A light rain began to fall over the towers of Asa Academy. It wasn't a downpour that forced people to seek shelter, but a soft drizzle that blurred vision and clung to eyelashes. The magical lamps hanging along the pathways glowed with a yellowish light, their illumination refracting in the puddles. That night, the air carried a faint metallic scent—a sign that the defensive magic had been activated.
On the highest rooftop of the tower, a shadow stood at the edge of the eaves. Their long black cloak fluttered like the wings of a crow. A silver half-mask covered their eyes down to the nose, reflecting the faint moonlight, while their lips curved into a thin, almost smiling line that seemed to hide secrets. In their hand, they held a stone adorned with a pale blue crystal—the Aurora's Crown, one of the academy's storage artifacts that should have been impossible to steal without triggering the defense systems.
The name echoing among the night hunters: Thief Crown.
***
The sound of ragged breathing broke the silence in the instructors' hall. A Student Council member rushed in, his clothes torn, his arms covered in wind-whipped cuts. His breath was heavy, like someone who had just escaped the clutches of death.
"Emergency—the Aurora's Crown is gone!"
The man, a member of the Student Council, spoke hurriedly, his breath labored as if he had just been through a long battle. His hands were covered in wind-cut wounds.
The instructors and Student Council members who heard the news immediately dispersed without asking any questions.
Everyone's expression changed. No one questioned, no one hesitated. They scattered instantly, their eyes filled with panic.
Andras, the Vice President of the Student Council, grabbed the man's collar. "What do you mean?" His voice was low, but the threat in it was real.
"I-I... don't know. He... appeared suddenly... the wind..."
"Dammit, why didn't the defense spells react?!" Andras gritted his teeth in frustration, his eyes blazing with anger. Even more terrifying than the loss of the artifact was the fact that not even the sound of a struggle had been heard.
Down below, on the wet, cobbled streets, Andras straightened his posture, his bow already nocked with an arrow whose tip gleamed faintly. His eyes narrowed, scanning every movement among the rain-shrouded shadows. His gaze pierced through the distance, like an eagle locking onto its prey.
His eyes stopped. On the eastern tower's peak, a black silhouette sat casually, twirling the blue crystal in its fingers. Its smile widened.
At that moment, all eyes turned to the figure sitting atop the tower, as if flaunting its presence. It held a blue crystal stone, smiling faintly as it toyed with the crystal in its hand.
Not far away, Instructor Rokan Torento stood firm, his greatsword already half-drawn. The muscles of his scar-covered arms tensed, every fiber ready to explode into lethal motion. His breathing was slow, like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
On another side, Seraphine Valmont stepped onto the roof without a sound. Her blade, Étoile Noire, was thin and long, reflecting the rain's glimmer. Her gaze never left the silhouette in the distance.
"He's on the eastern tower," Seraphine's voice was calm but audible to everyone.
All the instructors and Student Council members who had previously scattered now abandoned their positions and moved toward the eastern tower.
As if in response, the wind suddenly roared above them. This was no ordinary night wind—it was pure magical pressure. The roof tiles trembled, and raindrops bouncing in the air were repelled before hitting the ground.
Thief Crown slowly raised a hand. The air around them swirled, forming a thin vortex that grew faster and faster, wrapping around their body like a protective layer. In the next instant, they leaped—or rather, were propelled by a gust of wind—crossing the distance between two towers that should have been impossible for an ordinary human to jump.
***
"Stop him!" Andras shouted.
The students unleashed their spells, each targeting the thief.
A long chain shot toward Dex. Dex threw a wind orb into the center of the chain, and instead of binding him, the chain twisted back on itself.
Hundreds of fireballs materialized above his head—an excessive number just to capture one person. Instead of defending himself, Dex created a massive wind vortex that sucked in dozens of students and used them as shields against the fire.
"Aghhh!" The fire magic met the students' bodies, making them scream in pain.
"My, you all aren't holding back, are you?" Dex taunted.
Andras gripped his arrow, aiming directly at Thief Crown's head. The arrow shot forth, cutting through the rain. But just before hitting its target, the wind vortex around Thief Crown shifted direction, deflecting the arrow's path. The arrow, now infused with wind magic, shot into the crowd of students, knocking five of them down.
"Bastard!" Andras shouted, his mood heating up.
Seraphine moved. Her body glided smoothly across the slippery roof, the tip of her sword slicing through the air with near-silent precision. She thrust straight toward Thief Crown's heart as the figure landed. But as if having read her move, Thief Crown twisted their body, letting the wind push them back a few steps before the blade could even touch their cloak.
Her sword, Silversong, cut through the air, producing a faint gleam.
Each slash broke through the wind vortex, but Thief Crown flicked their wrist and altered the attack's direction as if controlling the air like a serpent.
From behind, the sound of a small explosion echoed. Instructor Barthos Grimm, the Black Alchemist, threw a glass bottle filled with a yellowish-green liquid. The bottle shattered mid-air, releasing a thick vapor that spread rapidly. But once again, the swirling wind around Thief Crown blew the vapor away, dispersing it before it could confine their movement.
Andras leaped onto a stone railing, drawing his bow to its fullest.
His eyes predicted the wind's trajectory—not just where the enemy was moving, but where they would be forced by the next gust.
He released his arrow. But before it could hit its mark, a vertical gust lifted it upward and sent it crashing down far from its target.
Rokan Torento advanced with heavy steps.
His broad sword, Bloodfang, slashed the ground, creating a fissure in the stone that forced Thief Crown to retreat.
But the enemy didn't flee. Instead, they spun their body, using the wind as a cushion to glide to Rokan's side, then struck him with a close-range pressurized wave of air.
Rokan's body was thrown back two meters, but he landed with bent knees, enduring the pain.
In the air, Feyra Nox, a fire-element specialist from the Student Council, began chanting a spell.
But suddenly, the air pressure around her drastically changed. Thief Crown had created a small vacuum space around her, preventing the fire from forming due to lack of oxygen.
Khael Dray, a defensive magic instructor, immediately jumped in front of Feyra, creating a solid wall of wind-infused glass that restored normal air pressure.
Dodging the fire spell, Dex threw his body backward.
Seraphine and Rokan closed in from both sides, forcing Thief Crown to retreat toward where Eve Lorne, an ice-specialist member of the Student Council, had laid a frost magic trap.
Thief Crown was cornered.