Recap :

  Friday

  This time I will challenge myself not to run.

  I was good enough to strike one, I know I will be defeated but I will face them.

  Three bullies waited.

  They smiled.

  I didn't.

  Horkas was out there, Becoming something worse.

  And I—

  I tightened my grip on my sword.

  Because this time—

  I wouldn’t look away.

  Episode 7

  Three of them waited.

  They leaned against the wall like this was routine .

  One tossed a coin into the air, letting it spin long enough to insult gravity before catching it again.

  They smiled.

  I didn’t.

  Somewhere far beyond this alley, far beyond the city walls, Horkas is doing a evil deeds because of me.

  I can't step forward but my mind keeps on chattering about Aisha.

  That thought tightened my chest.

  I reached for my sword, The grip was rough, familiar. No essence flowed through it. No runes hummed. Just steel and raw power of mine.

  This time—

  I wouldn’t look away.

  As I walked toward them, one peeled away from the wall.

  Its the green caped bronze 5,

  He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck

  “Yoo, boi,” he said, flicking a coin toward me. It bounced once, twice, landing near my foot.

  “Come on. Take the coins.”

  I stopped three steps away, should I run away?

  I have already prepared to face those 3 upper ranks but I can't win why do i have to face them.

  Running away isn't a option anymore, should I surrender?

  My sword stayed low.

  My breathing slowed.

  A scratch on one is enough for me even though I will be tortured I will beat atleast one. A man can't go down without fighting right?

  I smiled

  A pleasant smile. The kind I used in my old life when I needed someone to underestimate me.

  “Nothing is free”, I said calmly

  “Mr. parasite”

  For half a second, the world paused.

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  Then his essence ignited.

  Howling Gale

  Wind screamed

  Not a breeze. Not a push.

  A compressed wall of pressure surged forward, thick with dust and debris, the air itself turned violent.

  Fog bloomed instantly, kicked up from the ground, swallowing my vision

  It was powerful,

  It was overwhelming,

  But it was slow.

  More precisely—

  I was fast

  I didn’t retreat, I stepped into it.

  The moment the gale struck my blade, my wrists twisted—not resisting, not blocking, but guiding. I felt the pressure slide along the steel, felt the vibration shudder up my arms, felt bone complain and muscle tighten.

  I SWUNG

  A wide horizontal arc,

  Wind screamed past my shoulder as I forced the gale to collapse inward on itself.

  The pressure dispersed sideways instead of forward, tearing chunks from the wall instead of my spine.

  Shock cracked his face “YOU MULF—!”

  His scream was like a wild species “REFLECTING MY ATTACK?!”

  He stumbled back, boots scraping stone.

  His hands snapped upward.

  Essence flared blue.

  He carved a Triskelion into the air—

  three spiraling arcs intersecting at the center, each line vibrating with compressed wind.

  The symbol Rotated, stacking on pressure.

  So here carving symbols using their Essence to use INCANTATION.

  The air detonated

  Multi-Strike Barrage

  Wind slammed from every angle, ripping at my clothes, flaying skin, turning dust and stone into screaming knives.

  The ground buckled beneath my feet, cracks spiderwebbing outward as the barrage chewed through space.

  My sleeves disintegrated.

  Blood sprayed warm against cold air.

  Pain bloomed—

  blood splashed.

  I didn’t move back,

  I didn’t close my eyes,

  Mainly I didn't run away.

  Everything that relates to magic follows rules and a pattern.

  Debris curved inward,Dust rotated counterclockwise,Pressure rebounded unevenly.

  There—A flaw.

  A relentless amount of essence to cast a single spell.

  I have researched it before, 5 body parts are the main reason for casting a powerful consistent spell attacks.

  Here, his ruthless anger hides the momentum of breathing.

  Which is a key for allocating essence to cast a spell.

  Now this is my CHANCE.

  I stepped forward

  Let his own vacuum GRAB ME,

  Let his power PULL ME .

  My body leaned into nothingness, my blade accelerating, muscles screaming as momentum stacked on momentum.

  I saw his throat.

  I saw fear replace arrogance.

  I was already swinging——

  ICE

  A sound sharper than wind sliced past my ear

  Cold exploded.

  I TWISTED, TOO LATE.

  SILVER 4 APPEARS

  “Play time is over, mulf” The voice didn’t shout but It pressed me down.

  The air froze—

  not metaphorically. Breath crystallized in my lungs. Sound dulled, like the world had been wrapped in cloth.

  His posture was relaxed, but not careless. Every movement economical.

  “It’s time to teach a lesson,” he said calmly.

  He didn’t even look at me as he spoke to the other one.

  “Move.”

  The red-robed Bronze grabbed his companion, dragging him away despite furious protests.

  “I’ll deal with this one after,” the Silver continued, eyes finally meeting mine.

  His eyes were like a predator ready for his feast.

  He said “You should feel honored”

  He smiled symmetrically and started to whisper something

  I couldn’t hear anything properly .

  Fragments slipped through the wind.

  “—ice god—”

  “—best—”

  “—borrow—power—”

  The surrounding is fully covered with Frozen Fog,White swallowed the world.

  My sword cut forward.

  Raw force tore through the haze—

  But nothing happened

  I swung again and again

  Not even a bit is cleared.

  The cold wasn’t just temperature,It crawled. It invaded muscle, thickened blood.

  My heartbeat sounded too loud, too fragile.

  The Incantation Shapes hovered within the white, Downward-pointing triangles nested inside a lead-gray alchemical circle.

  A formation.

  A prison.

  Silence stretched, Too long.

  I remembered the terrain.

  There should be a tree on my left.

  I moved

  My foot struck a bark

  I climbed—

  branches scraping skin, breath burning as cold gnawed through bone.

  Height will usually have vision but not here.

  I raised my sword—

  —

  Something slammed into me from three directions.

  Water-solid spikes, Not regular ice

  Supercooled essence compressed until it behaved like metal.

  They pinned me between the trunk and sky.

  The world flipped

  I fell

  The fog tore open.

  The Silver stood on the torn part of the fog

  He walked forward and kicked my head and snapped sideways

  Mud mixed with freezing essence burst into my eyes. Burning. Freezing.

  A pain so contradictory my brain stuttered trying to process it.

  I couldn’t stand it.

  My limbs didn’t answer.

  Am I that powerless?

  A week of restless training.

  Sweat. Blood. Discipline.

  I couldn’t even use my shadow arts.

  Magicless,

  Useless,

  A mulf.

  Am I going to die here…

  I should have never come here.

  I have stood aside from my fear but still it's impossible to win.

  Survival is all that matters, should I try to run?

  My body—

  Refused.

  It wouldn’t move.

  Usually, the body flees first but wishes to face consequences.

  On a foggy thick air, Fire Interrupts Ice, The air bent.

  Heat folded space like paper,

  The Silver turned—

  Too late.

  Fire carved the ground open, not wild, not roaring—compressed. A figure landed between us, sword drawn, flame coiled around her like a restrained sun.

  IT'S LUNA

  GOLD RANK 1

  Her presence erased the battlefield.

  The Silver staggered back instinctively.

  “You attacked a trainee,” she said flatly.

  “In my district.”

  Fire pulsed.

  She didn’t chant.

  She didn’t draw symbols.

  But flames are casted from her sword. It's so precise.

  Only a person who has mastered the art of breathing and controlled their blood flow can cast a spell at this level so precisely.

  The Bronze screamed from far,

  The Silver tried to raise an incantation—

  Too slow

  Fire struck

  Burned pride before flesh

  They started to run for their life

  After the Ash

  I lay there breathing barely.

  Luna turned to me.

  Her expression wasn’t relief.

  “WHY DIDN'T YOU RUN ?” she snapped.

  I forced air into my lungs.

  “IF I RAN ” I said hoarsely, “I CAN’T FACE HORKAS OR MY PAST”

  Her jaw tightened

  “That’s not BRAVERY ” she said

  “That’s STUPIDITY ”

  I replied, “Maybe but it's different for me”

  She looked away.

  “Standing when you know you’ll lose”, she muttered while smiling“—that’s a double edge most people fear to use”

  She helped me up “CONGRATULATIONS for earning your MASTER”

  What the hell is she talking about—

  Oh yea she said something like earn your master or like that.

  Suddenly I nodded with joy after a moment of silence.

  Her smile turned to anger ?? “Don't tell me you have forgetten that ”

  What did I forget, did I miss anything.

  I replied her “ofc not how would I forget that”

  She smiled and said “ I trust you, alright let's cut this topic" she SHOUTED "IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE”

  After a long time I felt relieved and peace after coming to this world.

  I asked her “how are we supposed to celebrate ??? ”

  She wickedly smiled “oh William can't you wait for it ”

  To be continued.