After the mysterious man named Orion disappeared, Saksham stood alone in the silent training ground.
The wind slowly moved through the palace gardens.
But Saksham's mind was full of questions.
"One of the hidden instructors of the Royal Academy…"
That meant Orion was extremely powerful.
If someone like him had already noticed Saksham's abilities, then hiding his secret in the future would become much harder.
Saksham looked down at his hands.
Light.
Darkness.
Two opposite powers living inside him.
And now there was something even more dangerous.
Fusion.
Inside his mind, the system window appeared again.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
New Skill Discovered
Element Fusion (Locked)
Requirement:
Balance Control Level 5
Current Level:
Balance Control Level 2
Saksham sighed.
"Three more levels…"
That meant he had a long way to go.
But if he could truly combine light and darkness, the power would be unimaginable.
Just as he was thinking, the system activated again.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
Training Quest Activated
Objective:
Increase Balance Control to Level 3
Conditions:
Successfully stabilize Light and Darkness for 10 minutes.
Reward:
+200 Experience
Control Efficiency Increase
Saksham smiled slightly.
"So the system is helping me train."
He sat down in the center of the training field.
Then he closed his eyes.
Mana slowly gathered around him.
A small golden sphere appeared above his right hand.
Light Element.
Then slowly—
a small black sphere appeared above his left hand.
Darkness Element.
The air around him became heavy.
The two energies naturally tried to collide.
But Saksham focused.
"Balance Control…"
The two spheres slowly began to rotate around each other.
At first it was unstable.
The darkness tried to swallow the light.
The light tried to destroy the darkness.
Sweat slowly appeared on Saksham's forehead.
"Stay… balanced…"
One minute passed.
Three minutes passed.
Five minutes.
Suddenly the two energies violently shook.
BOOM!
A small shockwave pushed Saksham backward.
He fell onto the ground.
The spheres disappeared.
Saksham stared at the sky.
"That's harder than I thought…"
But instead of feeling frustrated—
he felt excited.
Because the system window appeared again.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
Progress Update
Balance Stability: 42%
Saksham sat up.
"So I'm almost halfway."
He stood up again and wiped the dust from his clothes.
"Again."
For the next several hours, Saksham repeated the same training.
Light.
Darkness.
Balance.
Explosion.
Failure.
Again and again.
As the sun slowly began to set behind the palace walls, Saksham tried one final time.
Two spheres appeared again.
But this time—
something was different.
They moved slowly.
Peacefully.
Ten minutes passed.
Nothing exploded.
Nothing collapsed.
The balance was perfect.
Suddenly the system flashed brightly.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
Quest Completed
Balance Control has leveled up.
Balance Control Level 3
Reward Granted:
Control Efficiency Increased
+200 Experience
Saksham let out a long breath.
"I did it."
But just as he was about to relax—
the sky above the palace suddenly darkened.
A powerful wave of mana passed over the capital.
Even Saksham felt it clearly.
"This presence…"
It was enormous.
Far stronger than any noble mage.
The palace guards began shouting.
"Alert!"
"Unknown magic detected!"
Saksham looked toward the distant horizon.
Somewhere far outside the capital…
a massive pillar of dark energy rose into the sky.
His heart started beating faster.
Darkness.
Real darkness.
But it wasn't his power.
Someone else…
was using the forbidden element.
Inside his mind, the system activated once more.
SYSTEM WARNING
Unknown Darkness User Detected
Threat Level:
High
Saksham's eyes narrowed.
"So I'm not the only one…"
And somewhere far away—
inside a ruined temple—
a mysterious figure slowly opened glowing black eyes.
"The chosen child has awakened…"
The voice echoed through the darkness.
"Interesting."
To be continued…