CHAPTER 28: WHEN THE TEARS STOPPED
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 21
Iniyan had heard those words before.
“You awakened too late.”
“Your aura is weak.”
“If you step into the real world, you will die.”
“And your death will stain my name.”
His elder brother’s voice had never been loud. It didn’t need to be. It was calm. Certain. Absolute.
“Stay home if you want safety,” his brother had said once, looking at him the way people look at broken tools. “The battlefield does not forgive weakness.”
That memory returned now.
Back in the Shaolin courtyard.
Steel clashed. Aura burned. Screams echoed.
Faris fought with explosive orange arcs, pushing forward with pure aggression. Kim Mirae’s deep blue aura moved like controlled waves, her naginata cutting clean paths through incoming attacks.
And at a distance—
Lin Mei held her position.
Her white aura shimmered around her bow as she formed arrow after arrow from condensed energy. She wasn’t shaking anymore. She wasn’t hiding.
She was aiming.
But Iniyan—
He was shaking.
His hands trembled. His breath came unevenly. His green aura flickered weakly around him like a dying flame.
Lucian Vale laughed when he noticed him.
“Still crying?” Lucian said, wiping blood from his cheek. “Is this what they send to fight me?”
Lucian moved like wildfire—orange aura flaring violently around his frame. He tore through teachers, crushed defensive stances, and enjoyed every scream that escaped.
When Faris tried to close distance, Lucian drove him back with a brutal slash. When Mirae advanced, he forced her into defensive rhythm.
No openings.
No mercy.
Iniyan stepped forward once.
Lucian noticed him and kicked him aside like a nuisance. Iniyan rolled across the stone, coughing.
He saw blood.
He saw students afraid.
He saw Lin Mei forced to split her focus as aura soldiers closed in on her position.
“Stop…” Iniyan whispered.
No one heard him.
Lucian heard.
And smiled.
“Oh?” Lucian tilted his head. “You want me to stop?”
He lunged again—this time deliberately carving through a teacher’s shoulder to hear the cry.
Iniyan’s tears fell harder.
His green aura flickered wildly.
Students were watching him now.
The weakest in the class.
The one who barely passed aura control tests.
The one who couldn’t even maintain a steady glow.
“Run,” someone muttered near him.
“Why is he still here?” another whispered.
Lucian walked toward him slowly.
“I like this,” Lucian said softly. “Cry more.”
He swung his sword towards Iniyan
And then a theacher came between the sword and Iniyan; he was gravely wounded by protecting Iniyan.
"Everything slowed from Iniyan's perspective. "Iniyan saw the sword slashing the teacher's body & the hot blood splashing on Iniyan's Face.
The crying stopped.
Silence.
Iniyan’s shoulders straightened.
His breathing became slow. Controlled.
The green aura around him changed.
It didn’t flicker anymore.
It condensed.
It deepened.
It expanded outward in a heavy, controlled pulse that made the air feel thick.
Lucian’s smile faded.
Iniyan lifted his head.
His eyes were red from tears.
But there was no emotion in them now.
No fear.
No anger.
Nothing.
A spear formed in his hand—pure green aura solidifying into shape.
Lucian reacted instantly and swung.
Iniyan vanished.
He didn't run.
He vanished
A green streak cut across the courtyard and reappeared behind Lucian.
The spear struck.
Lucian barely twisted in time, but the impact still blasted him forward two full meters.
Stone cracked beneath his boots as he stabilised.
“What—”
Iniyan didn’t answer.
They clashed again.
Lucian attacked brutally, orange aura exploding outward.
Iniyan met him without a word.
Every strike was direct. Clean. Efficient.
Lucian realised something quickly—
This was not the same boy.
This aura was stable.
Heavy.
Lucian’s grin turned sharp again. “Better. Much better.”
He released more power.
Orange flames surged.
They exchanged blows rapidly now—green and orange tearing through the courtyard.
Lucian still had the edge in raw power.
But Iniyan did not hesitate.
Did not flinch.
Did not feel.
Lucian raised his blade high—
And in that single opening—
Faris moved.
His axe came down and severed Lucian’s left arm cleanly.
Lucian roared.
At the same instant—
A white arrow from Lin Mei pierced through his right thigh, pinning him off balance.
Mirae stepped in with perfect timing—
Her blue aura wrapped tightly around her naginata as she carved across Lucian’s abdomen in one precise arc.
Lucian staggered.
Still alive.
Still grinning through blood.
Iniyan stepped forward.
No expression.
He drove the spear straight through Lucian’s throat.
Clean.
Direct.
Final.
Lucian’s body froze for one second.
Then collapsed.
The orange aura evaporated.
Silence followed.
No victory shout.
No celebration.
No relief.
Lucian’s body lay twisted across broken stone, blood pooling beneath him.
The courtyard did not breathe.
Green aura still burned around Iniyan.
Not violently.
Not wildly.
Steady.
Heavy.
He stood where he had struck.
Spear still in his hand.
Blood ran down the aura-forged weapon before dissolving into particles of green light.
His eyes were still red from crying.
But there were no tears now.
No trembling.
No emotion.
He did not look at Faris.
He did not look at Mirae.
He did not look at Lin Mei.
He did not look at the body.
He stood there.
Like a statue placed in the middle of war.
And for the first time since the battle began—
Even the sound of steel felt distant.
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