The voice came from the dark behind him, calm, deep, and disturbingly human. “You weren’t supposed to come back, Spellbound.”Caster froze. His breath hitched, his fingers tightening around his staff. The sound of that voice carried no echo.It wasn’t distant; it was right there. Close enough that he could feel the vibration in the air. He turned slowly.A figure stood at the edge of the shadows, outlined by faint blue light seeping in from the far cavern. Armor gleamed under the glow, patterned with Cloud Tower insignia, polished, efficient, deadly.The man took a step forward. His white hair caught the light, and the mask across his lower face flickered with tiny embedded runes. His eyes, cold and sharp as crystal, met Caster’s without hesitation. Caster whispered, “Who are you?”The man tilted his head slightly. “Ardis Valen. Commander, Cloud Tower’s Rift Reconnaissance Division.”The name struck something deep in Caster’s mind, distant memory, faint as a shadow. “Valen?”Ardis’s

The tunnel walls pulsed with pale blue light, revealing broken arches and long-dead mana veins stretching into the darkness. Every echo bounced back too slowly, as if the air itself hesitated to move.Caster walked in silence beside Ardis Valen, keeping “Verric’s” weak aura wrapped tightly around him. His posture was controlled, calm, scholar-like. But inside, every muscle in his body was tense.Ahead, the path opened into a wide chamber filled with floating stones and drifting dust. The team stepped inside quickly, spreading out with trained efficiency. Ardis raised a hand. “Team positions. Verric, stay with me.”Caster gave a stiff nod. Four figures moved into the scattered blue light, each one unique, each one carrying a different kind of danger Caster had to navigate carefully.Ardis began the introductions like a commander introducing weapons rather than people.“Lyra Kelm,” he said, gesturing to the woman crouched beside a broken crystal pillar.She lifted her head. Soft bro

The ruins trembled again, dust raining down from the cracked ceiling. Somewhere far above, Skell’s heartbeat pulsed like distant thunder, shaking the entire hall.Caster stayed close behind the Cloud Tower team, still wearing the identity of “Verric,” the quiet archivist with weak mana and harmless presence. But inside, his pulse raced with every step. Ardis walked ahead, silent and rigid, but Caster could feel the commander’s thoughts circling him like hungry shadows.Drace marched with one hand on his rune blade. Lyra checked her scanners repeatedly.Rynne kept glancing back at Caster, sensing something beneath the surface. Milo scribbled shaky notes on his floating scroll.The air thickened as they entered a broken corridor filled with floating stones and shattered runic plates.Caster stopped walking for a moment. His chest tightened. Something was wrong.“Commander,” Lyra said suddenly, voice tense, “mana pressure is rising. There’s a collapse forming ahead.”Drace cursed. “Agai

The corridor ahead widened into a dim hall, one filled with floating stones, cracked pillars, and a thick stillness that felt like a held breath. Pale blue light pulsed along the walls, matching the shaky rhythm of Skell’s decaying heartbeat.Ardis moved first, slow and cautious, his boots crunching over fragments of ancient rune plates.Caster walked behind him, every step careful, controlled, hiding the tremors in his fingers from the earlier void surge.Drace and Milo scanned the walls. Rynne listened to the air as if it whispered secrets only she could hear.Lyra studied the readings on her device with growing amazement. “Commander,” she said, voice hushed, “we’ve found something big.”Ardis raised a brow. “Define big.”Lyra stepped aside, revealing a large crystalline slab half-buried in the wall. It was shaped like a circular disc, with ancient runes forming a ring around a dark, dormant core.But what pulled everyone’s attention was the inscription glowing above it, thin, deli

The march to the Mirror Dome took longer than anyone expected. The ground grew harder, smoother, almost polished as if ancient hands had carved a path long before any of them were born. Caster walked with the group, but his steps were quieter, more careful. He kept his senses pulled tight, listening to every whisper of mana around him. Ardis led at the front with confident strides, his coat moving like a dark banner, while the other four followed with their gear humming and their crystals glowing faint blue.Above them, the sky could no longer decide what it wanted to be. Pale streaks of silver stretched across the horizon.But every few seconds, the light bent unnaturally, as though the sky itself twisted from within. Caster already knew the truth; this sky wasn’t real. It was the Mirror Dome, the artificial layer created by the old Oaker scouts to study the plane safely.“Caster,” Eidric’s voice drifted softly beside him like a thoughtful wind. “Your aura is unsteady. Slow your b