Vex broke the silence. "At least now we've done what should've been done long ago — the Teleportation Bullpen protocols."

The Vice Chancellor's lips tightened, though a small sense of relief flickered in her eyes. "Yes. I never thought I'd live to see the day where every student has their own personal escape system."

Vex chuckled faintly. "Desperate times bring about better inventions."

Now, every academy student carried a small metallic badge, no larger than a coin, inscribed with runes and powered by a micro-teleportation crystal. One press, and the wearer would be instantly warped to the nearest academy safe zone. Two taps, and a protective barrier would form, shielding them from most physical and magical attacks until reinforcements arrived.

It was a technological and magical fusion that could have changed everything, if it had been available just a month earlier.

"If only we did this earlier…" the Vice Chancellor murmured with a tone of guilt.

Vex sighed and crossed his arms. "We can't rewrite the past. But we can damn well learn from it. The students have. Have you seen them lately? Half of them are training at dawn and staying out past curfew just to improve. You'd think the K-22 disaster injected a sense of fire into them."

"Or fear," the Vice Chancellor replied.

"Both." Vex's eyes darkened a little. "Fear can build strength if it's handled the right way. They fear another Victor — someone they admire — being lost again. And so they train harder to make sure they can stand beside, not behind, the next one."

A small flicker of pride glowed in her expression as she turned to the window. The training fields stretched below them, dotted with silhouettes of students practicing under the setting sun. Fireballs burst in the air, wind blades sliced through targets, and faint arcs of lightning traced along the ground like serpents.

"Any word?" she asked suddenly.

The Vice Chancellor sighed before closing the tablet. "No. Not a trace."

Vex frowned. "You mean, even with Cecilia Thorn on the search team?"

"Even with her," the Vice Chancellor stated with a tone of frustration. "Cecilia's one of the youngest Legendary Mages alive, and even she hasn't found anything. They scoured the K-22 sector three times, combed the mana traces, checked rift distortions, searched spatial echoes... nothing."

Her voice dimmed as she whispered, "It's as if he vanished completely."

Vex Rhane exhaled through his mouth while leaning on the desk. "That's disturbing but if he is truly out there, it's only a matter of time before they find him."

"You sound very sure."

"I am not. But we have to keep hope alive."

There was a quiet pause between them. Then, the Vice Chancellor stood and walked toward the window.

She slowly turned to face him. "And when they do find him?"

Vex smiled faintly. "Then the entire academy will know what a real storm looks like. If he can survive what is out there, whatever returns... will be nothing like the Victor that left."

The Vice Chancellor nodded slowly. "We'll be ready."

...

...

Far from domed regions, the barren and wind scoured wastelands stretched endlessly. A storm of dark dust rolled across the horizon, swallowing what little light the sun offered.

The air was heavy with ash and ozone, and every breath through a respirator mask came with a faint metallic taste.

A convoy of mana defense troops trudged through this forsaken landscape. Their armored boots crunched over shattered glass and blackened stone.

Drones floated overhead with red sensors scanning for heat signatures or movement.

"Still nothing," one of the mana defense officers grunted while tapping the side of his helmet. "Another five klicks of empty hellscape. We're wasting our time."

The squad leader shot him a look. "Stay sharp, Aiken. Command said we sweep this entire sector. No excuses."

Aiken snorted. "Yeah, yeah. But seriously—why are we still looking for this kid? It's been a month. A month, Captain. Out here? Without dome protection? He's dead. Or worse."

Another mana defense offover with a curvy scar running down his neck, gave a dry chuckle. "He's got a point, sir. Even veterans in a lot of cases don't last long in the wilds all alone. You remember what happened to solo officers that ventured out past the red circle zones? Came back in bags—or didn't come back at all."

"Watch your mouth," the captain barked, though his tone lacked conviction. "Orders are orders."

"Orders to chase a ghost," Aiken muttered. "A freshman from the academy. Probably thought he could play hero and got himself eaten by mana aberrations."

"Hey, don't say that." The voice came from a female officer with bright orange streaks in her hair which was visible even under her helmet's visor. "You all read the report. They said he was strong. Stronger than most academy students. Fought an upper-tier Drakenar, remember?"

"Sure," Aiken said dryly. "And my grandma once punched a demon lord. Doesn't mean I believe it."

The squad broke into light laughter. The woman frowned, shaking her head. "You're forgetting that he is a hero. The one who saved five hundred."

"Hero, huh?" The scarred man spat into the dust. "There's a thin line between bravery and suicide. Out here, the difference doesn't matter."

The captain raised a fist, halting the group. His visor gleamed faintly as he scanned the horizon. "Hold position."

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the whisper of the wind, the buzz of their mana scanners, and the faint clicking of insectoid aberrants scuttling through the cracks of the earth far below.

"...Captain," one of the scouts suddenly called out. "You seeing that?"

The group turned.

In the distance, past the rolling waves of grey ash, the sky shimmered unnaturally. It throbbed faintly, like veins of lightning trapped behind smoke. Then, a massive surge of light exploded far ahead, turning the clouds red for an instant.

Aiken's jaw tightened. "That… didn't look natural."

"Mana disturbance," the captain confirmed, tapping his wrist console. "Coordinates: 44.982 by -22.761. All units, move out. Formation Delta."

Weapons primed, boots pounded the ground as they moved toward the disturbance. The further they went, the worse the terrain became.

Charred, skeletal trees jutted from the soil like black fingers. Some were fused into grotesque shapes by molten rock. The air grew thicker, hotter, and veins of magma streaked faintly beneath the cracked surface.

When they reached the forest's edge, the trees ahead were incredibly high, dark, twisted, and corrupted with residual mana. The squad began cutting through them with glowing blades. Each slice released a hiss of black vapor, and the smell of burnt ozone filled the air.

"Feels like walking into a nightmare," one muttered.

"Eyes forward," the captain replied. "Keep your scanners active."

They pressed on until the last of the twisted trees parted and the landscape opened before them.

Every one of them froze.

"What… the hell…"

The ground ahead was scorched black and webbed with glowing red cracks. Molten rivers coursed through trenches like blood vessels, cutting through the dark soil.

The sky above was an endless swirl of smoky gray and crimson lightning, and in the far distance stood massive and angular structured dark fortresses that seemed carved straight from shadow itself.

At their center rose four towers as large as skyscrapers, aligned in a perfect square.

"Are we recording this?" the female officer whispered while raising her staff.

"Yes," replied one of the tech specialists as his fingers danced over his holographic wristpad. "Thermal scans… off the charts. Mana density here is unlike anything recorded in K-22. Sir… this place—"

"—is a high rank Drakenar claimed region. " Aiken finished for him. "Those fortresses… they look built. Constructed. Not natural formations."

The captain nodded grimly. "You're right. This isn't the usual wild terrain of Drakenars. The more elite ones... made this."

A tremor rippled underfoot, and the molten rivers flared brighter for an instant. One of the drones ahead suddenly fizzled as its feed got cut off.

"Contact?"

"Negative," said the tech. "No hostiles detected. But the mana saturation is interfering with our sensors."

The squad began advancing cautiously toward the edge of the dark basin. With each step, the oppressive aura grew heavier, pressing against their very bones.

"This is definitely the other end of the red circle anomaly," said the woman quietly.

"No doubt about it," Aiken replied. "The descriptions check out."

The captain's eyes narrowed behind his visor. "Send the signal. Now."

"Yes, sir."

Blue mana flared from the comm device, spiraling into the sky.

"Command, this is Recon Squad Delta-Five," the captain said. "We've located a fortified settlement structure within the outer wastelands, coordinates transmitting now. Composition matches description from the K-22 sector red circle anomaly. Repeat: Drakenar region confirmed."

"Copy that, Delta-Five," came the static-laced reply. "Hold position and await reinforcement. Legendary Mage Cecilia Thorn and additional units are en route."

The captain exhaled slowly while pulling out his battle axe from his back.

Around him, the squad exchanged uneasy glances.