It had been nearly a year since I joined the Veldoria Academy.
I hadn't made much progress in cultivation—still struggling to form my first full soul circle—but I survived. Day after day. Week after week.
And survival was its own kind of victory.
In my last life, I never knew what happened here. During this same time, I had already crossed the Arclight Mountain Range, traveling deep into another kingdom in search of trade and safety. I lived far from the heart of conflict.
But now?
This was the first time I witnessed what I had once unknowingly escaped.
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It started with smoke on the horizon.
Then the tremors—faint at first. Barely noticeable beneath our feet. Like the earth itself was growling.
The city bells rang next.
Emergency horns blared across every street in Veldoria. Civilians were told to evacuate. All active academy students were summoned. No questions. No explanations.
We were told we had two hours to prepare.
The military didn't ask.
They drafted us.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with other students in the courtyard, our practice robes replaced with regulation armor—thin, mismatched, barely enchanted. Not nearly enough.
A soldier stood before us, voice grim.
> "A Rank 6 Demon has breached the southern perimeter of the kingdom. We have already lost two towns. All magic-capable individuals are being deployed immediately."
A Rank 6 Demon.
Six.
The number slammed into my brain like thunder. In demon ranking, nine was the weakest—a corrupted beast. One was a Demon Lord. Zero… that was the level of a god.
A Rank 6 demon was not a monster.
It was a calamity.
And we were being sent to stop it.
Or at least… slow it down.
---
I didn't panic.
Not outwardly.
Inside, my heart pounded. My mouth felt dry.
I hadn't even broken into the first circle. My body couldn't handle real casting. My mana pool was shallow. My techniques were too slow.
But none of that mattered now.
I was being thrown into war.
They split us into squads of five—one semi-trained commander and four students. Mine was led by a tired woman with burn scars across her arms and no patience for excuses.
> "You're not here to be heroes," she snapped. "You're here to buy time. Survive if you can."
I didn't recognize most of the people in my squad, but I saw fear in all of them. No one was ready for this.
Not even me.
As we were marched to the teleportation circle, I looked up at the darkening sky. The sun had vanished behind a wall of black smoke, and the stench of burning earth drifted in on the wind.
> "A year ago, I was just trying to pass basic spell theory," I thought bitterly. "Now I'm walking into hell."
And then the light took us.
The next thing I saw…
was war.
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