The night hung heavy over Whimwood Preacademy, bnketed by an eerie stillness. Kagami, Elias, Leo, Iren, and Minna were just returning from a te evening run of training. The moonlight gleamed on the cobblestones as they ughed quietly together, their spirits lifted after a day of productive lessons and bonding.

  But that calm shattered with the sound of a deep, explosive rumble—followed by a crash as the front gates of the academy were torn apart by a tremendous surge of earth magic.

  “Take cover!” Elias barked, pushing the students behind the garden walls as shadows surged from the breach.

  Out of the smoke emerged two figures—one a towering dwarf armored in enchanted ore, wielding a massive earth-rune hammer glowing with ancient carvings; the other a tall woman cloaked in silver threads, her eyes glinting unnaturally in the dark. Her skin shimmered faintly—like crystallized stone.

  "The spies!" Kagami growled. "They’ve come for real this time."

  Several mage guards rushed to intercept them, casting barrier spells and elemental wards. But the dwarf shattered them with a single swing of his hammer, and the woman of the Alvardein Cn spun midair, unching shards of sharp wind mixed with compressed stone.

  Minna cried out, shielding herself. “They’re too strong!”

  Elias stepped forward, hands weaving sigils mid-air. “Stay behind me. I’ll handle the dwarf.”

  He called forth the four elements with booming chants, his voice thunderous:

  “Tempus Fulmen! Bracchium Ignis! Terrae Spina! Aqua Nocturne!”

  A surge of water burst from his side, freezing midair as fmes encircled his other hand. Lightning crackled through the soil as he combined the magic, unching a wave of fused energy toward the charging dwarf. Stone and fme twisted into a spiraling shockwave—smming into the dwarf, who grunted and countered with a retaliatory tremor that shook the training field.

  Meanwhile, Kagami leapt toward the woman. He tried fire, then wind, then even thunder, but the attacks sparked harmlessly off her glittering, now full-diamond body.

  Elias, dodging a sm of the warhammer, shouted across the field. “Kagami! That’s the Alvardein Cn! They use a fusion of earth and wind magic to become living diamond! Their bodies harden like enchanted crystal!”

  Kagami’s eyes widened. “So she’s like a kekkei genkai user…” he whispered. “Not just durable—but immune to conventional magic and physical attacks.”

  Panting, mana almost depleted, he dropped low and willed his chakra to rise—not for a jutsu, but just enough to enhance his movement. He flickered behind her with the Body Flicker Technique and unleashed a rapid barrage of taijutsu strikes.

  Still, nothing seemed to break through her glimmering shield of diamond.

  She transformed her hand into a crystalline bde and swung with deadly force.

  Kagami, his body slowed by exhaustion, barely raised a defense—until—

  CRACK!

  A blinding pilr of light erupted between them. The woman’s attack halted midair. Her face twisted in shock.

  “I believe that’s quite enough,” said a deep, authoritative voice.

  Descending from above in a gust of arcane wind stood a tall figure cd in dark ceremonial robes. His silver beard shimmered with starlight, and his staff bore a dragon-shaped crest that radiated yered magic circles.

  Headmaster Alric Vaelthorne had arrived.

  He raised his staff. “I am quite fond of my school walls and my students' safety. You two will not be leaving here unscathed.”

  The dwarf tried to charge again—but Alric’s chant rang out:

  “Dominus Terrae: Banish!”

  A sigil lit beneath the dwarf’s feet. Vines of glowing green magic surged up to bind him—only for the dwarf to roar and sm his hammer into the ground, shattering the spellwork with a violent quake. The feedback rocked the field, sending cracks through the earth.

  Alric’s eyes narrowed. “They’ve reinforced themselves…”

  The diamond woman snapped her bindings mid-transformation. Cracks formed, then sealed across her limbs as she released a pulse of raw mana—shattering the radiant chains.

  “Headmaster!” Elias shouted.

  But the enemies were already retreating.

  “We’ve deyed them long enough,” the woman muttered, grabbing the dwarf’s shoulder.

  In an instant, a burst of condensed air and dust whirled around them—then they vanished into the sky, carried by wind-infused earth magic.

  Alric extended his hand to recapture them—but paused. “Tch. A spatial tether… crafted beforehand. They pnned the escape.”

  Silence fell.

  The battle was over.

  And the spies had escaped.

  Alric turned to Elias and Kagami. “You both fought well,” he said grimly. “But this time—they left on their terms.”

  ---

  That night, students were ordered to dorms. The gates were magically sealed. But tension gripped the academy.

  In the headmaster’s tower, Alric Vaelthorne met with Elias and Master Rivel. Kagami sat quietly, staring at the floor.

  “They came for me,” he muttered. “Again. And they got away.”

  Rivel pced a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t bme yourself, Kagami. Power attracts predators. It always has.”

  Alric nodded, his tone firmer. “We’ll reinforce Whimwood’s defenses. Elias, you are now his permanent monitor.”

  Kagami nodded slowly.

  Alric’s voice lowered. “We stopped them—for now. But next time, they might not come to test us. They might come to finish something.”

  ---