With the final stroke of ink, my name was officially bound to the guild ledger once more.
I exhaled faintly, stepping away from the counter and toward the table where Rhea and her group sat.
Three pairs of eyes turned toward me as I approached, suitcase in hand.
"I'm in," I said simply.
"Vancroft. Let's work well together."
Rhea gave me a small, satisfied smirk.
"Glad to have you on board."
She turned to her companions.
"Let's make the rest of the introductions clean."
The man clad in sturdy armour gave me a nod.
"Kael. Thanks. I'll keep them off you. Don't set me on fire."
The woman beside him, draped in robes that shimmered faintly with enchantments, barely lifted her eyes.
"Mira. I'm the healer. Please don't make my job harder than it needs to be."
"Understood," I said.
Rhea clapped her hands once.
"Great. Then let's go make it official."
She reached into her pouch and unfurled a quest parchment—a D-rank mission, freshly posted.
"We're going with something simple."
Standard goblinoid sweep near a trade road. Just enough to get a feel for how we work together. We need synergy before the guild lets us take on C-ranks."
"Let's do it." I replied.
We made our way back to the front desk. The receptionist from earlier, a woman with glasses and a professional smile, greeted us.
"Need to register him into the party," Rhea said, placing the form down.
"Name?"
"Vancroft", I answered.
She gave a nod and produced a crystal slab from beneath the counter.
"Place your hand here."
The surface was cold, the runes beneath flickering to life the moment I touched it. With a soft chime, the light stabilised.
"All done. Vancroft, you're officially registered to Rhea's party. Good luck out there."
We returned to the others, who had already finished checking their gear.
It was a minor quest. A warm-up. But I could already feel the itch in my fingers.
***
The carriage wheels creaked to a halt near the winding edge of the trade route, just shy of where the forest's shadow began to stretch over the path.
Birds had gone silent. The trees loomed high and twisted, and in their shadow, something vile stirred.
The journey there, however, had been far less quiet.
"So," Rhea began casually, leaning her elbow on the carriage railing.
"What archetype are you, Vancroft?"
Vancroft adjusted his glasses, a faint glint catching on the lens. "Runecraft mage."
The words hung in the air like a thunderclap.
Kael groaned, resting his forehead on his gauntleted palm.
"Of course."
Mira exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, as if silently preparing for the worst.
Rhea tried to mask her reaction, but a slight twitch in her brow betrayed her concern.
"I… see."
There was good reason for their apprehension.
Rune mages were notoriously unsuited for field combat. Time-consuming spells, slow execution, and not enough timing.
In battles where a split second could decide life or death, a mage hunched over inscriptions was practically a death sentence.
But Vancroft seemed wholly unbothered.
He simply leaned back, observing the tree line as the wind swept his white hair gently to the side.
The moment they entered the forest, he silently activated [Vigilis].
Magic circuits etched beneath his skin flared faintly, invisible to the eye, yet precise.
His mind reached out like a web.
Seven goblins. Five armed with crude blades. Two archers. Closing in fast.
They didn't have to wait long.
The shrubs rustled, and then they came—yelping, snarling, charging through the trees with bloodlust in their eyes.
"Positions!" Rhea shouted, her twin blades drawn in a blink.
Kael stepped forward with a bellow, shield raised, intercepting the first two goblins with brutal force.
Then came the magic.
Vancroft extended his hand. His fingertips glowed with intricate glyphs, and in less than a breath—
Fractura. Exuro.
A burst of heat erupted from the centre of the charging goblins.
A searing arrow of fire cracked through the air, splitting into three mid-flight, each one finding a target and igniting them in brilliant, screaming flame.
Mira blinked, genuinely stunned. "That… that was fast?"
He wasn't finished.
Another flick of his fingers. Fortis bloomed beneath Kael's boots—his movements grew heavier, his strikes stronger.
The next goblin that dared to lunge found its skull shattered in a single blow.
A faint magic circle formed beneath Rhea's feet as well, boosting her agility.
She noticed it mid-strike and adapted on instinct, weaving between attacks like a phantom.
"Is this how rune mages are normally supposed to fight!" Rhea shouted, half in awe, half confused.
"They aren't," Vancroft replied calmly, tracing another set of glyphs mid-air.
Infractum. Fractura. Ignis. Exuro.
A brilliant bow formed in his hands, pulsing with fire.
He drew it once—and unleashed a hellstorm.
Dozens of arrows conjured themselves from light and flame, raining destruction in a calculated spread.
Two goblin archers fell before they even loosed their first shot.
Kael slammed his shield into the last attacker, driving it into a tree with a crunch.
And then there was silence.
Smoke drifted through the air.
The corpses of the goblins smouldered on the forest floor.
Rhea turned to him, breath short, a little sweat on her brow.
"You… you're not just some rune mage, are you?"
Vancroft pushed his glasses up again, expression unreadable.
"I never said I was a normal one ."
***
Night crept upon them like a slow-breathing beast, shadows stretching long and quiet.
The crackling of the fire was the only sound in the clearing as Rhea, Kael, and Mira sat huddled close, warming themselves and sharing dried meat and idle talk.
A few paces away, Vancroft sat cross-legged on a rock, quill in hand, head bowed as he scribbled into his leather-bound journal.
Faint traces of mana glowed across the surface of the pages, forming lines of runic script that faded as quickly as they appeared.
"He's still writing," Mira whispered, glancing over at him with a furrowed brow.
"Doesn't even look tired," Kael muttered, chewing the last of his rations.
"That buff he placed on me? I could've fought twice as long, and I barely even tapped into my skills."
Rhea nodded slowly. "It's insane… The speed at which he cast those runes… I've seen rune mages before. It should've taken him minutes to construct even a single offensive spell. He did five in a blink."
"The pressure too," Mira added. "Did you feel it? When did that arrow storm hit? It was… overwhelming."
Kael let out a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Strange guy, that one. Doesn't talk much, but sure knows how to work magic."
Rhea gave a small smile.
"Strange or not, I'm glad we brought him along. With his support, we might actually have a shot at a B-rank quest."
But the easy mood didn't last.
Just as Kael reached to stoke the fire, Vancroft's voice cut through the quiet.
"Put it out. Now."
Kael blinked, confused. "What?"
"Put. It's out," Vancroft repeated, his voice low, sharp, and filled with a sense of urgency that immediately stole the air from their lungs.
Kael didn't ask again.
He grabbed a waterskin and doused the fire.
Darkness returned in full.
Rhea stood up, alarmed. "What's going on?"
"Hide behind the trees. All of you. Do not speak."
There was no hesitation in his tone—just cold certainty.
They obeyed without another word, slipping into the woods, crouching low behind gnarled trunks and thick underbrush.
Then it hit.
A wave of pure, unfiltered killing intent.
Rhea's knees buckled slightly as an overwhelming pressure washed over her like a crashing tide.
Her breath caught in her throat; her muscles tensed without permission. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to flee far away.
She had faced near death before, but this… this was something else.
Suddenly, something flared against her chest.
A warm pulse of magic spread through her like a shield—subtle, yet strong enough to keep her from collapsing.
She realised Vancroft had activated a rune. For her.
Peeking through the leaves, she saw him still out in the open, eyes narrowed behind his glasses, fingers slowly weaving silent spells mid-air.
His expression was calm, but his body was taut, like a spring wound too tightly.
Then it stepped into view.
Massive. Grotesque.
A lion-like beast with pitch-black fur that seemed to drink in the moonlight, four crimson eyes glowing like embers of hate.
Its tail flicked behind it like a serpent, and its silver claws shimmered in the dark.
The Abyssal Lion. A creature of nightmares.
A predator of the Abyss and former battlefields, not the forest. Rhea's mouth went dry.
That was an A-rank monster.
It sniffed the air, low growls echoing as it stalked near the campfire's ashes. Its eyes scanned, glowing faintly.
Then, from the shadows, Vancroft raised a finger to his lips—eyes meeting Rhea's.
Don't. Move.
Her breath caught.
The Abyssal Lion sniffed again… then slowly began to turn.
Every heartbeat felt like an eternity.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Just as the silence seemed to settle once more—thin, delicate, and hanging by a thread—a sharp crack tore through the night.
A branch, dry and brittle, snapped underfoot.
Everyone turned toward the source.
Mira.
Her eyes were wide with panic, one foot awkwardly angled atop the branch she had tried to avoid.
Her mouth opened, no doubt to apologise, but no sound came.
They didn't need sound.
Because the Abyssal Lion had already heard it.
Its four crimson eyes snapped to the trees.
It roared—a low, guttural bellow that echoed through the forest like a war drum.
"Run." Vancroft's voice, sharp and cold, cracked through the air.
"Run now! Scatter!"
The party didn't hesitate. Kael grabbed Mira by the wrist, dragging her into the thicket.
Rhea bolted in the opposite direction using her aura, weaving between trees and leaping over roots as the forest came alive with pounding footsteps.
The Abyssal Lion was fast—unnaturally fast for its size.
Trees cracked and splintered as it barrelled through, snarling with each powerful stride.
Its breath steamed in the cold air like smoke from a forge.
But Vancroft didn't run.
Instead, he spun in place, eyes glowing faintly as he pulled a single coin-sized metal disc from his pocket. He slammed it into the ground.
"Ignis. Vigilis. Fortis [Contract: Burn for Delay.] "
A web of burning orange runes exploded from the centre of the disc, forming a circular glyph that shot upwards like a barrier.
It shimmered with heat and light, slamming into the Abyssal Lion just as it lunged for Kael's back.
BOOM!
The beast skidded, growling as fire clung to its fur, slowing it momentarily.
It snarled and shook it off, but the damage had been done—it was distracted.
Vancroft turned and ran.
Branches whipped past him as he sprinted, feet light, breaths even.
His suitcase bounced against his back, bound to his mana signature.
He ducked under a low branch and slid behind a moss-covered log, hands already weaving another spell.
"Fractura. Exuro. [Contract : Power for Silence.]"
The next rune was cast silently—an arrow made of pure red light forming in his palm.
He launched it into the distance. It didn't need to hit. It just needed to draw its attention.
The lion snapped toward the flare of magic and darted after it.
Vancroft exhaled sharply and tapped the side of his glasses.
"Rhea. Kael. Mira. Do not engage. Regroup; I'll hold it off."
"Are you insane?!" Rhea's voice crackled through the faint communication rune he'd slipped onto their gear.
"Possibly. But we don't have time to vote. Go."
And with that, he turned to face the lion as it circled back, claws tearing through bark, maw wide with a snarl that promised death.
Vancroft's eyes narrowed, and for the first time since they met him, he smiled.
"Let's test this new function, shall we?"