Malrik entered the tent, pulled a wooden chair from the corner, and sat down beside the bed where Ravian was sitting while receiving treatment.

The air inside carried a scent like some kind of incense, owing to the materials Claria had applied to Ravian’s back, and the candlelit lamps gave the space a calm, refined atmosphere that Ravian liked a great deal—he wasn’t used to surroundings like these.

"How is he now, Claria?" Malrik asked.

"I honestly don’t know how he stayed fine after the injuries he took. You won’t believe what I found—" Claria began trying to explain Ravian’s condition, but she was cut off mid-sentence.

"It’s fine, Miss Claria. What matters is that I’m well now, right?" Ravian said, looking at her intently and letting a gentle smile form on his face.

Claria caught the signal in his eyes. She didn’t understand the reason behind it, but she chose to go along with him.

"Oh—well, yes, he’s fine now. He can leave if he wants, though I’d advise him to rest until his body fully recovers," Claria said before stepping out, with Tom following quickly after her.

Ravian’s gaze stayed fixed on Tom as he left.

Or rather—his gaze stayed fixed on Xavier Meyer as he left.

Once he was gone, Ravian turned back to Malrik, who was seated nearby—and found Malrik already looking at him in return.

"Ravian."

Malrik opened the conversation, seriousness clear on his face.

"Yes, Captain?" Ravian replied, straightening his posture rather than leaning back, meeting Malrik’s gaze calmly.

"We noticed what you did when you arrived. You didn’t manage to hide it," Malrik said, no emotion on his face at all—only a sharp, detached look, like a blade fixed on Ravian’s eyes without the slightest hesitation.

Ravian’s heart pounded hard.

’They noticed it? What the hell is he talking about?’ Confusion showed plainly on his face, and Malrik caught it.

’It seems he knows nothing about killing intent—which means it was an instinctive reaction from him,’ Malrik concluded, reading Ravian’s expression.

Ravian arrived at the same realization a few seconds later.

’No way—did he notice my hostility toward Lysandra? Is that why Antonius stopped right after that and looked at me?’

He understood what he had done. But it was already too late.

"Yes, we noticed. So let me ask you this—" Malrik leaned in closer until his face was only a few inches from Ravian’s.

"Do you intend to cause any trouble in my squad? Because if you do, then understand that I have no intention of backing down—even if you are Sir Karius’s disciple."

A transparent white energy poured out of Malrik’s body, filling the entire space behind him.

Ravian looked at it, and his eyes widened at the sheer majesty of the sight. He could feel the weight of that energy pressing down on him with its full force—enough that he couldn’t move his body while Malrik focused the pressure on him.

’Damn it. Is this the Aura from this body’s memories?’ Ravian recognized it the moment he saw it.

The power held by everyone at the Eighth Rank—the materialization of soul power. It was precisely why they were called Soul Liberators: their soul power took physical form and became capable of affecting reality itself.

But this was no time to lose himself in the previous owner’s memories. He was in a position that no one could envy right now.

"No, Captain. I don’t intend to cause trouble," Ravian replied quickly, resisting the suffocating pressure of Malrik’s Soul Aura.

But Malrik hadn’t backed down.

"Then what was the reason for the killing intent that came off you back there?" The Aura behind him began to ripple harder, giving the distinct impression that he was ready to move.

This time, Ravian didn’t buy it.

"...That’s none of your business, Captain."

"And I don’t think you have the right to do anything to me simply because some killing intent slipped out of me," Ravian said, raising his head and staring coldly back at Malrik.

"What?" Malrik couldn’t believe what he’d heard.

"Have you lost your mind, boy? Do you not understand your current situation?" He increased the pressure on Ravian.

Ravian didn’t care.

"I understand my situation perfectly. And I understand that you’re going too far with this, Captain—further than you’re capable of answering for." His gaze shifted into something close to pure madness as his crimson eyes took on a strange shine.

’What in the world?! Does this boy not fear death? How is he this calm even now?’ Malrik’s eyes wavered as he looked into Ravian’s, which strangely refused to submit even under all that soul pressure.

"You’re insane," Malrik said.

"I’ve heard that many times. Can you drop the performance now? I promise I’ll forget the matter if you stop here," Ravian said, looking at Malrik with a contempt he couldn’t have said where it came from.

For some reason, he now saw Malrik as nothing more than an insect attempting a few acrobatic tricks.

Malrik withdrew his Aura, shaken by what he’d heard.

"You... you think I’m afraid of you?" he said—and began to see that this whole thing was genuinely abnormal. But then he remembered what Antonius had told him a little earlier.

"I have an instinct sharpened over many long years as an assassin, and it tells me it’s better to make him a friend than an enemy. I’d advise all of you to do the same."

’Is this what he meant?’

Malrik thought, watching Ravian raise his head and look at him with all that pride and dignity—those crimson eyes and that shining white hair lending him a bearing that didn’t match his weak strength at all.

"Fine. That’s enough. I’ll wait for you outside. You’ll sleep in my tent tonight until we prepare one for you, and we’ll continue this conversation there," Malrik said, then left the tent quickly, distraction plain across his expression.

The moment he was gone, Ravian’s eyes returned to normal—the glow in his crimson eyes vanishing all at once as his head lowered back into its natural position.

’What the hell just happened?’ Ravian came out of the state he’d been in and turned it over in his mind.

’For a moment, I was cornered by Malrik’s soul power—and then suddenly, it felt unacceptable for me to be afraid. Unacceptable to retreat, even in front of someone as strong as him.’ He remembered what he had felt in that moment, and his eyes widened further and further.

’My God—what would I have done if Malrik had actually killed me then? Would I have just thrown away a chance at life into thin air like that?’ Ravian wasn’t certain what had happened, but at some point, he had sensed that Malrik was only threatening him to bring him to heel—not truly threatening to kill him—and at that, his caution and worry had curdled into contempt.

Normally, he would have played on Malrik’s fear of how Karius might react. But he’d changed his mind the instant he saw through the bluff, and pride had risen in him without warning, pushing him to say what he’d said.

’The strangest part is that Malrik accepted it. It seems he didn’t expect that reaction from me, and he didn’t have clear proof of any hostility toward the squad, so he chose to back down. Looks like I made the right call,’ Ravian thought, getting off the bed and pulling his linen clothes on over the cloth wrapped around his back.

Everything he had said to Malrik had been said deliberately. What had happened unintentionally was his gaze, and the pride threaded through the way he spoke.

’Well—I won’t lie. It felt incredible the moment I said exactly what I wanted to say,’ Ravian admitted to himself, adjusting his clothes before leaving the tent—then noticing the torn sleeve of the shirt he was wearing.

’Ugh. I look like a beggar in this worn-out rag. When are the clothes, leather armor, and sword Master promised actually going to arrive?’ He remembered what Karius had told him on the way to the fortress—that he’d send what Ravian needed, and that he was forbidden from setting foot on the battlefield without that armor.

’He said tomorrow, if I remember right.’ Ravian scratched the back of his head—though he had no intention of missing tomorrow’s battle regardless.

’I mean, I can just pull a sword off anyone who drops one, or off one of the corpses on the field,’ he thought, already regretting that he hadn’t killed Max himself so he could have taken his sword.

"Ravian! Are you planning to sleep in there?!" came Malrik’s voice from outside.

’Ah, forget it.’ Ravian muttered to himself before hurrying toward the exit.

"I’m coming!" he called back, then stepped out to meet Malrik.

But the danger hadn’t passed yet.

It was only about to begin.