The rain had long stopped, but the smell of iron still clung to the city like a ghost that refused to leave. Red stains soaked the streets, and the silence that followed the chaos was heavier than any thunder.
In the academy dorm, the three of them sat — Ari tense, Leo quiet, and Rayleigh... off.
His usual aloof smirk was gone. His sleeves were rolled up for once, revealing faded marks—sigils maybe, long suppressed. He leaned back against the cold stone wall, lost in some war only he could see.
Ari finally broke the silence. "Rayleigh… you knew. The way you looked at that sky… that wasn't shock. That was recognition."
Rayleigh didn't answer. He rubbed the back of his neck slowly, as if trying to ground himself in the present. Finally, his voice came — quiet, coarse.
"I've seen it once before," he said. "A sky like that. The kind that doesn't just rain... it warns."
Leo's breath hitched. "You're talking about the war, aren't you?"
Rayleigh nodded.
Ari's eyes widened. "The war? The one from years ago? The one most people aren't even allowed to talk about?"
"I was there,
"I wasn't always a teacher. I wasn't even meant to be here," he said slowly. "Years ago, I served as a strategic advisor in the Guild's upper ring — not a warrior, but someone who read people, mapped threats, predicted attacks. I was the one who pointed fingers before the first spell was ever cast."
Leo blinked. "But you never fought?"
"I could have. I chose not to," Rayleigh replied. "I studied magic not to destroy, but to understand. I know the spell signatures of every upper-tier guild member — their rhythms, their obsessions. I even memorized the casting styles of our enemies across the border."
Rayleigh said- A strategic advisor, not a fighter — but I had access to everything. The plans. The threats. The secrets."
He walked over to the desk and sat down. "The final days of that war were chaos. Not just for our side, but for both. Something changed during the last battle. Magic… turned wild. Spells we'd never seen before — language we couldn't decipher — started appearing on the field."
Leo's heart skipped. "Ancient magic."
Rayleigh looked at him with a sharp glint. "Exactly."
He leaned in, lowering his voice. "There was one… no, two individuals who used it. Both vanished after the final clash. One of them died. The other simply disappeared — like they were swallowed by the earth."
"You think one of them did this?" Ari asked.
"I do," Rayleigh said. "Because the rain that fell on this city? It bore the same signature. The same chant-like energy I heard whispered through the war fog. It wasn't just blood. It was a message."
Leo swallowed. "What kind of message?"
Rayleigh looked directly at him. "That something old has returned. And it's targeting you."
A heavy silence fell.
Leo felt his fingers twitch. "Why me?"
Rayleigh didn't blink. "Because what you used to stop the rain… it wasn't just knowledge. It was instinct. Like someone who's done it before."
Leo's breath caught.
Rayleigh sighed, and for the first time, the lines on his face deepened with genuine fear. "In that war… one of those wielders died protecting hundreds. They fought like no one I've ever seen. But before they fell, they unleashed a spell that tore open the sky, just like you did. When I saw *you