Twenty minutes into their trek, Kael was still trying to process the fact that he’d actually won that last encounter. Thalindra, meanwhile, strolled beside him with all the grace of someone who hadn’t just been humiliated by an impromptu tentacle spell. If anything, she seemed amused by the whole thing. Which, frankly, was terrifying.


    Kael kept sneaking glances at her, half-expecting her to stab him for revenge. Instead, she was smirking. Like she enjoyed the chaos.


    “Y’know,” she said suddenly, running a hand through her dark hair, “I should make you buy me new clothes after that little stunt.”


    Kael blinked. “Uh…what?”


    Thalindra gestured to her once-pristine rogue outfit—now covered in streaks of residual magic goo. Her sleek black boots? Ruined. Her sleeves? A mess. Her entire aesthetic? Absolutely destroyed.


    “Oh,” Kael muttered. “Yeah…I, uh, didn’t really think about the cleanup.”


    Thalindra stopped walking just to give him a slow, unimpressed stare. “You think?”


    Before Kael could offer some kind of half-baked apology, she muttered an incantation and—poof. The slimy residue vanished into thin air, erased from existence as if it had never dared to stain her outfit. Her clothes were pristine once more, not a single trace of the mess remaining. She gave her sleeves a final, unnecessary brush-off, then turned to Kael with the exhausted patience of someone dealing with a particularly dense child.


    Kael stared. “Okay, see, that’s ridiculous. You just wave your hand and reality rewrites itself? No stain, no effort, just—poof—gone? That’s cheating.”


    Thalindra gave him a pitying look. “You poor, simple creature.”


    “Alright, rude.”


    They kept walking, the tension between them oddly… light. Which only made Kael more suspicious. There was no way she was letting this go. Not after that spell had literally tied her in place.


    “So, let me get this straight—you have no clue what a Ravonix is, yet you’re casually slinging around tentacle magic in the middle of a magical forest? What kind of absurd backstory leads to that combination?”


    Kael hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Uh…hypothetically speaking—if someone were a reincarnate, should they, y’know…keep that to themselves?”


    Before Thalindra could answer, Zaroth’s voice slithered into Kael’s mind.


    “Don’t. Tell. Her. Anything.”


    Then, because one annoying voice in his head apparently wasn’t enough, Ezirah joined in.


    “Oh, relax,” she purred. “She looks like a useful pawn. Just tell her you’re on a special mission. And under no circumstances do you say I was the one who reincarnated you. Understand?”


    Kael exhaled sharply, already exhausted by his panel of unwanted advisors. “Look, let’s just say I’m on an important mission for a special Goddess. That’s all you need to know.”


    Thalindra crossed her arms, unimpressed. “That’s the vaguest answer I’ve heard all week.”


    “Yeah, well, it’s all you’re getting.”


    She stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Fine. Keep your secrets.”


    They continued down the path, the looming outline of Vardhelm rising in the distance. The city looked less like a place people lived and more like something designed to keep armies out. Dark stone walls stretched so high they scraped the sky, lined with shadowy figures that had to be guards.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Kael’s stomach twisted.


    He was walking straight into the last place he should be.


    “She’s not going to stop digging,” Zaroth warned. “The second you slip up, she’ll piece it together.”


    Kael sighed. “Yeah? Well, she’ll have to get in line. I’ve got enough problems as it is.”


    Thalindra, oblivious to the ongoing mental argument, suddenly spoke up. “If there was a reincarnate running around, that’d explain the weird magical disturbance people have been sensing.”


    Kael stiffened. “Magical disturbance?”


    “Yeah.” Thalindra shot him a look. “Some old guy in Vardhelm says he felt it—despite having no magic himself. Thought it was maybe [S] Rank, but based on scale and distance? Probably at least [SS+].”


    Kael’s brain short-circuited.


    “Wait. People felt me reincarnate?”


    Zaroth groaned. “Gods, you’re as subtle as a meteor crashing into a library.”


    Thalindra kept talking, oblivious to Kael’s internal panic. “We thought maybe it was the reincarnation of a Demon Lord or something. Hah, imagine that.”


    As they neared the city, the weight of what exactly Kael was doing finally settled in.


    He was about to walk straight into Vardhelm. With Zaroth, the very being who had helped destroy it the first time, literally stuck in his soul. And if anyone found out—


    Yeah. This was fine. Everything was fine.


    Thalindra, meanwhile, was too busy looking at the city like she had some history with it. “Vardhelm’s more fortress than city,” she said, voice quieter now. “Used to be the kingdom’s main stronghold before…well. Before everythingwent south.”


    Kael frowned. “Define everything.”


    She hesitated, then sighed. “It was the heart of the kingdom. A beacon of power. Until the Demon Lords came knocking. Most failed to take it. One succeeded.”


    Kael had a terrible feeling. “…Zaroth?”


    “Something like that,” Thalindra muttered. “His body’s sealed somewhere now, so no need to worry.”


    Kael made direct, soul-deep eye contact with the very Demon Lord sealed inside him.


    Zaroth smirked.


    Kael cleared his throat. “Yeah. No need to worry.”


    As they got closer to the gates, a cold weight settled in Kael’s gut.


    He had no plan. No backup. No way to explain why he, a supposed nobody, was strolling into one of the most important cities in the world. And if someone so much as glanced at his soul in the wrong way—


    This didn’t feel like the smartest move. But what other option did he have? His whole existence was bound to serving Ezirah.


    Kael’s thoughts turned inward as the weight of everything pressed down on him. He hesitated, his voice tinged with uncertainty as it echoed in his mind. “Hey, Zaroth,” he thought, “What exactly is my class?”


    Zaroth’s voice responded, smooth and measured. “It’s complicated, but you’re a Sage. The reason I’m bound to you is because of the Sage skill. Ezirah fused my ‘Dark’ Sage class with your ‘Light’ Sage, creating what’s called an ‘Ultimate Sage.’ This gives you access to both sides—knowledge, magic, history…all of it. In simpler terms, you have the potential to shape the world, manipulate spells, and learn faster than anyone else. You’re essentially a walking catalyst for chaos.”


    Kael blinked, trying to make sense of the flood of information. “That’s…a lot to take in.”


    Zaroth’s response was calm, almost amused. “Exactly. Right now, you’re weak. But soon, you’ll surpass other Sages. Your skills will grow quickly the more you learn and practice. You won’t reach [S] rank overnight, but you’ll climb faster than most. In time, you’ll wield the combined power of Light and Dark Sages. That’s what makes you different.”


    The weight of those words settled deep in Kael’s chest. He wasn’t just some average mage. He was something far more dangerous.


    Thalindra shot him a glance, noticing the tension in his posture. “You okay?” she asked, her voice softer now, sensing something had shifted.


    Kael snapped out of his thoughts, blinking as he tried to shake off the overwhelming flood of information. “Yeah, just…didn’t realize how dark Vardhelm’s past was. Being destroyed by Zaroth and everything.”


    “Past?” Thalindra scoffed, her lips curving into a small, knowing smile. “It’s not a past, Kael. It’s a warning. Vardhelm’s a reminder that power can fall in an instant. This wouldn’t have happened under Elven rule. Humans are too prideful for their own good.”


    Kael nodded, still processing everything. The sense of unease only grew stronger the closer they got to the city. It wasn’t just the past weighing on him—it was the feeling that they were walking straight into a storm.


    “Let’s just get through the gates,” Thalindra urged, her voice steady and resolute. “Once we’re inside, you’ll see what I mean.”


    Kael couldn’t shake the chill running through him as the looming gates of Vardhelm neared. Whatever awaited them behind those walls would change everything. He just hadn’t realized how much.