A normal horse-drawn carriage moved along the forest path, wheels rolling over the uneven dirt road. The pace was steady, neither too fast nor too slow, just enough to ensure a swift yet careful journey.

  Caelum sat in the driver’s seat, his hands gripping the reins with practiced ease. The thick canopy of trees overhead made the path dim, but he was familiar with the way. The Magical Academy lay ahead, and he had chosen this route because it was the shortest.

  But the shortcut came with its risks.

  Inside the carriage, the quiet murmurs of children could be heard. They were an unusual group—none of them ordinary. Each possessed unique traits, some more obvious than others. A few had strange markings on their skin, others had unnatural hair colors or eyes that shimmered with latent power. They were all young, none older than fourteen, and all had been selected for one reason.

  Their potential.

  Eo, his lord, had commanded him to gather humans with unique magical qualities—variants, as he called them. And so, Caelum had done as he was told.

  As he maneuvered the carriage along the forest road, something in the distance caught his attention.

  A silhouette.

  A wolf.

  At first, he ignored it. Wild animals were not uncommon in these woods. But as he drew closer, the silhouette grew larger.

  Much larger.

  The realization hit him like a cold wave. This was no ordinary beast.

  The wolf was massive, its frame towering, its fur dark as the shadows that danced between the trees. But it wasn’t just its size that set it apart—it was the way it stood, perfectly still, staring directly at him.

  A predator assessing its prey.

  A chill ran down Caelum’s spine. His danger sense flared, screaming at him that this was not something he could fight, not something he could even hope to wound.

  Then, the wolf’s ears twitched.

  Its gaze shifted—not at him, but toward the path leading to the Magical Academy. No, not the Academy itself… something beneath it.

  The underground chamber.

  It knew.

  The realization sent another shiver down Caelum’s back. The wolf did not belong to the ordinary order of beasts. It was something else entirely.

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  And then, as silently as it had appeared, it melted into the shadows, its form dissipating like mist, but its presence lingering. Even as it disappeared, it still watched.

  Still aware.

  Caelum swallowed hard but forced himself to maintain his composure. He flicked the reins, urging the horses to move faster. Whatever that creature was, it was best not to linger.

  The Academy was waiting.

  And so was Eo.

  The underground chamber was silent, save for the steady dripping of water against stone. Dim blue light pulsed through the cavern, emanating from formations of condensed magic embedded within the walls.

  Eo stood at the center of the chamber, unmoving.

  His humanoid form was refined, perfected from its previous iterations. His body, though human in shape, remained eerily unnatural. Standing at two meters tall, his form was lean but defined, exuding an aura that demanded attention.

  His most striking feature, however, was his face—or rather, the lack of one.

  A smooth white mask covered his visage, featureless save for two hollow openings where his eyes should be. And from those openings, something gazed out.

  Something beyond human.

  Something beyond comprehension.

  The energy in the chamber stirred as Caelum entered, bowing his head in deference before stepping aside.

  Behind him, the children hesitated at the entrance.

  They had been told little of what awaited them, and now, faced with the figure standing in the dim light, their uncertainty turned to unease.

  Eo’s gaze swept over them.

  Twelve in total.

  Each carrying something within them—something different.

  He stepped forward, his presence suffocating in its intensity. The children instinctively flinched, their bodies tensing as if an unseen weight had pressed upon them.

  But Eo did not speak immediately.

  Instead, he observed.

  The first child, a girl with pale violet eyes, stared back with an unusual intensity. Her mana fluctuated without control, surging and retracting as if alive. Her emotions dictated her magic—a rare phenomenon.

  The second, a boy with silver hair, seemed detached. His eyes were dull, empty, yet beneath the surface, there was a quiet pulse of magic that rippled in response to Eo’s presence.

  The third, a girl with skin the color of dusk, had markings along her arms that faintly glowed. They weren’t tattoos—they were something else. An inheritance of bloodline magic, perhaps.

  Each one was different. Each one was a mystery to be unraveled.

  Eo lifted a hand, and the room’s energy shifted. The children stiffened, but no harm came to them. Instead, a soft resonance filled the air—a silent hum of magic analyzing them at the fundamental level.

  “You are all incomplete,” Eo finally spoke. His voice was calm, measured, yet it carried an undeniable weight. “Flawed. Imperfect.”

  The children flinched, but Eo continued.

  “That is what makes you valuable.”

  Confusion flickered across their faces. Some looked to Caelum for reassurance, but he remained impassive.

  Eo took another step forward.

  “Magic in this world follows patterns,” he said. “A system created by those who fear the unknown. They classify, they limit, they control.”

  His gaze passed over them once more.

  “You do not fit their system.”

  Silence.

  The weight of his words settled upon them. Some shifted uncomfortably. Others clenched their fists.

  Eo observed their reactions, noting their individual responses. The violet-eyed girl narrowed her gaze, curiosity overcoming her fear. The silver-haired boy remained unreadable. The dusk-skinned girl tilted her head slightly, as if piecing together a puzzle.

  Good.

  They were beginning to understand.

  “I will not offer you salvation,” Eo continued. “Nor will I give you promises of power.”

  He extended his hand.

  “What I offer is knowledge.”

  The air in the chamber grew heavy. The children felt it—not just in their bodies, but in their very souls.

  The opportunity.

  The danger.

  The choice.

  Some would refuse. Some would run.

  But those who stayed would become something beyond what the world had ever known.

  And that was enough.