The first attack didn't come with roar or warning.
It came on a quiet morning, when everyone still believed the academy was safe.
Dawn mist drifted across the East Wing courtyard as students filtered out of dorms on their way to training fields and the cafeteria. The barrier dome shimmered faintly overhead—unchanged, stable.
Normal.
Avin sensed it first.
The second heartbeat inside his chest faltered—then quickened, like a predator scenting blood.
He stopped mid-step.
Kai nearly slammed into his back.
"BRO MOVE, I'M STARV—…what's wrong?"
Avin didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the distant western trees beyond the academy perimeter where the mist twisted unnaturally—curling inward instead of dispersing.
Sarene emerged nearby, her expression tightening.
"You feel it too."
Rei followed, adjusting his glasses. "Mana fluctuation spiking along the external wards."
Lyra cracked her knuckles unconsciously. "That's not a drill."
The air shifted—
—and the academy's protective barrier flashed.
A heartbeat later—
SCREEEE—
A sharp harmonic wail erupted across the grounds.
BARRIER BREACH ALARM.
Students froze.
"What was that?!"
"The dome flickered—did anyone see that?!"
"We're under attack?!"
Professors erupted into motion around the campus.
From the Instructor Tower, command sigils flared.
Nyra appeared above the courtyard on a mana platform, cloak snapping in the wind.
"All students—take cover immediately. Dormitory interiors only."
Her eyes swept the courtyard—locking briefly onto Avin.
That glance alone said more than words:
You were right to be afraid.
The western tree line exploded outward.
A ripple of fractured space tore through the air—forming a dark oval rift just beyond the outer wall.
Three figures stepped out.
They wore segmented twilight armor that absorbed light, faces hidden behind smooth reflective visors. Each carried weapons humming with unstable energy—blade, chain-scythe, and crystalline spear.
Students screamed.
"They teleported—!"
"No portals are allowed near the academy—!"
The barrier flared again—
—and then failed at one single localized point.
The hunters slipped through.
Like ghosts.
Nyra's voice boomed:
"Capital infiltration squad detected—intercept immediately!"
Half a dozen instructors launched toward the breach.
But the hunters weren't aiming for mass slaughter.
Their visor lenses glowed—
—and aimed straight toward the East Dormitory.
Toward Avin.
Students scattered.
A Thundergale trainee tried to summon lightning—
The chain-scythe hunter flicked a wrist.
A shockwave knocked the boy unconscious instantly.
Lyra dashed forward without thinking.
"HEY! PICK ON SOMEONE WHO CAN MOVE!"
She clashed with the spear-wielder—steel ringing against mana crystal.
"LYRA—FALL BACK!" Rei yelled.
She gritted her teeth. "This isn't training!"
From above, Ryuven descended in a flare of flame, interposing himself between fleeing students and the nearest hunter.
"Not on academy grounds!"
The Flamecrest prodigy launched a blazing fist—
The armored hunter slid aside and countered—
A blast slammed Ryuven into the outer wall.
Zane arrived moments later in a crackle of lightning.
Brant followed, impact shaking the ground as he shielded a cluster of students.
The Four Houses were at war—without warning.
Avin hadn't moved.
The second heartbeat roared now—pounding like a drum of imminent disaster.
Sarene grabbed his arm. "AVIN—MOVE!"
He turned—
—and saw the third hunter already behind them.
Too fast.
The crystalline spear lunged.
Kai reacted before thought.
He shoved Avin away and took the strike head-on—lightning detonating instinctively from his body as the blow scraped past his side instead of through his chest.
"K—KAI!" Rei screamed.
Kai rolled across the stone, groaning. "BRO—WHY ARE ASSASSINS ALWAYS AFTER YOU?!"
The hunter advanced again—
Sarene threw out a frost shield barely in time.
Avin stood frozen for half a second.
Fear… power out of control… this was the vision.
Then someone cried out nearby—
A younger student pinned under falling masonry from a barrier blast.
Avin moved.
Not forward.
Sideways.
No conscious action—pure instinct.
The silver mist flickered around his boots.
The world tilted.
In a blink—
He was beside the trapped student.
He lifted the stone effortlessly—the second core fueling his muscles just enough—
—and tossed the girl free.
Her eyes widened.
"H-how did you—"
No time.
The hunter saw him.
The visor tilted.
Target locked.
The spear lunged—
—and stopped inches from Avin's throat.
A violet spear of mana pinned the assassin's weapon into the ground.
Nyra landed between them, cloak flaring violently.
Her eyes burned amethyst.
"Target priority unauthorized."
She struck the hunter with a mental wave so powerful the air warped—
Sending it crashing into the academy wall where binding sigils snapped closed around the armor.
Two more instructors arrived, sealing the prisoner instantly.
But the chain-scythe wielder disengaged from Ryuven and hurled their weapon toward Avin—
Nyra intercepted again—
—but not without consequence.
The scythe sliced a strand of silver mist trailing unknowingly from Avin's shadow.
Nyra's pupils contracted.
So it's active already…
Zane blasted the blade-wielder with a lightning bombardment, forcing retreat.
Brant uprooted a stone pylon and threw it—
—but the remaining two hunters activated emergency extraction sigils.
Their bodies fractured into shadow light—
And vanished like torn pages.
The battlefield fell still.
Except for screams.
And dust.
Medical teams rushed in.
Students huddled in shock.
Kai was hauled to his feet by Rei.
"I saved you," Kai muttered weakly. "$10 says I get stabbed again tomorrow."
Rei hugged him briefly then shoved him away. "Don't scare me like that!"
Lyra sat nearby, bleeding lightly from her arm but grinning madly.
"Well… that woke us up."
Sarene stood beside Avin, checking him frantically.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
She searched his eyes.
"…You moved too fast."
Avin looked at his own hands.
The memory of lifting the stone replayed.
I didn't feel heavy… or light… I felt empty.
Nyra walked over slowly.
Her gaze examined Avin head to toe, noting the faint fading trail of silver near his shoes.
She spoke quietly:
"They were hunting the Heir."
Whispers surged instantly—
"Heir?"
"What heir?"
"Who—?"
Nyra raised her voice:
"Return to your dormitories. Faculty will investigate."
Her eyes never left Avin.
Near the collapsed walkway, Nyra stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
Low voice only for him:
"You acted."
Avin swallowed. "Someone needed help."
Nyra nodded slightly.
"The seal reacted to protect—not attack."
She leaned closer.
"That's… good."
She searched his face.
"But the hunters now know your signature."
Avin met her eyes.
"What happens now?"
Nyra's jaw tightened.
"Now the academy is no longer your safest place."
Behind them—
Sarene watched quietly.
And for the first time—
She understood:
Avin wasn't hiding from the world…
He was being shielded from it.
Beyond the distant mountains—
Three cloaked figures knelt before a robed woman of pale silver hair.
"The target manifested movement capability."
The woman's lips curved slowly into a smile.
"Then the seal is thinning."
She tapped the glowing sigil of Avin's location.
"Deploy retrieval team two."
Her gaze sharpened.
"This time—
no witnesses."
If that was only the first attack—
what kind of battle was coming next?