The envoy didn't wait.
Five figures stepped forward, mana surging so violently that the academy barrier groaned.
Their leader raised his hand.
"Vaelor Dreyn," he said coldly.
"You are obsolete."
Vaelor laughed.
A soft sound.
Deadly.
"You came," Vaelor replied,
"with five people…"
He stepped past me.
"…to face me?"
The pressure exploded.
Students miles away collapsed to their knees.
Instructors gasped for breath.
Even the elders staggered.
Boom.
The first envoy didn't even scream.
His body imploded—bones, flesh, mana—crushed into nothing.
Gone.
The remaining four reacted instantly.
Spells ignited. Sigils burned. Space warped.
Too late.
Vaelor moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Certain.
He appeared before the second envoy.
One finger touched the man's chest.
A dull thud.
The envoy flew backward, smashing through three towers before vanishing beyond the horizon.
I stood frozen.
This wasn't combat.
This was erasure.
[Extreme Power Witnessed.]
[Mental Adaptation Triggered.]
Fear Resistance Increased.
The system struggled to keep up.
The third envoy screamed and unleashed everything.
Flames. Lightning. Spatial cuts.
Vaelor walked through it.
Unharmed.
He grabbed the man's head.
And squeezed.
Silence followed.
The last two tried to flee.
Vaelor snapped his fingers.
The sky darkened.
Chains of black mana descended, binding them mid-air.
They struggled.
They begged.
Vaelor turned his head slightly.
"Arin," he said.
"Yes?"
"Watch."
He clenched his fist.
Both envoys vanished.
Not died.
Vanished.
The pressure lifted.
The academy stood in ruins.
No enemy remained.
Silence.
Then—
Fear.
Not of attackers.
Of Vaelor.
My knees felt weak.
"That…" I whispered,
"…is power."
Vaelor looked at me.
"No," he corrected.
"That is what waits at the end of your path."
The system pulsed violently.
[World-Level Event Recorded.]
[Growth Synchronization Initiated.]
New Trait Forming…
My heart thundered.
The world had seen.
And it would not forget.
Vaelor placed a hand on my shoulder.
"From today," he said quietly,
"you are no longer hidden."
Far away, seals shattered.
Eyes opened.
Names were spoken.