The training grounds trembled with life.
Steel rang against steel. Spells cracked the air like distant thunder. Creatures of every realm—wolves half-shifted, witches glowing faintly with runes, vampires straining against their limits—pushed themselves harder than they ever had before. Sweat, magic, and determination clung to the day like a living thing.
Everyone knew what this day meant.
This was not ordinary training — This was the choosing.
Today, the strongest would be weighed — not only in muscle or magic, but in mind, resolve, and restraint. Today, the quest would be announced.
Above them, the sky darkened unnaturally.
A hush fell, slow and heavy, as six figures descended from the clouds as though the air itself bent to their will. Cloaked in flowing silver and ash, faces hidden behind veils of light, the Statera Custodes — had arrived.
They did not walk — They landed.
The ground beneath them glowed with ancient sigils, older than any kingdom, older than the wars that shaped the realms. These beings were neither good nor evil; they were the measure between both. Or so everyone believed.
Every trainee dropped to one knee. Even the proudest bowed their heads.
One of the Keepers stepped forward, with his voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"The scales have been set. The realms are restless. A quest is required to preserve balance."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Hands clenched. Hearts pounded.
Another Keeper raised a staff carved with symbols that shifted as if alive.
"Only those deemed mentally unbroken and physically worthy may go. Only three shall be chosen."
Cole Mason felt it then — A strange pressure behind his eyes. That same feeling. The one he always felt when fate moved too close to him. He tried to steady his breathing, but something deep within him stirred… uneasy.
The Keeper spoke again.
"The names shall be read."
Silence fell so thick it felt suffocating.
"Lenora Mason"
A soft gasp escaped the crowd. Lenora's spine stiffened, her jaw setting as she rose slowly to her feet. Power hummed around her—controlled, disciplined.
"Kevin Mason"..
Kevin's eyes widened for only a moment before he masked it. He exhaled sharply and stood, fists clenched at his sides.
Two names.
Two Masons.
The air shifted.
"Joyce Brown"
Confusion rippled openly now. Whispers broke through the silence. Joyce herself froze, eyes darting, disbelief written across her face. She had talent, yes—but this quest was meant for the absolute best.
Cole's heart began to race. That's three, he thought. That's the rule.
The Keeper paused. Then—
"Cole Mason"
The world seemed to tilt.
Shock slammed into the crowd like a wave. Voices erupted — some angry, some confused, some afraid. Four names. Four chosen. That had never happened.
Cole didn't move. His pulse roared in his ears. Every instinct screamed that this was wrong. Not impossible — it was wrong.
The Balance Keepers stood unmoved, faces unreadable.
"The decision is final," One of them declared.
And as the four stood before the realms, bound by fate and deception alike, the scales of balance tilted—
Not toward peace.
But toward war.
And just like that, they vanished into thin air. And loud noises travelled all over the place. Suggestions on the chosen teens for the quests. Some were angry while some were shocked and surprised at the same time. The chosen ones were just confused, not knowing what to do at that moment.
"You all shall all return to your basement!" Mr. Bruce's vibrant voice echoed round the atmosphere. And all the populace returned to their basement
"The chosen ones should come with me!" He added
Cole, Lenora, Kevin and Joyce followed Mr. Bruce towards his office. As they walked past the main hall, the teens tried as hard as possible to avoid eye contact with anyone, as they could sense hungry angry eyes, glaring at them.
"Good luck, Man!" Percy tapped Cole by the shoulder.
"This isn't possible!." Kevin roared as soon as they were all in Mr. Bruce'e office.
"There can't be anyone here that is more confused than I am!" He added
"We don't know those guys!?"
"You don't have to know them. They own this place." Mr. Bruce answered him.
"Oh, so out of hundreds and thousands of people around, they chose us?... To go on a silly quest and return dead!?" Kevin was furious now.
"Silly Quest?"
"Return dead?"
"Kevin, when did you start thinking like this?" Lenora asked him, softly.
"You just had the idea that anyone who goes on the quest will definitely come back dead??" She asked.
"Am trying to put it into consideration!" He defended himself.
"The most important thing I'd expect from all of you that have been chosen for this quest is positivity." Mr. Bruce said.
"You don't think like that, Kevin!" He added.
"Besides, I was thinking." Cole finally talked. He had caught the attention of all of them.
"This quest of a thing... What are we doing exactly?." He asked
"Good question, Cole. The quest is a task that will be assigned to you to test you and your abilities too — All of you. Three days from now, you all will get to know what the quest is exactly all about." He concluded.
"You can go prepare." All the teens dismissed out of the room but Mr. Bruce called Cole back and whispered to him.
"JustThink positivity!"
He nodded. But then, he turned back to Mr. Bruce.
"Sir, would you mind if you'd just enlighten me a little bit on the quest stuff?" He asked
"Well, you don't have to be tense. It's just a little difficult task. You will be asked to find something — Something so invaluable that it has to be returned to it's home. And this is it's home!." He explained.
"And what are we looking for exactly?"
And Luper's Artifact was named.
They exchanged uneasy glances. They hesitated—not out of doubt, but fear. Come could see fear even in Mr. Bruce's eyes.
The quest was set for three days' time, and it would demand unity — no lone paths, no divided will.
As Cole stepped out of the office, still, whispers spread quickly among the trainees. In hushed corners and stolen moments, gossip grew sharper, accusing.
The Mason Family, they said, had cheated fate.
Four names. One quest.