At the end of the date, Vichel and Zeff stand together on the rooftop of a three-story building, both gazing at the night view of the city center.

  “We’ve tried everything.” Zeff’s voice comes as his eyes remain fixed downward, toward the bustling crowd. “Walking hand in hand, eating together, riding the Ferris wheel but falling asleep. Did you feel anything?”

  “Yes.” Vichel answers in a flat tone. “The feeling of wondering why we did all that.”

  Zeff chuckles softly.

  While he’s looking away, Vichel freezes for a moment.

  “Even after going on a date with Zeff, my heart doesn’t race at all… not like when I met that stranger.”

  She remembers her first encounter with Liam — the moment her heart fluttered in awe.

  “Is that what it feels to like someone? I really hope I can meet him again.”

  “Hey, what are you daydreaming about?” Zeff’s voice snaps her back to reality.

  He points toward a building across the street.

  “Do you ever feel like doing what they’re doing?”

  On the second-floor balcony across from them, a couple is sharing a passionate kiss.

  “Eww…” Vichel reacts instantly, complete with her expression. “Disgusting.”

  Zeff leans slightly toward Vichel, lowering his body to see her face more closely.

  “I’m imagining doing that with you.” The indecent line is delivered with a blank expression.

  Vichel raises a clenched fist with a threatening look. “This is what you’ll get if you try to act on it.”

  “I figured your reaction would be like that. Don’t worry, even in my imagination it doesn’t feel pleasant.” Zeff straightens back up to his normal stance.

  Vichel looks straight at him. “Why did you ask me out? Do you seriously like me?”

  Zeff shrugs. “I don’t know either. My heart races when I fight you in the arena, my heart raced after our duel this afternoon. Some say that’s a sign of liking someone. That’s why I wanted to test it.”

  Zeff speaks his feelings plainly, without the slightest awkwardness.

  “Why did you accept my invitation to go on a date?”

  “To prove that you’re the only one with strange feelings like that.” Vichel also answers with her usual honesty.

  “Alright then, I guess it’s clear—it’s just a fleeting, strange feeling that comes and goes.”

  At last, they reach a conclusion from their trial date that night.

  “It seems we’ve actually given them the chance to go on a real date.” Zeff watches Tseryo and Jacelin still walking side by side among the crowd in the city center.

  They’ve just come out of a souvenir shop.

  Vichel watches from above as well. “They really do suit each other as a couple.”

  “I’m pretty sure that once return to Karsh, they’ll definitely be matched together,” Zeff says with strong optimism. “Just like his brother, right?”

  Vichel knows that. “Yeah, Lucas’s wife used to be his classmate at the academy. They married right after graduation and became an amazing battlemage couple!”

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  A sudden commotion echoes from one side of the city center. Zeff and Vichel turn their eyes toward the source of the noise, though several tall buildings block their view.

  “Why is it suddenly so noisy over there?” Vichel wonders.

  “I heard someone shouting for help. Let’s go!”

  Zeff and Vichel leap high, moving from one rooftop to another until they’re closer to the source of the commotion. Only then can they see the dangerous situation unfolding.

  The townspeople scatter in panic, running for safety while shouting.

  “Quick, call the security forces!”

  “Battlemage! Is there a battlemage here?!”

  “A houl portal has appeared!!”

  From the rooftop nearby, Zeff and Vichel are stunned by the size of the red-black portal.

  “Whoa! That’s a huge houl portal.” Yet no trace of worry shows on Zeff’s face.

  “There will be a lot of houls coming out of a portal that big!”

  Vichel jumps down first. Zeff quickly follows. The two of them land on the now-empty street, as the townspeople have already fled far from the portal’s appearance.

  Tseryo and Jacelin arrive at the crowd of townspeople fleeing from the portal. They too are stunned by the portal’s massive size.

  Tseryo quickly speaks with a worried look as he turns to Jacelin. “Lady Lurca, if the situation worsens, please run to safety at once,” he asks.

  Then Tseryo hastens to join Vichel and Zeff, who are already standing by in front of the portal.

  “Tseryo!” Vichel feels more at ease with another teammate arriving.

  “I thought you’d be escorting Jacelin home first,” Zeff greets him with his usual sarcasm.

  Tseryo doesn’t bother with it. “She’s not a child.”

  His focus is fixed instead on the massive houl portal before their eyes.

  Seeing three young people daring to confront the portal, the townsfolk feel a sense of relief.

  “Are they battlemages?”

  “Looks like it, maybe academy students.”

  “Please! Destroy the portal!” the crowd cheers with desperate hope.

  Since both the houls and the portal can only be eradicated with elemental power, that duty naturally falls upon those born as mages.

  Tseryo turns to Zeff and Vichel. “You two were waiting for me to arrive before making a move?”

  Zeff responds in annoyance, “Exactly!”

  The muscular young man immediately unleashes a blast of a large electro sphere wrapped in raw emotion, striking the houl portal directly. The effect is enough to make the portal fade slightly, though only a little.

  “As expected from Verlyn Academy’s top battlemage,” Tseryo remarks, though in a sarcastic tone.

  Zeff is truly irritated. “Go on then, try it with your great power—if you can really erase it in one strike!”

  “Hey! Stop fighting!” Vichel scolds firmly. “We have to work together!”

  Without feeling like he’s part of the quarrel, Tseryo agrees. “You’re right, Vichel. Let’s do it as usual.”

  Tseryo summons his blue sword. Vichel draws her white sword, then steps back a few paces. It’s as if the two already have a strategy, leaving Zeff as a bystander.

  After gathering a vast amount of power, Tseryo swings his blue sword so swiftly that it sends a powerful, rushing wave of water toward the portal.

  One second later, Vichel releases a fierce surge of wind.

  As though they had calculated the distance and speed of each element’s flow, Tseryo’s water and Vichel’s wind meet precisely at the portal’s surface, producing an immensely powerful combined explosion.

  The portal’s density weakens much more significantly.

  Tseryo and Vichel both clench their fists. “Yes! This way is more effective at weakening the portal.”

  Zeff’s face shows displeasure at seeing the two of them working so well as a team—and Tseryo notices it.

  “Learn from the experienced,” he mocks.

  Zeff shoots back with equal sarcasm. “Yeah, great combination attack. But it’s useless if it can’t destroy the portal in one strike. The houls will still come out.”

  He points toward the black portal, where the dark creatures’ hands have begun to emerge from within.

  Houl—terrifying black creatures with monstrous forms and glowing red eyes—emerge from the portal. Their heights vary, ranging from half a meter to three meters tall. They have two arms and two legs like humans, but their bodies look like bones wrapped in dry skin, and each of their five fingers ends in long, sharp claws. Their forms are draped in tattered, dull cloth-like material that clings to their frames.

  The creatures’ entire bodies are shrouded in scorching, dust-like black smoke—like the remnants of an eternal fire. Their wide mouths keep growling in a dreadful tone, whether from hunger for prey or from unbearable pain, no one can tell.

  The larger the portal, the greater the number of houls it releases.

  Zeff, Vichel, and Tseryo are forced to keep their distance from the portal as more houls emerge. Even so, the three tournament champions show not a hint of fear.

  Zeff draws his twin daggers. “This is going to be a long night.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” Tseryo replies. “The security forces will be here soon.”

  “We just need to hold these creatures back so they don’t attack the civilians, right?” Vichel concludes fearlessly.

  Zeff lets out a short laugh as he looks at her. “I was actually waiting for you to start screaming in fear.”

  The electro-wielding young man dashes forward first, his black daggers enveloped in elemental energy. As he charges ahead, he shouts back to the two behind him, “The champion will take down the most houls!”

  Vichel’s competitive spirit ignites. “I won’t lose to you!!” she calls out, swiftly following him with the speed of the wind.

  Tseryo is left momentarily speechless at his teammates’ childish behavior. “When will they ever grow up?” he mutters, then moves to join the fight.

  The battle erupts—three battlemage champions against a horde of houl soldiers from the realm of darkness.