1. The Arrival and the Outsider
The departure from Vergo was a ripple of silent awe. Thousands of Faelis lined the glowing root-bridges, their tails raised in a rare gesture of reverence. Soft bioluminescent petals drifted from the canopy, carried by warm currents of Puls-rich wind.
Elder Wrynn placed a crystalline vial in Roy's hand.
"Primordial Sap. Use it only when the forest itself would speak through you."
Elder Siira handed Jean a scroll sealed with bark resin.
"These teachings belong only to fire-bonded souls."
As Roy turned toward the Skimmer's ramp, a crackle split the air.
Static. Lightning. Tension.
Seris stood there—gear strapped tight, golden eyes bright with defiance.
"The forest is healed," she said, voice sharp as a cable-line, "but the hand that poisoned it is still out there. I'm joining you. I'm Volterra class. Lightning of the high peaks. And I want to see this 'Academy' you keep speaking of."
Jean crossed her arms.
"Sure. Just try to keep up, Sparky."
Seris arched a brow.
"Try not to trip on your own flames, glow-stick."
The air between them vibrated. Roy sighed.
"Can we get on the ship before the canopy explodes?"
---
Back at the Academy
The journey home was silent tension. Upon landing at the Spire's docking ring, they were rushed immediately into a Council chamber.
Instructor Vale folded his arms.
"You are claiming the Vanes engineered a Lattice Virus?"
Taro slid Roy's datapack across the table.
"We're not claiming. We're proving."
Jean added, "We watched it mutate in real-time."
The Council examined the data in stone-faced silence. Not disbelief; dread.
---
2. The Outsider Enters the Hall
The next morning, the grand lecture hall was buzzing. Rumors had spread like wildfire.
Instructor Vale cleared his throat.
"Students, today we introduce a unique addition. A transfer from the Vergo Lattice. This is Seris."
Every voice died.
Seris walked down the aisle with feline grace, Volterra resonance rippling across the room like a pressure wave. The lights flickered. Students gasped.
"She's Volterra class—"
"Why is she with Umbryon?"
"She's dangerous—look at the output!"
Seris stopped beside Roy, her ear brushing his as she leaned close.
"Hey, Warden."
The hall erupted like a minefield.
Jean's notebook slammed shut.
"The seat's taken, Faelis."
Seris smirked without moving.
"Funny. I don't see your flames on it."
Lyra's grip tightened on her desk behind them. Frost crept over the wood.
Roy kept staring forward, deadpan.
"Can you all not do this right now?"
Seris smiled sweetly.
"Oh, but this is the fun part."
---
3. Promotion Trial: Rank A
To shut the rumors down, the Instructor initiated a live combat assessment.
"Roy Umbryon. Arena, now."
Roy stepped forward. The room hushed.
He triggered his Puls Burst—not explosive chaos this time. A shimmering aura of emerald and violet surrounded him like a controlled storm. His modular hilts clicked into his palms.
"Dual-Mode: Pistols."
He fired Lattice Bolts that curved mid-air, threading through dozens of shifting targets.
Jean whispered, impressed despite herself,
"He's bending trajectories…"
With a smooth motion, Roy joined the hilts.
"Dual-Mode: Blade."
The Dual-Blade Warden ignited. Roy moved like water and thunder fused. He sliced through S-Class drones with surgical grace—no wasted motion, no energy leakage.
Silence.
Instructor Vale stared at the readings.
"Perfect synchronization. Zero leakage. Roy Umbryon—Rank A."
The hall exploded with noise.
Seris whispered,
"And here I thought I'd be the star today. Hmph."
Jean shot her a glare.
"He earned that."
Seris grinned.
"So did I, flame-cat."
---
4. Shadows in the City
For a few days, things felt normal. Training resumed. Students whispered. Roy tried ignoring the constant rivalry between Jean and Seris—mostly failed.
Then Taro found the first anomaly.
"This reading makes no sense," he muttered, staring at the detector. "Localized Neutron signatures in Sector C-12. Inside the barrier."
Roy frowned.
"Neutrons can't survive inside."
"They can't," Taro agreed. "Unless…"
His sentence died as a translucent, misshapen Neutron beast dissolved into existence beside the cafeteria entrance.
Lyra's scream echoed across the courtyard.
More beasts appeared out of nowhere. Hundreds. The barrier wasn't breached—it was being bypassed.
Students panicked. Instructors rushed in. Puls alarms blared.
Jean summoned a plume of white-hot flame.
"Roy! Get everyone back!"
Seris leapt onto a rooftop, lightning cracking off her limbs.
"I'll take the left flank!"
Roy's blades ignited.
"Push them toward the central plaza—move!"
---
5. The 4-Day War
For four days, chaos ruled the Academy.
Day 1:
Roy carved through the streets, a green blur. Jean's flames lit evacuation routes. Seris rained lightning from above.
Day 2:
Lyra froze entire corridors. Taro dragged half the student body through safe tunnels.
Day 3:
The beasts multiplied. Barriers flickered.
Day 4:
Taro finally traced the source.
"It's not coming from outside," he said, shaking.
"It's someone inside. Someone opened Stable-Void Portals right under us."
---
6. The Root of Treason
They cornered the traitor in the subterranean transit tunnels.
Instructor Kael.
One of the Academy's senior researchers.
He was embedding miniature Void Portals into power conduits like seeds.
Roy stepped forward, blades humming.
"Why, Kael? You're killing your own students!"
Kael turned slowly, eyes clouded and rotting.
"The Academy hoards old-world rot. The General offers evolution. I only planted what needed to grow."
Jean snarled.
"You're insane."
Kael grinned.
"No… I am enlightened."
The air suddenly collapsed inward.
A crushing, black pressure swallowed the tunnel. Ozone burned their lungs. Darkness seeped into the walls.
Kael's body withered like dried leaves as a figure stepped through the portal.
Zorga.
The Umbryon General.
Tall. Armored. The void clung to him like a living shroud.
He looked at Roy—and the Seed inside Roy roared awake.
"You've grown, little Warden," Zorga said, voice vibrating the metal rails.
"You saved a forest. Now—save a civilization that has already sold its soul."
Roy's blades flared emerald, pushing back the black tide.
"It's you," Roy said quietly. "It was always going to be you."
Zorga's helm tilted.
"The creator meeting his creation. Come, then."
The tunnel shook.
The void screamed.
Roy stepped forward.
The clash was inevitable.