"O Firstlight, great among the Orthodox,

Lady of strength, protector of the weary,

Hear my voice and receive my devotion.

Grant me clarity in confusion,

Courage in difficulty,

And kindness in all my dealings.

May your blessing guide my path,

And may I honor the gifts of life with gratitude.

Be near to me in times of need,

And let peace dwell within my heart.

Hail, Lady of the Crimson Flame, mighty and compassionate."

On his knees, hair dark and long against his shoulders, he faced the east, where the crimson sun was making its slow crawl up into the sky.

Not far behind him, one of the buildings went down, the street disappearing in a roiling cloud of dust and debris. Something massive sailed through the air and crashed hard into another wall, stone raining down in its wake.

All around, cadets threw themselves clear, desperate not to be buried under the falling stone. The man on his knees didn’t bat an eye.

After a moment, he finished his prayer to the Firstlight Goddess, rose to his feet, and turned to face the cadets.

Cold blue eyes picked over the abandoned buildings, one brick to the next. Open black shirt, tattoos up his chest and neck. He looked like a thug, hard-faced and unreadable, though somehow it wore well on him.

"This is where you will be training for the time being." His tone was cold and uncanny, leaving no room for discussion, leaving no room for argument.

"This place was abandoned two years ago when both a Terror and a Malice-class Rune Realms appeared."

No reason for Leomaris to second-guess Instructor Moon. Twenty-seven minutes since they’d arrived, and the ground hadn’t stopped rumbling. Rune Realms were different from citadels, the malicious energy didn’t bother animals. Humans were another matter entirely.

"Clearly, there is a stronger portal, the Malice class, and only the strongest among you will earn the right to raid it."

When Moon’s piercing eyes landed on him, Leomaris’s heart skipped a beat. He was fairly certain Instructor Moon had set up this whole training course just to kill him. He didn’t know that for sure, not yet. But he was watching his back.

He wore an uncomfortable smile. ’Why do I feel he is going to make me raid the Malice class alone...? That would be an easy way to kill me.’

"I will be pairing you together. There will be a challenge, and the party that comes out on top will be the one to raid the Malice-class portal. Success in a Malice Rune Realm raid will elevate your reputation exponentially as cadets."

Like a man who’d been waiting for this all morning, Moon motioned to Leomaris first, then to Lucius.

"The two of you will be working together."

The next were Raine and Charlotte, and finally, Alfred and Warner.

But then Lucius raised his hand to ask a question. "Pardon me, Instructor Moon. Leomaris and I have a similar fighting style: close-range combat. Wouldn’t it be better to pair us with Alfred and Warner, since they both use mid-range and long-range attacks?"

Moon stared at him for a moment, silent. Then he reached into his pocket and produced a pocket watch.

"I am not here to give you a comfortable fight. If that is what you want, you are free to leave and return to campus."

Something crossed Lucius’s face. He didn’t like Moon’s tone one bit, but he swallowed it down.

Leomaris stepped in close and patted him on the shoulder with a knowing smile:

"Don’t worry, Lucius. We’ve got this."

Lucius smiled faintly. "I finally get to fight alongside you. Let’s win this."

That smile unsettled him. For a man who’d bargained away his emotions and some of his senses for power, Lucius smiled rather a lot. But Leomaris was no more at ease with him than he was with Moon.

Truth be told, he was wary of everyone present, everyone save Charlotte and Raine. And one of the first-year cadets had already done him dirty. They’d nearly killed him.

"On the contrary, a party of two should not be able to approach even a Terror-class portal, especially not students like you. But you are cadets of Helios Imperial Academy; you are meant to achieve nothing less than extraordinary things."

Moon took a step back to get a proper look at the ruined village, blue eyes moving from one spot to the next like a man who’d lost something and hadn’t stopped looking.

"You have a day before entering the Terror-class portal. The party that delivers the final blow on the Endbringer will earn the sole opportunity to raid the Malice-class. The rest will return to the academy."

Leomaris found Charlotte in the crowd. The determination written across her face pulled a small smile from him. If anyone had earned the right to raid a Malice Rune Realm, it was Charlotte.

Raiding a Rune Realm earned you the title of Ruler, along with the class of the portal itself. Charlotte had her sights set on a Void Rune Realm, the hardest there was.

Granted, raiding in a group meant the title of Ruler wouldn’t be theirs individually, just a collective achievement, but the experience would do Charlotte a world of good, and he was chuffed for her.

The smile didn’t last long. He found Moon watching him again, and this time something felt wrong.

Moon’s eyes weren’t on his face, they were fixed on his torso. Leomaris knew well enough what he was looking at. His curse. Placed on him by the same Goddess, Moon didn’t so much as trifle with.

’Shit... he can still feel it? Even after concealing it?’

—

Instructor Moon’s POV:

Something wasn’t right. There’d always been something odd about Leomaris, he’d felt it, but this was different. It had started the moment they clapped eyes on each other that morning, and with each passing minute, it got worse.

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about Leomaris was drawing him in. Something on his stomach.

"You. Come over here."

Moon’s eyes narrowed slightly. Leomaris’s face as he walked over, hesitant and guarded, gave Moon every reason to be on edge. But he held himself steady. He needed to confirm it first.

Once Leomaris was within reach, his gaze locked onto his waist again. "What do you have on your waist? Is it an artifact?"

Leomaris looked perplexed. The sort of look that questioned whether Moon had a screw loose.

"Not at all. I don’t use artifacts. But, well, it could be this belt my butler gave me."

He motioned toward his belt. "You refused to allow her to come with me... she gave me this as a good luck charm."

That wasn’t it. Moon could feel it, and he wasn’t sure if Leomaris was taking him for a mug. His hand moved before he’d thought to stop it, going for Leomaris’s shirt, but Leomaris vanished the instant he reached him, snapping the distance between them.

Instructor Moon’s mouth fell open. The glare Leomaris fixed on him was something, but what had him was the fact that a cadet could move in such a way.

He’d watched Leomaris fight before, and not once had his movements been as sharp and fluid as that.

Even so, it had been enough. That brief moment had shown him something.

’It was a centipede... no doubt. The legs. The horrific structure.’

He’d only seen a bit of it, but he knew that tattoo well enough that even a narrow glimpse was plenty.

Something deadly settled across his face. The kind of look that, if you stared at it long enough, could start playing tricks on you.

’Could it be... that I was wrong?’