STARLESS

Once done, Vael blinked out of the room, leaving the gruesome scene behind.

Five hours had passed, but the screams echoing down the hall made it clear—the containment breach wasn't over yet.

If someone were to look at Vael now, they'd hardly recognize him. Blood stained his clothes, a new ring glinted on his finger, and his rapier had been replaced.

That's right—looting a corpse wasn't beneath him. Especially not when the corpse belonged to Veltren. The ring was a spatial storage ring, nothing special. Vael already had his own personal pocket dimension, but hey—extra storage never hurt. Or he could sell it later. Either way, it was his now.

As for the rapier, it had been stored in the ring, along with a bunch of other junk. Nothing legendary, but definitely better than his worn-out blade. A solid upgrade.

He had one last stop to make before leaving: the room where the regression stone had been kept in the original timeline.

Of course, he knew it wouldn't be there yet. The stone would only appear much later. Still, it was worth checking out.

When he arrived, he found something unexpected—the room wasn't a lab yet.

It was a prison cell.

"Looks like they'll convert it later…"

He tilted his head, stepping closer.

"Well then. Whoever's in there… looks like today's your lucky day."

With that, he blinked.

With a ripple in space, Vael appeared inside the cell.

The room was dim, lit only by a single flickering light overhead. It smelled of damp metal and dried blood — the kind of scent that clung to you long after you left.

His eyes adjusted quickly, scanning the space. It wasn't large. Just a cot, a cracked sink, and a figure curled up in the corner.

She flinched at the sound of his arrival, eyes narrowing behind a mess of unkempt hair. Her wrists were bound in heavy cuffs, and mana-suppressing runes glowed faintly along her arms.

Vael raised both hands in mock surrender.

"Easy. I'm not with them."

She didn't answer — just stared. Calculating. Daring him to come closer.

"You've been here long?" he asked, stepping around the room slowly, careful not to startle her.

"…Long enough," she finally muttered. Her voice was dry, hoarse. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you," Vael said honestly. "Just saw this place on my way out and figured I'd free whoever was inside."

"You expect me to believe that?" she scoffed.

"No," he admitted. "But I'm leaving. Place is a mess. And you can either rot here or take your chances with me."

Still, she hesitated.

"I'm not asking for trust," Vael added, approaching the cuffs. "Just a decision."

The girl looked up, the flickering light briefly illuminating her face. She was young — maybe his age — but her eyes were older, tired in a way only people who had survived hell could understand.

Finally, she nodded once.

"Do it."

Vael knelt beside her and inspected the cuffs. They were standard-issue suppressors — keyed to specific enchantments. He focused, gathering what little mana he had left and channeling it into a thin line along the locking runes. With a faint click, the cuffs popped open.

The girl pulled her arms back instantly, rubbing her sore wrists.

"You got a name?" he asked.

"…Kiera."

"Vael."

She didn't thank him. Didn't need to.

He offered her a hand anyway. After a beat, she took it, and he helped her to her feet.

"Stick close," he said. "We're not out yet."

And together, they stepped out into the burning corridors of a dying facility — one reborn monster and one forgotten rebel, walking into whatever came next.

They made their way outside, into the cold night air.

For the first time in months, Vael saw the night sky.

Coincidentally, he had also escaped at night in the original timeline.

Kiera followed behind him, seemingly absorbed in her own thoughts. It looked like she had been imprisoned for a long time, but even now, she didn't quite seem to realize she was free.

They walked in silence for several hours until they reached a spot near a river.

Vael quietly pulled a tent from his ring and set it up with practiced ease. Then, he gathered wood and lit a fire using matchsticks.

"Odd," he muttered to himself, "why would Veltren, a fire mage, carry something like this?"

Deciding to sleep on that thought, he gave Kiera a quiet goodnight and slipped into the tent. He was exhausted.

Kiera, however, didn't seem ready to sleep. She sat beside the fire for a while, lost in thought, before finally joining Vael in the tent.

Morning came, and Vael was the first to wake. Careful not to disturb Kiera, he stepped outside.

Now that he had a better look at her in daylight, he could see more clearly—she was short, and her posture betrayed clear signs of malnutrition. Her long, black hair was tangled, and her deep green eyes were closed in what seemed like restless sleep.

He sighed, then turned his attention to breakfast.

Fortunately, Veltren's ring had plenty of food inside.

Vael slowly cooked what he assumed to be a type of expensive military ration over the fire. From the smell and look of it, it seemed to be scrambled eggs with ham and bacon.

"Mmh… smells nice," he muttered to himself.

As the aroma spread throughout the campsite, Kiera began to stir. A few seconds later, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Vael said, a trace of amusement in his voice.

Kiera didn't reply. She walked over, took the bowl he had set aside for her, and began eating in silence.

Eventually, she spoke—more like declared—between bites:

"You have a spatial affinity."

Vael, not bothering to hide it, simply nodded.

"That's rare," she said. "No wonder they wanted to experiment on you."

He tilted his head slightly. "What about you? Why were you in there?"

Kiera hesitated for a second. Her eyes briefly flicked up to meet his before dropping back to her food.

"…I have dual affinities," she finally said.

Vael blinked. "Oh. That's cool," he said absentmindedly, thinking aloud.

"Mind sharing?" asked Vael.

After hesitating, she answered, "I guess I owe you that much… I have a Mind affinity, and a Shadow one."

"Ooh, interesting combo… so, what, can you read my thoughts or something?"

She shot him a cold stare that made it very clear he was overstepping.

"Right, right, I won't pry… Got any plans now?"

"I've been in there since I was ten, so… no. I don't have any plans," she said, voice distant.

"Got any family to go back to?"

"Dead," she answered flatly.

"Rebels, I imagine?" Vael asked, intrigued by his companion's past.

She gave a small nod.

Vael thought for a moment, then decided to test a theory. He began forming a question in his mind.

"Yes, we are in the Lisbo region, in the Kingdom of Thandros," she replied, casually.

"So you can read my mind," said Vael, grinning smugly.

Realizing she'd fallen for his trap, Kiera's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Asshole."

Vael laughed. "Fair. But hey, that's one hell of an ability combo. Are we in any danger, by the way."

Kiera paused, eyes narrowing as she sifted through her memories. "From what I remember, the most dangerous beast in these parts is stage four. But with that little stunt you pulled to escape… we might attract some unique attention."

"Okay, that's… manageable," Vael said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "What stage are you at, anyway?"

"They stopped training me about two years ago," she replied. "So I'm at the peak of the first stage."

"Alright," Vael said, stretching his arms, "since I just broke through the second stage, I think our priority should be to get you on my level."

Kiera raised an eyebrow. "Our?"

"Well, I did kind of drag you into this whole escape thing," he said with a lopsided grin. "Might as well make sure my partner's strong enough to keep up."

A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Fine. But don't think I'll let you get too far ahead."