Chapter 11: The Hunter Who Knows Too Much


    <hr>


    I knew the academy wasn’t going to let this go.


    I just didn’t expect them to pull me in so fast.


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    Summoned to the Headmaster’s Office


    The summons came the next morning.


    <blockquote>


    [REPORT TO HEADMASTER ALDEN GRAVES IMMEDIATELY.]


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    I barely had time to process before I found myself in the Headmaster’s office, standing before Alden Graves himself.


    The air in the room was thick, heavy with something unseen.


    Graves sat behind his desk, fingers steepled, studying me with the calm patience of a man who already knew too much.


    "You were outside the academy walls last night," he said.


    Not a question.


    A statement.


    I kept my expression neutral. "I was training."


    A small pause.


    Then—


    Graves smiled.


    It wasn’t a friendly smile.


    It was the kind that made you second-guess every decision that led you here.


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    "You fought it, didn’t you?"


    My stomach tightened.


    But I didn’t answer.


    Because we both knew that was answer enough.


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    The Teacher Who Knows the Truth


    I wasn’t locked up.


    I wasn’t expelled.


    Instead, I was sent to Instructor Selene.


    The academy’s Magic Theory professor.


    But according to the rumors?


    She wasn’t just a teacher.


    She was a former Hunter-Scholar—a specialist in monsters that weren’t supposed to exist.


    Which meant she knew something about what I fought.


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    The Conversation


    Selene’s office was nothing like I expected.


    Dark, cluttered with ancient books and alchemical artifacts. Strange symbols glowed faintly on the walls, shifting when I wasn’t looking.


    She stood near a large arcane map, her back to me, tracing something with her fingers.


    "You saw it," she said.


    Another statement.


    I exhaled. "Yeah."


    She turned, her violet eyes sharp.


    "And you killed it?"


    I hesitated. "I think so."


    Selene studied me for a long moment.


    Then she gestured. "Sit."


    I did.


    And for the next hour, she told me the truth.


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    The Unseen Beasts


    "They’re called Nullborn," Selene said. "Creatures that exist outside the system."


    I frowned. "Outside?"


    She nodded. "They have no rank, no class, no recorded history. They’re not supposed to be here."


    The memory of the glitching, shifting entity flickered in my mind.


    I clenched my fists. "Where do they come from?"


    Selene’s eyes darkened.


    "From places we’re not meant to see."


    The room felt colder.


    "These things," she continued, "aren’t just anomalies. They’re a message."


    She looked directly at me.


    "And the fact that one came for you?"


    Her voice dropped into something almost dangerous.


    "That means you’re part of that message."


    <hr>


    A New Threat


    I left her office with more questions than answers.


    But one thing was clear—


    This wasn’t over.


    The Nullborn weren’t just random monsters.


    They were looking for something.


    And for some reason—


    They thought I had it.


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