A new mission. A familiar threat. A storm begins to stir.

  The jagged cliffs of the Desote Ring stretched out like a graveyard of giants, worn and scorched by ancient magic. Dead trees clung to the ridgelines like skeletal fingers, and the air itself hummed with unstable mana.

  Four students, now battle-hardened from training and time, stood beside their mentor, Elias. The youngest, Kagami, now nine years old, had grown sharper—his mana more precise, his presence heavier. Beside him, his friends Minna, Iren, and Leo stood in formation. Their magical auras now glowed with refined strength, a testament to three years of relentless training under Mikay, Zack, and Master Rivel.

  Elias stood at the front, his long coat fluttering in the wind. His sharp blue eyes scanned the ndscape as a crystalline barrier of detection magic pulsed around them.

  "This mission isn’t routine,” he said quietly. “The Council intercepted whispers of movement in the Ring. A new dark mage cell may be staging here.”

  Minna narrowed her eyes. “Why would they set up in a pce like this?”

  Iren ran his hand through his now-shorter bck hair. “The mana here is corrupted… perfect for hiding forbidden rituals.”

  Leo clenched his fists, fire flickering. “I say we flush them out.”

  Kagami remained quiet. The atmosphere reminded him of something ancient and primal… and familiar in the worst way.

  ---

  Unseen, within the bckened rocks nearby…

  Two dark figures watched from the shadows.

  The first was hulking—an orc tank fighter named Gorr, covered in bone-carved armor with tribal blood runes etched deep into his green-gray flesh. His presence was oppressive, and the cruel glint in his eyes hinted at delight in destruction.

  Beside him stood a slender figure, humanoid but shimmering faintly with dragon-scale patterns along his skin—a warrior of the Drakeheart Cn. Wings rested folded on his back, and steam curled from his lips as he whispered incantations beneath his breath.

  “They sent the boy. And Elias,” the Drakeheart male muttered, his eyes golden and vertical-slit.

  “Can I break one of them?” Gorr growled.

  “In time. But Kagami is the key. We’ll draw him in.”

  ---

  Back with the team…

  Elias gnced at Kagami. “We’ll split. Leo and Iren—fnk the eastern ridge. Kagami, Minna—you take the west. I’ll create a mid-point beacon.”

  Kagami nodded, his bck eyes narrowed. “Stay close. If anything feels off—signal immediately.”

  The groups dispersed into the rocky terrain.

  ---

  Moments ter…

  A low rumble split the silence—a deliberate explosion at the central ridge. Stones flew as magic barriers cracked.

  Elias turned—only to be smmed aside by a crashing figure. Gorr emerged with a howl, swinging his massive club like a siege weapon. Elias countered mid-air—his arms weaving four elemental sigils.

  “Tempestra Cascade!”

  A surge of wind and water knocked Gorr back—but not far. The orc grinned, his massive frame tanking the blow.

  “Nice trick, mage. Try again.”

  Across the field, the sky rippled—a fming meteor descended, guided by dragon wings. The Drakeheart mage dove toward Kagami and Minna, unleashing fire breath in a sweeping arc.

  Minna responded—“Gcial Bloom!”—and a wall of ice erupted, absorbing most of the bst.

  Kagami’s fingers blurred through mana signs—lightning and earth fused beneath his feet.

  “Raijin Veinburst!”

  Stone exploded upward, ced with electrified veins, smming into the Drakeheart's path and forcing him to swerve mid-air.

  He nded roughly, lips curling. “The rumors were true. You’ve grown.”

  Kagami stood tall, mana swirling around him. “And you’ll regret waiting.”

  Suddenly, Iren and Leo arrived from the fnk, mana charged.

  Leo hurled dual fire bdes—“Inferno Ssh!”—while Iren focused his elemental field to weaken the mana current around the orc.

  Elias rejoined, blood on his lip but eyes bzing. “Now!”

  The five of them struck in tandem—but Gorr and the Drakeheart warrior were monsters in flesh.

  ---

  After a brutal exchange…

  Kagami, panting and bloodied, felt his chakra coil inside him like a second heart. He fused wind and water, creating spiraling cold—

  “Hyouketsu no Ryuu!”

  An icy dragon burst forth, crashing into the Drakeheart’s fire, steam erupting like a battlefield fog.

  Elias activated all four elements at once—“Grand Elemental Vortex!”—and trapped Gorr within a shifting prison of fire, earth, air, and water. Even Gorr staggered, bellowing as the vortex ripped at him.

  But still, the two dark mages endured.

  Minna, gasping, turned to Elias. “We can’t hold them much longer!”

  Before either foe could nd a final blow—

  BOOOOM!

  A rune-seal exploded mid-air, and the enemies vanished in a swirl of void magic—teleportation.

  Kagami dropped to one knee, trembling.

  “They… weren’t here to kill us,” he whispered. “They were testing us.”

  Elias lowered his arms, drained. “And learning.”

  ---

  Far away…

  In a dark chamber deep beneath obsidian stone, the Drakeheart mage stood with Gorr.

  “They’re progressing faster than expected,” he muttered. “The boy… he’s more than just power. He’s strategy.”

  Gorr snarled, eyes glowing. “I want to hear him scream next time.”

  A deeper voice echoed from the shadows.

  “You will. The Triad of Shattered Veils has pns for that child. This was only the first piece.”

  ---