Hope staggered, each step feeling heavier than the last.
His body was weak, his muscles screaming for relief.
His throat was parched, the inside of his mouth cracked and dry.
His lips had begun to split, tiny fissures forming on their surface, stinging with each breath.
His vision wavered.
Blurry.
Fading.
The searing heat bore down on him, relentless.
Every inch of his skin felt like it was cooking under the fiery sun.
His cloak, once a comforting presence, now felt like an unbearable weight dragging him down.
Even the claws—his makeshift daggers—seemed like mountains in his hands.
"Damn it."
His body screamed at him to stop.
To collapse.
To give in.
But Hope forced himself forward.
One step.
Then another.
Then—
A sound.
Clang.
Metal against metal.
Faint at first, barely noticeable over the pounding in his skull.
Hope froze.
His dazed mind sharpened.
That wasn't a sound the Veil made on its own.
That was fighting.
A battle.
Someone—something—was clashing with a weapon.
Summoning his remaining strength, Hope moved toward the noise.
As he drew closer, his blurred vision slowly focused.
And then—
He saw her.
A figure draped in white, moving with grace.
A white tunic, flowing with each step.
White hair cascading over pale skin.
White brows, sharp and elegant.
Her skin was like alabaster, untouched by the harshness of this world.
Hope's heart skipped a beat.
Her.
The same girl he had seen in the cafeteria.
Back in the waking world the academy
She wielded a slender sword—
A weapon that seemed almost too delicate for battle.
And yet—
She moved like a dancer, her blade weaving through the air with precision.
Every strike was measured, every movement effortless.
She wasn't using any special footwork.
No fancy techniques.
Just pure, fluid combat.
Her opponent?
A monstrous crab-like creature—
But more twisted.
Its jagged shell gleamed like blackened steel.
Its many legs skittered across the cracked ground, moving with eerie speed.
Its claws were like massive scythes, each swing carving deep gashes into the earth.
Yet—
Despite its size, despite its ferocity,
The girl was winning.
She danced around its attacks, her sword flickering like silver lightning.
Each strike landed in precise spots, chipping away at its defenses.
The crab fiend thrashed, desperate—
But it couldn't keep up.
It was slow.
Predictable.
And she?
She was untouchable.
Hope stood frozen, watching.
His body was weak, his mind barely holding on—
But even in his haze, he could tell.
She was strong.
Not because of overwhelming power.
Not because of some awakened ability.
But because she fought with control.
With discipline.
With mastery.
Hope licked his cracked lips, his throat burning—
Yet he couldn't look away.
He kept watching.