Leylin moved through the secret plane with a predator's grace, his black robe whispering against the underbrush as he hunted acolytes to bolster his summon army.
The terrain was a patchwork of sparse trees and tangled shrubbery, the air thick with the scent of damp soil and the faint metallic tang of spilled blood.
On the plane's far side, Jayden fought with grim determination, his expression darkening as he unleashed his power. Vines erupted from his body, thick and sinewy, snaring a Whitewoods Castle acolyte in a writhing cocoon. (Image)
The vines tightened with a sickening crunch, blood seeping through the gaps to drip onto the ground in crimson rivulets—a scene repeated across the plane as battles flared and faded.
Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's Level 3 acolytes held a brutal edge in one-on-one combat, their training honed by blood and fire. Lower ranks—Level 1s and 2s—fell swiftly before them, their fates sealed the moment they crossed paths.
Elsewhere, a brown-haired acolyte from Sage Gotham's Hut darted through the undergrowth, his grey uniform patched with sweat and dirt. His eyes flickered with anxiety, scanning the shadows as he muttered, "Damn it! Sent too far from the gathering point…"
His steps quickened, boots crunching leaves, his breath ragged with frustration.
Peng! The Black Horrall Snake struck without warning, its massive form materializing behind him in a blur of scales and shadow. Fangs sank into the back of his skull, crushing it like a ripe fruit, blood and bone splattering the earth.
Leylin emerged from the darkness, his face an impassive mask as he crouched beside the corpse. He plucked a red badge from the acolyte's chest, its edges cool against his fingers. "Level 2, three points," he said flatly. "Not worth summoning. Devour."
[Beep! Level 2 Acolyte devoured. Strength increased by 0.01, Agility by 0.01, Vitality by 0.01, Spiritual Force by 0.001.] The A.I. Chip's report buzzed in his mind as he tucked the badge into his robes.
Each academy's badges differed—black for Abyssal Bone Forest, red for Sage Gotham's Hut, white for Whitewoods Castle—tiered by acolyte rank.
In the whole secret place Leylin's power easily eclipsed all others even the mightiest of geniuses like Saurun or Torash, yet he need not act directly.
His summons—the Great Withering Mankestre, Black Horrall Snake, and two Level 3 acolytes can reap lives with ruthless efficiency, each costing a mere flicker of spiritual force.
'Pointless slaughter is so boring,' he thought, striding onward. 'I'll just collect fifty points needed for Grine Water, confirm Jayden's injury save his life and then I'm out. Becoming a Rank 1 Warlock is my top priority.'
.....
The bloodbath's rules favored the enemy, with Abyssal Bone Forest acolytes as prey in a rigged hunt.
Two hours later, another acolyte stumbled upon the scene—a Sage Gotham comrade, his face paling at the sight of the headless corpse. (Image)
"Greg!" he gasped, staggering back, bile rising in his throat. "Too dangerous… Level 2s like us are just fodder here. I'd have refused if I'd known!"
Regret etched his features as he muttered, "An instant kill—someone strong, preying on the weak. Shameless bastard…"
Fear gripped him, the shadows seeming to pulse with unseen eyes. He bowed to the corpse, voice trembling. "Sorry, Greg. Friends or not, I can't bury you—maybe this is the Magus path, dying for truth."
He turned to flee when a voice cut through the air, "Je je! So cold, abandoning your comrade's body!" A girl's laugh echoed from above, and a Whitewoods Castle acolyte dropped from a treetop, her grey robe fluttering.
"Look at him, a bunny with nowhere to run!" she taunted, her grin sharp.
The acolyte clutched a black scroll, leaping back.
"Who's there?" Relief flickered as he recognized her insignia, but it vanished as a male voice sneered, "Hng! Trash!" Silver-Claw Saurun emerged, his right hand a gleaming metallic claw reflecting the dim light. The acolyte's scroll slipped from his grasp. (Image)
"Silver-Claw Saurun!" he stammered, terror seizing him. Saurun's reputation was infamous—rumored to have razed a village for reagents, a devil among Light Magi.
Ignoring the trembling junior, Saurun inspected the corpse. "Ruthless precision—a bite wound, likely body modification," he said, licking his silver claw with a sinister grin. "He's mine. I'll hunt him down and show Sage Gotham's wrath."
He glared at the junior. "Scram!" The acolyte bolted, a hastening spell shimmering around him as he vanished into the trees.
A day and night passed, the enemy factions uniting into a formidable army to encircle Abyssal Bone Forest's remnants. The academy's prior losses left them ill-equipped, their elite forces depleted, their acolytes worn thin despite potions staving off physical fatigue. Mental exhaustion gnawed at them, a foe no elixir could banish.
Leylin roamed alone, the A.I. Chip's detection humming: [Beep! Target detected—Rank 0 radiation, 716 meters southeast.]
"It's begun," he murmured, cloaking himself in shadow, "Shapeshifting Spell." Leylin changed his overall appearance into a yellow haired eye eyed man, just in case as he approached. (Image)
The air thickened with spell radiation—Level 3 intensity, potent and fierce. A voice rang out, triumphant.
"Haha! Jayden, you're mine!"
Leylin crept closer, peering through a clearing where trees lay splintered. Jayden knelt, clad in hunter's garb, vines coiling around him like living armor.
Before him stood a black-robed acolyte, black hair wielded a silver chain at his waist sparking with blue lightning, Torash. (Image)
"I told you you'd fall to me!" he crowed, hurling a supersonic bolt—"Electro Strike!"—that slammed into Jayden's vines, sending him crashing into the dirt, a crater forming beneath him.
"How's that for stealing my lightning core?" the acolyte taunted, another bolt ripping a gash in Jayden's vine armor, exposing charred flesh beneath.
The scent of barbecue wafted faintly to Leylin's hiding spot.
"Your broken artifact won't save you!" Torash taunted.
Jayden's icy silence met the jeers, his gaze unyielding tightly holding his magic artifact.
'Going well,' Leylin thought, settling in to watch, his summons poised but idle.
The clash of these Level 3s was a means to an end Jayden's injury, his ticket to Dorotte's journal, unfolding perfectly before him.
Without warning, Jayden struck against Torash. His magic artifact a gnarled wooden talisman held tightly in his grasp flared with a verdant glow, and thorny vines erupted from the earth in a frenzied surge.
They lashed toward Torash like a swarm of barbed serpents, their tips glistening with a faint, toxic sheen, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle. The ground trembled faintly beneath their advance, clods of dirt scattering as they sought their target.
Torash snorted, his sneer audible even over the rustling vines. "Just this?" His hands moved with practiced ease, blue lightning crackling to life between his palms.
The energy coalesced into a writhing, serpentine chain its links forged of pure electricity, sparking and hissing as they took form. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it hurtling forward, the chain slicing through the air like a bolt from the heavens.
Sssii! The lightning met the vines mid-flight, piercing their thorny mass with a sizzling crack. Sparks flew as the vines shuddered, their momentum broken, and the chain drove through, slamming into Jayden's chest.
The impact knocked him back, his boots skidding across the dirt before he crashed to the ground, vines retracting in a tangle around him, scorched and frayed at the edges.
"So weak," Torash taunted, his voice dripping with disdain as he loomed over his fallen foe. "Do you really think you're a genius, vermin? You're nothing before the revered Lord Torash."
Torash hands sparked again, and he thrust them downward, unleashing a volley of electric bolts into the earth. Each struck with a sharp pop, exploding in small bursts that sent plumes of dust and debris spiraling upward.
The ground beneath Jayden erupted in a series of tiny craters, the shockwaves tearing at his vine armor, drawing thin rivulets of blood from shallow cuts across his arms and legs.
From Leylin's vantage, it was clear Torash wasn't fighting to win; he was toying with his prey, savoring every moment of dominance.
Torash's sneer deepened, his expression hardening into something colder, more resolute. He stepped forward, his boots crunching against the charred earth, and pointed a finger at Jayden. "Silly dog! I'll give you one last chance. Kneel before me, admit your wrongs, and beg for my magnanimity. In my good mood, I might even pardon your sins…" His voice carried a mocking lilt, but his eyes glinted with a promise of cruelty should Jayden refuse.
Jayden's response was silence, his icy gaze unwavering even as his body trembled, barely clinging to consciousness. Blood trickled from a cut above his brow, staining his dirt-smeared face, but his resolve held.
With a sudden, desperate surge of spiritual force, he mounted a counterattack. His fingers twitched, channeling the last dregs of his power into the talisman.
The air shimmered faintly as green runes flared to life beneath Torash's feet, jagged lines of energy crackling upward like lightning in reverse, racing toward his thighs with predatory intent.
Torash's eyes widened, a flicker of alarm breaking his composure. "So fast—I didn't even sense the radiation!" The runes snapped at his legs, but a pulse of blue light erupted from a pendant beneath his robe—a hastening rune gifted by his professor.
His body blurred as he leapt back several meters, the green tendrils grazing the air where he'd stood, their tips sizzling as they dissipated. He landed with a grunt, his boots sinking into the soft earth, chest heaving as the fear subsided.
"If not for that rune, I'd have been caught," he muttered, his voice tight with lingering shock.
The fear melted away, replaced by a contorted mask of rage. Torash's gaze turned glacial, his lips curling into a snarl as he thrust a hand skyward.
"You dare!" he roared, and the air above thickened with a gathering storm. A thick, jagged streak of lightning tore across the sky, its brilliance casting stark shadows across the clearing.
Bang! It descended with a deafening roar, striking Jayden dead-on. The vines encasing him shattered under the assault, blackened fragments raining down as the force drove him into the earth. His body convulsed, skin charring to an ashen black, resembling a pile of scorched rubble as he collapsed, unconscious, smoke curling from his form.
Torash loomed over him, his laughter wild and unhinged. "You… you actually dare harm the mighty Lord Torash? I'm going to kill you!"
His hands sparked anew, blue arcs dancing between his fingers as he prepared another strike, his fury blinding him to the faint pulse of life still flickering within Jayden's broken frame.
From the shadows, Leylin watched, his expression unreadable. 'Well, that was anticlimactic,' he thought, leaning against a tree, its rough bark pressing into his shoulder.
'Jayden's breakthrough is pretty recent—Torash outclasses him easily. But I can't let him die yet.' The A.I. Chip confirmed Jayden's survival.
[Beep! Life force detected: Weak but stable].
Leylin's eyes flashed with intent. Torash, for all his bluster, was no match for him, a fact underscored by the summons coiled in his soul space, ready to strike.
He straightened glancing at the burshes away, fingers brushing the Fallen Star Pendant as he began a low chant: "Serpent's Shadow!"