, no defensive ability, not even the strength to withstand a single direct strike.

He was the easiest target.

And yet, when he glanced over his shoulder again, he noticed something that made his blood run cold.

The Frostfang was not moving like a predator chasing prey.

Its movements were uneven. It kept turning its head toward the damaged enclosure, then swinging back toward the students. 

Its claws dug into the earth as though it were struggling against something invisible.

It looked furious, but beneath the fury was fear.

The sensation struck Kael so suddenly that he nearly lost his footing.

It was the same strange feeling he had experienced during the earlier incident with the Frostfang. Only this time, it was impossible to ignore.

The creature's fear pressed against his mind.

Its agitation flooded his chest.

And beneath both emotions lay something else that was more important. It was recognition.

Kael became more confused.

He did not understand how he could sense any of this. He had never been able to read another person's thoughts, much less understand the feelings of a magical creature. 

Yet the sensation was so clear that denying it felt like denying the pounding of his own heart.

The Frostfang lowered its head.

Kael saw its muscles tighten.

A burst of freezing energy tore through the space where he had been standing and struck the stone wall behind him. 

The impact shattered a section of the surface, sending fragments flying across the ground.

Kael hit the earth hard.

Pain shot through his shoulder.

For a moment, he could not move.

And the Frostfang turned toward him.

Its pale eyes fixed on his face.

Kael scrambled backward, his heart hammering so violently that he could barely hear the chaos around him.

He searched desperately for an escape route, but the broken railing had trapped him between a stone wall and a narrow passage blocked by fallen debris.

There was nowhere to run.

The creature took a step closer.

Kael's fingers curled against the dirt.

He could not defeat it.

He could not even defend himself.

But the strange sensation had not disappeared.

He could feel the creature's fear growing sharper, almost painful. 

It was clearly afraid of him.

The Frostfang snarled.

Kael flinched, but he forced himself to remain still.

"You're scared too," he whispered.

The words sounded ridiculous even to him.

And the beast's ears twitched.

Kael's heart skipped.

He did not know whether it understood him. He did not know whether the response meant anything at all.

 But for one impossible second, the Frostfang stopped advancing.

Its gaze shifted toward the shattered enclosure.

The instant its attention moved, Kael understood the Frostfang's body tensed again, and the strange pressure in Kael's mind surged.

This time, he did not wait for the feeling to become clearer.

He pushed himself to his feet and moved toward the narrow opening beside the broken railing. 

The creature lunged, but instead of running directly away, Kael threw himself behind a fallen crystal pillar.

The creature's horns struck the stone.

The impact sent a tremor through the ground.

“What the hell does he think he's doing?” A student muttered through the railing; everyone now stood, watching.

Watching him.

Back at the grounds, Kael forced himself through the opening, scraping his arm against the jagged edge. 

He emerged on the other side just as the creature tore free and swung around.

For one terrible moment, their eyes met.

The Frostfang could have charged again. Instead, it stared at him.

Its nostrils flared. Frost curled around its claws, and its pale markings brightened beneath its scales.

Kael felt a fleeting sensation of recognition too; it was strange and intimate, and it left him dizzy.

Then an instructor's binding spell struck the creature, and it finally collapsed.

Silence spread through the immediate area, broken only by the groans of injured students and the crackling of damaged magical barriers.

Kael stood frozen beside the fallen pillar.

His hands were shaking.

He looked down at them, almost expecting to find magical energy gathering around his fingers.

But there was nothing. Maybe he kept his hopes too high.

Yet he could still feel the fading echo of the Frostfang's fear.

"Kael!"

Instructor Riven hurried toward him.

The moment he arrived, he seized Kael by the shoulders and examined him for injuries.

Riven pressed a hand against the injured area. A faint blue light spread beneath his palm, easing the sharpest edge of the pain.

"What happened here?"

"The creature followed me."

"That much is obvious. Why did it stop attacking?"

Kael hesitated.

The answer rose so quickly that it frightened him.

"I don't know."

Riven's expression hardened.

"Did you use an ability?"

"No."

"Did you activate a weapon?"

"I don't have one."

"Then explain how you escaped a direct attack from a Frostfang."

Kael looked toward the creature.

Several instructors were reinforcing its restraints while others inspected the damaged enclosure. 

The Frostfang struggled weakly against the bindings, its pale eyes darting between the people surrounding it.

For a brief instant, its gaze found Kael again.

The strange sensation returned.

He felt its distress, its confusion, and the faintest trace of that impossible recognition.

Kael looked away.

"I reacted when it moved," he said.

Riven studied him for a long moment.

It was not a convincing explanation.

They both knew it.

Before the instructor could question him further, another official approached and demanded assistance with the injured students. Riven gave Kael a final, searching look before hurrying away.

Kael remained beside the broken railing, trying to steady his breathing.

What had he felt?

Why does he keep experiencing this? One was yesterday, and now, another?

How had he known where the Frostfang would strike?

And why had the creature looked at him as though it recognized something he could not see?

"Kael."

He turned.

The assistant instructor from his observation group stood several steps away, holding a recording device.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"The assessment office. The director will want a full account of what happened."

Kael glanced toward the other students.

Some were receiving treatment. Others had gathered in small groups, whispering about the escaped creature. 

The silver-collared boy stood near the entrance, his expression pale beneath his usual arrogance.

When he noticed Kael looking at him, he quickly turned away.

Kael followed the instructor. He deeply was growing tired of the constant summoning but he had no choice anyways.

************

The assessment office was located inside a smaller stone building near the training grounds. 

Its walls were covered in protective runes, and several magical instruments rested on a long table beneath the windows.

A senior examiner waited inside.

He had narrow eyes, silver hair, and a robe embroidered with symbols Kael could not identify.

"Sit," he ordered.

Kael sat.

The examiner activated a recording crystal and asked him to describe the incident from beginning to end. 

Kael answered every question as honestly as he could, explaining the creature's movements, the freezing attack, and the narrow opening through which he had escaped.

He left out the sensation.

He could not explain it without sounding insane.

When he finished, the examiner leaned back.

"You have no recognized talent, correct?"

"Correct."

"No elemental affinity?"

"Not that I know of."

"No combat enhancement, sensory ability, or beast-related classification?"

Kael shook his head.

The examiner's expression grew more suspicious with each answer.

"Yet you anticipated the Frostfang's attack before it released its energy."

"I saw it move."

"Several trained students saw it move. None of them reacted as quickly as you did."

Kael said nothing.

The examiner reached for a small crystal suspended within a metal frame.

"Place your hand here."

Kael obeyed.

The crystal was cold against his palm.

The examiner activated the instrument, and thin rings of light appeared around its surface. Symbols began rotating within the crystal, measuring the flow of magical energy through Kael's body.

At first, nothing happened.

The examiner frowned and adjusted the instrument.

"Again. Focus on your breathing."

Kael closed his eyes.

He felt the familiar emptiness he had encountered during every previous assessment. 

There was no sudden warmth in his chest, no surge of power, no hidden force waiting to burst free.

Only silence.

Then the crystal trembled.

And Kael's eyes snapped open.