This morning, Sonia’s day did not start the way she expected.

It is Day Six of the Solarys Storm and Day Four since she arrived in the city.

Her search has led nowhere. She has found nothing. Every day, she goes out into the streets under the storm, wading through flooded roads while listening to arguments and watching fights break out more and more frequently.

Each day feels more depressing than the last.

Last night, she went to bed sick and tired of the endless rain, the howling wind, and the constant thunder.

This morning, the first thing she did after waking up was check her phone. Back home, phones are permitted, but her people rarely use them. Not everyone owns one. Usually, only members of excursion teams carry phones so they can stay in contact while traveling outside.

Sonia had bought hers during her last excursion. She had refused the one Elder Maer offered her. It was old, scratched, and battered from years of use.

So instead, she bought the latest model. Elder Loujt had agreed to pay for it since her birthday was close at the time. Sonia loves it. She barely uses it, but she still loves it.

This morning, she found it dead.

She could not turn it on. She could not charge it.

At first, she thought maybe the charger was broken. Then she tried another outlet. Then another. Nothing worked.

Eventually, she took it to a repair shop, where the staff were rude and dismissive from the very beginning. They barely even checked the phone before telling her it was cheap, low quality junk and that she would be better off throwing it away.

Then they tried to pressure her into buying one of theirs.

Sonia refused outright. The phones they were offering were clearly not new, and some of them looked like stolen goods.

The staff immediately challenged her to prove it.

And when she could not, they threw her out of the shop.

She is now back on the streets, under the storm, with rain and floodwater everywhere.

Not many people are outside like her. Most prefer to stay indoors.

"Well, I would too if it wasn’t for the broken phone. How is it dead already? I barely used it and it’s still new!" Sonia mumbles in frustration.

Not far from her, three people are in the middle of a fistfight right in the flooded street, blocking several cars from passing through.

But the people fighting do not seem to care. They care more about punching each other than moving out of the way.

The driver of the front car eventually gets out, screaming at them to move. Then, several minutes later, he joins the fight himself.

Sonia does not even blink at the sight. It has become a common scene in Solarys now. Not only out in the storm, but even inside buildings, arguments and fights break out constantly.

Sonia pulls up her hoodie, wraps her jacket tighter around herself, and walks away.

"I really need to find the mage. This can’t go on like this. Sooner or later, this city will fall."

She scans her surroundings carefully as she walks.

"It will be sooner," she murmurs.

She enters a nearby shopping arcade and shakes the water from her hair and jacket.

"Hey!" an old man suddenly yelps behind her angrily.

Sonia startles and immediately turns around.

"Oh, sorry, old man. I didn’t see you. I’m terribly sorry."

"Who are you calling old man?" he barks.

Sonia freezes for a second before sighing inwardly. I can’t believe I’m still surprised when people snap like this.

She apologizes again. "I’m sorry, sir." Then she starts to walk away. She still wants to buy another phone.

But suddenly, the old man grabs her wrist tightly.

"Did I say you could walk away?" His face is twisted in fury, his eyes blazing with anger.

And clouded. Unfocused.

Sonia goes still.

She does not struggle. Instead, she gently places her free hand against his forehead.

"Luxtra veniar, venash menora."

The next second, the old man’s eyes go blank. Then slowly, they begin to clear.

And focus.

He blinks repeatedly at Sonia, who remains silent, looking at him gently. Then he looks down and realizes he is gripping a young woman’s wrist. He gasps and immediately lets go.

"I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know what came over me. I’m really sorry."

He keeps stepping back while bowing apologetically.

"It’s okay, sir. I understand." Sonia gives him a small smile. "Go home and stay safe."

Then she turns around and walks away.

------------------------------

Sonia steps out of a phone flagship store.

In her hand, she carries a brand-new shiny phone. A small smile spreads across her face. For the first time today, she actually feels relieved.

She is already eager to get back to her hotel room and charge it.

As she steps out of the shopping arcade and onto the flooded sidewalk, she suddenly stops.

She blinks.

Then concentrates.

Slowly, Sonia turns her head toward a distant direction.

"There’s a mana concentration over there." Her expression sharpens. "Faint, but definitely there. Could it be a sign of a rogue mage?"

Immediately, she tucks the phone back into the shopping bag and shoves everything into her spatial storage.

Then she starts running. "It continues to build up. Is he about to explode?"

She speeds up. Mana quietly flows around her body, shielding her from the rain while allowing her to hover slightly above the flooded sidewalks instead of splashing through them.

She spends the next several minutes following the faint trail of mana through the storm.

------------------------------

Hawk steps out of the Sunspire Hospital, located only a few blocks away from Rhaenas Inc. HQ.

The hospital has finally discharged him after several days of treatment for his broken ribs.

He never wanted to stay at the hospital in the first place, but Evan had ordered him to.

"I need you at your one hundred percent, Hawk. The Baroness is insane. We can’t give her the satisfaction of knocking us down. Go and recover properly. It’ll only be a couple of days, maybe even less. But I’d rather be safe than sorry."

After that, Hawk could no longer refuse.

He had deliberately chosen Sunspire Hospital because of one reason.

It was close to Rhaenas HQ.

Close to Thea Montrose.

Hawk steps onto the sidewalk and looks up at the gloomy sky overhead.

The storm is still raging relentlessly.

He exhales slowly. "Still going strong, huh?"

Then, almost unconsciously, his eyes drift toward the direction of Rhaenas HQ.

"Why am I still fixated on her?" he mutters with a sigh. "I hope she’s safe."

He glances back at the sky again.

"And when will this storm end?"

He pulls up the collar of his jacket, shoves both hands into his jeans pockets, and starts walking toward his rented car.

He closes the car door, starts the engine, and checks the rear-view mirror.

A figure flashes by.

Too fast for a regular human.

Hawk freezes.

Then he immediately snaps his head toward the direction where the figure disappeared.

But the figure is already gone.

"Am I hallucinating?" he mutters. "Did someone just zoom by?"

Hawk grips the steering wheel tightly, debating what to do next.

Part of him believes the storm and exhaustion are messing with his head. But another part of him is completely convinced that what he saw was a magus.

"Because there’s no other explanation," he says out loud. "How can a regular human move that fast? Not even Sentinels can do that. Not that fast."

He glances again toward the direction where the figure disappeared.

Toward Rhaenas.

Toward Thea Montrose.

"Ugh! I don’t know!" With that, Hawk turns off the truck and climbs back out.

Then he starts running through the storm, following the figure as best he can.

------------------------------

As Sonia gets closer to the source of the mana concentration, she speeds up even more.

The storm helps conceal her movements, and she doubts anyone can even see her properly through the rain.

She zooms past Sunspire Hospital just as Hawk is about to reverse his truck.

Soon, Sonia arrives in front of the Rhaenas Inc. building.

She stares at the entrance.

Locked.

Floodwater reaches up to her knees, which has become the average water level on Solarys streets. Some areas are even worse.

Sonia tries the doors anyway. Locked, just as she expected.

She peers through the glass entrance. No lights are on inside the building.

Then suddenly—

She senses it.

A sharp spike in mana.

Sonia gasps and quickly steps back out into the flooded street. She tries to look upward, but the raging storm obstructs her vision completely.

"I can’t see clearly, but I can’t be wrong." Her expression tightens. "This is a mana spike. O Great Dhaerith... it’s so strong!"

She grinds her teeth.

"I can’t wait any longer. I have to get there. I’ll just have to rely on my senses."

The next second, Sonia jumps upward and forcefully pushes herself against the pouring rain.

Visibility is terrible, but she can still sense it.

Beyond one of the windows, somewhere high inside the building, a massive concentration of mana is converging rapidly.

"I have to stop it. Apologies in advance."

With a wave of her hand, the windows explode inward.

Glass shatters. Wood splinters apart. Debris flies everywhere. Wind and rain immediately rush into the apartment.

Sonia lands lightly on the balcony.

She pauses.

Inside what appears to be a living room, two men and a woman are standing amidst the destruction she just caused.

Furniture is damaged. Glass litters the floor. But the three of them are completely unharmed.

Each of them is protected by elemental magic.

Sonia stares at them in complete shock.

"What’s going on here?"

How are these people using magic? The question screams inside her head, but she does not say it out loud.

Her mind races rapidly.

Then suddenly, her senses catch another mana signature.

Different and extremely faint.

Sonia immediately scans the shattered room. Then her gaze lands on a woman. Her bright blue eyes spark.

Finally.

"Found you."