The doors slid open with a low hiss.

  Snapback walked in first, shoulders loose, step light, wearing that same easy swagger.

  Drift followed behind him, hands in his pockets, moving at his usual slow, half-asleep pace.

  Nightveil kept precise step beside him, posture straight, eyes already scanning the hall with quiet calculation.

  She took in the polished steel, the wide ceilings, the layered lighting.“I do have to agree with Bastian, this is impressive.”

  Drift nodded once, slow and tired. “Told you. State-of-the-art.”

  Snapback glanced over his shoulder. “What about you, Bastian?”

  Silence.

  Snapback stopped. “…Bastian?”

  He looked at Drift, scratching the back of his head with a crooked smile. “Where is your neophyte?”

  Drift dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling long and exhausted.“That kid… I need to put a leash on him.”

  Nightveil didn’t blink.“I told you we need a shock collar.”

  ———

  Team Titan finally got back to their rooms.

  Lior sat on the edge of his bunk, elbows resting on his knees, the new Titan patch turning slowly between his fingers.

  Silver T, sharp edges. Flames curling around it like a living crown. Golden trim, dark navy shield — clean, bold, powerful.

  He kept looking at it like he still couldn’t believe it was real.

  Ayasha lay stretched across her bed, propped up on one elbow, watching him. “You know… even if you stop looking at it, it’s not gonna disappear.”

  Cael was half-sitting, half-slouching on his own mattress, head tipped back against the wall. “I swear I thought we were getting some plain black-and-white patch with ‘Titan’ slapped on the front.”

  He let out a short laugh — pushed at first, but softening halfway through.“But… yeah. He actually did a good job.”

  Ayasha smirked. “Titan doesn’t miss.”

  Cael nodded once, slower this time. “You know… this kinda makes it real now.”

  He pointed at Lior, Ayasha, and then himself. “The three of us. Titan. A real team. Feels like family.”

  Lior’s mouth curved.

  A real smile.

  Then from the bathroom a toilet flushed.

  All three of them turned their heads at the same time. “…What?” Cael whispered.

  The bathroom door swung open.

  A kid walked out.

  No hesitation.

  Just… existing. Like wandering into other people’s rooms was a perfectly normal part of life.

  He had messy black hair, toothpaste foam on his lip, and his hoodie sleeves hanging past his hands.

  He hummed to himself as he stepped out, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

  Lior stood halfway. “What is… why is there a kid in our room?”

  The kid blinked at them, bright and unbothered. “Oh! Hey.”

  He pointed at all three like he was counting fruit at a market. “What are you guys doing in here?”

  Ayasha sat up fast. “Huh? — Who are you, and why are you in our room?”

  The kid put a hand on his chest like he just remembered something extremely important. “Oh! I’m Bastian!”

  He gave a huge grin. “I was walkin’ around… and then I had to pee REALLY bad and your door was the only one unlocked so I came in and used it.”

  He held up a toothbrush — Lior’s toothbrush — completely sincere. “Also, thank you for letting me borrow this. That was super nice of you.”

  Lior’s soul left his body.

  Cael made a choking noise.

  Ayasha covered her mouth to hide a laugh.

  Bastian suddenly froze, eyes widening.

  His stomach growled long and loud — like a whale calling across the ocean.

  He grabbed his gut dramatically. “Ughhh I’m starving! You guys got food?”

  Lior stared. “Don’t you want to know who we are first?”

  Bastian paused.

  Tilted his head.

  Then leaned forward, squinting his eyes like he was studying them for the first time ever.

  Then— “HMMMMMMMMMM…”

  A long, thoughtful hum full of absolutely zero thought.

  He popped upright again. “…No thank you!”

  He started walking straight toward the door, waving behind him like they were already old friends. “I gotta find a cafeteria before I pass out. Smell you later!”

  The door clicked.

  Silence.

  Ayasha turned slowly. “…Is he from one of the Gates—?”

  Cael squeezed his eyes shut. “Lior. Go check your toothbrush.”

  Lior didn’t move.

  He was still stuck between shock… and trying not to laugh.

  ———

  The morning air hung cold and sharp over the training grounds.

  Dust still floated from the last drill, golden in the slanted sunlight. Team Titan stood around the center platform — Ayasha bouncing lightly on her toes, Cael adjusting his gloves, and Lior trying to shake off the heaviness sitting on his chest.

  Titan stepped forward. “Alright. You three have come a long way these past few days. A very long way.”

  He scanned them — with the quiet acknowledgment of a man who’d seen their growth firsthand.

  “But now, you’ve reached the part every young fighter struggles with.”

  Ayasha tilted her head. “Struggles with how?”

  Cael answered first. “Stamina?”

  Titan shook his head once. “Control.”

  He lifted a small wooden block from the ground — thick, dense, palm-sized. “When most cadets activate their Niche, they hit full output immediately. All force, no control. Like swinging a sword with all your strength… even when you only need enough to cut a rope.”

  He held the block between two fingers. “That’s why you burn out fast.”

  Lior’s brows furrowed. “So we’re… wasting energy?”

  “Yes,” Titan said. “And it’s dangerous — not only for your opponent, but your own body as well.”

  Ayasha crossed her arms. “So how do we fix that?”

  Titan raised the block higher. “By learning to choose your output level. You need to learn how to fight at twenty. Forty. Sixty output.”

  Cael nodded slowly. “Like managing energy reserves.”

  Titan nodded. “Exactly.”

  His eyes flared.

  KRRRRAUUMMM!!

  Dust spiraled around his arm in tight rings — Ironhold awakening. “To burst this block I only need about fifteen percent output,” Titan said.

  He pressed his fingers in.

  The block exploded into powder.

  He let the dust fall through his hand.

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  Then he picked up a second block.

  “This,” Titan said, “is ten percent.”

  The air around his fingers rippled faintly — not a roar this time, just a soft gravitational pulse.

  Krrrnk—

  A spiderweb crack bloomed across the surface. The block stayed intact.

  Ayasha stepped forward, eyes wide. “Whoa—”

  Titan continued.

  “Eleven.”

  KRRNK—!

  The crack deepened. The wood bowed inward.

  “Twelve.”

  CRACK!!

  The block snapped clean in half.

  Titan tossed the pieces aside. “You don’t need full power to win. You need to find the right amount and you gauge this through battle.”

  Ayasha grinned. “Okay. Let me try.”

  Titan handed her a wooden block.

  Ayasha drew in a breath — rolled her shoulders — and activated.

  Shwoooom—BAM!!

  A streak of crimson-orange flared around her, kinetic energy building from her stance alone.

  She pressed her fingertips into the block—

  BAM!!

  It shattered instantly.

  Ayasha stared at the splintered pieces.“…That was definitely more than twenty.”

  Titan hid a smirk. “Try again. Less drive. Less emotion behind it.”

  Ayasha inhaled sharply and tried again—

  BAM!!

  Another explosion of wooden fragments.

  She dropped her shoulders. “WOW. This is draining.”

  Cael gave her a thumbs up. “You got this Ayasha.”

  Titan handed Cael a block. “Your turn.”

  Cael nodded and exhaled.

  Zrrrp…ping.

  Green-and-gold light flickered in circuit-like patterns across his temples and arms. Data-trails pulsed around him — he scanned the block, calculating angles, stress points, pressure tolerances—

  He tapped the block lightly.

  The entire thing crumbled like sand.

  Cael stared at the dust in his hand. “…That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  Ayasha’s splintered board hit the ground.

  Cael’s snapped in half a moment later.

  Titan nodded once. “Improvement. But not controlled.”

  Then he turned to Lior. “Your turn.”

  Lior stepped forward, took the block, steadied his breath… and tried to activate.

  Nothing.

  He tried again.

  Still nothing.

  A flicker of frustration tightened his jaw.

  Titan watched him for a long second. “Your Niche isn’t responding.”

  Lior kept his eyes down. “…Yeah.”

  Titan stepped closer, stopping directly in front of him. “When emotional centers shift, output becomes unstable. Yours is unstable.”

  Lior’s hand tightened around the wood. “I said I know.”

  Ayasha took a careful step forward. “Lior—.”

  “I’m fine,” he said sharply.

  Titan didn’t react to the tone. “Your inner conflict will eventually become an outer one. Then it will begin to affect more than just you. Fix it.”

  That landed harder than any lecture.

  Lior exhaled through his nose. “I said I’m fine.”

  He dropped the block, turned, and walked off the training floor.

  Ayasha looked after him, worried. “Should we—?”

  Cael shook his head lightly. “No, we should give him a moment.”

  Titan said nothing at all, as his eyes stayed on Lior.

  Then he turned to Cael and Ayasha. “Keep working on that. You need to have some type of control if you're going to win this tournament.

  Cael and Ayasha both started their training again, as Lior disappeared down the hallway.

  ———

  The corridor was hushed at this hour, lit only by the soft glow along the floor panels.

  Hiroshi walked at an easy pace, the tap of his cane marking a gentle rhythm.

  Mm… where is that boy? I guess becoming a Lieutenant didn't change who he was.

  He gave a soft chuckle.

  Good.

  He rounded the corner.

  Across the hall, Lior passed through the junction — wound tight as a bowstring. His steps were purposeful, too sharp for morning, his expression drawn inward rather than forward.

  Hiroshi paused mid-step. “Hm.”

  Lior didn’t notice him, disappearing down the far hall with that same quiet strain clinging to him like a shadow.

  Hiroshi watched the empty space for a breath.

  Then, softly — almost like he was speaking to the hallway itself — he murmured, “…The inner struggle is always the harder one. An opponent outside you can prepare for…but the one within knows every fault, every hesitation.”

  He let the words settle, more to himself than anyone else.

  With a small exhale — he resumed his walk toward the doors leading outside to Veritas’s landing strip.

  Hiroshi slowed near the landing entrance.

  From behind the sealed doors, he heard the voices clearly now.

  An enthusiastic, loud voice was heard first. “?Buenísimo! We finally made it!”

  Then came a more brash, harsh voice, with a hint of Russian accent. “Yeah, but we’re late, Lieutenant.”

  The enthusiastic voice came in louder than before.

  “We’re not late muchacho! What gave you that idea?!”

  A softer. Gentle. Younger voice answered him. “Because we were supposed to arrive yesterday, Lieutenant.”

  The Lieutenant laughed. “Yesterday, today. Who cares, we are here.”

  SSSHHH—

  The doors hissed open in front of Hiroshi as he stepped forward.

  He saw all three representatives from Coral Gate. Veritas’ eastern pacific facility.

  The steel latch door vibrated with distant footsteps and echoing voices from the submarine chamber.

  The Russian accent cut through harsher than before.

  “Lieutenant—look.”

  His fingers pointed toward the two other gates’ aircraft parked on the far end of the platform

  Sergei Volkov — Codename: Glacier Fist — Coral Gate

  A towering, carved heavyweight of a cadet. Blond hair spiked sharp, ice-blue eyes half-lidded with boredom and judgment. Loose shirt ripped off at the ribs but still tight around the shoulders and arms. His fists fist were taped, flight jacket hanging open. He pointed without blinking, expression carved with annoyance.

  The Lieutenant followed the gesture.

  Another loud, booming laugh erupted beside him. “I guess you’re right—we arelate! ?Mira eso!”

  Efraín López — Codename: Lieutenant Marinero — Coral Gate

  Compact, loud, sleeves rolled high on muscular forearms. Slick-back hair shining even in the dim dock lights. Thick Colombian mustache, sandals slapping the metal floor, grin wide and reckless. He spoke with his entire body—hands, shoulders, eyebrows all moving like waves.

  The soft voice rose behind them. “Lieutenant… who is that?”

  A much smaller hand pointed—this time at the man standing in the open doorway.

  Marisol Yelén Carvallo — Codename: N/A — Coral Gate

  A tiny, curly-haired girl with wide brown eyes and a nervous posture. Olive skin, shoulder-length curls gathered loosely to one side. She bowed instinctively when Hiroshi looked her way, fingers knotted shyly behind her back.

  The Lieutenant turned—and saw Captain Hiroshi framed by the doorway.

  Marinero’s grin exploded. “?CAPITáN HIROSHI!”

  He leaned down toward the open hatch and bellowed: “?Soldado! Bring us above water!”

  A deep hydraulic rumble answered.

  The submarine jolted—then surged upward.

  Water streamed off the hull as the massive vessel broke the surface, plates unlocking, clamps releasing. A transparent dome rose with it, shedding seawater as sunlight cut through the glass.

  In seconds, the submarine stood revealed in full—a towering ocean-ship hybrid, its upper deck gleaming under the morning light.

  The Coral Gate trio stood proudly at the entry hatch, framed by the roar of their rising vessel.

  The final gate had arrived.

  ———

  Night settled over Veritas Prime like a quiet curtain.

  Lior hadn’t seen Ayasha or Cael since training that morning. He didn’t even sit with them at dinner — couldn’t. His thoughts were too loud, his mood too tight.

  So he slipped away, hands in his pockets, heading toward the courtyard bench where Selena had talked to him before.

  He dropped onto the bench harder than he meant to. “—HEY!”

  Lior jolted up.

  A small head popped out from under the bench, eyes wide.

  “Bastian. …How did you even get under there?” Lior asked.

  Bastian crawled out clutching two food containers like a squirrel caught stealing nuts. “Well… the cafeteria people said I already ate enough, so I took some more food, and then they started chasing me. They are much faster than the ones at my facility.”

  Lior stared.

  “…You stole food out of a free cafeteria?”

  Bastian puffed out his cheeks. “It’s more like… I found the good food.”

  Lior blinked slowly. “…What does that even mean?”

  Bastian lifted one container dramatically. “You guys don’t have ramen. Or sushi. Or anything! Everything is like… mashed potatoes. Or meatloaf. How do you even LIVE like that stuff?!”

  Lior pressed a hand to his forehead. “…Bastian, you still can’t—”

  “And THIS”—Bastian held up a container of cup noodles—“was the closest thing to anything real. So I took as many as I could.”

  Lior couldn’t help it — his frustration cracked just a little.“…How do you eat this much and stay that small?” he asked.

  Bastian shrugged proudly, tapping his head. “Captain Baggy Eyes says my brain burns most of my weight. Because it never stops running. I haven’t looked it up, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

  Lior let out a breath — half laugh, half sigh — and sat back down.

  Bastian plopped beside him, legs swinging. “Hey—You looked mad earlier.”

  “I… wasn’t mad,” Lior muttered. “Just thinking.”

  “Thinking burns calories too,” Bastian said seriously. “You want some of my food so you don’t shrink?”

  Lior huffed, staring at the ground. “…I’m not shrinking. I’m just—”

  Bastian gripped his cups of noodles, as if they would be taken. “On second thought, that’s not a good idea. I'll take the offer back.”

  Lior laughed. Then he paused for a moment. “How do you do it, Bastian?”

  Bastian blinked. “Do what?”

  “Stay… like this.” Lior gestured vaguely. “With everything that’s happened. If you're with Veritas, that means at some point you went through what everyone else has. How do you stay… okay?”

  Bastian’s face scrunched up like someone had handed him homework. “Uh… hold on.”

  He planted one hand under his chin. Squinted at the sky. Tilted his head. Tapped his own forehead twice. “Hmmm…”

  Lior watched, confused.

  Then Bastian brightened — as if the idea had just dropped from the heavens. “Oh! I know!” he said. “I don’t worry twice!”

  Lior blinked. “…What?”

  “Yeah!” Bastian nodded wildly.

  “If something bad might happen later, and I worry now, then I gotta worry again when it really happens. If something in the past happened, I already worried about it so no need to do that again.”

  He held up two fingers. “That’s two worries!”

  He swatted one finger down. “So I just skip the first one!”

  Bastian Froze.

  Looked at Lior.

  Looked at the sky.

  “…Wait…” he whispered. “…did that make any sense?”

  Lior stared at him.

  Bastian leaned closer, eyes big. “ It did! Did I just say something smart?”

  Lior finally cracked — the laugh slipping out helpless and real.

  For one moment, the weight on his chest loosened.

  Bastian pumped a fist. “Ha! Take that, Nightveil! I can be brain genius sometimes!”

  He had no idea what he’d just said…

  but it had landed perfectly.

  Lior took a deep breath in then exhaled.

  Why does it feel like I’ve known Bastian forever… Is it because he is what I want to be?

  On that quiet bench under the dim lights of Veritas Prime, the pressure of the day eased.

  Just a kid hiding from cafeteria guards and a boy trying to breathe.

  The storm would come soon enough.

  But tonight… he could sit.

  End of Chapter 43