CHAPTER 316: THE MEMORIAL

Someone nearby muttered softly, "He saved over six hundred people. Only thirteen were lost... but if he’s gone too..."

The words stabbed deeper than any blade.

Selene took a step back. "No," she whispered with her lips quivering. "He said he’d come back."

Her laugh came out broken, trembling like glass. "He said nothing would go wrong. Liar..."

Danny turned sharply toward her with bloodshot eyes. "Don’t talk like that. He’s not dead. You hear me?!"

His voice echoed through the docks, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Kairo placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder but even his usual composure faltered.

"Danny," an instructor said quietly, "none of the tracking beacons in his uniform show any signal from him. We already checked."

"I don’t care!" Danny shouted while shrugging Kairo off. "You think a damn signal means anything when it’s Victor we’re talking about?! He’s survived worse! He’s—he’s probably laughing right now, finding some stupid way to scare us when he comes back!"

But even as he said it, his throat tightened, and the words barely made it out.

Aria covered her mouth as tears threatened to spill out. Victor was the only person in their friend group that kept her on her toes... the one person she knew that kept her more diligent than the usual because if she wasn’t, she’d be left far behind.

Not to mention how easy going he was... a person wiling to put his life on the line without hesitation for his friends... losing someone like this made her knees feel weak.

Kai’s eyes remained unyielding. "Until we see a body, he’s alive," he said simply. His voice was steady but his eyes betrayed the storm behind it.

Reed who was holding a small box, stepped closer. The box was neatly wrapped with red ribbons, and the moment everyone saw it, the air turned colder.

It was a cake.

Danny’s eyes fell on it, and for the first time, he didn’t move.

"We were supposed to surprise him," Reed said softly. "Happy birthday... right?"

Silence.

The words hit like a boulder to the chest as Danny turned away and bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.

"Happy birthday..." Selene repeated under her breath as tears began to run down her cheeks. "You absolute moron. You’re supposed to be here for your damn cake."

Everyone’s eyes lowered.

How cruel was fate? To snatch him on the same day he was meant to celebrate his 17 year old birthday.

From above, the glowing walls of the underwater dome reflected their sorrow, beyond the sea, making it look like the whole academy was crying with them.

An instructor placed a hand over her heart. "I’m truly sorry. Victor Revenant’s name will be engraved among the honored fallen. He saved more lives than anyone could have imagined."

The announcement spread like wildfire through the Academy. By nightfall, the name Victor was whispered in every corridor, cafeteria, and dormitory.

The halls buzzed with chatter, disbelief, and heartbreak. It wasn’t every day that an S-ranked first-year became a hero overnight... and it wasn’t every day that one disappeared saving everyone else.

Even the upperclassmen, who usually looked down on the younger students, couldn’t stop murmuring about the incident in Sector K-22—an expedition gone wrong, one that turned into a near massacre if not for Victor and Elyra.

"I heard he leapt straight into the runic circle without hesitation."

"That’s insane. That circle was swallowing whole transport pods!"

"Elyra said he fought a Drakenar leader on his own."

"By himself? The guy must’ve been on another level."

"He was. S-ranked for a reason..."

Every corridor, every common hall, every dorm room echoed his name.

The first-years, those who had met him personally, felt the pain the most. They remembered Victor not just as an S-ranked student but as that funny guy... the one who cracked jokes during morning drills, who shared his food, who wasn’t full of himself despite being leagues above them in ability.

"He once helped me fix my boots," one student recounted tearfully.

"He told me my stance was ’as stiff as a frozen chicken’ and then corrected it," another chuckled sadly.

"He gave me his lunch because I forgot mine," a third whispered while staring at the corridor where he first bumped into Victor.

To them, Victor wasn’t just a powerful warrior. He was human.

Those who had been present at Sector K-22 became the primary source of the tale. Their recounts were told and retold like legends.

The scene of chaos, the thunderous whirl of energy and the sudden appearance of the glowing runic circle that began to devour everything in its range.

Transport pods, debris, students, everything was pulled into the air except for the adults.

Then there was Victor.

Victor defied direct orders from the instructors and dove straight into the chaos, with his blade flashing like lightning as he sliced open the pods that were trapped in the air.

Each one he freed carried screaming students to safety.

He didn’t hesitate. Not once.

And then came the part that made everyone’s heart ache was when Elyra, recounted how he got pulled back by the Drakenar leader after they had leapt into the circle when the portal was close to complete collapse.

And she returned alone.

Even for the second and third year students, the idea of facing a Drakenar Leader alone was unthinkable. These types seem to be on a higher level than Drakenar Chiefs who led small parties.

Even the usual Drakenars were apex predators outside domed cities, capable of tearing armored vehicles apart. And yet, according to Elyra’s account, Victor had slaughtered hundreds of Drakenar before facing two more powerful ones with her help and then the leader itself, all while ensuring the others escaped.

It was heroic... It was suicidal... but it was Victor.

The academy’s atmosphere was unlike anything it had ever been.

Training grounds were quiet.

Lecture halls felt hollow.

And Elyra Vorn, the third strongest of the first-years, vanished from sight completely.

After returning to the academy, she hadn’t left her S-ranked quarters once. The only time anyone saw her was when she bumped into Victor’s closest friends: Danny, Selene, and the others.

Her eyes were swollen but she addressed them with a whisper. "Sorry," she murmured. "It’s my fault... I failed to bring him back."

She had tried to keep her usual cold, composed demeanor, but everyone could see the cracks. Her steps were shaky. Her lips trembled.

The moment she returned to her quarters, she broke down completely...

This whole incident... reminded her of her father’s loss... and once again, she had been to powerless to prevent it.

---

Two days later, a memorial service was held for the thirteen students confirmed dead during the Sector K-22 incident.

The entire academy gathered at the Hall of Valor, a grand amphitheater with towering crystalline pillars and a vast digital canopy that displayed names and faces of the fallen.

The atmosphere was solemn.

The Vice Chancellor, stood at the podium as the academy banners fluttered in the wind. She began the speech with steady composure, honoring each fallen student one by one.

But when she reached the 14th... Victor’s name... her voice faltered.

On the glowing signboards all around the hall, a video began to play.

It was footage taken by cameras in Sector k-22 during the chaos.

Victor defied the storm of the throbbing massive red circle in the sky as he leapt across the place while slashing open pods midair.

Even when lightning bolts came from the ground targeting him, he’d vanish and reappeared at another location.

-"How is he doing that?"

-"Isn’t he supposed to be a warrior?"

Some of the abilities Victor used, posed questions but everyone who wasn’t present at the scene of the chaos on that day, had no idea that this was just a tip of the iceberg.

Victor disobeyed orders to get to safety and freed himself from a beast that was about to pull him into a blue portal.

Without hesitation, he leapt into the runic circle above as Elyra screamed his name.

Every student in the hall went silent.

Some covered their mouths.

Others clenched their fists.

Even the instructors lowered their heads in respect.

Because they knew... that over five hundred students were saved due to that singular act of disobedience.

When the footage ended, the Vice Chancellor’s voice trembled slightly as she said,

"We should all strive... to be like Victor. A student who placed the lives of others above his own. A true guardian of the Awakened."

The applause that followed wasn’t just loud, it was heavy, filled with sorrow and admiration.

---

After the service, Victor’s friends gathered near the Vice Chancellor.

Danny was the first to step forward with his fists trembling.

"Ma’am," he said, voice tight, "you can’t just write him off as dead because he didn’t make it through the portal."

The Vice Chancellor looked at him with sympathy. "Daniel, the chances are slim. The runic circle was collapsing. Even a Tier-6 mage wouldn’t have survived the backlash."

"He’s not dead!" Danny’s voice rose, echoing through the hall. "You don’t know him like I do! He’s stubborn—he always finds a way!"

Selene touched his arm, trying to calm him, but he jerked away as tears threatened to spill for the umpteenth time.

"What are you going to tell his mother?" he demanded. "She’s already lost her husband. You can’t just tell her that her son’s gone too!"