Talia floated in the endless expanse of the Deep, suspended in darkness so profound it seemed to press against her skin. The water was unnaturally still, devoid of the usual currents that gave the ocean its rhythm. She tried to move, but her limbs felt leaden as if the very water had thickened around her.

Then she felt it—a presence below, vast and ancient. The water grew colder, and an otherworldly blue glow began to emanate from the depths. As she looked down, her heart nearly stopped. An eye larger than any ship she had ever seen opened directly beneath her. Its pupil, a void of absolute darkness, fixed upon her with terrifying intelligence.

She tried to scream, but no sound escaped her lips. The eye’s gaze held her paralyzed, and she could feel its ancient malevolence seeping into her bones. Worse than the fear was the horrible sense of recognition—something in her responded to that gaze, resonated with it in a way that made her want to claw her own skin off.

Talia jerked awake with a strangled gasp, her bedsheets twisted around her legs, and her skin slick with cold sweat.

* * *

Talia was still in the room in Professor Iakopo’s school after the terrifying dream, reflecting on her future.

When the Professor had made his offer, she had hesitated for a moment, and then she had nodded.

The fact that the Professor had started out as an enemy of hers made her even more convinced of how much she could trust him.

From the very beginning, he had never hidden who he was.

She knew that Elder Krakatoa was involved in her almost not getting into the academy.

And she still had to ask the man why.

Even if he had somehow some benign intent behind it, which Talia still believed, she couldn’t accept how she had been essentially lied to.

And that was why Talia had chosen to go with Professor Iakopo’s school.

The man had chosen an interesting emblem for it: a bright drop of red blood falling into dark waters.

Talia knew it was a reference to Dark Water, but she found it quite apt for a school led by the man.

She took a moment to look at her hands, flexing her fingers, feeling still a remote tingling in her body. She could feel the Dark Water inside herself. Well, she didn’t actually feel the Dark Water, but she could feel the Raw Mana that she now circulated around her wrist marks.

She could also feel that if she wanted to, she could activate the Skill that she had gotten back inside the Placid Cave when she had faced the giant Drake Boss.

[Cursed Form - Lv. 3]

Honestly, if this had been before her adventure in the cave, she would have been dead afraid of what people would have thought of her.

When someone gets a Skill called the Cursed Form, it doesn’t take much to understand that it’s not the most benevolent power one can use.

In the past, she would have been afraid of how her friends and people she didn’t even know would have treated her because of it.

But now, after surviving death and staring right down the maws of monsters that she would have never been able to face without her powers, she didn’t feel the shame anymore.

She felt pride for what she could do.

Yes, she knew that using the Cursed Form meant that her mind got influenced somehow, at least while using it.

She clarified as much with Iakopo, who had confirmed that even he suspected that using Dark Water, as her mother had put it, could indeed change someone’s personality.

And when she had asked Iakopo what he thought of Yalena’s apparition, he just shrugged.

He said that he knew much more than Yalena when it came to certain areas of Mana and the theory of Affinities.

But Yalena had always been the one who possessed the most esoteric and dangerous knowledge.

The one who fished it out of nooks and crannies he wasn’t even aware of.

Honestly, Talia feared the day she would meet her mother’s vision again.

She felt ashamed of her, ashamed of the memory of a woman who sacrificed so many lives in order to kill the Kraken, who had compromised herself just to be a hero.

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And while Talia acknowledged that her mother rendered a great service to the world, she also knew now how bloodied her mother’s hands were.

Talia didn’t know whether she was being arrogant and whether her mother just knew what was necessary, but she had had a similar choice in the cave.

A choice that her mother herself had endorsed – to run, to not risk her life in order to bring to completion whatever fate Yalena had imagined for her.

But Talia had refused. Talia would have rather died, which, she suspected, was an option that Yalena might not have considered.

A gentle knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. “Come in,” she called out, her voice still slightly hoarse.

The door creaked open, revealing Keanu.

He stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind him.

His usual confident demeanor seemed subdued.

“Hey,” he said, offering a small smile. “How are you feeling?”

Talia shrugged, wincing slightly at the movement.

“Better, I think. A little sore. I think it’s from being in bed too long.”

Keanu nodded, moving to sit in the chair beside her bed.

He seemed nervous, his fingers tapping an irregular rhythm on his knee.

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re recovering.”

A moment of awkward silence stretched between them. Talia could sense that Keanu had something on his mind, but she waited patiently for him to speak.

Finally, Keanu took a deep breath as if steeling himself.

“What is it?” Talia asked.

Keanu seemed to struggle with his words, but then he finally took a deep breath and tried to get it all out.

“I showed you my eyes,” Keanu said, even though now he still had whatever spell hid the true color of his eyes.

Talia nodded. “Yeah,” she said.

Keanu stumbled upon his words.

“I was sent to the academy to get close to you. We share the same blood.”

“Are we related?” Talia asked with a frown, wondering if Keanu was somehow related to her father.

Keanu shook his head. “No. We’re not related in that sense. We, however, are part of the same race.”

Talia frowned. “The same race?” she asked. “Humans?”

“No,” Keanu said. “You are part human, or what they’re calling in the ancient texts, Honua, and you’re also part... Kaimōrō.”

Talia frowned. “Kaimōrō?”

“Yes,” Keanu said. “Your eyes are a trait that is only shared by the Fiora, the people of the deep.”

Talia frowned. “What do you mean? People of the deep?”

“It’s rumored that our ancestors used to live below water a long, long time ago when cities, in theory, populated what we now call the Deep. Our ancient history tells us that Abyssal creatures weren’t always there, or if they were, they were confined to dungeons. They wouldn’t roam the Deep wildly as they do now.”

Talia found that notion foreign. “Abyssal creatures not roaming around. Really?” She paused. “So why did you have to get close to me?” Talia asked.

“My people wanted me to get to know you because of your mother. Your mother visited my people a long time ago, and they believe she was on our side. However, they had to make sure that your heart was in the same place.”

Talia frowned. “Keanu, I don’t think I understand. Did you also get someone close to Riala?”

Keanu shook his head. “Riala was considered not trustworthy like your mother since she went with Elder Kahua, who was a noble. And we didn’t have anyone to get close to her and know her intentions.”

Talia frowned. “What’s wrong with going with a noble elder? I just enrolled in Professor Iakopo’s school.”

“Professor Iakopo is probably the one exception,” Keanu said. “Nobles have hunted my people down for centuries. They have now forgotten about us, which is why someone like your father could roam around when he was young without being hunted. But if we came back in numbers, they would reserve us the same treatment all over again.”

“Why?” Talia asked.

Keanu gave her a sorry look. “I am not privy to all the secrets of my people. I have not yet been trusted with such knowledge. My people are very, very wary of outsiders. But after what I saw you do in the cave, I decided it was time for you to know the truth. I don’t feel comfortable tricking you.”

Talia nodded slowly. “I see.”

“I would also like,” Keanu said, “to ask you to become your Shield, Talia.”

Talia frowned. “Keanu, I’m not sure I can fully trust you after what you just told me.”

Keanu nodded. “I know. But I also know that your future is to eliminate the Kraken. That is what my people want above all, for the peace to be restored. And I have something to offer that you might not know about.”

Talia raised an eyebrow.

“Luminescent Water,” Keanu said, “has many properties. It’s not as strong as Star Water when it comes to defensive capabilities. However, when it comes to restrictions, Luminescent Water, unlike Star Water, is not affected by Dark Water. And it was my people, the Kaimōrō, who first discovered Dark Water.”

Talia looked at him, uncomprehending.

“If I stay by your side,” Keanu continued, “I can help you tame Dark Water.”

Talia thought of the Cursed Form and what Keanu had just said. “Really?” she asked.

“I swear on my life,” Keanu replied.

There was a moment of silence between the two while Talia contemplated what the young man in front of her had just told her.

Then, however, Keanu added something. “My people have also fought the Equilibrium Cult in the past, and they know what they’re after. They were never a threat before, not one this big, but since your father is now heading them, they pose a serious risk for the entire archipelago.”

Talia gritted her teeth. This was the second person who told her that Mano was the head of the Cultists. “What do they want to do?” she asked.

Keanu looked around and dropped his voice. “This knowledge is a token of trust,” he said. “My people would not approve of me telling you, considering the implications this could have on our relationship.”

Talia frowned.

“Your father wants to kill all the great families, and they want you as the weapon capable of doing that and capable of essentially destroying civilization.”

“What?” Talia exclaimed.

Keanu continued unabated. “They believe that your powers are an offshoot of the Kraken’s powers. And they hope, in case the Kraken is truly dead forever, to turn you into a new weapon of mass destruction that could finally bring all the nobles down. You’re the first to have the capability to absorb Skills and Attributes. In the long run, this makes you possibly the strongest fighter ever, and they want to use you.”

Talia felt her heart catch in her throat. “But my father,” she stammered.

“Your father is a Kaimōrō who didn’t know that Dark Water would warp his mind, Talia,” Keanu said. “He’s a madman set on destroying the world that your mother once saved.”