The Demon Mist Forest.
Two silhouettes were zooming through the towering trees. One fleeing, one chasing.
"Horus, you can't escape!"
BOOM! A scorching fireball exploded. One of the figures dropped from the sky like a kite with its string cut—straight yeeted into the ground.
It was a skinny youth in a dark grey fitted combat suit, looking like he'd been through a blender. He leaned against a massive tree, clutching a parchment scroll, staring daggers at the enemy hovering in mid-air.
The enemy? A short, middle-aged dude in black robes with eyes as thin as slits. He threw his hands out, chanting some complex mumbo-jumbo. Mist surged around him, and a complicated magic circle lit up right in front of him.
The skinny youth, Horus, looked up at the magic circle, his face turning pale. It was over.
Grinning like a maniac, the short black-robed man floated there and said coldly, "RIP, Horus!"
He twisted his hands in the air. ZAP! A beam of white light shot from the magic circle, aiming straight for Horus by the tree.
But just then—glitch in the matrix—the space in front of Horus distorted. Someone popped out of thin air.
It was Karion.
The white death beam hit Karion dead on... and absolutely nothing happened.
Karion looked around, face full of visible confusion.
Dafuq?What was that white flash just now?Why am I here?Is this what that bead does? It can teleport me to specific coordinates?So this is... location [67, 89]?
"Who are you?!"
A shout came from above. Startled, Karion snapped his head up to see the short guy in black robes slowly descending, wrapped in a whirlwind. He was eyeing Karion with max suspicion.
"You trying to save him?"
Save who? Karion was even more confused. Getting teleported randomly is one thing, but running into NPCs?
He turned his head and finally noticed the skinny youth slumped against the tree behind him, covered in cuts and burns.
Karion frowned. Big brain time. The black-robed guy was probably hunting the skinny guy. Karion had accidentally teleported right between them, interrupting the kill.
Big Yikes.How did I get dragged into this drama? These two look like high-level mages.
And Karion? He was just a small-time teacher who knew the theory but couldn't cast a spell to save his life. He couldn't even gather mana!
NOPE. Karion wanted to bail. A fight between high-level Magisters? A normie like him would get obliterated just by being near it!
But if I run, will they 360-no-scope me with magic?
Karion stood frozen, panicking like crazy, frantically trying to think of a way to save his own skin.
However, while Karion was hesitating, the black-robed man opposite him was actually sweating bullets inside.
This man was Mike, a member of the Hurricane Mercenary Group. A Tier-6 Magister, specializing in Wind and Fire. Their mission: Set a trap and gank Count Naka's second son, Horus—the guy currently half-dead behind Karion.
Everything was going according to plan (keikaku). They had cornered Horus, but the kid suddenly went Super Saiyan and broke out, fleeing deep into the Demon Mist Forest. Mike had to chase him all the way here to injure him.
Knowing Horus had tricks up his sleeve, Mike didn't want to mess around. He went straight for the Forbidden Magic: [Element Explosion] to one-shot him.
But at the critical moment, this curly-haired youth appeared out of nowhere and tanked the [Element Explosion] with his face.
You have to understand, [Element Explosion] is nasty stuff. The stronger the mage, the harder it hits. It works by detonating the mana stored inside the target's body. So, logically, a powerful mage with tons of mana would get wrecked from the inside out. Caught off guard? They'd pop like a balloon.
But to Mike's horror, this random curly-haired guy took the hit and stood there looking completely fine.
Wait, that's illegal.
Unless... the opponent had absolute, 100% control over the mana in his body. But that's something only a Grand Archmage or a Saint Magister could do.
And then Mike realized something that made his blood run cold. This guy appeared out of thin air. Space Magic.
In this world, Space Magic users are unicorns. Basically non-existent. Only legendary Saint Magisters might have that clout.
Mike's legs started shaking. Just how powerful is the faction backing Horus? They sent a freaking Saint Magister to protect him?!
What Mike didn't know was that Karion survived [Element Explosion] not because he was OP. It was the opposite. Karion was such a noob he didn't even qualify as a mage. He had zero mana in his body. Nothing to detonate. So the forbidden spell hit him and did... zilch.
Meanwhile, Karion had no clue what was going on. He stared at the black-robed man, terrified that the guy was about to delete him.
And so, the two of them locked eyes, sinking into an awkward, heavy silence.