The sun filtered warmly through the vibrant streets of Liria as Kagami stood with Iren and Minna in the city’s central training grounds. Children from different magical families practiced basic spellwork while ughing and sharing snacks. Though Kagami still struggled to pronounce their names, he remembered every one of them—and how they moved in a fight.

  “Kagami, try it again!” Minna urged, pointing at a small water orb hovering in the air.

  “Not need chant,” Kagami said, waving his hand clumsily. A tiny spark of mana fizzled from his fingertip and spshed on the ground instead. “...Tch.”

  Iren, ever observant, watched Kagami closely. “You don’t use mana like us. You move it different.”

  Kagami turned to him. “I use chakra. Simir, but not same. I… still learn mana.”

  Iren tilted his head, confused. “Shack-rah?”

  Minna giggled. “Is that your magic word?”

  “No. It’s—” Kagami started to expin but stopped. He sighed. “Never mind.”

  The ughter and training continued as Mikay and Zack rexed a short distance away, watching from the edge of the pza with snacks in hand.

  “He’s getting more social,” Mikay said with a smile.

  “Still punches like a soldier,” Zack added.

  But in the shadows of an alley not far from the lively crowd, two hooded figures watched the children with greedy eyes.

  “There,” one whispered. “The bck-haired one. The boy who summoned the water dragon spell. I got word from the guild. No record of his origin. No parents. Prodigy css.”

  The other nodded, eyes gleaming. “Mana-kid like that? Fetches a fortune in the Underveil Market. They train ‘em to be silent assassins. Mana sves.”

  “Wait for the moment.”

  ---

  Later That Evening…

  The children had wandered down a quiet ne between buildings, chasing a runaway ball, ughing and teasing each other. Kagami stayed close to Iren, eyes flicking between corners.

  He felt something strange. Not like chakra.

  But something… dark. Wrong.

  Just as Iren kicked the ball back toward Minna, a shadow darted across the path—fast.

  Before they could scream, one of the hooded men nded before them, casting a null-magic field, cutting off their ability to cast.

  “You kids py too far from your parents.”

  Another figure emerged behind them, grabbing Minna’s arm.

  Kagami’s eyes sharpened instantly.

  “Let her go.”

  The rogue scoffed. “You talk like a grown man, runt.”

  Kagami’s fingers curled into a fist. He moved.

  Before the rogue could react, Kagami dropped low and swept the man’s legs—his taijutsu precise. The kidnapper stumbled, and Kagami leapt forward, smming a tiny palm into the man’s chest, infusing a flicker of chakra.

  It wasn’t powerful.

  But it hurt.

  The rogue smmed into a barrel.

  The second rogue growled and raised his hand. “Fine. I’ll take you first!”

  Just as the bst of mana surged toward Kagami—

  Mikay’s voice cut through the air.

  “Water Spear—Release!”

  A javelin of enchanted water smmed into the attacker, flinging him against the alley wall.

  She nded beside Kagami, hair swirling, face fierce. “Are you okay?”

  But Kagami didn’t answer—he was staring behind her.

  The third rogue had appeared from the shadows, his bde already swinging toward Mikay’s back.

  Her eyes widened. She couldn’t turn in time.

  Kagami’s hand moved before his mind could.

  His chakra surged violently.

  “Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!!”

  Fmes exploded from Kagami’s tiny mouth, roaring forward in a massive sphere of fire. The rogue screamed as he dove aside, the fireball missing him by inches and scorching the stone wall behind him.

  Zack arrived a heartbeat ter, sword drawn—only to stop in shock.

  Kagami was breathing heavily, small hands smoldering, eyes narrowed with heat still lingering in them.

  “That… was not mana,” Zack whispered.

  Even Mikay turned slowly, her mouth open in stunned silence. “Kagami… you… used fire?”

  He looked at her, half-proud, half-exhausted. “Not… fire. Jutsu.”

  ---

  Later That Night…

  The children were safe. The attackers, bound and hauled away by the city guards.

  Mikay sat in the quiet of their inn room, staring into the firepce. Zack paced behind her, a mixture of awe and concern on his face.

  “Did you see the size of that thing? That wasn’t some toddler spark.”

  “No chant. No focus crystal. No wand. Nothing,” Mikay murmured. “And that word again. ‘Jutsu.’”

  Zack looked at her. “Are we raising a magical weapon?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “We’re raising a survivor… from somewhere far beyond what we understand.”

  ---

  Meanwhile…

  Kagami sat under the stars, arms wrapped around his knees, Iren and Minna beside him.

  Minna broke the silence first. “You were really cool, Kagami.”

  “...Thanks.”

  Iren watched him. “You’re different. But… I think it’s a good different.”

  Kagami smiled. “I protect my friends. That’s what I was trained for.”

  He looked up at the stars—ones he didn’t recognize from his old world.

  But here, with these strange children and the woman who saved him, he finally felt something he hadn’t since the war:

  Peace.

  At least, for now.

  ---