This will be the last part of the afterword for Volume 1 — a way to tie everything together and give you a glimpse of what lies ahead.
First, thank you. If you've made it this far, if you've followed Daniel's journey across these chapters, then you've shared in something that has lived with me for almost two years. To finally bring this volume to its end feels unreal.
But here's the important part: the next step in the saga will not be VANGUARDS: ELITE Vol. 2. I know some of you might have been waiting for it, but trust me, this pause isn't a delay — it's necessary. The story that comes next belongs to a different hierarchy of this world, one that exists beyond Crestwood, beyond the schoolyard fights, beyond Daniel's quiet climb.
This new project is deeply personal to me. In truth, it was the first story I ever wanted to write. Before Daniel, before the Vanguards, there was this — a character whose existence shaped everything that followed. Without him, Daniel wouldn't even exist. Without him, there would be no saga at all. Daniel was once just a side character in that story, a kind-hearted figure standing in the shadow of something much darker. But now that Daniel has grown into his own, the question remains: can the original character — the one I built everything around — still stand above him? Can he outshine him? That's what we're about to discover together.
Let me be clear: Daniel is not the center of this world. He was never meant to be. From the very beginning, this saga was designed as a tapestry of parallel lives — people fighting their own battles, walking their own paths, sometimes colliding, sometimes crossing, sometimes vanishing from each other entirely. Daniel's story was only one of those paths, and while his impact will ripple across the saga, he is not the only one who defines it.
That's why I cannot rush Volume 2. If I did, it would reduce this universe to just another high school drama, when in truth it is much larger, much harsher. You've already seen glimpses of its weight — the violence, the blood, the sense that there are levels of power and consequence far beyond what a teenager could truly stand at the top of. To respect that world, we must now step into another story — one that carries higher stakes, a different life, and a different truth.
What comes as the next project won't be a continuation. It will be a shift.
If this volume was about rising names and the first echoes of reputation, the next story will feel different. Not larger, not louder — but heavier. Darker. Like a step into the part of this world most people turn away from.
You've already brushed against it — in fragments, in whispers, in names dropped almost casually. The presence was always there, waiting. The story now is about tracing back to where that presence began.
I won't spell it out. Not yet. All I'll say is this: the road ahead isn't about triumph. It's about what it takes to carry a weight no one else could.
For now, this is the close:
VANGUARDS: ELITE Vol. 1 ends here.
THE END