The next morning, Dhruv sat in his classroom, the air heavy with the scent of old parchment and the rhythmic drone of the instructor’s voice.

  The teacher was lecturing on the delicate fundamentals of healing magic — a subject Dhruv usually mastered with ease — but his focus was elsewhere.

  Suddenly, a familiar voice vibrated through the very core of his consciousness.

  “Dhruv…”

  His heartbeat spiked, hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. Cold sweat broke across his forehead as he instinctively turned toward the window.

  His breath hitched.

  Massive, obsidian claws — larger than any predator in the textbooks — were shredding the ancient stone shrines of the Academy.

  The silence of the room shattered into a thousand jagged pieces of panic.

  “Monsters! Monsters! They’re inside the gates!”

  Students collided with one another in a desperate scramble for the exits. Teachers shouted commands, attempting to maintain a thin line of order amidst the erupting chaos, but the fear was infectious.

  Dhruv reached out, firmly grasping Rudra’s arm to steady him.

  “They are Shadowclaws,” Dhruv said, his voice eerily calm despite the carnage unfolding outside.

  “We need to move, bro!” Rudra shouted, punctuating his words with a violent sneeze, his nose running as his body reacted to the sudden stress. “We can’t take those things head-on!”

  Dhruv’s eyes narrowed, scanning the movements of the beasts with a terrifying, analytical precision.

  “Look at their eyes, Rudra. They aren't acting on instinct; they are being manipulated by shadow magic. If someone has to hide behind monsters, it means the summoner is likely physically weak. We don't need to kill the beasts — we need to find the leader controlling them.”

  Rudra stared at him, his jaw hanging open for a brief second.

  “You’re too scary, bro. Seriously.”

  “This isn't the time for jokes. Go! Find him!” Dhruv commanded.

  The town outside was a graveyard of rubble.

  Dust and the acrid smell of ozone filled the air as Shadowclaws lunged from the shadows of collapsed towers.

  Dhruv sprinted toward the center of the ruins, but a massive claw swung through the debris, aimed directly at his chest.

  “Glacier!”

  Lucia moved between them in a flash of blue light. A wall of ice erupted from the ground, absorbing the brunt of the impact, but the creature’s sheer momentum shattered the barrier.

  The shockwave threw them backward.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Dhruv slammed into a stone wall, and Lucia collapsed on top of him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice trembling but her eyes fixed on the monster.

  “Thank you for saving me,” Dhruv gasped, his lungs struggling for air. “If you hadn’t shown up... I’d be dead.”

  “It’s coming back! We have to run!” she urged.

  Dhruv tried to push himself up, but a sharp, white-hot pain flared in his leg, sending him back to the ground.

  “I can’t stand... my leg is broken.”

  “Use your healing magic!” she pleaded.

  “I don’t have enough mana for a full recovery,” Dhruv gritted his teeth, sweat stinging his eyes. “I can stabilize the bone, but it’ll take time. Lucia, buy me a minute!”

  Lucia’s ice magic flared again, momentarily encasing the beast in frost, but it was a losing battle.

  The Shadowclaw let out a deafening roar and shattered the ice like glass.

  As the monster reared back for a final, lethal strike, the world seemed to turn black in front of them.

  Then—

  A streak of orange-red light cut through the darkness.

  A ball of molten lava spiraled through the air, striking the creature’s arm with the force of a falling star.

  The Shadowclaw’s limb didn't just break — it melted away into a hissing puddle.

  Standing amidst the smoke was a man with hair the color of a dying sun, a holy sword glowing with intense heat in his hand.

  “Is he...?” Lucia whispered, her eyes wide with awe.

  Three more Shadowclaws emerged from the ruins, roaring in unison.

  The man didn't flinch.

  He moved with the grace of a dancer and the lethality of a predator, dodging a flurry of claws before slicing one beast clean in two.

  With a shout, he unleashed a Lava Surge — a wave of molten fire that tore through the chest of the second monster.

  He leapt into the air, using the third monster’s own claws as a stepping stone.

  While upside down, he brought his blade down on the beast’s head, ending it instantly.

  The final creature, sensing its doom, turned to flee.

  The man pointed his sword.

  “Molten Strike!”

  A final bolt of lava vaporized the monster’s head, leaving only a smoldering husk behind.

  As the man walked toward them through the clearing smoke, his serious expression softened into a playful grin.

  “Are you all right, my son?”

  Dhruv looked up, his heart finally slowing.

  It was Anos — the Scoria Blade.

  Lucia gasped.

  “You’re... the Scoria Blade?”

  “That I am,” Anos replied, turning back to the ruins of the Academy. “I’m going to finish off the rest of these pests.”

  He looked back at Dhruv with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  “But tell me... is this girl your girlfriend?”

  Lucia turned bright red and looked at her boots.

  Dhruv stammered, his analytical mind completely failing him.

  “Dad... I... we were just...”

  Anos laughed, a warm sound that felt out of place in the destruction.

  “Don't worry about it. I’ll be home tonight. These are the last ones.”

  With a burst of heat, he vanished.

  On the Other Side: The Jungle

  While the town turned to rubble, Rudra found himself in the dense jungle outside the town walls.

  He was trapped, his back against a twisted tree. His right arm hung limp and broken, and his face was smeared with dust and green mucus.

  Emerging from the foliage was a man sitting arrogantly atop the shoulders of a massive Shadowclaw, using the beast as a living throne.

  “Can you give me the way?” the rider sneered, looking down from his monster. “Or I am going to kill you.”

  Rudra wiped his nose with his left arm, his legs shaking but his gaze steady.

  “No. I am going to be a Holy Knight. I will never lose to a person like you!”

  He let out a shaky, defiant laugh.

  “You think I’m scared? I’ll sneeze on you before I die!”

  “Shut the fuck up,” the man snarled. “Now you should die.”

  The rider forced the Shadowclaw to lunge.

  Rudra tried to use his wind magic to escape, but the man manipulated the shadows to pin him in place.

  As the claw raised for the kill—

  A dense, unnatural mist suddenly flooded the clearing.

  When the mist cleared, Rudra realized he was no longer against the tree.

  He was being held by a tall, imposing figure who had emerged from the white fog.

  The mysterious second person stared at the rider with eyes of cold steel.

  “You are trying to kill an innocent child? Are you cruel, bro?”

  The rider hissed from his throne.

  “A boy? He is a fool who was standing in my way.”

  The stranger set Rudra aside gently.

  “Okay! Then I am also going to stop you.”

  He reached for his hilt and uncovered his blade.

  The sound of steel rang through the jungle.

  To be continued…