Chapter 2: Just Adventurers
Weeks passed. Snow still covered the ground, but things inside the academy had changed.
Kiel and Anna had become… friends. Real ones.
They trained together almost every day. She practiced her magic, casting powerful spells and bending fire, ice, and lightning like it was second nature. He trained with blades—short knives, long swords, even throwing daggers. He moved fast and hit hard. More than once, he surprised the instructors with how precise he was.
But Anna noticed something more.
"You learn too fast," she said one day, as they walked back from the training field. "Faster than normal."
Kiel gave her a look. "That's a weird compliment."
"It's not a compliment," she said, smiling. "It's suspicious."
They sat beneath the old tree on the western hill, overlooking the academy towers and the city below. They often came here—away from the noise, the classes, the people whispering about them.
Anna leaned back on her elbows and stared at the sky.
"You know," she said, "people expect me to become the next Grand Mage. They think I'll take over after my father. But I don't want that."
"What do you want?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. "To travel. To explore. To live a life that's not just about power and politics."
She turned to him.
"I want to start my own guild someday. Not with nobles. Not with rules. Just… a small group. People I trust. Adventurers."
Kiel nodded. "Sounds nice."
She held out her pinky. "Promise me something?"
He raised an eyebrow. "We're doing pinky promises now?"
"Promise me that no matter what happens—no matter who we become or what we find out—we stay that way. Just us. Just adventurers."
Kiel paused, then hooked his pinky with hers.
"I promise."
She smiled.
And far away, in the cold mountains beyond the city, something old began to stir. Something that had been waiting for a long time.
Neither of them knew it yet—but their adventure was only just beginning.