The conflict had metastasized. Across the Veridian City, the crimson light from the Academy grounds was now overshadowed by plumes of black smoke rising from shattered buildings.

The Eclipse Beasts, vicious creatures birthed from the dark signal, were spread wide, sowing terror.

Inside the city limits, third-year students and professors were locked in brutal, defensive combat.

They had managed to guide most of the common population into secure shelters, but the fighting was intense.

Debris littered the thoroughfares, the air was thick with smoke, and the students, gasping and running low on Aura, were showing signs of fatigue.

The battle was steadily shifting in favor of the invaders.

A small group of third-year students, specializing in defensive combat, were desperately facing a monstrous Shadowheart-class Beast, a creature of pure shadow with razor claws and teeth.

The beast leaped, its claws raised, about to tear through the ward and its defenders.

Suddenly, a powerful whooshing sound tore through the night air.

A humongous battle-axe, its double head glowing with a fierce amber aura, came spinning into the beast mid-air.

The axe struck with devastating force, instantly beheading the Shadowheart.

The beast's head fell to the ground, dissolving into a puff of black ash.

But the axe did not stop.

Guided by an unseen intelligence, it continued its spinning flight, an avatar of destruction, tearing through the remaining smaller Eclipse Beasts in the area one after another.

Finally, the massive, amber-charged weapon executed a perfect, controlled arc and settled effortlessly back into the enormous palms of its owner.

The students, stunned and saved, turned as one toward their sudden savior.

Loud, desperate cheers erupted as they recognized the man standing amidst the carnage.

He was a towering, rugged figure whose very presence radiated unbreakable strength: it was Professor Zarnak, the Academy's Master of Battle Tactics.

Just as the cheers subsided, the atmosphere shifted again.

The black smoke was momentarily pushed back as white threads of pure mana began to descend upon the battlefield, falling like gentle, restorative rain.

The injured students felt the warmth instantly, their shallow cuts closing and their weary Aura reserves beginning to replenish.

Another wave of cheers erupted, particularly from the mage students.

They looked up to see their second savior: Professor Rowena, Master of Restoration Magic, levitating high above the street.

Her simple wooden staff glowed with intense white light, her long hair danced wildly in the turbulent air, and her eyes shone with an ethereal, glowing white.

An exhausted assistant professor, his face smeared with soot, quickly approached Zarnak.

"What's the situation?" Zarnak demanded, his voice a deep rumble that carried easily over the distant screams.

"The invasion has been throughout the city, sir," the assistant professor reported, trying to catch his breath.

"Most of the sectors have been cleared, but only two more sectors are left, the docks and the old market. The students there are struggling badly."

Zarnak nodded, his expression grim but decisive. He hoisted the massive axe onto his shoulder. "I see. We'll finish this fast then."

He then bellowed toward the sky, his voice booming with authority.

"ROWENA! Let's move!"

A sharp, annoyed voice descended from above.

"Don't you dare give orders, Zarnak. We are peers, not subordinates!" Rowena snapped, radiating annoyance even while pouring healing mana over dozens of people.

But Zarnak was already on the move, transforming his immense size into surprising speed as he sprinted toward the struggling sectors.

Rowena clicked her tongue in irritation, but her eyes held a grudging respect for his urgency.

She swept her staff in a wide arc, sending one last powerful wave of restorative light to the students, and then, her white eyes blazing, she quickly followed behind him.

*****

Blaze, Aeron, Lenore, and Zenon were fighting a desperate, grueling battle at the mouth of the academy hallway exit.

Two massive Eclipse Beasts, their bodies shimmering with the dangerous, higher-level aura known as the Shadowheart Class, were pinning them down.

"Keep firing, Zenon!" Blaze yelled, his voice strained as he used his burning sword to deflect a sweeping claw that left scorch marks on the stone floor.

Instantly, two shots rang out. Zenon's handguns, charged with precise bursts of aura, impacted the nearest beast right in its shadowy face.

The creature shrieked, recoiling momentarily, its concentration broken.

Meanwhile, Lenore and Aeron were struggling with the second beast.

Lenore's scythe swept low, forcing the creature to leap, while Aeron followed up with quick, nervous slashes that barely scratched the beast's armor-like hide.

Every exchange was taxing, forcing them to rely purely on instinct and the remnants of their stamina to avoid being shredded.

They were holding their own, but barely maintaining the upper hand.

Just as the tide seemed ready to turn against them, two small stones, no bigger than pebbles, came flying from the hallway they had just emerged from.

They moved at breakneck speed, shrouded in a dazzling, powerful golden aura that made the meager light of the academy seem dim.

The first stone struck the back of Blaze's target, piercing straight through its dense, shadowy carapace and exiting cleanly through the chest.

The second stone followed, carving a perfect, deadly hole through the heart of the beast fighting Lenore and Aeron.

Both Eclipse Beasts immediately seized up. Their shadowy forms disintegrated, collapsing inward in a silent, grey puff of dust that quickly settled on the stone floor.

The four of them stared, shocked into silence.

They slowly turned around to see Thorgar and Hamdal striding toward them.

Thorgar was a picture of stern authority, while Hamdal, his face crinkled with mirth, simply smiled.

The sheer, terrifying efficiency of the attack left them speechless.

The beasts they had struggled so fiercely with, expending every ounce of training and willpower just to stay alive, had been obliterated by two casually thrown pebbles. They could not help but sense the terrifying difference in power between their own struggles and Hamdal's effortless strength, the chasm between a novice and a true master of aura manipulation.

"Why are you first years out here?" Thorgar immediately chided them, his voice sharp and disapproving.

"You should be securing yourselves in the auditorium."

Blaze, regaining his composure first, quickly explained. "We are searching for Elena and Grey, sir. Elena was called by Professor Flint, and the loud booms were coming from the lab wing, so we got worried."

"Grey is missing, too," Lenore quickly added, her eyes darting between the two elders. "We were trying to find both of them."

Thorgar's face tightened with concern, though he masked it quickly with severity. "Don't you know how dangerous Eclipse Beasts are? That too, Shadowheart Classes! You could have died here, engaging them."

"But sir, we have alrea—" Aeron began, keen to defend their actions.

"Shut up!" Thorgar barked, cutting Aeron off mid-sentence.

His eyes were wide with panic, terrified that Aeron would expose their recent unsanctioned dungeon run and the forged documents in front of Hamdal.

"You dare talk back to me here, huh?"

Aeron immediately clamped his mouth shut, his face going pale with sudden understanding.

"Hohoho!" Hamdal laughed, the sound booming good-naturedly in the corridor.

He looked genuinely impressed, surveying the dust where the fearsome beasts had been.

"Being a first year and already able to take on a Shadowheart Class. You've worked hard with your students, Thorgar."

Thorgar managed a stiff, uncomfortable nod.

"Come then," Hamdal said, already turning and starting to walk toward the exit to the grounds, his steps purposeful. "Let's go find your friends."

The four recruits, humbled and galvanized by the display of strength, quickly fell in behind the two elders.

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