The training ground was alive with murmurs.
Everyone was waiting.
The name had spread like wildfire.
Ardenna Ignis—the Flame Princess—was returning after two years of absence. Once a prodigy known for her devastating fire magic, she'd vanished after an incident that burned half a training wing to ash.
Now, she was back. And she wasn't alone.
Lohan stood silently in the front row, arms crossed. Raze stood beside him, wild and grinning. Winter, as always, calm and composed.
They weren't just watching.
They were waiting to challenge her.
---
The Flame Descends
A sudden burst of fire erupted in the center of the arena, and from the smoke stepped Ardenna.
Long crimson hair tied in a high tail, obsidian armor laced with runes, and eyes that burned like twin suns.
> "I came back for one reason," she announced. "To fight the one who controls the battlefield with a glance."
She turned her eyes to Lohan.
> "You. The boy with no mana."
The crowd gasped.
Lohan stepped forward.
> "It's true. I have no mana."
> "Then I'll make this quick."
---
But nothing was quick.
The moment her fireball left her palm, Lohan was already gone. Her eyes widened as he appeared behind her in an instant.
> "I don't need mana."
He tapped her shoulder.
> "I copy yours."
The explosion that followed cracked the arena in half.
Ardenna stood, coughing through the smoke. But she was smiling.
> "You're insane… and I love it."
> "Join me."
She hesitated. Then nodded.
> "Only if you don't hold back next time."
> "I won't."
---
The Guild Begins
Three stood behind Lohan now.
Raze. Winter. Ardenna.
The foundation of a future that would shake the Tower—and the gods above it.
---