Chapter 153: Talks about Past

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Talks about Past

Meanwhile, Damon and Caelia had already reached his room.

Damon opened the door and stepped inside.

Caelia followed.

He could tell something was wrong.

She was unusually quiet.

Damon glanced over his shoulder.

Caelia was staring at him.

It wasn’t a normal stare either.

It was the kind that made him immediately realize he was in trouble.

Damon stopped.

"...What?"

She said nothing.

She simply kept looking at him.

Damon smiled awkwardly.

He already knew what this was about.

"You want to know about my past."

Still nothing.

Damon chuckled.

"I was going to explain."

Caelia’s expression finally softened a little.

"You better."

She walked past him.

"And you better not leave anything out."

"Okay, okay."

Damon laughed awkwardly again.

Only after Caelia relaxed did he sit down.

He had known this conversation would eventually happen.

Caelia had seen too much to simply ignore it.

The way those representatives had spoken about him didn’t match the person she knew.

They had called him a failure.

A reject.

Yet the Damon she had traveled with was nothing like that.

So Damon sighed.

"Yes."

Caelia looked at him.

"They were telling the truth about one thing."

"I really was known as the Calloway failure."

Caelia frowned.

Damon continued.

"I awakened a White Core."

Her eyes immediately widened.

"The White Core?"

Damon nodded.

Caelia stared at him in disbelief.

She already knew what that meant.

The White Core was the highest known core color.

Her own core was below it, just like Kane Calloway who had awakened a Violet Core.

Both were considered extraordinary.

But the difference between Violet and White was enormous.

It wasn’t simply another step.

The legends barely even compared them.

White Core users were figures that appeared in old records and stories.

And Damon had awakened one.

Caelia looked at him again.

"You really awakened a White Core..."

"Yeah."

Damon gave a small smile.

"It caused quite a lot of excitement."

"I can imagine."

Caelia was still staring at him.

Then Damon continued.

"But that wasn’t the problem."

Her expression changed.

"What happened?"

"After the core awakening, they checked for elemental affinity."

He paused.

"I had none."

Caelia froze.

"...None?"

Damon nodded.

"None."

She couldn’t understand it.

How could someone with the highest known core color have no elemental affinity?

Damon had already answered the question before she could ask.

"That’s when everything changed."

Caelia remained silent.

"The White Core stopped mattering to them."

"They had expected me to awaken an incredible element."

"But I didn’t."

"So they decided I was useless."

Damon shrugged.

"That’s how I became the Calloway failure."

Caelia’s eyes lowered slightly.

Now she understood.

The White Core had given them expectations.

And when Damon couldn’t use an element, those expectations turned against him.

But there was still one thing she couldn’t understand.

She looked back at him.

"Then how..."

She stopped herself.

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"How what?"

Caelia stared at him for a few seconds.

Then her eyes moved toward his chest.. the Spirit Origin.

She remembered everything.

Lightning.

Wind.

Ice.

The three elements Damon could now wield.

Her eyes widened again.

"The spirits."

Damon smiled.

"There you go."

Caelia slowly pieced everything together.

The representatives had known Damon before.

They had seen him when he couldn’t use an element.

They had no idea what had happened afterward.

But Caelia had seen it herself.

She had seen Sylphie.

Freya.

And Shiro.

Three Spirit Elementals.

Three different elements.

And Damon had grown alongside them.

Her confusion slowly disappeared.

So did her surprise at the representatives’ reactions.

They had been looking at two completely different versions of the same person.

The Damon they remembered had been unable to use an element.

The Damon standing before her now had three.

But something else bothered her.

She looked at him carefully.

"How long?"

Damon tilted his head.

"What?"

"How long have you been growing like this?"

Damon thought for a moment.

"Less than a year."

Caelia went silent.

Less than a year.

She had known he was talented.

She had seen him improve.

But hearing it said so plainly was different.

Less than a year.

In that short amount of time, Damon had gone from someone his family considered useless to someone capable of stabilizing Frostveil’s Zone Heart.

Someone who could fight powerful beasts.

Someone with three Spirit Elementals.

Someone even the Winterbourne family trusted.

Caelia felt a chill run up her spine.

She looked at Damon again.

There was something different in her eyes now.

It wasn’t just curiosity.

It was respect.

A deeper respect than before.

Damon noticed it immediately.

He watched her expression change from confusion, to realization, and finally to something close to disbelief.

He couldn’t help smiling awkwardly.

Caelia had clearly figured everything out.

She looked at him for a while before finally speaking.

"So..."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"You really were hiding quite a lot."

Damon laughed.

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

Damon thought about it.

"...Eventually?"

Caelia stared at him.

Damon quickly raised both hands.

"Okay. Bad answer."

Caelia shook her head.

"You really are something else."

Damon smiled.

"Is that a compliment?"

"I’m still deciding."

Damon laughed.

And for the first time that day, the tension around them completely disappeared.

Caelia stared at Damon for a moment before suddenly waving off their small talk.

"Anyway."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway?"

"When are you leaving?"

Damon blinked.

Then he laughed.

"That’s your question?"

"Yes."

"You didn’t even ask if I’m leaving."

Caelia looked at him.

"Because I already know you are."

Damon opened his mouth.

"I could stay here, you know."

"I know you’re going to say that."

She cut him off before he could continue.

Damon smiled.

Caelia folded her arms.

"You were only bluffing when you said you could stay and keep stabilizing Frostveil."

"Was I?"

"Yes."

She didn’t hesitate.

"First, you love adventure too much."

Damon paused.

"That’s true."

"And second, helping with Tempest Hollow is the smarter choice."

Damon raised both hands.

"Alright, you got me."

Caelia smiled.

"I knew it."