KATSU NORI
RACE: HUMAN
CONDITION: STABLE [RECOVERING]
LV: 25
VIT: 215+0 / ATK: 41+0
MAG: 141+51 / AGI: 75+0
MAGIC TOOLS: N/A
TITLES: "LOST HEIR" » + «
"SUMMONER OF THE LEVIATHAN" » + «
"DEMON OF VELTHRA" » ++ «
MAGIC: Advanced Fire Control, Expert Water Control, Basic??? MAGIC
SYDNEY KEAHI
RACE: HUMAN
CONDITION: STABLE
LV: 20
VIT: 142+0 / ATK: 24+0
MAG: 121+12 / AGI: 59+0
MAGIC TOOLS: Minor Flame Ring
TITLES: "EMBERBORN OF KEAHI" » ++ «
"FIRST DAUGHTER OF FLAME" » + «
MAGIC: Advanced Fire Control, Bloomfire Precision
REI DRAVANTIIIR
RACE: HUMAN (DISCIPLE-BLESSED)
CONDITION: STABLE
LV: 26
VIT: 177+10 / ATK: 40+5
MAG: 183+34 / AGI: 81+0
MAGIC TOOLS: Sigil Gloves [Lightning-Affinity Weave]
TITLES: "HEIR OF DRAVANTIIIR" » ++ «
"THE STORM-CLAD FANG" » + «
MAGIC: Expert Lightning Control, Dravantiir Glyph Mastery, ??? Binding Rituals
—————
Dawn came cold and empty, snow hissing down from a sky the color of old iron.
The Academy's bell sliced the hush in two; students clustered in uneasy teams across the white field, clutching ration pouches and trying not to shiver.
Katsu stood at the edge.
His cloak drawn tight, eyes fixed on the forest rising like a wall of teeth beyond the north gates.
Sydney arrived first, boots crunching in the frost.
She didn't look at him.
Not a word, not a nod; just the tense set of her jaw and red knuckles from a sleepless night.
Rei drifted in last, hands behind his back, face unreadable as polished glass.
His violet-trimmed uniform showed not a single wrinkle; his eyes didn't linger on anyone.
A silent triangle. Three strangers forced into orbit.
Uiscel called the roll. Names echoed across the snow, thick with steam and fear; Katsu caught the tremor in every team's breath. He didn't speak.
Neither did Rei.
Sydney glanced at the roster nailed to the board, then away, jaw clenched as if she'd bitten something bitter.
The crowd thinned.
One by one, teams vanished into the Wildglow forest. No ceremony. No encouragement. Just a hard shove into winter's teeth.
They crossed the boundary together, their shadows swallowed by the first tangle of pine.
Wildglow did not welcome them.
The snow turned to slush at their feet, hiding marshes that grabbed at boots.
Gnarled roots burst from the ground in sharp tangles.
Old trees leaned overhead, blotting out half the sky. Here and there, thorned brambles dragged at their cloaks.
The air hung heavy.
Wet, cold, rich with rot and the salt-sting of old magic.
No birds sang. No wind reached the ground.
Frost feathered every branch. A broken tree gaped, trunk hollowed by some old claw.
Silence pressed in until every breath seemed too loud, every movement a signal to something watching, just out of sight.
Rei walked a pace ahead, steady and sure as if he'd memorized the map.
Sydney lingered at the rear, eyes scanning every shadow, lips moving in silent calculations.
Katsu kept between them, shoulders tense, senses sharp.
They had to move, had to trust their instincts, but trust was in short supply.
The forest closed around them.
Hungry, indifferent, endless.
The first hour passed in silence, the only sound was breaking of ice and the hush of their breath, already growing short.
They pressed deeper, snow thinning to glassy puddles that glimmered in the half-light.
Katsu counted every step, mindful of the mud sucking at his boots.
The ration pouch at his hip felt mocking.
Three hard rolls, a sliver of cheese, dried fruit, one tiny flask of water meant to last until dusk.
He checked the compass, its needle twitching with every pulse of mana in the air.
Sydney's breath came shallow.
She stopped beside a spindly fir, scanning the ground for dry twigs. "We shouldn't waste matches," she muttered. "If it rains—"
Rei cut her off, not cruel, just final.
"We keep moving. Gather as you go."
He pushed through a clutch of branches, cloak snapping behind him. Every motion was precise, as if the cold couldn't touch him.
"We need distance before midday. The farther we are from the other teams, the fewer problems we'll have."
Sydney shot Katsu a look.
Resentment or worry, he couldn't tell. He offered nothing back. He was meant to be the bridge.
The steady hand, but every decision pulled the group tighter around their own doubts.
The marsh deepened, black water shining through reeds. Katsu dropped to one knee, testing the edge with a stick.
It came away stained with oily residue.
"We can't drink this. Not even boiled."
He rummaged for the filter stone, hoping the teacher hadn't given them a dud.
Rei was already twenty paces ahead.
"If you're waiting for perfect, you'll never move."
"Or we'll get sick," Sydney shot back, sharper now. "One of us drinks poison, we fail. That simple enough for you?"
Katsu rose, meeting Rei's gaze across the brush.
"If you see a spring, call it. Otherwise, we keep the water for emergencies."
Rei's eyes narrowed. Just a fraction.
But he nodded.
The first hint of respect, or maybe just calculation.
A ripple moved in the cattails to their right.
Sydney froze, hand hovering near the flame charm stitched to her belt. Katsu motioned for silence, scanning the surface for bubbles.
Only a shadow, quick and silent, slid beneath the ice before vanishing.
They moved on, tighter now, nobody talking.
Every path forward was a gamble.
Push too hard, someone stumbles; too slow, risk being tracked by something unseen.
Every choice landed on Katsu's shoulders, and every time he tried to lead, he felt the cold edge of judgment from both sides.
By the time they reached a cluster of boulders ringed with brittle vines, the only thing they'd agreed on was silence.
The forest made sure it stayed that way.
They came upon the river without warning.
A wide, dark vein threading the forest, banks crowded by ancient trees and jutting roots.
The water looked still, nearly frozen, but here and there black gaps gaped where current chewed through the ice.
It was wider than they'd expected. Too deep to ford, too slow for any hope of finding a shallow.
Rei tested the edge.
Boot pressing on a slick shelf of ice.
"We cross here. The other team's tracks end on the far bank. If we go upstream, we lose time."
Sydney hesitated.
"It's thin in the center. If it breaks, we all go under."
"Then don't break it," Rei replied, flat, already stepping out. His weight barely disturbed the frost, but even so, the surface groaned beneath him.
Katsu motioned for Sydney to follow, then took the rear, eyes fixed on every shadow moving in the trees behind.
They walked carefully, trying to—
Crack.
Halfway across, the ice sang.
A high, warning note.
Sydney tensed, arms stretched for balance.
She slid, boots slipping out from under her. The crack boomed, echoing down the river.
Rei spun to grab her, but at that moment, the ice ahead shattered. Something pale and long moved just beneath the surface.
A scaled shape, mouth opening with rows of needle teeth. It burst through, jaws snapping at Rei's ankle.
Sydney screamed, flailing for purchase, fingers bleeding as she tried to grip the ice.
Rei twisted, nearly falling, his palm sparking with mana but too late.
Katsu didn't hesitate.
He dropped to the ice, channeling every drop of magic through his palms.
Frost raced outward in jagged webs.
Hardening the splintered river into solid plates.
He reached for Sydney, catching her wrist and hauling her up. With his other hand, he slammed a burst of water beneath Rei, forcing the beast's head down and freezing it in place.
Just long enough for Rei to scramble back, breathless and wild-eyed. The ice shuddered.
The monster howled beneath its prison, cracks splintering in spiderwebs across the river.
Katsu poured more mana into the flow.
Cold searing up his arms, veins in his hands glowing with unnatural light. He gritted his teeth, muscles locking as the river obeyed.
Sydney scrambled to her knees, gasping, clutching burned palms. Rei staggered upright, gaze locked on Katsu. Not grateful, but wary.
The magic lingered, wild and hungry.
Katsu forced it down, drawing shuddering breaths.
The river quieted.
The monster vanished into the dark.
They stumbled to the far bank.
Soaked and shaking.
Katsu's hands still trembling with cold and borrowed power. No one spoke for a long time.
The only sound was the river groaning, as if mourning what it almost claimed.
They collapsed beneath the tangled arms of a fallen tree, chests heaving, eyes wide with the memory of teeth and ice.
Sydney wrapped her hands in strips of cloth.
Shoulders hunched, eyes fixed on the dark water beyond the fire's reach.
Rei sat apart, every muscle taut, face hidden by his hands. The cold gnawed at their bones.
Katsu sparked a small flame with shaking fingers, coaxing scraps of wood into a meager fire.
It gave off more smoke than heat, curling between them in slow, choking spirals.
The Leviathan's presence pressed close.
She circled him in silence, a coil of invisible hunger in the night. You could have let them fall, she murmured, voice dripping sweet as poison.
Why waste yourself on those who fear you?
The river would have obeyed me.
No pain, no risk. All you had to do was let go.
Katsu bit down on the thought, refusing her.
He wouldn't answer.
Wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
His jaw locked, eyes on the flames, heart pounding with the aftertaste of too much power.
Sydney finally broke the silence.
"We should have scouted. I should have seen the break. I—" She stopped, knuckles white around her knees. Rei didn't look up, didn't apologize.
The bite marks on his boot told the story for him.
Katsu stoked the fire, forcing himself to breathe slow, to hide the tremor in his hands.
The shadows flickered over their faces, drawing new lines of doubt and accusation.
No one spoke of what nearly happened.
No one thanked anyone.
They ate cold rations, chewing in silence, every mouthful heavy as regret.
Night deepened. The fire burned low.
The woods pressed in, alive with distant howls and the crack of unseen creatures.
None of them slept easy.
Resentment and exhaustion smoldered between them.
No forgiveness, no peace, only a tense, unspoken pact: survive together, or not at all.
Katsu lay awake, eyes tracing the embers, the Leviathan's voice a quiet ache in the back of his mind.
You saved them, but who will save you?
She whispered.
He didn't bother to respond.
He turned away, letting the question dissolve into the dark.