The elder raised his hand and waved it slowly through the air. A strange silence followed for just a moment, and then without warning, a portal appeared out of thin space. It was large—tall enough to fit three grown men—and it shimmered with a dull white glow, almost like thick fog had been trapped in a glass mirror. Nothing could be seen on the other side. It was just blank and glowing, like a hole into emptiness.
The young warriors stood still for a second, unsure.
Then the man's voice rang out, firm and final. "Step through. The portal will take you to your designated place."
Nobody asked questions.
Not this time.
One by one, they began to move. Some stepped in quickly, some hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually all began disappearing through the shimmering gate. Pairs held onto their badges tightly. The closer they got, the more their bodies tensed. Even those who had only gotten a level one mission looked nervous. And who wouldn't be? It was their first time ever stepping outside the timeless zone in 11 years. That alone was enough to twist your stomach.
Isoria went just before Caelum. She didn't even look at him as she passed through. Maybe she was still angry. Or maybe she didn't want to say goodbye. Who knew?
Caelum was the last one.
He didn't stop. He didn't hesitate. He just walked forward and stepped through like it was nothing more than walking through a curtain.
And to be honest, stepping through felt like nothing at all. No cold, no push, no sound. Just nothing.
But the moment he was through, something hit him.
Warmth.
Real warmth.
It was strange. He hadn't felt warm air in over a decade. The timeless zone was always cold. Always chilling. Always breathless. But here… here the air was warmer, softer. Alive. It filled his lungs with a gentle burn and made him pause for a second just to breathe. His body felt like it was waking up for the first time in years.
The sun was shining above him. Birds flew lazily across the blue sky. The smell of trees and wind carried through the air. He looked around quietly, taking it all in. This was the outside world… The world they were trained for. The human world.
And it looked nothing like the stories.
Just ahead, sitting in the middle of a dry field, was a town. A ruined one.
He walked toward it slowly, eyes scanning the distance. The town's walls were tall but cracked in many places. Scorch marks stained the stone, and ash still floated in the breeze. Some houses near the edges were nothing but burned rubble. Wooden beams had fallen and turned black. Caelum's expression darkened. The fires here had burned not long ago. Too recent. Whatever had attacked here hadn't done it months ago—this was days, maybe even hours fresh.
He stepped over some scattered debris, still watching closely.
"This must be the work of fire-breathing beasts…" he muttered under his breath.
His jaw clenched. That kind of destruction wasn't something a simple gang of thieves could do. It had to be monsters. Great. They had really sent him to die out here.
Still, he didn't stop moving.
He reached the outer gate, or what was left of it. Two guards stood there, armored and armed. Their clothes were dusty from work, and behind them, some carpenters and town folk were hammering wood, trying to fix the destroyed gate with whatever scraps they could find.
When the two guards saw him, they instantly lifted their swords.
"HEY!!" one of them shouted. "Blackwatcher!! Who do you seek?!"
Caelum blinked. Blackwatcher?
How did they know?
He looked at himself quickly. His robe was simple. His clothes were black like always, but nothing on him had the Blackwatcher symbol yet. And then it clicked.
His skin.
Compared to theirs, he looked pale. Almost ghostly. Their skin had warmth to it, color. His was grayish, colder, like someone that hadn't seen sunlight in years. His whole body gave off a dead aura. Dark. Quiet. The timeless zone had truly changed him in ways he hadn't noticed until now.
The guards had noticed too.
Caelum tilted his head slightly, then looked at their hands. One of them was gripping the hilt of his sword too tight, and the other's blade was visibly shaking.
He could hear their heartbeat.
Fast. Wild.
They were terrified of him.
A half smile crept across his lips.
Caelum didn't say a word to the guards at first. He simply reached into his robe and pulled out the small metal badge the elder had given him. It shimmered in the sunlight, and the bold number 5 carved on its face reflected clearly.
The moment the guards saw it, their expressions changed.
Their fear didn't disappear—but now it was mixed with something else. Relief, maybe. Or at least hope.
A level five badge could only mean one thing.
The timeless zone had finally answered their pleas.
In times of true desperation—when towns were under attack, or when beasts hunted people without rest—it was said that the Blackwatchers would send one of their own. A warrior forged in a place outside of time. A protector trained for only one purpose: to bring death to threats no one else could face.
But...
Shouldn't they be sending someone experienced?
The taller of the two guards narrowed his eyes as he stared at Caelum.
The boy looked… what? Seventeen? Maybe eighteen if you stretched your imagination. His skin was pale, yes, and his eyes sharp like a hunter—but he didn't look like someone who had ever fought a real beast. He didn't carry himself like a man who'd seen war. There was no armor. No scars. No magic buzzing around him.
Just a sword.
And silence.
Still, neither of them dared say a word. If he truly was a Blackwatcher—and that badge proved he was—then doubting him openly would be foolish. They both nodded and quickly motioned him to follow.
"This way, sir," one of them said, voice low and respectful.
They led him past the gates, through broken stone streets and shattered lamp posts. The signs of battle were everywhere. Burn marks. Deep claw scrapes across walls. Even a burnt-out shop where the air still smelled of cooked meat. The people they passed whispered and cleared out of the way.
It didn't take long to reach the guild hall.
It stood near the town square—a massive stone building shaped like a fortress, with thick wooden doors and heavy towers. Inside, it was crowded. Tables, chairs, racks of weapons, scrolls, hunters—all packed together under a single roof.
The guild was loud.
Hunters laughed, shouted, argued about pay or mission difficulty. Some were gambling with cards. Others were sharpening swords. All of them wore rough leather or enchanted cloaks. These were real fighters. Mercenaries. Men and women who fought for coin.
But the second Caelum stepped through the door, everything changed.
Silence.
The kind of silence that crashed like a wave.
Dozens of hunters froze and turned toward him. Some were mid-sentence. Others mid-bite. But every single one of them stared.
Blackwatchers were rare.
Legends. Ghosts.
Nobody had seen one in years, not with their own eyes. And now here stood one, pale as snow and quiet as a shadow, walking into their guild with the kind of calm that only dangerous people carried.
The two guards who brought him in quickly stepped aside and melted back toward the doors. Their job was done.
Caelum didn't stop. His boots made soft taps against the stone floor as he walked across the silent room. All eyes followed him, but no one dared speak. No one dared move.
He reached the front counter where a middle-aged woman sat behind a tall desk, her face half hidden behind stacks of parchment and magical logs. She was busy, scribbling down something on a glowing page. But then she noticed the hush around her, and when she looked up and saw Caelum standing there, her pen dropped from her hand.
He didn't give her time to speak.
He placed the badge gently on the counter and said in a flat tone, "You know what to do."
His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the air like a knife.
The woman blinked, then slowly picked up the badge. Her hands shook as she examined it, and when she saw the number five on it, her face drained of color. Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.
The hunters behind him were still watching. Still listening.
"Y-Yes… right away," the woman whispered. She turned to her files and began flipping through scrolls and documents. She was fast, but her fingers trembled the entire time.
She knew exactly what this meant.
The town had been under siege for nearly a month now. A monstrous fire-spitting beast had taken root in the mountains nearby. At first, it only attacked at night. Then it started coming in the day. People had died. Dozens. Even mages—real battle-trained mages—had fallen trying to stop it. The last one had screamed for help as his flesh melted.
Now, finally, the Blackwatchers had sent someone.
Only...
A single boy?
This was the first time one of them had appeared here. The guild had begged the timeless zone for help weeks ago, never expecting an answer. And yet, here stood Caelum. A level five mission badge in hand, a quiet voice, and a single sword strapped to his back.
The woman worked quickly. Caelum said nothing else. He just turned around and walked away, ignoring the stares, ignoring the whispers that slowly began to return as he left the front desk.
He moved to a far corner of the guild, where a small, empty table sat beside a cracked window. A single chair. No one had dared sit near it for a long time. The perfect place to rest.
Caelum pulled the chair out with a soft scrape and sat down slowly.
He set his sword carefully on the table in front of him, the blade still sheathed but close enough to grab in a breath. Then he leaned back, closed his eyes, and let his mind rest. Not asleep, not quite. Just breathing.
Waiting.
Everything was still for a moment.
Then—
Footsteps.
Soft ones. Coming toward him. Steady. Unafraid.
Caelum didn't open his eyes.
He smiled.