Two maids huddled near the courtyard's stone archway, their hushed voices carrying across the morning air.
"Still at it since dawn," the younger one said, wringing her hands in her apron. "Poor kid's got more bruises than skin at this point."
"Heard he was caught peeking at Lady Zara. Ryze gave him a proper thrashing for that one." The older maid clicked her tongue. "Now look at him—getting beaten black and blue everyday for the past two weeks by Master Darius himself."
"Anyone would take pity seeing this," a third maid added, gesturing toward the training ground where Master Darius, the Silverthorne's personal knight and Aric stood, barely more than a boy, his stance betraying his exhaustion
"This child, suddenly coming out of nowhere asking me to spar with him everyday." Darius thought to himself. "What's his aim?"
Their stances made it obvious they were about to go into battle. While they stood at a standstill, Aric's thoughts raced. *Two weeks*, Aric thought, muscles burning. *Two weeks of sparring, and I haven't even scratched his armor*. His grip tightened on his practice sword. *But today...*
They moved simultaneously, Aric launching forward as Darius matched his pace. Where the knight's movements had once been a blur, now Aric could keep track of each shift in weight, each pivot of foot. Darius who is a rank 4 aura user had dropped his level—matching Aric's baseline, leaving only skill and experience between them.
Darius leapt, closing the distance with practiced efficiency. A smile tugged at Aric's split lip. He'd seen this move countless times, burned it into his memory through bruises and failures.
*Now.*
'Strike from above,' Aric whispered to himself, 'side-step at the last second, spin and—'
"Understanding patterns is good," Darius's voice cut through his thoughts, "but relying on them will get you killed, kiddo."
The knight's blade changed course mid-strike, transforming into a vertical slash aimed at Aric's head. But at the last second, Aric pulled off a side step twisting his body at an impossible angle. His blade whistled through the air in a horizontal arc—
Then darkness.
*What's with that level of agility*, Darius thought to himself while looking at a satisfactory smile on Aric's face as he lay on the floor like he'd accomplished his mission.
...
When Aric's eyes fluttered open, he was staring at his room's familiar ceiling. Memory flooded back: that final exchange, the satisfaction of forcing Darius to actually try, even if just for a moment. He called up his status, the familiar blue text materializing:
[Status]
Name: Aric
Level: 1
Race: Half Dragon
Primary Ability: None
Title: None
HP: 100/100
MP: 60/60
Strength: 14
Agility: 14
Vitality: 10
Perception: 10
Intelligence: 11
Endurance: 14
Points Remaining: 35
*Can't push strength, agility, or endurance until I reach Veylthar*, he thought, studying the numbers. *Best to balance everything for now*. He redistributed his points, watching his stats adjust:
....
[Status]
Name: Aric
Level: 1
Race: Half Dragon
Primary Ability: None
Title: None
HP: 140/140
MP: 90/90
Strength: 14
Agility: 14
Vitality: 14
Perception: 14
Intelligence: 14
Endurance: 14
Points Remaining: 24
*My health points and mana points went up as expected*, he thought with satisfaction.
...
Frost crackled beneath their boots as two figures stood at Rustic Hollow's edge. The village before them was a perfect tableau of horror—people frozen mid-scream, monsters caught in the act of slaughter, even leaves arrested mid-fall. Everything preserved in crystalline ice.
"Your granddaughter's work?" The taller figure gestured at the frozen scene. "Impressive control for someone her age."
"This was not control." Gerald's breath fogged in the preserved cold. "This was power born out of chaos and instability."
"I heard her older brother was found untouched in the center of this frozen hell." Elias's grey-streaked hair caught the pale light reflecting off the ice. "If that's not control, Gerald, then what is?"
Gerald fell silent, his facial features hardening as he recalled what elara told him when she found Aric laying in a pool of his own blood unharmed and in a perfect circle of clear ground, everything around him frozen in Emily's ice. Not even a frost crystal had touched the boy's skin.
*Perhaps*, he thought, *that's what truly unsettles me*.
"Though this shouldn't have happened in my territory, Elias."
"We both know territorial boundaries mean little to whoever's behind this, Gerald." Elias ran a weathered hand through his grey and-black streaked hair. "This isn't the only village. They're hitting targets across the kingdom. But the bodies..." He shook his head. "They fade too quickly to study. This is the first preserved site we've found."
"Your granddaughter's ice bought us time, at least."
Gerald's eyes narrowed at a nearby ogre, its body bristling with foreign spikes. "But these creatures... "These aberrations... they're not natural. Look at those spikes. They don't belong on an ogre."It's like someone stitched different species together."
"Your observation is correct as always," Elias's eyes traced the twisted form. "But these creatures... they're unlike anything I've encountered."
Gerald's voice hardened. "Your thoughts?"
"Honestly?" Elias laughed without humor. "We're in uncharted territory. It's life alchemy, that much is clear. But this level of hybridization..." He shook his head. "It's beyond my understanding."
"Beyond even the Divine Alchemist's understanding?" Gerald watched his old friend's face carefully. "That's not reassuring."
Elias's smile turned bitter at the title. He stared into the distance, memories clearly weighing heavy. "There was only one person who could manipulate life to this degree. Someone far more talented than I ever was."
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the crackles of ice.
"That's impossible," Gerald said quietly, his fist clenching. "Genon was executed over thirty years ago. Unless..." His sharp gaze pierced Elias. "Unless he had a student?"
"None that I know of." Elias's words fell like stones.
A figure approached through the frozen carnage. "Master Elias, the preparations are complete."
Gerald nodded. "I'll leave you to your work then." He turned toward his waiting carriage, boots crunching on frost-covered ground.
Gerald turned toward his waiting carriage, boots crunching on frost-covered ground. "Find what you can. When I find who dared to do this in my domain..." He left the threat hanging in the frozen air.
Elias watched his friend go, then moved to where his assistants had carved out sections of frozen monsters. A complex magic circle covered the ground
, its inscriptions pulsing with contained power.
His team gathered within the circle's bounds. Elias withdrew a cube-shaped device, its surface etched with runes. The mana crystal slid home with a click. His finger hovered over the activation rune.
*Who are you really?* His eyes traced the twisted forms of the hybrid monsters. *What were you trying to prove?*
He pressed the rune. Energy hummed through the circle, building to a crescendo. There was a moment of perfect stillness—
Then light exploded outward, accompanied by a thunderous crack that shook the frozen village. When the echoes faded, the circle was empty. Only the preserved tableau of horror remained.