The ship had been flying for perhaps an hour when the alarms began.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Harsh metallic bells ringing throughout the vessel.
Ethan's eyes snapped open.
He'd been in his room, trying to process everything—the completed mutation, the beacon in wizard hands, the impossible situation he'd found himself in.
Now—
What's happening?
[ALERT: MULTIPLE HIGH-ENERGY SIGNATURES DETECTED ABOVE SHIP. CLASSIFICATION: HOSTILE INTENT PROBABLE.]
He ran from his room.
The corridor was chaos.
Children pouring out of their quarters, confused and frightened.
"What's going on?!"
"Are we under attack?!"
"I want to go home!"
Ethan pushed through the crowd and sprinted toward the deck stairs.
He had to know what was happening.
Had to see—
He burst onto the deck into bedlam.
Servants running. Roma shouting orders. Renjo standing at the ship's prow, his robes whipping in the wind, looking up at the sky with an expression of cold fury.
And above them—
Four figures.
Floating in midair.
Flying.
Not on brooms or dragons or any vehicle.
Just... standing in the sky as if it were solid ground.
[ANALYZING... SUBJECTS EXHIBITING LOCALIZED GRAVITY MANIPULATION OR MAGICAL LEVITATION. ENERGY SIGNATURES: EXTREME.]
Four wizards.
Each wore robes of different colors—one in crimson and gold, one in deep green, two in dark blue.
Their faces were visible even from this distance, and each wore expressions of cold calculation.
These aren't students. These are full wizards.
And they're here for the beacon.
Renjo's voice cut through the alarm bells.
"RAFEL. NORI. What is the meaning of this?"
The wizard in crimson—Rafel—smiled. His voice carried effortlessly over the distance, amplified by magic.
"You know exactly what this is, Renjo. Give me the artifact from the other world, and I'll let you and your students go unharmed."
The wizard in green—Nori—scoffed.
"Don't listen to him, Renjo. Give it to me. My Dean has promised to help you advance to Level 3 Wizard if you cooperate. A generous offer."
Rafel's smile vanished. "Your Dean? My Dean will do better than that. My Dean needs that artifact to break through to Level 4 Wizard. With that achievement, our entire faction will rise. You could rise with us."
Renjo's expression remained cold.
"And what makes you think my own Dean doesn't need it for the same purpose?"
Silence.
Then all three wizards spoke at once:
"So does mine."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
They're not just after the beacon.
They're fighting over it.
Three different factions. Three different Deans. All wanting to use it to advance their power.
And none of them know what it really is.
[ANALYSIS: POLITICAL CONFLICT DETECTED. MULTIPLE WIZARD FACTIONS COMPETING FOR BEACON POSSESSION. SITUATION ASSESSMENT: EXTREMELY VOLATILE.]
The two wizards in blue—who hadn't spoken yet—moved.
Their hands rose, palms facing the ship.
"Then we take it by force," one of them said.
Renjo's hand moved to his side, where a staff materialized from thin air—carved from dark wood, topped with a crystal that pulsed with purple light.
"You can try."
BOOOOOM!
The first spell hit like a battering ram.
A massive sphere of crackling blue energy slammed into the ship's protective barrier. The magical shield—invisible until impact—blazed into view, covering the entire vessel in a dome of shimmering light.
The ship rocked violently.
Twenty degrees to starboard.
Children on deck screamed, grabbing railings and masts to keep from sliding across the tilting planks.
Ethan slammed into the railing, his ribs protesting the impact.
[IMPACT FORCE: APPROXIMATELY 4.7 G'S. HOST SURVIVED DUE TO ENHANCED PHYSICAL RESILIENCE FROM COMPLETED MUTATION.]
The two blue-robed wizards didn't stop.
Their hands moved in complex patterns, and the air around them distorted.
Three more spheres of energy materialized—larger this time—and launched simultaneously.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each impact sent shockwaves through the ship.
The barrier held—but cracks were forming. Visible fractures spreading across the magical dome like ice breaking under pressure.
Roma's voice cut through the chaos.
"EVERYONE! RUN TO THE SAFE HALL! DECK LEVEL, CENTRAL CORRIDOR! MOVE! NOW!"
The children didn't need to be told twice.
They stampeded toward the stairs.
But Ethan hesitated.
The beacon is below deck. In the vault.
If the ship is destroyed—
WOOOOOSH!
WOOOOOSH!
Two massive shapes appeared from nowhere.
Not materializing gradually.
Just—there.
Suddenly present in the sky as if reality had torn open to let them through.
Two more ships.
Each as large as Renjo's vessel.
One bore crimson and gold sails that rippled with inner fire.
The other, deep green sails that seemed to absorb light.
Rafel's ship. Nori's ship.
They brought entire crews.
And then everything happened at once.
Renjo's staff blazed with purple light.
He thrust it forward, and a beam of concentrated energy lanced upward—
Striking Rafel directly in the chest.
The crimson wizard was thrown back fifty meters, tumbling through the air before catching himself.
"You DARE—" Rafel's voice was no longer calm. It was fury incarnate.
His hands ignited with flames. Not normal fire. Something hotter. Brighter.
White flames that made the air itself scream.
He thrust both palms forward.
FWOOOOOOSH!
A column of white fire twenty meters wide descended like the wrath of an angry god.
Renjo's barrier held for exactly three seconds.
Then shattered.
Fragments of magical energy exploded outward like glass shards, dissipating into sparkles of light.
The ship was exposed.
Roma screamed commands, her hands moving in desperate patterns.
Secondary barriers sprang up—smaller, weaker—buying seconds.
But they wouldn't last.
"DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! PROTECT THE SHIP!"
Ethan spun around, looking back toward where he'd come from—
And nearly stumbled.
His belongings had reappeared.
The dagger materialized at his hip.
The repeating crossbow manifested in his hands, fully loaded.
[MAGICAL SECURITY SYSTEM DETECTED. HYPOTHESIS: SHIP'S CONFISCATION ENCHANTMENT RELEASES ITEMS DURING COMBAT SITUATIONS TO ALLOW SELF-DEFENSE.]
All around the deck, weapons were materializing in children's hands.
Those who had entered the Trial with swords found them returned.
Those with bows, daggers, staves—all restored.
Diana's voice rang out with absolute authority.
"EVERYONE! CIRCULAR FORMATION! OLDER CHILDREN ON THE OUTSIDE! YOUNGER ONES SUPPORT FROM INSIDE THE CIRCLE!"
Ethan's head snapped toward her.
The Princess stood at the center of the deck, her blade of light already manifested—blazing like a miniature sun against the darkening sky.
Children instinctively moved to obey.
The older ones—those fifteen and sixteen—formed an outer ring, weapons ready.
The younger ones—twelve, thirteen, fourteen—clustered inside, preparing to support.
And the very young ones—like Nira—were pulled to the protective center.
From the two attacking ships, figures began to leap.
Not falling.
Flying.
Dozens of them.
Apprentice wizards in crimson and gold.
Servants in green robes wielding staffs.
Guards in armor with weapons that crackled with magical energy.
At least sixty attackers descending like a swarm of predatory birds.
[COUNTING HOSTILE FORCES... 37... 45... 52... 61... COMBAT ASSESSMENT: OVERWHELMING NUMERICAL ADVANTAGE FOR ATTACKERS.]
The first wave hit.
A crimson-robed apprentice landed on the deck with his hands already moving through spell gestures.
Fire erupted from his palms—
Diana was there.
Her blade swept in a horizontal arc, and the flames parted around an invisible barrier of light. She spun, her movements fluid and precise, and the blade's edge caught the apprentice across the chest.
He went down with a scream.
"HOLD THE LINE!" Diana shouted.
More landed.
Three green-robed fighters descended on the left side of the defensive circle.
The children there—including a tall boy with a hunting bow—scrambled back.
One of the green-robes thrust his staff forward.
Vines erupted from the wooden deck itself, writhing like serpents, reaching for the children's legs.
The boy with the bow fired.
His arrow struck the staff, splintering it.
The vines withered instantly.
Glan appeared from somewhere, a dagger in one hand and what looked like a small throwing knife in the other.
"AIM FOR THE FOCUS POINTS!" he shouted. "Their staffs! Their hands! Disrupt the casting!"
He threw the knife.
It struck another green-robe's wrist.
The man's spell fizzled, exploding harmlessly into sparks.
On the right flank, the Dor assassin girl moved like a shadow.
She was twelve years old and already more dangerous than most adults.
Two crimson fighters landed near her.
Didn't see her coming.
Her twin daggers flashed.
One fighter went down clutching his leg.
The other spun toward her—
She was already gone, melting back into the chaos.
Yama appeared beside Ethan, his short sword drawn, his silver eyes blazing with that strange inner light.
"We need to get below deck!"
"What?!"
"The vault! They're going for the artifact! We have to—"
A green-robed fighter landed directly in front of them, cutting off Yama's words.
The man was huge—easily two meters tall, built like a wall. He carried a massive war hammer that glowed with sickly green light.
"Little children," he growled. "Out of my way."
He swung.
[THREAT DETECTED. WEAPON VELOCITY: LETHAL. EVASION WINDOW: 0.4 SECONDS.]
Ethan's enhanced reflexes—sharpened by the completed mutation—kicked in.
He dove left.
Yama went right.
The hammer struck the deck where they'd been standing.
CRACK!
The wooden planks exploded into splinters. A crater two meters wide appeared.
That would have killed us instantly.
The man lifted his hammer for another swing—
Ethan was already moving.
[TARGETING ASSIST ENGAGED. OPTIMAL STRIKE POINT: RIGHT KNEE.]
The golden targeting line appeared in his vision.
He raised the repeating crossbow.
Fired.
THUNK!
The bolt buried itself in the man's knee joint.
The giant roared, stumbling—
Yama's blade flashed.
Precise. Surgical.
It found the gap in the man's robes, sliding between ribs.
The giant collapsed.
"MOVE!" Yama grabbed Ethan's arm.
They ran for the stairs leading below deck.
Behind them, the battle intensified.
Diana holding the center against four attackers at once, her blade weaving patterns of light.
The Prince organizing defensive groups, his own sword flashing as he protected younger children.
Glan shouting tactical advice while somehow dodging every attack that came his way.
The Dor girl moving through the chaos like death incarnate.
Nira screaming somewhere in the protected center, held by an older girl who was trying to shield her.
Above it all, the wizard battle raged.
Renjo stood at the prow, his staff blazing with purple energy as he fought all four attacking wizards simultaneously.
Rafel's white flames crashed against his barriers.
Nori's green energy tendrils tried to wrap around his legs.
The two blue-robed wizards launched coordinated strikes from different angles.
And Renjo—already bleeding from a dozen cuts, his robes singed and torn—somehow held them off.
His staff moved in complex patterns.
Purple barriers appeared and shattered.
Counter-spells launched and deflected.
A beam of energy caught one blue-robe in the shoulder, sending him spinning.
But he was losing.
Slowly but inevitably, the combined assault was breaking through his defenses.
Ethan and Yama hit the stairs.
Descended into chaos.
The corridor below was a war zone.
Roma's servants fought desperately against invaders.
An elderly man in servant's robes wielded what looked like a kitchen knife, somehow holding off two crimson fighters.
A young woman threw bottles that exploded into clouds of choking smoke.
The walls were scorched. The ceiling cracked. Bodies lay on the floor—some moving, some not.
And ahead—
The vault door.
Heavy. Reinforced. Still glowing with protective enchantments.
Three crimson-robed fighters were trying to breach it.
One held a glowing orb, pressing it against the door's surface.
The enchantments flickered with each pulse of the orb.
"Almost through!" the man shouted to his companions.
No.
NO.
Ethan raised his crossbow.
[MULTIPLE TARGETS. RECOMMEND RAPID SUCCESSION FIRE. CALCULATING OPTIMAL SEQUENCE...]
The golden targeting lines appeared.
Target one: throat.
Target two: chest.
Target three: head.
He pulled the trigger.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Three bolts flew in rapid succession.
The repeating crossbow mechanism worked flawlessly—each trigger pull releasing another bolt without manual reloading.
The first bolt struck target one in the throat.
The man went down, clutching his neck.
The second bolt hit target two in the chest.
He staggered back, the glowing orb falling from his hands.
The third bolt—
The third man was faster than the others.
His hand came up, and a barrier of red energy materialized.
The bolt struck the barrier and shattered.
The man spun toward them, his face twisted with rage.
"You DARE—"
His hands ignited with red fire.
He thrust them forward—
Yama was already moving.
His sword came up in a deflecting arc, and impossibly, the blade caught the fire and redirected it.
The flames splashed against the wall instead of hitting them.
"Silver-blessed steel," Yama said. "Gift from my father. Good against magic."
He lunged forward.
The crimson fighter tried to dodge—
Not fast enough.
Yama's blade found its mark.
The man fell.
But the damage was done.
The vault door's enchantments—already weakened by the glowing orb—flickered one last time.
And went dark.
The heavy door swung open with a groan of protesting metal.
Inside—
A small room, maybe three meters square.
Shelves lined the walls, holding artifacts, scrolls, crystals that pulsed with inner light.
And on a pedestal in the center—
The beacon.
Small. Metallic. Cylindrical.
With a faint blinking light on its side.
Right there.
Right in front of me.
[BEACON DEVICE CONFIRMED. DISTANCE: 4.7 METERS. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE RETRIEVAL AND DESTRUCTION.]
Ethan took a step forward—
The wall exploded.
Not the door.
The wall.
Stone and wood detonated inward like someone had fired a cannon at point-blank range.
Debris filled the air—chunks of wall the size of a man's head flying like shrapnel.
Ethan threw himself flat.
A piece of stone whistled past where his head had been.
Yama rolled behind a fallen beam.
And through the hole in the wall—
Large enough to drive a cart through—
Stepped a figure.
Tall. Perhaps fifty years old. Deep green robes that seemed to absorb the light around them. His face was angular, sharp, with eyes that glowed with a faint emerald radiance.
Power radiated from him like heat from a forge.
Not the raw intensity of the fighting wizards above.
Something more refined. More controlled.
More dangerous.
Nori.
Level 3 Wizard.
[ALERT: EXTREME THREAT DETECTED. ENERGY SIGNATURE MAGNITUDE: OFF SCALE. SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IF ENGAGED IN COMBAT: 0.00000003%]
Nori's gaze swept across the scene.
The destroyed wall.
The fallen fighters.
The open vault.
The beacon on its pedestal.
Ethan and Yama—two sixteen-year-old boys with a crossbow and a sword—standing between him and it.
His lips curved into a smile.
Cold. Amused. Utterly confident.
"Children," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "How brave. How... foolish."
Ethan raised his crossbow.
The bolt was already loaded.
The targeting line appeared—
Throat. Between the eyes. Heart.
Pick one and fire.
[ANALYSIS: TARGET POSSESSES MAGICAL BARRIERS. PROBABILITY OF BOLT PENETRATING DEFENSES: 0.002%. RECOMMEND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY.]
I don't have an alternative strategy.
Nori raised one hand.
Casual. Effortless.
Like swatting a fly.
"Move aside. Or don't. It makes no difference to me."
His hand flicked forward.
The air itself became solid.
An invisible force hit Ethan and Yama like a giant's palm.
They flew.
Ethan's back slammed into the far wall with bone-rattling force.
[IMPACT TRAUMA DETECTED. MULTIPLE CONTUSIONS. TWO CRACKED RIBS. PAIN SUPPRESSION ACTIVE.]
He slid to the floor, gasping.
Yama landed beside him, his sword clattering from his hand.
Nori didn't even look back.
He walked toward the vault.
Toward the beacon.
Three steps.
Two steps.
One step.
His hand reached out—
Above deck, Renjo was dying.
Rafel's white flames had finally broken through, searing across his left arm.
Nori's energy tendrils had wrapped around his legs, pulling him off balance.
The two blue-robed wizards had coordinated a strike that shattered his staff.
He fell to one knee, bleeding, burned, broken.
Rafel descended, landing on the deck with an expression of triumph.
"It's over, Renjo. Where is the artifact?"
Renjo looked up.
Blood ran from a cut above his eye.
His robes were in tatters.
His staff—his focus, his weapon—lay in pieces at his feet.
And he laughed.
It wasn't a sound of madness.
It was genuine amusement.
Relief, even.
Rafel's expression shifted. "What's so—"
He stopped.
Nori stopped, his hand inches from the beacon.
The two blue-robed wizards froze mid-spell.
Everyone on all three ships—fighters, servants, children—felt it.
A presence.
Not arriving.
Simply... present.
As if it had always been there and they were only now capable of perceiving it.
The air grew heavy.
The temperature dropped.
And standing on Renjo's deck, where nothing had been a moment before—
An old man.
He was ancient.
Easily ninety years old, perhaps older.
His robes were simple—dark gray, unadorned.
His hair was white as snow, long and flowing.
His face was lined with wrinkles, each one telling a story of centuries.
And his eyes—
His eyes were the pale blue of glaciers.
Cold. Eternal. Infinite.
[ALERT: UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED. ENERGY SIGNATURE: UNABLE TO CALCULATE. THREAT LEVEL: UNABLE TO DETERMINE. RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION.]
That's helpful, NEXUS. Really helpful.
Nori turned slowly.
For the first time since appearing, his confident expression cracked.
His face went pale.
"Dean... Victor?"
The old man—Victor—smiled.
It was a grandfather's smile. Warm. Gentle.
Terrifying.
"Nori," he said, his voice soft but carrying to every corner of all three ships. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Nori's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"I... Dean Victor, I was merely—"
"Attempting to steal my property," Victor finished. "In broad daylight. From a ship carrying my student. While I was away."
He tilted his head.
"You are quite daring, aren't you?"
Silence.
Victor's smile widened.
"Fortunately for you, I am in a good mood today. And I do not wish to anger the Great Wizard by executing one of his faction's promising wizards over a simple... misunderstanding."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a small stone.
Smooth. Gray. Unremarkable.
He held it between thumb and forefinger.
And threw it upward.
The stone rose.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Fifty meters.
And then it changed.
The single stone split into four points of brilliant white light.
The lights hung in the air for a heartbeat—
Then shot downward.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Four beams of white energy lanced from the sky.
Each one struck a different wizard.
Rafel on the deck.
Nori in the vault corridor.
The two blue-robes still hovering above.
They didn't have time to defend.
Didn't have time to react.
The beams hit with surgical precision—
Not killing.
Worse.
Rafel screamed.
His hands—the source of his white flames—turned green.
Not paint green.
Not dye green.
Poisoned green.
Like flesh rotting from the inside out.
The corruption spread—fingers, palms, wrists—before stopping at the forearms.
The other three wizards received the same treatment.
Nori clutched his hands to his chest, his face twisted in agony as the green spread through his fingers.
The blue-robes fell from the sky, barely managing to catch themselves before hitting their ships.
Victor's voice remained cheerful.
"A little punishment is important, don't you think? Hehehe."
He gestured casually.
"The poison will fade in... oh, three years? Four? I forget. Regardless, you won't be casting any serious magic until then. Consider it a reminder—what is mine stays mine."
Rafel looked like he wanted to speak.
To argue.
To threaten.
But he said nothing.
Nori's face was pale with pain and fury—but he stayed silent.
The blue-robes simply bowed their heads.
Within seconds, the attackers began to retreat.
The servants and fighters on deck withdrew to their ships.
The apprentices still on Renjo's vessel scrambled to escape, diving overboard and flying back to their own vessels.
Within a minute, the two attacking ships began to move away.
No words spoken.
No threats issued.
Just... retreat.
Victor walked calmly to the vault.
Stepped over the unconscious bodies.
Looked at Ethan and Yama still slumped against the wall.
"Brave children," he said softly. "Foolish, but brave."
He reached the pedestal.
Picked up the beacon.
Held it up to the light, examining it with the interest of a collector appraising a new acquisition.
"Fascinating. From another world, carrying energy signatures I've never encountered. Worth every bit of trouble."
He tucked it into his robes.
Then he turned and walked back to the deck.
Renjo had managed to stand, though he swayed on his feet.
When Victor appeared, he immediately bowed deeply.
"Dean Victor. Thank you for—"
"Save it, Renjo." Victor's voice was kind but firm. "You did well protecting it until I arrived. The artifact is safe. That's what matters."
He glanced at the damaged ship.
"I'll meet you at the Academy. Repair this mess and bring the children. We have much to discuss."
Renjo bowed lower. "Yes, Dean Victor."
And then—
Victor simply wasn't there anymore.
Not fading.
Not walking away.
Just... gone.
As if he'd never existed.
Taking the beacon with him.
Ethan pushed himself to his feet, his entire body screaming in protest.
[INJURIES CATALOGUED: 2 CRACKED RIBS, SEVERE BRUISING, MINOR CONCUSSION. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION.]
He didn't care about his injuries.
He staggered to the vault.
Looked at the empty pedestal where the beacon had been.
I was so close.
So close to grabbing it.
To destroying it.
And I failed.
His hands clenched into fists so tight his nails drew blood.
Yama limped over, holding his side.
"Are you alright?"
"Define alright."
A long pause.
"That was Dean Victor," Yama said quietly. "One of the most powerful wizards in Tera. Level 4. Maybe higher. No one knows for sure."
"And he has the beacon now."
"Yes."
Ethan's jaw tightened until his teeth ached.
The beacon is going to the Academy.
To a place filled with wizards.
To the strongest wizard on this planet.
How am I supposed to get it back from him?
[PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: IMMEASURABLY LOW. RECOMMEND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES.]
I don't have alternative strategies.
I don't have anything except—
He stopped.
Except the fact that I'm going to the Academy too.
As a student.
Which means I'll be inside.
Close to Victor.
Close to the beacon.
It wasn't much.
It was barely even a plan.
But it was all he had.
Ethan straightened, ignoring the pain in his ribs.
"We need to get back on deck. Check on the others."
Yama nodded.
They limped toward the stairs together.
Above, they could hear Diana's voice organizing the survivors.
Counting the wounded.
Preparing for the next leg of their journey.
To the Academy.
Where the real challenge would begin.