Present Day — Galecrest, StormreachThe Galewarden Inn loomed tall and proud in the heart of the city, its weathered stone frame standing eight stories high.Amid the chaos of war and rising tensions, this inn remained a thriving hub of activity, bustling with a motley crowd of mercenaries, bounty hunters, traveling merchants, and rough-souled adventurers drawn by coin and the promise of battle.The scent of spiced meats and fermented brews mingled with sweat, leather, and steel.Music echoed faintly from below—zither, lutes, and rowdy songs sung off-key—and flickering lanternlight painted dancing shadows along the timbered walls.On the second floor, seated at a round six-seater table near the corner open window, were Oasis Volacris, Venak Zephyrine, and Du Shiye—though none wore their true names tonight.They were dressed in dark leather tunics, reinforced with metallic studs and layered straps, offering mobility and decent protection—perfect for mercenary work.A deep white sash ci

Glacia TerritoryThud. Thud. Thud.The piercing sound of ice spears thundering into the earth echoed across the battlefield.From the skies above, a relentless hail of jagged, crystalline spears rained down with divine precision, crashing into the advancing undead cultivators.Each time an icy spear struck its mark, the undead screeched in unnatural agony as their rotting bodies froze over in an instant.Cracks webbed across their limbs, then—Shatter!—like glass, they splintered into countless frozen shards, their corrupted essence dispersed into the wind.At the eye of this frozen storm stood Amara Frostveil, wrapped in robes of deep blue laced with silver filigree, her long hair rippling with frost energy.Her breath misted the air in great gusts as she stared down the horde of hundreds, her eyes narrowed at the dark figure behind them—the Second Elder of the Shadowfen Family, arms outstretched as he channeled foul necromantic arts into his army of the dead.The defenders of Glaci

The entire landscape trembled.A blast like a meteor strike ripped through the frozen plains—snowstorms were ripped away, clouds shredded into vapor.The two spells, one of pure flame and the other a swirling dark void, clashed with a deafening roar.The epicenter of their collision erupted into a maelstrom of heat and shadow, sending shockwaves rippling across a radius of a hundred kilometers.The sky above flickered red and black as the clash of magic cracked the heavens.Mountains groaned in the distance.The earth beneath them split open in fractures like spiderwebs, some of them glowing with molten fire beneath the permafrost.Trees were reduced to ashes in a blink, and the ground rumbled as if Verdantia itself had cried out in agony.“Ignis Magic: Flameborne Edict,” Draco intoned solemnly.In response, his grimoire ignited into being behind him—its cover wreathed in tongues of fire, pages fluttering even without wind.Each fiery page burned with scripture written in molten runes

"Mmh… a talented one indeed. I guess not all these youngsters have been wasting their time after all," Jovial Shadowfen thought as he floated steadily forward, dark mana cloaking his body like a writhing storm.His every step toward Amara was deliberate, his eyes narrow with calculating interest.Amara stood poised atop a jagged slope of frost-covered terrain, her presence alone warping the atmosphere into an ethereal battlefield.Waves of intense frost mana radiated from her like a tide of winter itself—beautiful, deadly, ancient.Jovial’s advance slowed.The closer he got, the more fiercely the frost mana resisted him.It wasn't just cold—it was law, a concept made real, a manifestation of someone who had comprehended the Law of Frost.The black tendrils of his dark mana hissed as the frost mana ate into them like acid, tearing away pieces of the shroud shielding him."So this is the strength of someone who’s comprehended the Law of Frost," Jovial muttered aloud, narrowing his eyes.

The night sky over Verdantia was vast, ink-dark, and filled with stars—until a sudden brilliance tore through the heavens like a second moon being born. The luminous wave from Amara Frostveil’s ancient formation pulsed outward, erupting from Glacia and soaring into the atmosphere like a pillar of divinity. The radiant beam shot up 50,000 meters into the sky before fracturing into arcs of crystalline light. That light swept across the continent in every direction—frost-hued, moonlit, and pure. For one breathless moment, the entirety of Verdantia was bathed in soft, silvery glow. The night turned into day. From the Shattered Isles to the Duskwither Mountains, to the western shores of Dreadmarsh, the light pierced clouds, danced over forests, and shimmered across rivers. Even in remote valleys and abandoned forts, the world paused. And then, in a slow blink, the light vanished—leaving only the distant shimmer of an enormous mountain of ice on the southeastern horizon. Spring