"Teacher, why does water have the ability to heal?"
Seraphine watched as green raindrops fell onto Draven's wounds, slowly mending them.
Curiosity flickered in her eyes.
Of the four classical elements, only water was commonly associated with healing.
But to her, it had never quite made sense—what did water have to do with recovery?
Ryan turned to her, calm as always.
"What's the most abundant element in the human body?"
"Water!"
Seraphine blurted out, then paused, thinking it through.
She'd always assumed the body was mostly flesh and bone.
She never thought of it in elemental terms—until she saw Ryan extract water from blood with a single gesture.
That moment reshaped her entire understanding.
The blood inside an enemy's body—Seraphine realized—was the deadliest weapon in a water mage's arsenal.
"The human body holds water not just in blood," Ryan continued, "but in muscles, skin—everywhere. Healing requires life energy to flow into the body. Water is the best carrier for that energy among the four elements."
He gestured toward the emerald-tinted raindrops drifting through the air. His voice turned didactic.
"Raindrop of Life—a second-order water spell—only uses one rune for recovery. The other three runes? All tied to water. They ensure that the life energy can penetrate the skin and flow through the body. That's why the spell works so quickly."
"So water doesn't heal on its own," Seraphine realized aloud.
"It just carries the healing energy."
"Exactly." Ryan nodded.
"Light can also be a good carrier—it penetrates well, sometimes even better than water. But water is more versatile."
The essence of magic lies not in control, but in understanding.
Anyone could cast a spell.
But to grasp its nature—to comprehend the meaning behind each rune—that was the path of a true mage.
Ryan and Syndra had learned this the hard way, studying runes to use them and understand them.
They built the rune magic system to empower average mages and let gifted ones reach their full potential.
With runes, even if only one genius emerged among thousands, it would be enough to shape the future.
Freljord had its cryomancy.
Shurima had Ascension.
Why couldn't Noxus forge its own magical legacy?
"Your job now," Ryan said, turning back to her, "is to cast first, then understand. Break down the spell models. Study each rune. Figure out why they were constructed that way."
Seraphine nodded. Right now, she was still raw talent—an unpolished gem.
But she was willing to learn.
"Understood."
Below them, the two were already healed and preparing for another round.
Seraphine turned her gaze to the arena.
Dozens of glowing, water-blue orbs floated around Syndra.
They shimmered, shifted, reforming into runes, then weaving together into spells.
It was dazzling.
The other mages watching could barely comprehend it.
Most of them only had a few fixed spells—cast the same way, every time.
Sure, stronger mages had bigger explosions or wider areas of effect.
But the methods were predictable.
Syndra was different. She didn't just cast spells.
She composed them.
To the audience, the sheer variety of her magic was the first thing that stood out.
All this—just from water magic?
Healing, offense, defense, control, curses, manipulation...
Spell after spell unfolded, each more inventive than the last.
Some were beyond anything they'd seen.
A mirror of water appeared in midair, and from its rippling surface stepped two figures—living constructs of liquid.
One wielded arm guards that fired high-pressure water jets.
The other spun twin axes are made of sharpened currents.
They weren't just random constructs.
Their builds, posture—even size—mirrored the two fighters perfectly.
The battle exploded into motion. Axes met blades, jets collided with arcane bolts.
Magic and water painted the sky in shimmering colors.
And the water doubles? Far from fragile.
In fact, their fluid nature made them tougher to take down than flesh-and-blood fighters.
"Magic! Magic!"
"Noxus!"
The crowd erupted, some sympathizing with the Dravens' ordeal, but none could deny Syndra's brilliance.
Her magic left them awestruck.
Everyone there knew how strong Draven was.
That's what made Syndra's dominance all the more shocking.
She didn't just beat them—she outclassed them.
It wasn't a fight anymore. It was a demonstration.
Seraphine finally understood.
All the cheers, all the praise—it wasn't just for power.
It was for magic itself.
She glanced around, noticing several people filming with Hextech cameras.
This would go public—no doubt about it.
And that was exactly what her teachers wanted.
They hadn't come here to show off.
They came to remind the world what magic could be.
After today, there would be a maddening pursuit of magic in Noxus—so different from the chaos of the neighboring kingdom, where magic was banned and feared.
"Teacher, is magical talent something you're just born with?" Seraphine asked suddenly.
She had been thinking about it. Mage talent was rare—perhaps one in a hundred.
Many gave up their path early, forced to change careers, or worse, lost their lives to magical accidents.
There weren't enough gifted mages. Surely, her teacher had considered this.
"Magical talent can be acquired," Ryan replied calmly, "but it's expensive. Most people aren't considered worth the investment. And those few who are… already have their own opportunities and ideas."
He paused, thinking of people like Orianna and Viktor.
Neither were born with traditional magical talent, yet both had carved out their own powerful paths through sheer brilliance and innovation.
Noxus needed more people like them. Noxus needed to develop that kind of talent.
Ryan's eyes seemed to pierce through the arena walls, through the very stones of the Immortal Bastion, to the streets beyond, where ordinary Noxians walked, and children laughed in the sunlight.
"Everyone is worth believing in," he murmured.
"But the resources Noxus controls are pitiful. Books. Teachers. Magical materials. Tools. Training grounds... All too scarce."
"That's because your standards are too high," Seraphine muttered.
She had been trained by Ryan himself.
She knew how high the bar was.
Just the Soul stealing Scroll he'd given her—most mages went their entire lives without seeing one.
In addition, her daily regimen of custom potions and performance enhancers made it clear that this kind of growth came at a price.
"We don't have much time," Ryan said, his tone sharpening.
"I want to see this system built before Noxus—or Runeterra—faces its next crisis."
He sat upright, his eyes fixed on a sky only he seemed to understand.
There was something there, something unspoken.
"I believe in us," Seraphine said quietly, her expression serious—even if she didn't fully grasp what her teacher had seen.
Meanwhile, in the arena below, the two were a mess.
"Damn it," Ezreal muttered, blasting apart one of the water constructs with an Arcane Shot.
"Why do I keep thinking I can win?"
He was gasping for breath, practically on the verge of collapsing.
His body was drained of nearly all its energy—biological and magical—but somehow, he was still standing.
Every time he thought he'd lose, he found himself pushing back.
Was the water construct weakening? Was he actually… winning?
It didn't make sense.
Nearby, Draven slammed an axe into the other water man, panting hard.
He glanced at Ezreal but didn't speak—didn't have the strength.
But he felt the same thing.
The constructs were getting weaker. Even Syndra's earlier spells had felt stronger.
Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to believe Ezreal's little theory.
Sure, Ezreal could stand at a distance and lob a few spells—but he had been fighting both watermen up close.
If those constructs were truly "weak," they wouldn't have pushed him this hard.
In truth, only Syndra's skill with water runes and spell fusion kept them from being annihilated on the spot.
"The next round's coming, isn't it…" Ezreal groaned.
He didn't want to keep fighting. His body screamed at him to stop.
But he was already this far in—quitting would be humiliating.
Maybe, just maybe… if he held on long enough, Syndra would run out of magic power.
Draven looked up at Syndra floating above, her form surrounded by nearly a hundred glowing runes, all shifting and linking in intricate formations.
He swallowed hard.
If a few dozen earlier spells had already pushed him this far… now there were hundreds?
"…We're screwed," he muttered.
Up above, Seraphine tilted her head. Something felt off.
"Teacher Syndra's spells… don't seem as strong as before," she observed.
Ryan nodded slightly. "She's not specialized in water. If she were using her dark magic, a fifth-rank spell could level a city."
The spell constructs were still functional, but the energy behind them was thinning.
"She's reaching her limit. Casting so many high-tier spells—especially outside her affinity—puts strain even on her. The more complex the rune combinations, the harder it gets to maintain power."
It wasn't about technique.
Syndra was flawless.
It was about endurance.
Even the strongest mage couldn't cast forever.
Ryan could sense it before it happened. Syndra was preparing to cast a seventh-order spell.
But given her current grasp of water runes, she could only rely on standard spell models to execute them.
Even so, the surge of energy from 128 runes activating at once was enough to shake the very foundations of the Immortal Bastion.
A massive, water-blue dragon head slowly emerged in the sky, roaring fiercely.
One by one, the rest of the dragon's body materialized: the neck, the body, the wings, the claws, and the tail.
The illusory form began to solidify, its ethereal shape gaining substance.
Scales sprouted along the water dragon's body, each dark blue scale gleaming under the sunlight, radiating a chilling glow.
"D-Dragon... A dragon???" Ezreal gasped, staring up in shock.
"Oh, Targon… How is magic capable of summoning dragons?"
His mind raced.
Piltover's mechanical dragons were one thing, but this?
A water dragon nearly 100 meters long, formed by the fusion of hundreds of runes?
It was beyond anything he could've imagined.
"Ha ha..."
Draven's axe hand froze mid-swing, his blades falling to the ground with a dull thud. He twisted his mouth into an ugly, grimace-like smile.
In the face of this water dragon, he and Ezreal might as well have been ants.
They wouldn't need to lift a finger. A single press of the dragon's massive form would crush them into pulp.
Before, they'd managed to block the smaller fusion spells, but this? This was no longer something mortals could challenge. The dragon towered over them, its sheer presence a testament to the difference between their strength and Syndra's.
The water dragon bellowed, lifting its head high into the air, water spiraling into a deadly vortex in its jaws, ready to strike.
At the sight of this massive beast, the arena fell silent.
The two men fighting below, as well as the entire crowd, were rooted in awe.
They had heard of magic's power, of course.
The idea that even gods might be defeated by it had been a distant concept.
But now? Seeing the dragon in person shattered everything.
The dragon's form—nearly 100 meters long—covered almost the entire arena, blocking out the light from the sky.
Even those in the audience felt the dark shadow of its presence, the air thick with power.
They all shared the same thought: this was true magic.
They had no doubts now. A single strike from this water dragon could level the entire arena.
"Magic! This is magic!" the crowd marveled, their voices a collective shout of awe.
Suddenly, a barbarian warrior jumped to his feet, his voice booming with excitement as he shouted.
His reaction resonated with the rest of the audience.
No matter where they came from, even from the forbidden lands of Demacia, they all rose in unison, eyes fixed on the sky, their gazes wild with fervor.
For them, this miraculous magic was the pursuit of a lifetime.
Such god-like power was the very goal of joining Noxus.
"Buzz!"
The water dragon reared its head, and a powerful vortex of water shot up, soaring straight into the sky.
The Immortal Fortress and those in the surrounding areas paused their work, staring in awe at the towering column of water reaching up toward the heavens, with the majestic shape of the dragon faintly visible.
The torrent rose higher and higher until it exploded among the clouds.
The aftermath scattered the clouds and mist, turning them ash as the water column continued its ascent.
And then, it rained.
The water dispersed into the sky, transforming into countless raindrops that cascaded down like a gentle shower, drenching the Immortal Fortress below.
As the droplets fell, sunlight broke through, casting a radiant rainbow across the floating castle—a breathtaking spectacle, like a scene out of a fairy tale.
Click!
Ezreal, who had been quietly observing, snapped a photo with his Hex camera, his hand pressing the shutter with a mix of disbelief and awe.
He had long since given up resisting.
Facing such overwhelming magic, surrendering was the wisest course of action.
"Well, I'm still young," Ezreal thought.
"And I've got plenty of time to surpass these mages!"
But, as his gaze lingered on the water dragon, an idea sparked in his mind…
It may be time to visit the President and inquire if he had any latent magical potential.
He couldn't help but wonder...
Draven, too, seemed unusually sluggish, his movements slow and heavy as he threw his Hextech axe into the air, shouting in excitement.
"Councilor Syndra!! Noxus!!"
His voice echoed through the arena, rousing the crowd from their stupor.
They began shouting Syndra's name one by one, their cheers filling the air.
The sound was so powerful it could be heard in the Immortal Bastion, and soon, more and more Noxians joined in, raising their voices in admiration, fully aware of the magnificent event that had just unfolded.
Syndra, floating gracefully atop the water dragon's head, flapped her ethereal dragon wings.
Her figure and the giant water dragon rose slowly beneath the sunlight, rising as one.
The Floating Castle, the Water Dragon, and Syndra…
The sight of them was so awe-inspiring that those around the fortress couldn't help but feel the weight of it in their bones.
An overwhelming magical pressure descended from above.
Almost every Noxian felt a deep, primal fear stirring in their hearts.
But this fear wasn't one of dread. Instead, it was a feeling of reverence.
They looked up, their voices lifting once more, calling out their honorific titles for Syndra.
Cheering for her. Shouting for her. Paying the highest respect to her.
"Ionia, do you see? True power never needs to be suppressed!"
Syndra whispered, the corners of her mouth curving into a subtle smile.
Then, her arms slowly spread wide, and she shouted loudly to the crowds below.
"I am magic!"
Her cold voice instantly echoed in everyone's ears, making them all feel a sudden daze.
They could see her facing off against Ionia's spirit.
They could see her challenging the gods on behalf of Noxus.
And they couldn't help but recall the dark orb that had suppressed the entire Immortal Fortress the day the Floating Castle had appeared.
Syndra's name was etched into their hearts, a symbol of the overwhelming power she commanded.
When the crowd finally came to their senses, the water dragon had vanished, and Syndra's figure was no longer visible.
Only the radiant rainbow remained shining brightly above the Floating Castle.
Ryan gazed up at the beauty in the sky, a smile playing on his lips.
Seraphine, seemingly struck by a realization, glanced at her two teachers before sighing softly.
"The perfect performance... It's truly enviable."