A light wind was blowing outside. The sun had not fully risen yet, and there was still a little darkness in the sky. The whole area had that strange early-morning silence.
Inside the room, Leo and Ray were sleeping deeply on their beds. Marks of injuries were visible on their faces, the wounds from yesterday's fight with Skye still clear on their bodies. Both of them looked like they had been broken apart and put back together. Every breath felt painful.
Just then, Ray heard the faint sound of someone walking closer.
Half asleep, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room... but no one was there.
Confused, he closed his eyes again.
A few seconds later... the sound came again.
This time Ray opened his eyes slightly... and saw someone standing right in front of him.
It was too dark to see the face clearly. Only a shadow-like figure was standing there.
Ray's brain was still trapped in sleep.
He shook Leo, who was sleeping beside him, and said,
"Leo... wake up... why am I seeing a monster in front of me..."
Leo opened his eyes halfway and looked at Ray.
"What happened..."
Ray pointed forward.
Leo slowly looked at the shadow too... then with a blank face said,
"Yeah... I can see the monster too..."
Both of them looked at each other...
Then calmly closed their eyes again.
One second of silence.
Then suddenly—
BOOM!
Steven grabbed Leo first and threw him straight out of the room.
Leo flew outside and landed inside a small pond.
SPLASH!
The freezing cold water shocked him awake instantly.
"AAAAH! IT'S COLD!"
Leo was trying to stand up when he saw something flying toward him from the front.
It was Ray.
Steven had thrown him out too.
Ray screamed in the air,
"WHAT IS HAPPENI—"
BAM!
Ray's head crashed directly into Leo's head.
Both of them fell back into the pond.
After a few seconds, they came out while holding their heads and shouting.
"Aaaah! My head!"
"Is he crazy?!"
Just then Steven walked toward them with both arms crossed, completely calm.
He stopped near the pond and said,
"Training time has started."
Leo and Ray stared at him like they wanted revenge.
Both climbed out of the pond completely soaked. Water was dripping from their clothes. The morning air was already cold, and on top of that their bodies were injured.
Ray was shivering badly.
Leo said through chattering teeth,
"Is this training or torture..."
Steven replied with no expression,
"Go. Change your clothes quickly."
Both of them slowly started walking back toward the room like old men with broken bones.
Then Steven said from behind,
"The longer you take... the harder the training will be."
The moment they heard that, both looked at each other and instantly sprinted.
"Why didn't you say that first?!"
A few minutes later, both returned wearing fresh clothes and sat in front of Steven. Their faces were serious now because they could tell today's topic was important.
Steven stood before them and said,
"You both need to become stronger. The Ogre King attack on the academy... was not a normal attack."
Ray quickly asked,
"Then what kind of attack was it?"
Steven did not answer.
Instead, he looked directly at Leo.
Leo already understood what this was about.
He quietly said,
"That attack was related to demons."
Ray immediately sat upright.
"Are you crazy? You're saying nonsense!"
But when he saw Leo's serious face... then looked at Steven... and saw there was not even one percent sign of a joke on either of them...
Ray's throat went dry.
"Impossible..."
Leo placed a finger on his chin and said slowly,
"I killed him with my own hands... I saw his head fall to the ground myself."
Leo closed his eyes.
The memory of Ogre King's death flashed in his mind again. Blood... roaring... the head rolling on the ground...
Ray quietly asked,
"Then how are you both sure they were demons?"
Steven closed his eyes... then opened them.
He looked at Leo.
Leo silently nodded.
After that, Steven began telling everything.
How traitors were created...
What the seals were...
Who Leo's father was...
What happened in the past...
And what kind of danger demons truly were.
Ray listened quietly.
As the story went on, his mind felt overloaded.
When everything ended, his eyes remained wide open.
He could only say one thing.
"This... is impossible..."
Leo placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's true."
Ray stared at the ground for a few seconds, then asked,
"If all the seals break... what will happen?"
Steven's eyes became even more serious.
His voice turned heavy.
"Then demons will enter this world."
"After that... there will only be destruction everywhere."
Hearing that, Ray slammed his fist into the ground.
BAM!
"All those kings of the continents are so greedy! Just for a comfortable life they risked everything! And poor people here are dying in pain!"
Steven said quietly,
"There is no simple way to stop this."
"But before demons arrive here... we have to stop all of them."
Then Steven said one more thing.
"According to my prediction... one seal will break this very year."
The atmosphere instantly became heavier.
Leo slowly asked,
"What should we do now?"
Just then, the sound of a yawn came from the side.
Everyone turned.
Skye was walking toward them. Her hair was a little messy, sleep still in her eyes, stretching both arms in the air.
While yawning, she said,
"Our 6th Division Captain got information that there is a demonic cult here performing rituals."
"I was sent to investigate that."
Leo and Ray were listening carefully.
But Steven's reaction was different.
He looked at Skye and gave a soft smile.
"Did you sleep well?"
Leo and Ray froze after seeing that smile.
They clearly remembered this was the same man who had thrown them into water earlier.
Ray slowly whispered to Leo,
"Does he have two personalities or what?"
Skye replied with a blank face,
"Who can sleep with that much noise?"
Steven immediately looked awkward.
"Sorry... you can go sleep again."
Skye said,
"I'm leaving tonight for the investigation. My captain's spy will give me information about the cult tonight."
The moment she said that, Leo stood up.
"Take me with you too."
Ray instantly stood as well.
"Me too! I want to help!"
Skye immediately refused.
"No."
Leo and Ray both made innocent puppy faces.
"Please..."
Skye said again,
"No."
This time both folded their hands.
"Pleaaaase..."
Steven said from the side,
"Take them. They'll learn something too."
Skye placed a hand on her head.
Annoyed, she said,
"Fine! I'll take you both!"
"But protect yourselves."
One second of silence.
Then Leo and Ray jumped together.
"YESSS!"
Ray shouted,
"Adventure!"
Leo shouted,
"Demonic cult!"
Steven then said,
"Training is not cancelled."
Both instantly froze.
"...what?"