The Misty Forest

  Two figures darted through the towering trees, one fleeing, the other in relentless pursuit.

  "Horus, you can't escape!"

  A fiery explosion rang out as a blazing fireball struck, sending one figure crashing to the ground like a kite severed from its strings.

  It was a frail young man, wrapped in a dark gray battle robe, blood staining his body in visible streaks of crimson.

  He slumped against a tall tree, clutching a rolled-up parchment with one hand, while his other hand gripped a dagger. His eyes, burning with defiance, locked onto his pursuer.

  The enemy was a short, middle-aged man clad in a black robe. His narrow eyes glinted with malice. He extended his hands and muttered an incantation, summoning swirling mists around him. In front of him, a complex magical circle began to materialize.

  Horus stared up at the magic circle, his face drained of color. His enemy, hovering in midair with a mocking grin, spoke coldly.

  "Goodbye, Horus."

  With a flick of his wrists, a beam of pure white light shot from the magic circle, heading straight for Horus, who lay defenseless by the tree. But just as the beam reached him, the air before Horus twisted violently, and a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

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  It was Karian.

  The white beam struck Karian square in the chest, but he stood unmoving, unaffected. Confusion clouded his thoughts as he looked around, unsure of how he’d arrived here.

  What was that light? How had I ended up here? Could this be the effect of the gem—was it teleportation to a specific coordinate? Is this the [67, 89] coordinate?

  "Who are you?" A voice boomed from above.

  Karian jumped, startled. Looking up, he saw the man in black descending slowly, surrounded by a whirlwind, his face full of suspicion.

  "Do you want to save him?" the man asked.

  Save who? Karian thought, even more bewildered. First, he had been teleported here, and now he was caught in a conversation?

  Turning his head, he saw the frail young man against the tree, covered in cuts and burns.

  Karian’s brow furrowed as he quickly pieced things together. The man in black had clearly been chasing the young man, Horus. But when Karian had appeared, he had interrupted their chase.

  This was bad. How had he ended up in the middle of this conflict? Both of these individuals seemed like powerful, high-ranking magicians.

  Karian was just a teacher—he knew the theory of magic but couldn’t even condense magic elements himself. His heart raced as he wondered if he should run. If a battle broke out between high-ranking magicians, someone like him would be wiped out in an instant. But if he fled, would they just use magic to kill him before he got far?

  Frozen, Karian felt a rising panic, his mind racing for an escape.

  Meanwhile, Maiko, the man in black, was just as conflicted. A member of the Hurricane Mercenary Corps and a sixth-level magician skilled in both wind and fire magic, Maiko had been sent on a mission to capture Horus, the second son of Count Naka.

  The mission had gone smoothly at first. Maiko and his team had cornered Horus, but the young man had unleashed an unexpected burst of power and escaped deep into the Misty Forest.

  Maiko had been forced to pursue him here, wounding him in the process. Horus was full of surprises, so Maiko had decided to use his trump card—a forbidden spell, “Elemental Explosion,” to end things in one blow.