In an unknown, foggy place, a dark skinned, naked woman with her eyes tightly closed danced in a circle as if in a feverish delirium.

  Bubbles of a foul-smelling, viscous liquid repeatedly burst on the surface of a swamp through which she floated, making the sight even more seductive, for the poisonous fumes rising from them were the only thing that hid her lovely curves as if behind a silk veil.

  After several minutes, she froze in the middle of her movements to a sculpture and opened her eyelids.

  Two deep white holes appeared where her pupils should have been, and she stared at the cloudy night sky as if it were telling her a story.

  Time seemed to stand still as different stars sparkled through the clouds, and in the next moment, a deep, dark voice, coming from the beauty's sweetly shaped mouth, cut through the silence.

  She sounded like she came from another world, and the gentle movements of her kissable lips, paired with the deep, vibrating bass, formed a macabre image, "The heir of Silberblick Castle lives! I see a farm, a shepherd, his wife, and a stubborn sheep! Betsy... An animal he loves! I see mountains near the ruined castle! Use the animal's blood and flesh for the ritual, and you will find him! No one may stand in the way of the enclave! Kill anyone who dares."

  “Understood, oh great oracle!” Replied the only eyewitness to this spectacle, a majestic warrior clad in shimmering red armor, who watched as the incomparable beauty crumbled before his eyes into a heap of bone dust and leathery skin, as if all life had drained from her.

  “We haven't seen our parents for nearly four years now!” Murmured a now much taller Kilian with shoulder-length hair, melancholically, counting the time on his fingers, “I wonder how they are?”

  "I'll be able to tell you in a few weeks!" Edana replied cheerfully, while her slowly becoming more feminine body was now wrapped in a beautiful, new, green robe, "I'm allowed to accompany the caravan this time! As a reward for making it into the Inner Academy. Should I bring them a letter from you?"

  "There's too much to say..." Said the now fourteen-year-old boy, watching a flat stone that he sent skipping across the idyllic mountain lake near the dwarven village with a quick flick of his wrist, "But I want to tell them personally! I've finally reached the second level as a Qi-Gatherer, and I'm slowly starting to feel the Qi around me, even at night! One more level and I can also visit them. Just tell them I'm fine!"

  "Will do, brother!" Replied the big sister, stood up, tossed her long red hair over her shoulders with an elegant movement, and walked off, accompanied by her faithful companion Ferga, "I'll get going now, before Master Arto throws me out again! See you again in a few weeks!"

  Nodding his head in response, Kilian thought about the time that had already passed.

  The last four years have been filled with work and training every day.

  Every second day, the digging in the shafts was replaced by learning various old texts, as Kilian had promised Professor Irwin, in exchange for enchanting his first staff, that he would prepare for the later study of calligraphy, and the blacksmithing work also became increasingly complex.

  He was now able to fold Shadowsteel four times, but his physical strength was only barely enough.

  After crafting a single fragment of this quality, he was exhausted for days.

  He also had to continually practice staff combat to gather enough resources and clan points in the monthly battles, as his opponents grew stronger with his level, and he needed the winning streaks to speed up his cultivation.

  In addition to all his obligations, he trained tirelessly in the Path of the Ape, and it had almost become a reflex to constantly rotate and compress Qi to fill his Dantian with it.

  So he became a little stronger every day, even if only at a snail's pace.

  The information about the Path of the Ape also became clearer in his mind, but an invisible barrier in his head prevented him from understanding the next step, and Master Arto only replied that he had to reach the end of the small circle first to comprehend more.

  So he trained day in, day out and was always tired but also happy.

  The most significant change was experienced by the half-giant Thrym, who was already over three meters tall at their last meeting and resembled a purebred giant more than a human.

  He skipped the Inner Academy and was called into direct service with the clan a year ago, negotiating with the giant tribes at an outpost in the north.

  “I have a few lonely weeks ahead of me…” Kilian murmured uncomfortably, missing his big brother and hoping that Edana would be safe on her first mission for the Inner Academy.

  He stood up full of energy, moved his sore arms and legs to shake off the negative thoughts, and, like he did every day at this time, made his way back to the forge.

  “Lady Edana, Lord Connor, the caravan is ready to depart!” The guard Gorax dutifully reported, earning only venomous glares from the young girl, while the windwolf she was sitting on growled at him angrily.

  He raised his head questioningly and smiled uncertainly at the young woman, for a malicious order at the wrong time could quickly cost him his life on his upcoming mission, "Even though I injured your brother back then, he was never in any real danger! Master Cayden gave me the task of testing him, and besides, I was wounded considerably more than he was..."

  After a tense silence, Connor finally laughed shyly, "I'm leading this mission! As commander of the guard, you'll take your orders from me, and Lady Edana will accompany us only as additional support."

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  “Understood!” Gorax answered as expected, but thought to himself, “But you always do everything that this wolf in sheep’s clothing wants you to do…” when he saw the Qi-Master flinch under the beauty's death stare that now landed on him.

  “Let’s set off! I want to reach the first farm before the sun sets!” Said the young beast tamer as he stood up with reddened ears, opened the small pouch that hung around his waist, and a huge mountaintoad appeared.

  The workers, caravan guards, and the two members of the Inner Academy climbed the wooden stairs and, on command, the magical beast shot away with a high jump.

  Bathing in the last rays of the evening sun, the caravan reached its first destination, a cluster of small huts protected by a wooden palisade.

  Several farmers stood in front of the entrance, armed with pitchforks and lumberjack axes, and watched the newcomers nervously.

  “A-are you from the Kong Clan?” A young man asked cautiously, without lowering his weapon.

  "Lord Connor and Lady Edana are here to collect the tribute! Lay down your weapons!" Gorax shouted, letting his aura sweep across the courtyard, for a year ago, he reached the first stage as a Qi-Gatherer. But no one lowered their weapons, whereupon the commander began to shout venomously, "You want to rebel against the clan?"

  "Forgive us, sir, but three days ago, some warriors came and said they were sent by the clan, but they were bandits! They stole all our sheep and kidnapped several young men, about fourteen years old. Could you show us the clan symbol?" Asked a trembling old man, leaning on a stick as he stepped forward in front of the gathering of farmers.

  "Bandits? In the territory of our clan?" Connor muttered as he jumped down from the mountaintoad and displayed the Inner Academy crest.

  “It's really you…” The old man burst into tears, knelt, and begged, “Please…please save the children! They've kidnapped my grandson!”

  “A group of about forty men posed as the clan's caravan and stole your cattle and the young men who were meant to undergo the talent test?” The expedition leader repeated the words of the chattering peasants, “In which direction did they head after that?”

  “Towards Kegan's farm...I hope nothing has happened to him and his wife!” Replied the old head of the small village, looking into the distance where a beautiful mountain range could be seen.

  “Father…Mother…” Edana murmured as if in a trance, and was just caught by Connor’s firm grip before she could run towards her old home.

  “Let me go! They need my help!” She cried desperately, trying to break free.

  "You alone against forty warriors of unknown strength? You don't stand a chance! We need the clan's support and a well-thought-out plan!" The expedition leader replied sternly.

  He opened the small pouch at his side, and a silver bird appeared, accompanied by the whooshing of the wind, "This is the fastest magical beast I own! It's a silverfalcon that flew to me as a child. This species grows very slowly and is therefore not yet large enough to be ridden long distances, but if we ask it, it will deliver a message to the clan!"

  The female Qi-Gatherer stood rooted to the spot, her body shaking with fear, while Connor put the events down on paper.

  “Keros, please deliver this message to Lady Lorna as quickly as possible!” He said, stroking the bird’s silver feathers.

  “Hurry up…please…” Edana pleaded with a trembling voice and tears in her eyes, “I don’t want to lose them!”

  After a deep look into the moist eyes, as if he could see directly into the girl's head, the silverfalcon extended his talon, had the letter attached to it, and with a proud croak and powerful beat of his wings, he was already gone.

  "We're preparing our camp for the night! We should have an answer by tomorrow!" The caravan leader commanded loudly, and the expedition members retreated to the already snoring, swaying mountaintoad to regain their strength.

  With a pale face and no emotion at all, Edana slowly staggered to her bed and disappeared without saying a word to anyone.

  “Mother…Father…” She murmured as she stared out her window at the familiar mountains of her childhood, her empty gaze gaining more determination with every blink, “I won’t let anything happen to you!”

  A few hours later, it was still the middle of the night, when a loud knock shook her door, and Connor said loudly, "Edana, wake up! Keros is back and brings the clan's orders!"

  But he received no answer.

  After repeating the cycle of knocking and calling several times, he finally said, his ears red, "I'm coming in now! Please don't be mad at me!"

  The door flew open, but he only found an empty room.

  While the now cursing Qi-Master looked everywhere for the young woman, even under the bed and in the wardrobe, which was way too small for a human to hide, Edana, clinging tightly to her windwolf Ferga, galloped ever closer to her parents' farm.

  “Thank you, Ferga, now go to sleep and rest!” Said the beast tamer as she lovingly stroked the silky fur of the young windwolf.

  The sun was already high in the sky, and in front of them lay a steep, stony path that led through the rocky mountain range where Kegan's farm was located on a high pasture.

  A small bag was opened, one magical beast disappeared, and another appeared.

  In front of the Qi-Gatherer stood a small deer with short, burning antlers, and just as she was about to mount it, a figure wrapped in black appeared from the shadows.

  "A member of the Kong Clan's Inner Academy?" Asked a delicate female voice.

  Her head, hidden under a dark hood, tilted, and she pondered again, "But is it a REAL member of the Inner Academy this time? At least she has the Kong Clan's signature magical beasts..."

  “Who are you?” Cried Edana in a childlike, shrill voice, and a thin black sword appeared in her hand with the flash of an old, rusty amulet that hung around her neck, “Are you one of the bandits who raided our farms?”

  “Shadowsteel?” The shadowy figure’s invisible eyebrows shot up under its hood, and the next moment it raised two small knives in the air.

  Followed by a bright whistle, a silvery flash flew towards the waiting beast tamer.

  With a quick movement, she ducked under the attack and laughed softly, “I may be young, but I am still a warrior of the Inner Academy!”

  But the laughter got caught in her throat the next moment as the second knife, in the shadow of the first one, but from a completely different angle, shot towards her and was about to pierce her heart.

  Her face pale, she raised her sword to parry the hidden attack, but her timing was off, and it only whizzed through the empty air.

  Covered in sweat, her free hand reached for her chest, but strangely, she felt nothing wet.

  The expected pain didn’t occur either!

  Confused, she looked forward, only to see the tip of a knife seemingly frozen in mid air, and behind it the grin of the now hoodless figure holding the handle of the dagger between its slender fingers.

  “As a direct member of the clan, you might have a chance, but I would never lose against a newcomer to the Inner Academy!” Edana heard the gentle voice of a beautiful woman with shoulder-length brown hair and shining green, slightly silvery eyes, “I am Amena, and we seem to have the same enemies!”

  “I am Edana.” Stammered the Qi-Gatherer, sitting on the ground after falling on her bottom from the shock, “You’re not one of the bandits?”

  "I am a member of the royal house of Arian, and I'm searching for something that was stolen from us, but there are too many orc mercenaries roaming the land, making my life unnecessarily difficult!" Amena replied with a sigh, approaching the girl and extending her hand, "Unfortunately, I've been separated from my troops and now I am on my way to Kegan's farm. It's a small farm nearby."

  "Father!" Edana cried again, remembering the danger her parents were in, "I'm Kegan's daughter! I must get to them as quickly as possible to warn them!"

  “So you know the way?” Asked the woman wrapped in black, beginning to think again, “Traveling in pairs is safer than traveling alone! Do you have another mount? I would like to accompany you!”

  The beast tamer had already jumped onto her deer, opened the pouch on her hip again, and a doe appeared on the stony path.

  Together, the two set off into the mountains at full gallop, while Amena's silver eyes repeatedly watched Edana.