The sky above Ignis darkened, not with storm clouds, but with the lingering soot of something ancient stirring.
Seth moved in silence.
Andrea walked beside him, her fire aura subtly flickering around her shoulders—less as a weapon, more as an instinct. Like the breath of a blade that never dulled. Their recent victory over the high-tier monsters had brought recognition, yes—but with that recognition came pressure. Eyes followed them now. Eyes full of envy, awe, and something far more dangerous.
Expectation.
The weight of being exceptional.
Their footsteps echoed along the obsidian stone bridge that led deeper into the volcanic zone of Ignis. Steam hissed from the cracks beneath them. Lava bubbled lazily on both sides, like a beast waiting for permission to rise.
"We're being watched," Andrea said softly, not looking his way.
"I know," Seth replied.
From the shadows of a half-collapsed spire ahead, the air shimmered—twice. Once from heat. Once from movement.
Two figures emerged. Not monsters.
Humans.
Students.
Their uniforms were scorched at the hems, but there was no mistaking it—they were from the academy. One of them, tall and lean with deep red eyes, stepped forward with a thin smile. The other, bulkier and silent, carried a warhammer slung over his shoulder. Both exuded mana levels that rivaled even the academy's top fifteen.
Andrea tensed, flame flickering higher.
"Easy," the lean one said, raising a hand. "We're not enemies. At least… not yet."
Seth's eyes narrowed slightly. "Who are you?"
"Just scouts," the man said. "Sent ahead by someone who's... interested in you. Very interested. You've been causing a lot of ripples."
"Speak straight," Andrea said flatly.
The man grinned. "You've gotten strong. Fast. Some of us want to know how. And some of us—" He flicked his fingers. A spike of mana surged behind him. "—want to see if that strength is real, or just hype."
The bulky one stepped forward. The warhammer hit the ground with a deep, resonant thud that cracked the obsidian beneath them.
"Challenge?" Seth asked calmly.
The man tilted his head. "More like... invitation. To a trial. One that the professors won't know about. Off the books. The strong don't wait for approval, do they?"
"Where?" Andrea asked.
The man smiled wider. "The Ember Coil. Midnight. Bring your instincts. You'll need them."
With that, the two faded back into the volcanic mists—leaving no trace behind but the subtle crackle of scorched earth.
Seth and Andrea exchanged a look. Neither of them spoke.
They didn't need to.
---
Back at the Academy
Jake sat alone in the training chamber.
His body was still recovering—his mana flow sluggish, his limbs trembling with fatigue. But his eyes were alive now. Sharpened. Focused.
The image of the monster he'd failed to kill replayed in his head like a ghost haunting every blink. He clenched his fists tighter. The healer's words had stuck with him:
"You fought well... but you pushed your mana too recklessly. You don't have the reserves to fight like them yet."
Yet.
That word repeated in his head like a curse.
He struck the training post again. Harder. Again. Harder. His knuckles bled. But he didn't stop. Because pain, he realized, was the only thing he could control right now.
He remembered Seth kneeling beside him, calm even after everything.
Jake had never hated anyone in his life—but at that moment, he hated how calm Seth was. How untouchable. How far ahead.
And he knew...
He had to change something.
---
That Night — The Ember Coil
The Ember Coil wasn't marked on any official map. A forbidden pit of spiraling lava currents and unstable mana storms, where creatures mutated just from being born there.
Seth stood at the edge, arms folded, as the wind howled across the crimson canyon.
Andrea adjusted the gauntlets on her wrists, flame coiling down her spine like a serpent made of purpose.
"You think they'll actually show?" she asked.
"They're already here," Seth murmured.
From the shadows of the cliffs, more figures emerged. Four. All students. All powerful.
None of them looked friendly.
One of them, a girl with silver rings pierced along her ear and an aura so sharp it cut the wind, stepped forward.
"The trial begins," she said.
The rocks shifted. A roar echoed from below.
The lava churned.
And the ground beneath them cracked open.
Out crawled a beast of obsidian bones and molten eyes—twice the size of any High-tier monster they'd seen.
Andrea's eyes flashed. "That's not a monster from the academy's tests."
"No," Seth said, stepping forward, his hand tightening around the grip of his spatial blade. "It's one they're not supposed to have."
The girl smirked. "Let's see if the academy's stars shine in real fire."
The fight began.