Kael stood in the middle of the street, staring at th
e empty rooftop.
The hooded man was gone.
Again.
Serena grabbed his shoulder.
"Kael, focus."
Kael looked at her.
"The monsters."
A roar shook the street.
Kael turned.
Several goblins had already broken through the outer line of guards. An orc was swinging a large club at a group of adventurers, forcing them backward.
People were running in every direction.
"Right."
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
"Let's help."
Serena nodded.
They rushed toward the fighting.
An orc noticed them and charged.
Kael didn't wait for it to get close.
He moved to the side as the club came down, then stepped inside its reach.
His sword struck the orc's thigh.
The creature stumbled.
Serena attacked from the other side and cut across its shoulder.
The orc roared and swung at her.
Kael saw the movement.
"Serena!"
She ducked.
Kael struck its wrist.
The club fell from its hand.
Serena finished it with a quick strike.
The orc collapsed.
Kael looked around.
More monsters were coming.
"There's too many."
Serena nodded.
"Then we don't fight all of them."
"What?"
"We protect the people first."
Kael understood.
They moved through the street, helping civilians escape while the city's guards and adventurers dealt with the monsters.
A young boy was standing in the middle of the road, frozen in fear.
A goblin rushed toward him.
Kael sprinted.
"Move!"
He reached the boy just before the goblin.
Kael blocked the attack.
The force pushed him backward.
His feet scraped against the stone.
The goblin attacked again.
Kael shifted his stance.
He remembered Serena's lesson.
Watch the body.
The goblin's shoulder moved first.
Kael moved before the blade came down.
He cut across its arm.
The goblin screamed.
Kael followed with another strike.
It fell.
Kael immediately turned toward the boy.
"Are you hurt?"
The boy shook his head.
Kael crouched.
"Go to that building. Stay with the adults."
The boy nodded and ran.
Serena approached.
"You're getting better at this."
Kael looked at the battlefield.
"I'm still making mistakes."
"Everyone does."
She glanced toward the eastern gate.
"But you're learning quickly."
Before Kael could answer, a loud explosion came from the gate.
The ground shook.
Both of them turned.
A large cloud of dust rose into the air.
Serena's expression changed.
"That wasn't normal."
Kael nodded.
"Let's go."
---
At the eastern gate, the situation had become worse.
Several guards were injured.
The gate itself had been damaged.
And standing in front of the broken section was something much larger than the creatures Kael had fought before.
It was an ogre.
Its body was covered in thick gray skin.
It carried a massive iron weapon in one hand.
The guards were struggling to keep it back.
One of the senior adventurers shouted.
"Everyone move away!"
The ogre raised its weapon.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Get down!"
The weapon slammed into the ground.
The impact threw several guards off their feet.
Kael and Serena stopped several meters away.
Serena looked at him.
"That's not something we should fight alone."
Kael nodded.
"I know."
For once, he wasn't thinking about proving himself.
He knew his limits.
The ogre was too strong.
Then Kael noticed something.
Its left leg.
There was a black mark running from its knee toward its hip.
The same strange lines he had seen on the creature in Mistwood.
Kael pointed.
"Look."
Serena followed his gaze.
"Those markings."
"They're the same."
Before they could investigate, the ogre charged.
Kael and Serena moved aside.
The ogre's weapon smashed into the ground.
Kael looked at the mark again.
The black lines pulsed.
Blue light flashed underneath its skin.
Kael's stomach tightened.
"It's connected."
"To the symbol?"
"Maybe."
The guild master arrived with several high-ranking adventurers.
"Everyone clear the area!"
Kael moved back.
The stronger adventurers surrounded the ogre.
One of them attacked.
The ogre blocked.
Another struck from behind.
The fight became intense.
Kael watched carefully.
The experienced adventurers weren't making the same mistakes he had.
They didn't attack recklessly.
They moved as a group.
One distracted the ogre.
Another attacked its legs.
A third protected anyone who was injured.
Kael studied them.
*So this is what experienced adventurers look like.*
He had learned a lot from Serena.
But watching a coordinated group fight something far stronger than themselves taught him something else.
Teamwork wasn't just about attacking together.
Everyone had a role.
"Kael."
He looked at Serena.
"What?"
"Look at the ogre."
Kael turned.
The creature had suddenly stopped moving.
The black veins on its body were glowing blue.
The guild master shouted.
"Everyone back!"
The ogre screamed.
A wave of energy exploded from its body.
Kael was thrown backward.
He hit the ground hard.
"Kael!"
Serena grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a stone wall.
The explosion continued for several seconds.
Then everything became quiet.
Kael slowly looked over the wall.
The ogre was gone.
So were the strange blue markings.
Only a deep crater remained.
Serena stared.
"Where did it go?"
Kael shook his head.
"I don't know."
The guild master walked toward the crater.
His face was grim.
"It wasn't killed."
One of the adventurers frowned.
"Then what happened?"
The guild master looked toward the eastern forest.
"It escaped."
Kael stood.
"Or someone took it."
The guild master looked at him.
Kael pointed toward the crater.
"There was blue energy before it disappeared."
The guild master nodded.
"Exactly."
Kael looked toward the forest.
The same direction the hooded man had been watching from.
"This whole attack..."
He stopped.
Serena finished the thought.
"Was a test."
Kael nodded.
The guild master looked between them.
"A test for what?"
Kael didn't answer.
He wasn't sure.
But he had a feeling.
The hooded man hadn't sent those monsters to destroy Ironbrook.
He had sent them to see something.
And Kael suspected he knew what.
---
The attack lasted another hour before the remaining monsters were either killed or driven back into the forest.
By nightfall, Ironbrook was secure.
The streets were damaged.
Several buildings had been destroyed.
Many guards and adventurers were injured.
But the city had survived.
Kael sat outside the guild with Serena.
He had a bandage wrapped around his arm.
Serena had one around her forehead.
"You should have seen your face when that ogre disappeared."
Kael looked at her.
"You were scared too."
"I never said I wasn't."
Kael laughed.
For a moment, the tension disappeared.
Then Serena became serious.
"Kael."
"Hm?"
"You need to understand something."
Kael looked at her.
"This isn't just some random mystery anymore."
"I know."
"No."
Serena shook her head.
"I don't think you do."
Kael stayed quiet.
She continued.
"That creature knew your name. The hooded man knows you. Your hand reacted to that symbol. And now an entire monster attack happened while that man was nearby."
She looked directly at him.
"Whatever this is, you're connected to it."
Kael looked at his hand.
The blue mark was gone.
"I know."
"And you're still going to investigate?"
Kael thought for a moment.
Then nodded.
"I need to."
"Why?"
"Because if I don't find the answers..."
He looked toward the dark city.
"I'll keep running into them."
Serena sighed.
"I expected you to say that."
Kael smiled.
"You could leave."
"I could."
"But?"
Serena stood.
"But I'm already involved."
Kael looked up at her.
She smiled.
"Besides, someone has to make sure you don't run into danger without thinking."
Kael laughed.
"I don't do that."
Serena raised an eyebrow.
"You followed a mysterious hooded man."
"That was one time."
"You nearly followed him alone into Mistwood."
Kael looked away.
"Okay."
"Exactly."
---
Later that night, Kael returned to his room.
He closed the door.
For several minutes, he simply stood there.
Then he looked at his hand.
Nothing.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
"Voidborn."
The word kept bothering him.
He didn't know what it meant.
He didn't know why the guild master had reacted so strongly.
And he definitely didn't know why the strange mark had appeared on him.
Kael slowly closed his eyes.
His mind wandered back to his childhood.
The aptitude test.
The glass ball.
No reaction.
The priest's confused expression.
Everyone calling him useless.
Kael had spent twelve years believing he simply had no talent for magic or aura.
But now...
*What if that wasn't the whole truth?*
A strange thought came to him.
Maybe the aptitude ball hadn't failed.
Maybe it simply couldn't detect whatever was inside him.
Kael opened his eyes.
"Could that be it?"
He didn't know.
Before he could think any further—
Knock.
Knock.
Kael immediately reached for his sword.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
Another knock.
Kael approached the door carefully.
He opened it.
Nobody was there.
He looked down.
Something had been placed on the floor.
A small black envelope.
Kael picked it up.
There was no name on it.
He opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence had been written.
**Come to the old watchtower outside Ironbrook tomorrow night. Come alone.**
Kael stared at it.
At the bottom of the page was the eye-like symbol.
His hand suddenly became warm.
The blue mark appeared again.
This time, it didn't fade.
Kael stared at it.
"What are you?"
The mark pulsed once.
And somewhere far away, beneath the forest, something answered.
A low sound.
Almost like a heartbeat.
Kael's expression became serious.
Tomorrow night, he would finally meet the person who had been following him.
But he had no idea that the old watchtower was not the real destination.
It was only the entrance.