When Jonah stepped out of the Headmaster's office, Seraph was waiting for him, leaning against a marble pillar as if she owned it.
"You accepted," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Of course I did," Jonah replied, his mind still buzzing from the meeting. "He offered me the key to everything."
"He offered you a tool," Seraph corrected, her voice sharp. "And in exchange, he bought your leash. Don't ever forget the difference." She pushed off the pillar. "Come on. If you're going on this mission, you need to be properly equipped."
She led him not to the armory, but deep into the bowels of the Academy. The heavy doors boomed with the rhythmic clang of hammers. This was the Forge, the Academy's legendary Research and Development department.
Inside, burly Elites with leather aprons and arms like tree trunks hammered away at glowing ingots, while Mages wove glowing runes into the cooling metal. It was a place where raw strength and delicate magic were forged into weapons.
Seraph led Jonah to a grizzled old smith with a magnificent, soot-stained beard and a grumpy expression.
"This is the one, Sergeant?" the smith grumbled, wiping a massive, greasy hand on his apron. "Headmaster's orders. Custom kit for the first-year."
"This is him," Seraph confirmed.
The smith raised an eyebrow at Jonah. "He looks like a strong breeze could knock him over. You sure he doesn't just need a helmet for walking around?"
"Shrouded Path suit. Mark-Three Vials. That's the request," Seraph said, brushing past the comment.
The smith's bushy eyebrows shot up. "The Shrouded Path? That's top-tier stealth gear. What for? You expect him to be sneaking past arch-demons?"
"I expect him to be prepared," Seraph said coolly.
Grumbling under his breath, the smith disappeared into a back room and returned a moment later with a bundle of pliable material and a bandolier holding several crystalline cylinders.
He tossed the suit to Jonah. It was surprisingly light, made of a fabric that seemed to shift between gray and black.
"The suit is woven with runes that absorb and dampen your life signature," the smith explained, his pride overriding his grumpiness. "Wear it, and to a Demonic Beast's senses, you'll look less like a person and more like a lukewarm rock. Won't make you invisible, but it'll make you harder to notice."
Next, he handed Jonah the bandolier. The vials looked like fancy test tubes, stoppered with silver caps. "Essence Vials," he said. "Think of 'em as psychic thermoses. When you defeat a beast, you can channel its essence into one of these instead of absorbing it directly. The vial will hold it in stasis for about twelve hours. Good for preventing what happened to you at Station Chimera."
Jonah's eyes went wide. That was a game-changer. He could collect essences on a long mission without risking his mind.
"Don't lose them," the smith grunted. "They're expensive."
Jonah returned to his room late that night to find Vanessa waiting for him. The blueprint for their masterpiece was still on his chalkboard, but now a small, tidy pile of enchanted items sat on his desk.
She had been busy.
"You can't just go on a high-stakes military mission with a fancy suit and some bottles," she said, her expression serious. "You need actual support. Mages spend years learning to weave spells. You need to borrow some of mine."
She held up a small, smooth stone that glowed with a soft light. "A light charm. Crush it, and it will create a sphere of daylight that lasts for one hour. Good for dark places or for blinding things."
Next, she presented a small, carved wooden feather. "A minor healing charm. It won't regrow a limb, but if you press it to a wound, it will seal the cut and ease the pain. Use it wisely."
Finally, she showed him a shard of clear quartz, pulsing with a faint blue energy. "This one is the most important," she said, her voice dropping. "A shield charm. It holds a single, powerful barrier spell. It will block one major attack, physical or magical before shattering. A last resort.
An 'oh crap I'm about to die' button."
He took the charms, the weight of her care feeling heavier than any piece of armor.
"Vanessa, I…"
"Just be careful," she said, cutting him off. She looked at him, her usual academic confidence replaced by a genuine worry. "And not just of the beasts. You know that, right?"
He nodded.
"The monsters in that swamp, they're predictable," she continued, her voice intense. "They'll try to eat you. That's all they do. It's the people you need to watch. The military has its own politics, its own ambitions. You're a valuable, unknown quantity, Jonah. Some will want to use you. Others will see you as a threat. The Headmaster is investing in you, but that puts a target on your back."
He saw the truth in her words. She wasn't just a brilliant Mage; she was sharp, seeing dangers far beyond the physical ones. She saw the whole board, not just the pieces in front of her.
"I'll be careful," he promised, his voice soft. "I have to be. I still have a masterpiece to build with my partner."
A small smile touched her lips. "See that you do."
The night ended with the three of them gathered in Jonah's room. Seraph arrived just before midnight, unrolling a large, waterproof map of the southern swamps across Jonah's desk. It showed a vast, shadowy wetland, with a section in the center ominously marked 'Unexplored Territory'. An ancient city, now half-submerged in water and mud.
Seraph pointed to a specific grid coordinate. "The exploration team located the ruin here. Satellite imagery is useless due to the canopy and atmospheric interference. We're going in blind."
Jonah studied the map, tracing the waterways with his finger. Vanessa leaned over his shoulder, analyzing the topography and making notes on potential weather patterns and magical phenomena common to such old, wild places.
They stood there for a long time under the dim light of Jonah's desk lamp: the Sergeant, pointing out tactical dangers; the Mage, calculating arcane variables; and the Weaver, quietly listening to the pulse of a forgotten world.
They were a perfectly balanced command team. And their mission was about to begin.