About two kilometers from the outer rear fortress of Verlyn Academy lies a wide stretch of forest, commonly used as a training ground by battlemage students.
A young man with the look of a wanderer, his light brown hair cut short, stands gazing at the towering, majestic buildings beyond the academy walls. The lively atmosphere of the competition can be heard even from there.
The glint in his dark green, moss-like eyes gives off an unfriendly impression. His gaze then shifts at the sound of three men in patrol uniforms approaching from behind.
Three of Liam's juniors, currently on duty.
"This is the forest territory of Verlyn Academy, and we are the guards responsible for the security of this area. Stranger, please show your identification. If you have business with Verlyn Academy, you should first pass through the front gate to obtain a visitor's permit."
They act according to standard protocol. But instead of compliance, they are met with a mocking smile as the foreign wanderer turns his gaze toward them.
"Only weaklings are placed by that old man as his territory's guards?"
"Watch your tongue!" one of the patrol guards snaps, clearly offended.
Another signals his comrade to stay calm.
"What business do you have in this area?"
"My business?" The foreign wanderer feigns trying to remember. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot why I came here. I'll let one of you live to deliver my warning to your Grand Master." His words are laced with a sharp gaze and a dangerous smile. "Cedric Dryas will soon burn Verlyn Academy to the ground."
The three patrol guards heighten their vigilance—the stranger before them clearly has no good intentions.
"You're inviting danger upon yourself by speaking like that."
Cedric Dryas, the wanderer, glares at them. "Are you talking about yourselves? I am the danger standing right before your eyes!!"
With a loud shout, Cedric spreads both arms wide, summoning blazing red fireballs in his hands.
"Begone—turn to dust, you insects!!"
Blazing fireballs shoot out at high speed from both of Cedric's palms, forcing the three patrol guards to dodge swiftly and look for an opening to advance.
"Formation!" shouts the patrol guard running in the center line, heading straight for the wanderer. His two comrades on the left and right immediately understand.
"Trying to underestimate me, you bastard?!" Cedric hurls a massive fireball toward the patrol guard in the center.
Immediately, the comrade on the left slams his fist into the ground, raising a tall wall of earth in the fireball's path. The comrade on the right sends a surge of water toward the back of the earth wall, while the patrol guard in the center unleashes a powerful gust of wind straight ahead.
As soon as the fireball shatters the earth wall, the combined force of water and wind surges forward, extinguishing the flames and continuing its rapid charge until it slams into Cedric, who reacts too late to dodge.
The three patrol guards regroup, catching their breath—the combined attack has taken a toll on their stamina. But their hope of incapacitating the enemy in a single strike vanishes when they see Cedric still able to move.
He rises with a dangerous smile that only widens.
"Not bad. I'll give that attack a score of sixty."
The combined strike of two elements had felt like nothing more than a light blow to Cedric. The patrol guards are facing an opponent far from ordinary, their vigilance heightens further.
"Use a different formation."
Their hushed conversation reaches Cedric's ears, and he immediately cuts in, "Don't cheat like that—now it's my turn to attack." To him, the battle seems nothing more than a game.
Flames ignite once again in his right palm. "Let me show you how to bring down an enemy with just a single strike."
With a forceful motion, Cedric thrusts his right palm to the side, forming a blazing red sword. Wearing an increasingly feral smile, he swings the fiery blade, unleashing a raging wave of fire.
The eyes of three patrol guards widen in tension as the high-speed wave of flames rushes toward them.
.
BLAAR!
The wave of fire from Heirian Geroga once again engulfs the stage in his third match. Every move he makes draws murmurs of admiration from the teachers.
But Grand Master Lutzer Swan shows no sign of being impressed—his gaze is instead frozen in thought. Watching the young man wielding fire stirs a memory from three years ago in the old mage's mind.
A fifteen-year-old boy, with light brown hair and green eyes just like the Grand Master's, displays remarkable skill in wielding fire despite his young age.
"Look! I can use the fire element too, just like you! Why won't you let me study in your academy?!"
It is Cedric Dryas in his teenage years, with his stubborn temperament. His body is thin and unkempt, wrapped in worn-out clothing.
Although at that time Lutzer Swan acknowledged Cedric as a talented young mage, the look in his eyes could not hide his disgust.
"No matter how great your fire-element power is, it will never erase your status as a disgrace to the Swan family!"
"Begone! Never appear before me again!"
The image of Cedric's tense face upon hearing those words still lingers vividly in Lutzer Swan's memory.
The old mage's gaze dims as he looks down at his right palm.
"The only heir to my power is the disgrace of my family."
"What a painful truth."
.
BLAAR!
The tremendous blast of the fire wave in the middle of the forest sends a booming echo through the air.
The three patrol guards are hurled far, crashing into different spots. Pain and injury make it difficult for them to rise again. Parts of their protective gear are scorched and burned beyond use.
"Ho-how… can he be this strong…?"
From behind the thinning cloud of explosion smoke, Cedric stands firm, the red sword in his hand, his eyes sharp like someone bearing a grudge.
"How does it feel to be burned by the same fire your Grand Master wields? You must be very grateful to experience it."
One of the patrol guards still wears a defiant expression and dares to speak out loudly, "What's your problem with the Grand Master?! Only a criminal-minded person sees him as an enemy!"
Cedric replies calmly, his dangerous smile unwavering. "Yes, of course I'm a criminal—and that's because of your Grand Master's doing!"
Cedric readies his blazing red sword once more. "Now choose—which two of you will I turn to dust? Let the one who remains deliver the message to that old man."
A terrifying threat is about to be followed by his feral laughter—
but before it can, a streak of yellowish-white light shoots past Cedric's left ear, slicing off a few strands of his hair.
The fire-wielding youth's eyes widen sharply, as if he has just received a warning shot rather than a missed attack.
The three patrol soldiers startled and quickly turn around toward the source of the light shot.
"Senior Liaaam!!"
The three patrol soldiers immediately cheer in relief, as if the savior has arrived. Liam stands only about three meters behind his juniors, leaving Cedric even more astonished.
"Since when has that man been there? Was that light from him??"
Liam's unnoticed presence and the undetected arrival of his attack trigger Cedric's instincts to sense that he is facing immeasurable danger. Cedric does not immediately run his mouth as he did before.
Liam's sharp gaze locks onto the fire-wielding youth, while the three patrol soldiers move closer to his side, murmuring in relief.
Cedric's presence before Liam matches exactly what Y'tzyar foresaw in his vision of the future—a wandering youth wielding the power of fire, destined to one day set the Verlyn Academy ablaze.
Liam steps forward calmly.
"What's your reason for attacking the Verlyn Academy patrol?"
His juniors quickly chime in with eager voices.
"Senior, he's got some kind of grudge against the Grand Master!"
"Grand Master?" — the mention of his teacher immediately stirs Liam's attention.
"He said this," the patrol junior reports, mimicking Cedric's earlier expression, "'Cedric Dryas will burn Verlyn Academy to the ground!'"
"Wow, you nailed the expression!" his comrade praises.
"And then he said he'd send our ashes to Grand Master as a warning."
"We're way too young to be cremated!!" they dramatize, more fixated on that point than anything else.
Liam quickly shifts his focus to the real issue, his gaze sharpening on the young wanderer.
"So, what's your problem with Grand Master? If there's been some misunderstanding, I'll help clear it up."
Liam chooses to investigate first. His demeanor remains calm, showing no sign of caution—a composure possessed only by those with great power, fully in control of the situation before a weaker opponent.
Although Cedric senses that his opponent this time is no longer on the same level as the three patrol soldiers earlier, he hates seeing himself as the weaker party. Rather than retreat or make peace, that ego fuels his fiery power once again.
"Huh, how generous of you. Trying to play the hero in broad daylight?"
Liam realizes that the stubborn young man before him will not be swayed by negotiation.
"I'm offering you a better solution than sending you straight to Carrion Prison."
"You'll be the one I send to the grave first!!"