Three years. It had been three years since Kagami stepped into the iron-forged gates of Drakemount Academy—an institution unlike any other. Towering obsidian halls, enchanted battlegrounds etched with centuries of arcane duels, and students whose mana felt more like weapons than mere energy.

  And here he was—no longer a boy struggling with fusion magic, but a nine-year-old prodigy whose name had begun to spread beyond the walls of the academy. Not for his lineage. Not for fame. But for the sheer, overwhelming uniqueness of his mana signature—and the whispers of an energy some called otherworldly.

  Standing atop a jagged stone peak at the edge of the elemental training range, Kagami exhaled. Around him, wind roared and lightning cracked through the sky as if answering his call.

  “Let’s try this again,” he muttered.

  He raised one hand, fingers twitching with chakra memory. In the other, mana surged, crackling in a current of thunder.

  “Gale Pulse: Arctic Storm Edge!” he chanted—his own original fused spell.

  A razor-thin arc of frost-tinged lightning exploded outward, slicing through the cliff face across the ravine. Ice formed at the wound, crackling and spreading. Kagami grinned slightly. Three years of pushing the boundaries of fusion magic—of combining not just elements, but techniques born from a different philosophy of energy.

  “Still a bit too much mana output,” he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. “But not bad.”

  Behind him, a familiar voice echoed. “You’re talking to yourself again. That’s not a sign of genius. That’s a sign of madness.”

  Kagami turned, unfazed. Elias stood at the ledge, arms crossed, now a senior researcher at the academy—and still his personal guardian.

  “You here to lecture me or test me?”

  Elias smirked. “Both. Headmaster Maeron wants you in the observation hall. Something’s come up. Something...strange.”

  Kagami’s eyes narrowed. “Another attack?”

  “No,” Elias said, shaking his head. “Something worse. A surge of mana was detected near the border of the Desote Ring. It’s ancient. Pre-Arcanum era. The Academy Council believes it’s tied to the sealed rift.”

  Kagami’s stomach twisted. He had read the archives—sealed rifts were remnants of old wars, where mana twisted into chaotic storms that devoured entire kingdoms. And if something stirred inside one...

  “I’m guessing they want me to check it out?”

  “You, me...and a new unit,” Elias said. “The academy is assigning a four-man scout squad. You’ll lead it.”

  “Wait—lead? Me?” Kagami blinked.

  “You’re not a child anymore, Kagami. You’ve mastered fusion spells that most professors can’t expin. You’ve reached Tier Five mana compression. And…” Elias’s gaze softened, “you’ve held back long enough. They don’t want a student. They want a weapon.”

  Kagami looked down at his hands—calloused from practice, burning with chakra and mana alike. A weapon. He hated the word. But he understood it.

  “Then I’ll pick my squad.”

  “Already approved,” Elias replied. “Three names. Minna, Iren, and Leo.”

  Kagami’s eyes widened. “They’re here?”

  “They were transferred a month ago. On schorship. Special recommendations from Whimwood. Apparently, someone had taught them some...unique techniques.”

  Kagami’s heart lifted slightly. His friends—his family—were with him again.

  But he knew. This new mission wouldn’t be like the rogue ambushes of the past. Something older, darker, was waking.

  He turned back toward the training field, ice still shimmering on the cliff.

  “Then let’s get ready,” Kagami said, voice quiet but firm. “This time...we’ll be the ones watching the shadows.”

  ---