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Fiona "How long are we going to keep walking?"
Lan "Hold on, just an hour more. Can't you see the forest ahead?"
Fiona "A-an hour?!"
An hour later...
We made it to the edge of the Hokan Forest. I stopped and stared at the treeline for a second, then patted my pockets.
Oh no.
Kael "Okay guys, we're here. Lan, Mart — you brought your Strgna with you, right?"
Mart, Lan "Huh?"
Lan "We were in a rush trying to catch up to you. We didn't bring anything."
Fiona "What's a Strgna?"
Kael "It's a tool. Kinda like a compass but for finding the safest route to the gate inside the forest."
Fiona "So you're saying... without it, we'll just walk ourselves to death?"
Lan "More or less. The forest is a maze. Without the Strgna, we won't find the gate. We could walk in circles for days and never know it."
Fiona "...So?"
Kael "So we take a break until I figure something out."
I sat down against a tree trunk and crossed my arms. The two women with Fiona had been completely silent the entire walk. Standing straight, not saying a word, barely even blinking. I'd almost forgotten they were there.
Kael "By the way — those two haven't said a single word since I first saw them. Are they always like that?"
Fiona "Well... no, not really."
Mira "I am Princess Fiona's personal knight. My name is Mira."
Arma "I am Princess Fiona's personal maid. My name is Arma."
Kael "I already knew that much."
I leaned my head back against the bark and closed my eyes.
Saga.
Saga : "Yes, Master?"
Any ideas on how to get us out of this situation?
Saga : "Yes. By gaining the Spiritual Awareness skill."
Spiritual Awareness. From the name alone I could already guess what it did — a skill that lets you sense your surroundings and act on pure instinct. That's exactly what I need right now. Feel the forest. Find the path.
And how do I get that skill?
Saga : "It's derived from your Jujitsu: Kaioken."
Okay but I don't actually know how Kaioken works. Not in this world anyway.
Saga : "Your Jujitsu works the same way as Kai."
Wait — Kai exists in this world?
Saga : "No."
Then... you have access to my memories. My knowledge from before.
Saga : "Yes."
I opened my eyes and stared up at the canopy.
Alright then. Let's try this.
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I stood up and stepped a little away from the group.
The Spiritual Awareness technique wasn't meant to break things or burn anything down. It was meant to see. To feel the pulse underneath existence — the part of the world that doesn't make noise but is always moving.
I closed my eyes.
Reached outward.
At first there was nothing but the sound of wind moving through branches. I pushed harder, forcing my senses outward like hands clawing through thick fog.
Pain hit instantly.
A violent pressure slammed into my skull. I staggered back, choking on it. Blood spilled from my nose, warm and fast, sliding past my lips and soaking into the inside of my mask. I tasted iron.
Lan grabbed my shoulder from behind. "You're tearing your spirit open."
I shook him off. "I almost had it."
I tried again.
This time I pushed deeper, trying to pierce through the silence of the forest. The world flickered at the edges. For a split second I sensed something vast underneath the soil — roots like veins, life humming quietly beneath everything.
Then it snapped.
I dropped to one knee as blood rushed from my mouth, staining the cloth inside my mask. It ran down my chin, hidden from everyone else by the mask but I could feel every drop.
I tried again. Same result. Again. Same thing. By the fourth failure my vision started to blur at the edges. The trees looked further away, like I was slowly drifting out of my own body.
Lan stepped in front of me.
Lan "You're treating awareness like a blade. It's not something you swing. It's something you open."
I stood there breathing hard. Slowly, I reached up and lifted the mask off my face.
Cool air touched my skin. Blood was streaked from my nose down along my jaw. Lan took the mask from me quietly and started cleaning it with a cloth, patient and steady, not saying anything else.
Don't force the forest to speak. Listen first.
I closed my eyes again.
This time I didn't reach outward.
I just let the world come to me.
My breathing slowed. My heartbeat settled. The tension in my shoulders melted away like snow under sunlight. I felt the ground under my feet. The vibration of insects beneath bark. The faint trembling of roots somewhere deep below, drinking from water I couldn't see.
And then —
It bloomed.
Not violently. Not with pain.
Awareness spread out in every direction at once, smooth and quiet, like ink spreading through still water. I could feel each tree as its own quiet presence. Every bird as a small flicker of warmth. The wind as a current with direction and weight and memory.
The forest wasn't silent. It never was. I just hadn't been listening right.
Saga : "Spiritual Awareness skill — activated."
Lan looked up from the mask. He could tell something had shifted just from looking at me.
Lan "You did it."
I stood still. No blood this time. No strain. Lan handed the mask back and I put it on.
Kael "Let's go. Follow me and keep up."
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We entered the forest and kept moving — running, pivoting left and right, cutting through gaps in the trees that nobody else would've seen. The forest felt like it was alive around me now, and in a way it was. Every path that would've led us wrong pulsed with a faint wrongness I could feel before I even stepped toward it.
Saga, you can step back now. I'll take it from here.
Saga : "Understood."
We ran for a good while before the trees started to change. The trunks got thicker. The canopy got higher. The light changed color. And then we stepped through a gap between two massive roots and there it was.
The Grand Tree.
It was enormous. The kind of enormous that makes you stop and just stare for a second even if you've seen it before. The trunk was so wide that all six of us holding hands couldn't have wrapped around even a fraction of it. The bark was dark and deeply grained, spiraling upward into branches that disappeared into the canopy far above.
Kael "We're here."
Fiona "That is a really big tree."
Lan "Come on. We climb."
Fiona "...Up?"
Kael "The gate is at the top."
Fiona "All the way up?!"
She said it like I'd told her to swim across an ocean. But she climbed. We all did.
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When we reached the top, Fiona looked around and frowned.
Fiona "I don't see any gate."
Kael "Don't judge too quick."
The upper trunk wasn't plain wood up close. Faint grooves spiraled through the bark, subtle as wrinkles on an old face, forming incomplete patterns that only revealed themselves when the light hit at the right angle. The gate wasn't carved in. It was grown in. Waiting.
I drew a small blade from my belt and cut my palm.
Then I pressed my hand to the bark and began to trace.
The sigil had to follow the existing grain — not drawn freely, but exactly along the hidden pattern lines woven into the tree's surface over centuries. The order mattered. Outer curve first, then inner spine. One wrong stroke and the tree would stay silent.
The final mark had to seal at the highest knot in the crown, where all the spiral lines converged.
I traced it slow and careful.
When the last line was complete, my blood stopped dripping. Instead it seeped into the grooves, pulled inward like the bark was drinking it. The lines began to glow faintly beneath the surface. The sap warmed against my hand. The whole trunk gave a low, deep tremble.
Then the bark split.
It folded outward in layered arcs along the traced pattern, smooth and deliberate, revealing a hollow chamber inside the tree. And suspended within that chamber, glowing steady and quiet, was the gate.
Kael "Move. The glow fades when the blood dries."
Fiona "We're going... inside a tree."
Kael "On the other side is the village. Let's go."
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We stepped through.
The other side opened up into the great tree at the heart of Hoka village, and the moment we came through the gate the whole village seemed to notice at once.
Villager "They've returned!"
Villager "Did you all awaken?! What classes did you get?!"
Villager "Open your eyes — look at their gear, of course they awakened!"
Villager "Hold on — where are Fouad and Arthur? And who are these three women?"
Mart "Arthur and Fouad both got the Hero class and title. They were taken to the royal palace to train with the crowned prince."
Village Chief "And the three women?"
Fiona stepped forward.
Fiona "My name is Fiona. Former princess. These are my companions — my knight Mira, and my maid Arma."
Village Chief "Kael. You brought them here?!"
Kael "She said former. Here's the short version — she got a class her father didn't like, he was going to execute her, her brother stepped in and gave her a mission instead. She has one week to become lord of this domain."
Village Chief "And if she passes or fails?"
Kael "If she passes, the royal family stays out of her life. If she fails..." I paused. "She was going to die either in this forest or by the king's order. Those were her options."
The chief looked at me for a long moment.
Village Chief "I understand what you're thinking, Kael. But can you tell me her class and title?"
Kael "Yes."
The crowd had gone quiet. Fiona didn't move. Her knight and maid both tensed slightly behind her. I looked around at the faces watching.
Kael "Her class is Witch."
Silence.
Kael "Her title is Calamity."
The silence broke all at once.
Marny "Have you lost your mind?! She's a Witch — and she holds the title of Calamity! Do you understand what you've done?!"
That was my dad. Of course it was.
Village Chief "You know what happens when the Guardian hears about this, don't you?"
Kael "Yes."
Village Chief "And you still brought her here?"
Kael "Yes. Because I believe the Guardian will see the same thing in her that I saw."
Before anyone could respond, a sound rolled down from the mountain like distant thunder, long and deep and building.
ROOOOAAARRR.
The ground shook with it. Birds scattered from every tree at once. And then without warning — without any of us even seeing it move — something landed in front of us.
The dragon was enormous. Obsidian-black scales streaked with rivers of molten gold that pulsed beneath the surface like the creature carried a smoldering fire inside its body. Vast wings folded back with a crackling sweep, their membranes a deep ember-red that brightened toward the edges like heated metal fresh from the forge. Sapphire eyes burned with a cold, focused intensity that made you feel like you were being read front to back. Sparks drifted from its jaws with every breath. The ground beneath it trembled not from the landing — it trembled like the earth itself recognized what was standing on it.
Fiona pressed herself behind my shoulder. "A-a dragon—!!"
Guardian Volgar "A Witch! A Calamity! I shall deal with you this instant before you become a threat!"
Kael "Hey, Grandpa Volgar!"
Guardian Volgar "...Kael. Did you bring her here."
Kael "Yep."
I explained the whole story again — third time now — slow and complete, nothing left out. Volgar listened without interrupting.
Guardian Volgar "I see. But you must understand — witches and those who hold the title of Calamity are considered enemies of nature. Enemies of Guardians like myself."
Kael "I know. But titles aren't permanent."
Guardian Volgar "...How did you kn—"
He stopped mid-sentence. His sapphire eyes swept across all of us one by one. He'd activated Appraisal.
Guardian Volgar "A samurai. A witch. An axeman. And you — a ninja. Hmm. Kaioken... I don't recall a Jujitsu technique by that name. More importantly — that skill of yours. The one called Saga. Did it activate on its own?"
Kael "When I put on all my gear at once. Yeah."
Guardian Volgar "I see."
He was quiet for a moment.
Guardian Volgar "...Why did you allow her here, Kael. Give me your real reason."
Kael "People can gain multiple titles. The one that fits most becomes your dominant title — the others become subtitles underneath it. And Fiona has something most witches don't — she can use light magic alongside dark magic and all five other elements. Someone who can hold both light and dark without falling apart isn't an enemy of nature. Or at least — she isn't one yet."
Guardian Volgar "Even if you're right about that, what do you actually plan to do with her? What good does keeping her here do?"
Kael "Simple. I'm going to put her abilities to use and help her earn a new dominant title. One that fits better than Calamity."
The dragon looked at me for a long moment. Then something in his expression shifted — not quite a smile, but close enough.
Guardian Volgar "I've never doubted you once, Kael. I will leave her in your care. One week. Show me your word in action."
Kael "That's plenty. But does that mean I have your full authority here?"
Guardian Volgar "I... suppose so, yes."
Kael "One more thing. She can't walk around with the royal family name attached to her Cordo. Could you change that? For her and her two companions as well?"
Guardian Volgar "Before I do that — a question. Why do all of you use your name and your father's name?"
Lan "That's just how the ceremony registered it."
Mart "Is something wrong with that?"
Village Chief "Not wrong exactly. Our village tradition is to use your name alongside the village name."
Guardian Volgar "Understood. Fiona, Mira, Arma — done."
Fiona looked down at her Cordo and blinked.
Fiona "My name actually changed. On the card."
Mira looked up at the dragon with clear eyes.
Mira "I will not let you down, Guardian of Hoka."
Arma turned to me and gave a small bow.
Arma "I will do everything I can to support milady and produce the best outcome. Sir Kael."
Kael "Sir? Where did that come from?"
Guardian Volgar "I'll take my leave."
And just like that he was gone. No dramatic exit. Just — gone, the way wind disappears.
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The crowd slowly started to scatter. The village chief gave me one last look that I couldn't quite read before walking off.
Fiona "So... what do I start with?"
Kael "Bath and food first. Then we talk."
We split up — boys to one side, girls to the other. Lan, Mart and I found the bathhouse at the edge of the village, a simple wooden building fed by a natural hot spring that ran under the hill. The water was still hot. Nobody had to say anything. We just dropped in and sat there in the steam for a while.
Mart sank in up to his chin and let out a long groan.
Mart "I can't believe we walked all that way and then had to climb a giant tree."
Lan "You complained about the walking. You did not complain about the climbing, which was actually harder."
Mart "I was saving my complaints."
Lan "For when?"
Mart "Now apparently."
I leaned back against the edge of the spring and stared at the ceiling. The steam rose slow and quiet.
Saga.
Saga : "Yes, Master?"
Can Fiona use a skill to create things with magic? Like produce something from nothing?
Saga : "Yes. There is a skill called Magnum Opus. It is derived from light magic, and it allows the user to alter and reconstruct the properties of existing materials. However, it has been lost for several generations and is currently considered ancient magic."
Of course it is.
Mart "You're thinking again. I can tell because you get this look."
Kael "What look?"
Mart "The look."
Lan just smiled.
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We ate with the others at the long table outside — whatever the village had put together from the stores, simple food, warm bread and stew and something sweet that Mart took three servings of. Fiona sat a little stiff at first, clearly not used to eating without ceremony or a proper dining room around her, but by the second bowl she'd relaxed a bit.
Arma had somehow gotten involved in the cooking and was being very serious about it. Mira ate standing up, which nobody commented on.
When the bowls were cleared, Fiona looked at me across the table.
Fiona "So. What do I start with?"
Kael "I'm getting to that."
Saga, can she use Magnum Opus?
Saga : "She has the light magic required. The skill itself is dormant — it exists within her but has not been triggered. With the right knowledge and someone to guide the activation, it is achievable."
Kael "Fiona. Have you ever heard of a skill called Magnum Opus?"
Fiona "Magnum Opus?"
Kael "It's a light magic ability. A lost one — ancient. What it does is let you change the properties of a material. Reshape what something fundamentally is."
Lan "Is that even possible?"
Kael "It's a lost magic. Most people don't even know it existed."
Lan "Then how do you know about it?"
Kael "I read about light magic in the village library. There's a book that covers the older classifications — most people skip past it because it reads like history, not practical skill theory."
Lan "And you read it."
Kael "I read everything in there."
Lan opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again.
Kael "I'll get the book for you, Fiona. Lan — go ahead and find a training ground we can use. Somewhere open, away from the houses."
Lan "Sure thing."
He stood and stretched and headed off into the village. I pushed back from the table and went to the library.
The village library was the same room I'd been sneaking into since I was three years old. Same shelves, same smell of old paper and dried flowers. I found the book on the lower left shelf where it had always been — a slim volume with a faded dark cover, the title worn down to almost nothing.
I pulled it out, dusted it off, and brought it back to Fiona.
Kael "Everything you need to understand about Magnum Opus is in the section starting around page forty. Read it tonight. Tomorrow we start."
Fiona took the book carefully, turning it over in her hands.
Fiona "You really think I can do this?"
Kael "I think you have tools you haven't used yet. Whether you can do it depends on whether you're willing to put in the work."
She looked at the cover for a moment.
Fiona "I am."
Kael "Then we'll see."
I left her with it and headed toward where Lan had gone to scout the training ground. The evening was cooling down fast, the village sounds quieting one by one.
One week.
Let's get started.
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End of Chapter Three