The journey back to the surface felt like climbing out of a nightmare.Draven's head was still spinning with new memories, new skills, new knowledge that felt both foreign and familiar at the same time. Every step reminded him of a different combat technique. Every breath brought tactical insights from commanders who had died centuries ago. Every heartbeat pulsed with the accumulated wisdom of heroes he'd never met but now knew intimately.This is what it means to carry the dead, he thought. This is what grandfather prepared me for."You sure you're okay?" Jin asked for the dozenth time as they climbed through the catacombs. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Well, more ghosts than usual.""I'm fine," Draven lied. "Just tired. That was... intense."Intense. Right. Try having the final moments of three hundred heroes burned into your brain.But he couldn't tell them that. Couldn't explain that he now knew seventeen different ways to kill someone with a dinner

The three-day journey to Sakura Valley nearly killed them twice. First was the pack of shadow wolves that came out of nowhere on the second night, their eyes glowing red as they circled the camp. Draven had barely managed to wake the others before the attack began. Shadow wolves. Great. Because regular wolves weren't dangerous enough. "Stay together!" he'd shouted, drawing his sword as the first wolf lunged at Jin. The fight was brutal and fast. Lyra's wind magic had scattered the pack initially, but they kept coming back, smarter and more coordinated than normal animals should be. These aren't normal wolves. There's something wrong with them. It was Sera's shadow magic that finally drove them off, confusing their senses until they couldn't tell friend from foe. But not before one of them had nearly taken Jin's arm off. Too close. Way too close. The second near-death experience came on the third morning when they encountered an earth drake defending its territory. The thing was

The ancient battlefield was a minefield of magical death traps.Every step they took deeper into the valley revealed new horrors left over from the great battle three hundred years ago. Runes carved into stones that exploded when touched. Spectral weapons that materialized from nowhere to attack anything that moved. Patches of ground where reality itself seemed unstable, warping and shifting like heat mirages.This place is insane. How did anyone survive fighting here?"Watch your step," Draven warned as they skirted around a crater where the air shimmered with dangerous energy. "Grandfather's stories mentioned magical traps that never deactivated."Grandfather's stories. Right. Because I can't exactly say 'the memories of dead heroes are telling me this place is a deathtrap.'Jin nearly stepped on a pressure plate hidden beneath fallen sakura petals. The moment his foot came down, the stone slab triggered with a sharp click.Oh shit.A volley of spectral arrows materialized from the

The apex predator was dead, but the cost was written on Jin's face.He knelt beside the massive stone spear he'd created, his skin pale as parchment and blood trickling from his nose. The effort of channeling that much earth magic had pushed him far beyond his limits.He gave everything. Literally everything.That spear took every ounce of magical energy he had."Jin," Draven said, kneeling beside his friend. "Talk to me. How bad is it?"How bad is it? He looks like he's dying.Because he might be. That's what happens when you use more magic than your body can handle."I'm okay," Jin said weakly, but his voice was barely above a whisper. "Just... tired. Really tired."Tired. Right. The kind of tired that comes from nearly burning out your magical core.The kind of tired that kills people."You're not okay," Lyra said, her wind magic gentle as she examined him. "You've got magical exhaustion. Severe magical exhaustion."Magical exhaustion. When you use more power than your body can saf