Julian smiled, taking a step closer. "I came to celebrate. You did it, Susanna. You graduated. I brought you a gift." He reached into his pocket, his rough fingers touching the velvet box."Stop," Susanna hissed sharply. She stepped down from the platform, grabbing his arm tightly. Her fingernails dug into his suit jacket. "Are you crazy? Why are you dressed like that? You look like a beggar!"Julian blinked, confused. "This is my best suit. I cleaned it.""Your best suit is garbage!" she whispered angrily, pulling him toward a dark corner, away from the wealthy Mages. "I sent you an invitation so you could have a nice dinner at the back, away from everyone. I didn't tell you to walk up to me in front of the High Council!"Julian felt a cold lump form in his stomach. The warm hope in his chest started to freeze. "Susanna... what are you talking about? I'm your boyfriend. I wanted to tell you how proud I am.""Boyfriend?"The word left her mouth like a dirty curse word.Suddenly, the s

It was freezing. Not the normal kind of cold that came with winter snow. This was a deep, unnatural cold that sank straight into the bones. It smelled like burning ozone, like a lightning storm mixed with the sour scent of rotten eggs and melted plastic.Julian Blake was falling through the Miasma Rift. The wind roared in his ears like a screaming beast. All around him, the thick, sickly green fog rolled and bubbled. It was not just smoke; it was raw, toxic magic.As he fell deeper into the abyss, the green fog wrapped tightly around his broken body. It started to eat him alive. His clothes burned away into ash. The skin on his arms and face began to change. Tiny, sharp crystals formed over his flesh. The magical radiation of the Miasma was slowly turning his human body into a brittle, icy rock.He could not scream. His jaw was broken. His lungs were crushed.Crash!Julian slammed into something thick and rubbery. It was a giant, fleshy vine stretching across the dark canyon. The he

Julian stopped pacing. The robotic voice was right. He really did have nothing to lose. He had lost his girlfriend, his dignity, and his normal life. He was a walking dead man with a ticking clock in his chest.He looked down at his hands again. He was tired of being weak. He was tired of being the dirt that rich Mages stepped on. If this crazy System was telling him to kiss an S-Rank Witch to survive, then he was going to find a way to do it. He refused to die before seeing Darius Cage bleed."Fine," Julian muttered, clenching his fists. "Fine. But first, I have to get out of this Rift."He finally took a good look at his surroundings. The bottom of the Miasma Rift was a nightmare. The ground was covered in thick black mud that smelled like rotten meat. Giant, pale mushrooms grew out of the canyon walls, dripping a sticky yellow acid. The toxic green fog was so thick he could only see about thirty feet in any direction.The air was heavy and quiet. Too quiet. Suddenly, Julian heard

Rachael slowly sat up in the crater. Her white hair floated around her head as if blown by an invisible wind. Blood dripped from her nose, freezing before it even hit her chin. The black veins of the Mana-Rot had reached her neck now. She was dying fast, but her S-Rank power was still overwhelming. She pointed a single, shaking finger at Julian. "Die," she whispered.Above Julian’s head, the moisture in the toxic green fog began to freeze. In just three seconds, a massive, deadly spear of ice formed in the air. It was ten feet long, sharp enough to cut through a mountain, and pointed directly at Julian’s heart.[Warning!] the System flashed bright red in his eyes. [Miasma Shield failing. 30 seconds remaining.]Julian looked at the massive ice spear floating above him. He looked down at his trapped arms. He was totally stuck. If she dropped that spear, it would blow a hole straight through his chest. No amount of System healing would save him if his heart was completely destroyed."Sy

Julian woke up to the feeling of biting cold.His head was heavy, and his mouth tasted like stale mint and old blood. He tried to rub his eyes, but his hands would not move. He pulled harder. Nothing happened.Julian blinked, his vision slowly coming into focus. He was sitting in a heavy, wooden chair. Thick, glowing blue ropes made of pure magical ice tied his wrists to the armrests and his ankles to the legs of the chair.He looked around. He was no longer at the bottom of the toxic, dark Miasma Rift. He was inside a room that looked like a dungeon, but a dungeon built for royalty. The walls were made of smooth, grey stone, completely covered in a thin layer of sparkling frost. A beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling, made entirely of glowing icicles that cast a soft, cold blue light over the room.There was a large silver mirror on one wall, a plush white rug on the floor, and a grand wooden desk in the corner. It was luxurious, but the heavy iron door and the freezing tempe