Threat
CHAPTER 55
The moment Adrian’s words settled into the hall–I accept the challenge–the silence that followed was not awe, but disbelief.
Varric Ventress stared at him as if he had just heard a joke too absurd to process.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly. Not mockingly.
But slowly–deep and dangerous.
“You?” Varric said, shaking his head. “Face all seven?”
He took a step forward, his presence immediately suffocating the nearby elders. “Boy, do you even understand what you just agreed to?”
Adrian didn’t respond immediately. His calmness only deepened the irritation burning in Varric’s chest.
Varric lifted a hand, silencing the murmurs that were beginning to swell.
“The people I’m talking about,” he said coldly, “are not doctors who hide behind city walls. They are not bureaucrats. They are not politicians dressed as healers.”
His eyes sharpened.
“They are explorers. Pioneers. Monsters.”
The hall stirred uneasily.
“They crossed borders long before most of you were born,” Varric continued. “They left this world entirely. Ventured into forbidden zones. Some even reached the Moon itself–risking annihilation just to seek medical knowledge and power beyond human limits.”
Gasps rippled outward.
“To face even one of them,” an elder whispered hoarsely, “is suicide…”
Varric nodded slowly. “Exactly.”
He looked back at Adrian, gaze heavy with contempt.
“No one–no one–has ever dared challenge even a single one of them head–on.” His lips curled. “And you stand here, saying you’ll face all seven?”
He scoffed openly now.
“You think winning against Aldric Arvan makes you comparable?” Varric sneered. “Arvan was nothing. A trickster dabbling in filth. His power was a thread-”
He pinched his fingers together.
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-a tiny rope compared to the forces I’m talking about.”
The words landed hard.
“Your victory means nothing,” Varric continued. “If you have even an ounce of sense, you’ll rethink this foolishness and step aside.”
He spread his arms.
“Give up the presidency. Walk away with your life intact.”
The hall was tense.
Many nodded internally.
Some pitied Adrian.
Others waited for his retreat.
Even Catherine’s breath hitched.
Adrian stood still.
Inside him, there was no fear.
Only irritation.
He hadn’t wanted this position. That much was true. He never sought to rule the Medical City. If left alone, he would have declined and walked away without regret.
But Varric Ventress’s arrogance—his absolute certainty that he stood above consequence–had crossed a line.
Pride.
That was the crack.
Adrian lifted his gaze.
“Seven?” he said calmly.
The single word cut through the hall.
Varric frowned. “What?”
Adrian tilted his head slightly. “Why seven?”
The question caught everyone off guard.
Varric narrowed his eyes. “What are you implying?”
Adrian’s voice remained even. “Why not one?”
A ripple of shock ran through the room.
“Did he just-?”
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“He wants to challenge only one?!”
“That’s still madness!”
Varric laughed sharply. “One?”
He shook his head. “Boy, even one would kill you. You don’t get to bargain here.”
Adrian nodded slowly. “That’s fine.”
Then he looked straight at Varric.
“But before you worry about who I fight,” he said flatly, “you should start worrying about yourself.”
The hall stilled.
Varric’s eyes darkened. “What did you just say?”
Adrian took a step forward.
“In the next seven days,” he continued, voice calm, precise, “you will be blind.”
The silence shattered.
“What?!”
“Blind?!”
“Is he insane?!”
Varric’s expression froze.
Then it twisted into fury.
“You dare curse me?” he roared.
Adrian didn’t raise his voice.
“I’m not cursing you,” he said. “I’m diagnosing you.”
The hall erupted into chaos.
“A diagnosis?”
“He’s joking!”
“No–listen to his tone…”
Adrian continued, unfazed.
“You’ve been undergoing medical checkups for weeks,” he said. “Night vision degradation. Increasing dependence on stimulative compounds. Short–term relief, long–term damage.”
Varric’s pupils contracted.
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“You no longer see clearly in low light,” Adrian went on. “Your peripheral vision has begun collapsing. The drugs administered to you are accelerating optic nerve decay, not treating it.”
The murmurs died instantly.
“That’s impossible…“.
“How would he know that?”
Catherine’s eyes widened.
Varric’s breathing subtly changed.
Adrian met his gaze directly.
“You’re compensating with posture and aggression,” Adrian said calmly. “But your condition is progressing faster than you realize.”
He paused.
“If untreated,” he finished, “total blindness within seven days.”
The hall felt like it had been struck by lightning.
Varric stared at Adrian, rage and disbelief clashing violently in his chest.
“…You’ve been watching me,” he said slowly.
His voice dropped into something dangerous.
“You’ve been stalking my movements.”
Adrian didn’t deny it.
“I don’t need to,” he said simply. “Your symptoms announce themselves.”
Varric’s pride detonated.
“Guards!” he bellowed.
The armored men surged forward instantly.
“Seize him!” Varric roared. “Beat him until he learns what happens to people who ruin my name!”
The guards hesitated.
Every instinct screamed wrong.
But orders were orders.
They stepped toward Adrian-
And stopped.
Not because Adrian moved.
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But because the air shifted.
An invisible pressure rolled outward, subtle yet absolute.
The guards‘ knees trembled.
Sweat beaded instantly on their brows.
Their instincts–honed through years of combat–screamed death.
Adrian didn’t look at them.
He kept his eyes on Varric.
“If you touch me,” Adrian said quietly, “you’ll go blind before sunrise.”
The words landed like a verdict.
No threat.
No anger.
Just certainty.
Varric’s fists clenched so tightly his nails cut into his palms.
For the first time since entering the hall-
Doubt crept into his eyes.
The crowd watched, breathless.
This was no longer about presidency.
This was about dominance.
And for the first time, Varric Ventress realized-
He might have challenged someone far more dangerous than he ever anticipated.
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