Kael Lanpar's POV
My eyes drifted toward the vastness of the moon. Even hidden behind dark clouds, it continued to pour its beauty over the silent night.
There was something deeply comforting about sharing that moment with someone I had known for so long. Having Alfin by my side felt like coming home… even knowing that place was far from where I truly belonged.
I rested my hands on the cold surface of the rooftop where we stood and lowered my gaze.
In front of me, my breath condensed in the air, escaping in soft puffs that marked the calm rhythm of my breathing.
The truth was, I had too many doubts about why Alfin had traveled such a long distance to find me. Something didn't add up. It wasn't time to return to Auroria yet—and he knew that.
"It's a bit cold."
His voice pulled me out of my thoughts and brought me back to reality. I watched as he hugged himself, trying to keep warm in the most awkward way possible.
Without realizing it, a faint smile appeared on my face.
The scene reminded me of Airis.
I extended my hand forward and allowed the ambient mana to gather in my palm. A sphere of fire formed and floated between us, radiating a gentle warmth that wrapped around us both.
"I see you've learned to control your magic," he said with a hint of excitement. "You're not the same little cousin anymore."
Unable to hold it back, my lips curved into a smile that quickly turned into laughter.
"You've changed a lot too."
I could barely speak. It was impossible to take him seriously with his hair tied back in a ponytail—the image was simply too absurd.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That haircut looks awful on you," I replied, wiping away tears brought on by laughter. "You look like a woman now… one with a scar on her face."
Without warning, he lunged at me, trying to grab me with one hand.
Purely on instinct, I jumped back before he could reach me—but as my feet touched down, I felt myself lose balance.
I hadn't realized I was at the edge of the roof until my footing completely gave way and gravity pulled me toward the ground.
My eyes widened as I saw the fall coming. I swallowed hard, fully aware that crashing into the rock below would hurt… a lot.
Accepting my fate, I closed my eyes with a bitter smile.
But nothing happened.
Something had grabbed hold of my shirt.
"You're way too dramatic," Alfin said as he held me in place. "You know you can use your magic."
I opened my eyes and grabbed his forearm. With a clumsy push, I managed to get back onto the roof, landing on my back and gasping for air.
"I'm out of mana," I muttered in frustration.
Alfin extended his hand. Without hesitation, I took it and stood up, brushing dust from my clothes that had risen from the fall.
"I don't understand how you're already out of mana," he said, scratching his head in visible disbelief.
It took me a few seconds to answer. Explaining the reason was always frustrating… and it was a memory I preferred to avoid.
"I still don't have a proper balance between creation and control."
I clenched my fist in anger. I couldn't believe that after so long, my mana recovery was still so slow.
Without saying a word, Alfin stepped forward and placed a hand on my head, letting out a restrained sigh.
"As you grow, you'll start refining your technique," he said seriously.
He paused for a moment before adding:
"You still have a long way to go if you ever want to adapt to your corrupted awakening."
With that said, he made an agile leap and descended from the rooftop, leaving me alone with my thoughts… and with that truth weighing heavily on my chest.
Resigning myself to reality, I had no choice but to follow Alfin.
I jumped down from the roof and landed squarely on a wagon loaded with straw, which absorbed the impact with a dry crunch. The smell of old hay surrounded me for a moment as I caught my breath.
I quickly pulled myself up and climbed down from the cart.
That's when I saw her.
Aiza stood in front of me alongside the three brothers, forming a tight semicircle around Alfin.
Their gazes were hard, sharp as unsheathed blades, and the air around them seemed to tense.
"Who exactly are you supposed to be?" Aiza asked, gripping the shaft of her spear.
The metal gave a soft ring as she tilted it forward, making her intent perfectly clear.
Alfin, in contrast, remained completely relaxed.
With a calm that bordered on provocation, he crossed his arms and lifted his chin before answering:
"I'm from Alkaster."
The silence that followed was heavy, almost solemn.
"I've come to take Kael with me."
Before I could step in to defuse the situation, I froze.
Something was wrong.
My heart began to pound against my chest when I noticed the objects floating in the air.
I didn't know how it had happened or at what exact moment, but sharp fragments of metal hovered around us, as if defying the laws of the world.
Each one was aimed with deadly precision.
Not at me… but at every member of my squad.
It was as if Alfin were waiting for the slightest misstep, ready to unleash a massacre without blinking.
"So you're from Alkaster," Aiza said, raising a hand to signal the others to relax, though her voice didn't lose a trace of its hardness.
The metal trembled slightly, but it did not fall.
"What brings a spy to this part of the elven kingdom?" she added. "And on top of that…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"You also appear to be a Lanpar."
I blinked.
And in that brief instant, Aiza vanished from my field of vision.
When I focused again, she was already in front of Alfin, gripping the gold chain that hung from his neck. The Lanpar symbol gleamed between her fingers, trapped like irrefutable proof.
With a sudden movement, Alfin grabbed Aiza's wrist and squeezed hard before violently shoving her away.
I knew well of the hostility humans felt toward elves, but I had never imagined someone like Alfin could harbor such deep resentment toward a race he barely understood.
"You're all a waste of time," he spat.
He stepped toward me with determined strides.
He didn't get far.
Aiza's spear cut across his path, slicing through the air with a threatening whistle and forcing him to stop short.
For a moment, a deathly silence took hold of the place.
The air grew heavy, almost unbreathable, as if the world itself were holding its breath. Everything pointed to this ending badly… if not for Aiza's voice.
"I'll let you take Kael, but…"
She paused.
She slid the spear back into its sheath with a slow, deliberate motion, never taking her eyes off Alfin.
Then she continued, her tone firm and leaving no room for argument:
"First, allow us to finish our mission."
With a heavy sigh, Alfin finally gave in to Aiza's words.
He made a weak gesture with one hand, and as if obeying a silent command, the metal fragments floating in the air plunged to the ground, embedding themselves deeply into the earth before vanishing from sight.
"What are you waiting for? I don't have all day," he said with clear irritation as he started to move forward.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps.
Emira's hand landed firmly on his shoulder, forcing him to stop.
Still furious, Alfin turned his head with a look full of hatred… but it vanished instantly when he heard her words.
"That's not the path we're taking."
I shook my head with mild disappointment and slowly turned away. Seeing Alfin flushed, I couldn't help but think that, like me, he was still young.
We both still had a great deal to learn about life.
"How far are we from the dungeon?" I asked Aiza, walking beside her.
"We're not far," she replied without looking at me. "We just have to cross the forest, and we'll be there."
The five of us moved together, pushing deeper into the empty streets of the abandoned village. The fog remained thick, wrapping everything in a veil that refused to lift.
Our only source of light was a floating wheel of fire Alfin had created. Its flames burned with unnatural intensity, consuming the fog in its wake and growing stronger as we moved forward.
As for me, I took advantage of the silence that had settled in to try to absorb atmospheric mana from the surroundings.
But the task proved far more difficult than I had expected.
I couldn't fully focus.
Walking… and absorbing at the same time was still beyond my reach.
The only thing I had done alongside Dirion during my stay in the elven kingdom was reinforce the barrier that separated me from the madness caused by my corrupted awakening.
Because of that, I now had greater control over my spells. I no longer relied solely on emotional surges to activate them… and yet, it was still exhausting to accept how far I remained from the level I aspired to reach.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice Aiza had stopped halfway along the path.
I collided with her back without understanding what was happening… until I felt it.
A nauseating smell of decay clung to the air we breathed, making the night breeze almost unbreathable.
Before us lay the cause of that stench: scattered remains of limbs strewn across the forest, arranged like a macabre decoration. It was not just a scene of death.
It was a warning.
Something was breathing close to us, hidden deep within the place, watching us from the darkness.
"This doesn't make sense," Aiza said, her tone carrying a concern that managed to unsettle even Alfin.
"The other squads are supposed to be deployed in different areas," Zeitra added, closing her eyes as if trying to organize her thoughts.
Covering my nose with my arm, I moved closer to Aiza and whispered,
"Could this be the work of some other magical creature?"
Her response was a slow shake of her head.
Without saying a word, she took my hand and led me to a spot between the trees.
There lay a deer, white as snow.
It was still breathing… barely.
Aiza knelt and placed her hand on the animal's face. With its final breaths, the deer stared into her eyes, as if trying to convey something I couldn't understand.
"What is th—?" I began.
I cut myself off abruptly.
With a swift, precise motion, Aiza drove her dagger into the deer's neck, ending its life in a matter of seconds.
I swallowed hard. I couldn't understand why she had done it.
"Kael… this wasn't the work of a wild animal," Aiza said without looking at me as she gently closed the deer's eyelids with one hand. "Someone capable of thought was responsible."
Her words were still trying to settle in my mind when I had to abandon them entirely.
A piercing scream tore through the forest's silence, spreading like a violent wave that sent the scavengers fleeing from the sky.
I recognized the voice too late.
It was Zeitra.
For a few brief seconds, I saw her eyes change color, turning a dark, unnatural green… before she disappeared into the blackness of the cave without looking back.
Without wasting a second, everyone prepared to go after him.
Weapons were drawn with precise, almost instinctive movements, and one by one they entered that abominable place.
My heart burned.
My body trembled beyond my control, and even with my astral magic sealed, I could feel it—a powerful, dense, suffocating aura… as if the cave itself were breathing hatred.
The pain was too much.
My knees gave out and sank into the earth as I clutched my chest, desperately trying to calm… the fear.
"I have no reason to help them, but—"
Alfin's voice broke halfway through the sentence.
He knelt beside me and held me firmly, leaning in to whisper in my ear:
"This is your decision. It's not our race… here, you decide."
I swallowed hard and pushed his arm away from my neck.
I took a step forward—clumsy, but resolute—and drew the dagger my grandfather had given me on my birthday.
In my free hand, orange particles began to gather, taking shape until they formed a second blade.
The air around us evaporated on contact, and dark crimson inscriptions burned along the metal.
"I barely know those people."
My voice was weak… but my gaze was not.
"I refuse to be like Matías."
I tightened my grip on both daggers.
"I don't abandon anyone."