Chương 25: The Man Behind the Mask

The forest was quieter now. Not peaceful. Just quieter. The surviving students walked along the narrow trail between the trees, surrounded by teachers from both academies. No one spoke much. The excitement that had filled the camp during the first days of the expedition had disappeared. There were no competitions. No arguments between students. No laughter. Only footsteps. Leo walked near the middle of the group. His clothes were dirty from the previous night.

A few strands of white hair rested against his forehead, disturbed by the wind. Alice walked several steps ahead with the other students. Every few minutes, she glanced backward. Leo noticed. He said nothing. She had been doing that since they left the ruined camp. Perhaps she was still thinking about what had happened. That was understandable. Leo looked toward the forest behind them. The trees hid everything that had happened during the night. The bodies. The prisoners. The masked man. The sword.

He lowered his gaze. It's over. At least for now. His breathing remained calm. But beneath that calm, his mind was already calculating. The plan had worked. Not perfectly. But well enough. His original intention had been simple. He had not entered the forest expecting trouble. He had prepared another option before the expedition began. A contingency. Something that could move without him. Something that could fight without exposing him. A copy. Leo had spent several nights preparing it before the expedition.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Creating a second body from Internal Energy was far more difficult than creating an ordinary technique. The energy had to be condensed. Controlled. Given shape. Then connected to a set of simple commands. It could move independently. It could fight. It could recognize threats. And, most importantly, it could disappear when its task was complete. But it was not free. Every movement consumed energy. Every technique consumed more.

A prolonged battle could destroy the copy before it completed its purpose. That was why Leo had avoided unnecessary fights during the incident. He had not been afraid of the enemies. He had been protecting his reserve. If the copy had been forced into several unnecessary battles before reaching Alice, there was a chance it would have disappeared before completing its mission. That possibility had been unacceptable. Leo looked at his hand. His fingers tightened slightly. I was right to prepare it.

His eyes moved toward Alice again. She was alive. That was enough. The wagon ahead passed over a rough section of road. The students stumbled slightly. Amon caught himself against the side of the wagon.

"Are we there yet?" One of the teachers looked back.

"Another hour." Amon groaned. Masha gave him an annoyed look.

"You've been asking that for twenty minutes."

"Because the road hasn't changed."

"It is a forest."

"I know." Leo almost smiled. Almost. Then his attention returned to the forest. There was something else he needed to consider. The masked man. The academy had already seen him. The teachers had recognized him from the newspapers. The wanted posters. The descriptions. The rumors. That was exactly what Leo had wanted. A stranger. A criminal. A mysterious figure who appeared only when necessary. No connection to him. No reason for anyone to suspect the quiet white-haired student walking among them.

Leo leaned back against the wooden side of the wagon. His eyes closed for a moment. The mask had helped considerably. It wasn't merely protection for his face. It had been designed to alter his appearance. The magic woven into it could change the color of his hair. His white hair became black beneath its influence. Even the voice changed. Not a simple disguise. The mask altered the sound itself, giving the masked man a completely different voice. Face. Hair. Voice. Presence.

Everything pointed toward another person. And that was exactly what Leo needed. No one can connect us. His eyes opened. The wagon continued forward. He looked at Alice. She was talking quietly with Masha. Alive. Safe. His shoulders relaxed slightly. The masked man had done what he was created to do. Nothing more. Nothing less. Leo looked toward the road ahead. He had no intention of becoming famous. He had no interest in becoming a hero.

And he certainly did not want the academy learning about the power he had spent years hiding. The less people knew about him, the better. The masked man was different. He could exist outside Leo's ordinary life. A name without a face. A face without a known identity. A figure that appeared when necessary and disappeared before anyone could understand him. That was enough. For now. The journey continued. By late afternoon, the first towers of the academy became visible beyond the distant hills.

Several students sighed with relief. Amon stretched his arms.

"Finally." Masha looked toward the academy.

"I thought this trip was supposed to be educational."

"It was," Amon replied.

"We learned that sleeping in a forest is terrible." Masha stared at him.

"That's not education."

"It is for me." Alice laughed quietly. Leo watched them from his seat. For the first time since the expedition began, the tension in his chest loosened. They were returning. Everyone was returning. That mattered more than anything else. The academy gates slowly grew larger. Students began talking again. Teachers started organizing them into groups. The normal rhythm of academy life was returning. Leo looked ahead. No one around him knew.

No one knew that the mysterious masked man from the newspapers had walked through the forest with them. No one knew that the man who had stood among the bodies had been created by him. No one knew that the stranger they feared had already returned to the academy. And no one would. Leo rested his head against the wooden wall. His eyes closed. For the first time that day, he allowed himself to breathe normally. The plan had succeeded. But he knew one thing now.

Keeping the masked man hidden would become harder from this point onward. The world had noticed him. And once a mysterious figure appeared often enough… people eventually began looking for the person behind the mask. Leo opened his eyes. The academy gates stood before them. He watched them approach. Then, silently, he made himself a promise. They can search. They won't find me. The wagon passed through the gates.

And among hundreds of students returning from the expedition, Leo disappeared into the crowd like an ordinary sixteen-year-old boy. The masked man had vanished. But his legend had only just begun. End of Chapter 25.