In the dead of night, in a complex of abandoned, unfinished buildings, a clandestine meeting was taking place, hidden from the eyes of justice.
The buildings were separated by tall metallic fences and old pipes. The darkness was absolute, save for some flickering lights that barely illuminated certain areas.
Inside one building, three hooded figures stood around a wooden table. They chatted amongst themselves in low voices; their words were inaudible, but their demeanor suggested they were awaiting someone's arrival.
The rusted metal door opened, and from it emerged a man in a black uniform with golden embellishments, ash-blonde hair meticulously combed back, and intensely violet eyes.
He walked to the head of the table as if on a fashion runway.
The dim light illuminated his face and revealed the most striking detail of his attire: a black mask engraved with a scornful smile and downward-slanting eyes, giving him an expression of contempt.
His first move was to throw some papers onto the table, then slam it furiously.
"You had only one job, you pair of imbeciles. Just one. And you ruined it in the most pathetic way."
His voice was laden with authority, the authority of someone who believes they have the right to impose their will on others.
"First, you failed to kidnap the princess," he spat with rage. "And now the children we needed have been rescued! You are useless!"
The hooded figures bowed their heads, as if ashamed of their failures. However, they resembled empty shells forced to feel shame.
One of them, the bravest, reported what had happened in a subdued voice:
"My lord Darius, the crimson-eyed shadow thwarted all our plans. We could do nothing against him."
The man, Darius, grabbed the hooded figure by the neck simply for being called by his real name.
"Use my codename: Dead Noon, you worthless puppet."
He then released him with unnecessary brusqueness and returned to the main topic.
"In any case, this Dark is just a minor nuisance," he stated with undisguised contempt. "An insect playing hero. There's no comparison between him and me."
He boasted for a brief moment before placing his fingers on the papers he had thrown onto the table.
"Listen closely, our next move will be to take the masks and the nobles we managed to capture to these coordinates. These documents are important; they must not fall into Dark's hands for anything in the world."
The three hooded figures clapped loudly, praising their leader.
"Excellent plan, my lord."
Suddenly, all the lights in the building went out simultaneously, and a voice echoed from an uncertain location.
"I disagree with that."
The hooded figures and Darius drew their weapons. The latter pointed his spear into the darkness.
Everyone in the room felt the same thing: the pressure that caused a feeling of primitive fear, the same sensation of being before your executioner.
"Who's there?! You can't be here," Darius said, annoyed at his inability to resist that overwhelming presence.
The shadow branched out, and Dark's silhouette appeared under the moonlight.
He wore his usual attire for hunting in the shadows, but his white mask from their previous encounter was missing a piece, revealing a hint of skin.
Before anyone could launch the first attack, Dark leaped and threw his daggers into the air.
The daggers shattered the lamps in the room, extinguishing all sources of light.
He landed with involuntary elegance.
He assessed the variables in a second: the inefficiency of their masks when he took light out of the equation and the loss of autonomy of the wearer. It was evident that it was not just brute force, but control exerted from a distance.
With that information in his hands, he would not allow the mistake of their previous confrontation to be repeated.
If he stripped them of their access to light, their masks would be useless.
The three hooded figures moved first.
They lunged at him simultaneously, flanking both sides.
Instead of retreating, Dark took a step forward.
He deflected their attacks with the palms of his hands, without any real effort.
He grabbed two of their wrists and pulled them back forcefully.
The hooded figures were sent flying, landing on the floor in a humiliating manner.
There was something strange about him that night; he was holding back less, and his movements were charged with barely contained anger.
But he did not yield to the fury burning within him; his discipline and self-control were stronger.
The last hooded figure got the worst of it.
He received a frontal kick to the ribs that likely fractured them from the impact.
He fell to his knees, writhing in pain.
Dark finished him off with another kick to the head.
The worst part of the situation: he didn't kill them. He let them live for the moment. And that was the most humiliating of all.
"Make no mistake. You are not my target today."
And he gave no further explanations. His action was not an act of kindness; it was a delay of the inevitable.
He did not appear that night with the goal of assassination.
His eyes were fixed on the documents scattered on the table.
Darius realized his intentions. He blocked the path between himself and the papers. Therefore, if Dark wanted to reach them, he would first have to get past him.
"You're not so great. If I used the power of my mask, I would destroy the entire building... but you are not worthy of seeing my full strength."
Dark ignored Darius's attempt to instill fear. His annoying intervention was an event he had already anticipated.
"Move," he ordered.
Darius looked at him defiantly, preparing his spear to attack.
"And if I don't? I won't let you take them," he growled.
Dark sighed, forced to use his powers.
He charged at Darius without his sword and without a hint of fear in his gaze.
Darius frowned, confused by the seemingly suicidal action.
"Do you want to die? As you wish."
Dark leaped forward, rushing towards Darius's spear.
Darius didn't hesitate for a second, thrusting his spear.
The spear was going to strike Dark directly in the chest.
Darius smiled too soon.
"I won," he celebrated prematurely.
Shadows enveloped Dark's torso in a gloomy embrace.
The spear passed through him.
But there was no blood; it didn't pierce his skin.
The weapon passed through him as if it had tried to penetrate something untouchable.
He used Dark Armor, but with more pressure than ever before.
Dark's body ended up passing through Darius's, just like a ghost.
"Underestimating me was your mistake," he whispered, and his voice sounded as if death itself had spoken.
Darius felt a shiver run down his spine, a primitive signal sent by his brain.
He froze, unable to move for a few moments.
But his stubbornness rewarded him with the ability to turn around, only to see Dark collecting the documents with impossible calm.
"Stop...!" he managed to say with difficulty.
Dark did one more thing before leaving: he gave Darius a final look.
His red eyes glowed with barely suppressed hatred. Not towards him as a person, but towards what he and the Order of the Broken Eclipse represented.
"I'll be back for you another day. Enjoy being alive until then."
Shadows covered his legs, and Dark made an unnatural leap.
He propelled himself against the wall, climbing in a zigzag as if gravity were merely a suggestion.
In a blink, he reached the rooftop, and only a dark trail remained, dissolving into the air.
When Darius could finally move, Dark had already vanished with the documents in hand.
He clenched his teeth so hard that a thin line of blood trickled from his lips.
"DARK!!!" he roared, furious.
✦☾✦
Dark moved across the long rooftops of the capital with the stolen documents in his possession.
Darius and his henchmen failed to catch him; they were too busy processing the humiliation Dark had inflicted upon them to pursue him. Therefore, he had escaped their clutches for now.
He stopped atop a church bell tower, a good place to take a break from the intense night.
He leaned his back against the wall. His breathing was heavy from the recent confrontation, but he regained control quite quickly.
Despite this, a sharp pain in his chest had been bothering him since earlier.
He placed a hand over the affected area, and then he remembered: the wound on his chest, caused by the beast from his previous battle, was a constant reminder of underestimation. A miscalculation that demanded immediate rectification in his training.
The error could have cost him his life, but his analytical mind barely saved him.
Instead of panicking, Dark did what he always does when faced with a problem: analyze all variables until he found a solution.
Lesson learned: do not underestimate the power of masks. His mask: partially broken, it will break completely if he continues to use it; an immediate replacement is required. The situation with his PDA: partially resolved, the location problem will escalate if he doesn't fix it quickly.
Conclusion: he could no longer work alone. He needed a companion.
Initially, he didn't want to accept this idea, which seemed the most logical.
Having a companion was an enormous risk for him. If the possibility arose that he would develop some kind of attachment to that person, it would expose him to reliving old traumas that still haunted him.
But harsh reality struck him, making him accept that he had no other option. After all, if he continued operating on his own, it would become counterproductive.
The echo of the bell tower vibrated in the fresh air, baptizing the dawn.
For Dark, it signaled the beginning of a new goal.
"Don't hide," he said abruptly. "I see you."
He sensed her presence, even though she tried to conceal herself.
The hidden person emerged from behind the bell, revealing her identity upon being discovered.
"I didn't think you'd see me so soon. You're better than I thought."
It was a young woman, appearing to be the same age as Dark.
Dark examined her features, searching for a clue to her intentions: Her hair was long and disheveled, a grayish color with white streaks, soft plumage protruded from her sleeves, and on her forehead, she had two rebellious locks resembling an owl's tufts.
She wore an open lab coat, and underneath, black shorts and a loose grey T-shirt.
Her eyes, a deep black, turned an intense red, evaluating Dark as if seeing through him.
"Your mask failed. Your body resisted... for now," she uttered in drawn-out but clear words.
The nature of this strange girl was unusual to him. Demi-humans were common in the capital, but her animalistic features were too exotic.
And exotic, in almost all cases, meant a scarcity of information about the opponent.
Added to the fact that she knew too much about his current situation, Dark's distrust grew.
"Who are you?"
The young woman approached Dark, establishing a disrespectfully close distance.
"Oh. Just a researcher interested in your shadow. It's... different."
Dark was not intimidated by this uncomfortable proximity. He held the mysterious girl's intense gaze without blinking.
"What do you seek?"
The winged young woman tilted her head, intrigued by the question.
"You need a companion, don't you? I can help you, in exchange for... allowing me to examine you thoroughly."
The offer was very audacious; every word sounded like an alarm to Dark, but he chose to listen to her first, testing if he could gain any benefit.
"And what do I get?"
"If you want to stay alive, you need an upgrade. I can give it to you."
Dark, showing a slight interest, barely tilted his head, inviting her to continue.
"To create it, I need a living catalyst," she explained, tracing invisible figures in the air. "Scales from Zar'Dorth, the dragon of the lethal mirage."
The name fell like a sentence. The scales aligned with the story: Entire villages erased from the map without a trace of struggle, and illusions that instill doubt in one's own senses. A legendary beast... confined for the good of humanity.
It was a beast to be feared.
But for his objectives, it was an obstacle to be crushed.
"...Where can I find it?"
"In the Luminara Mountains," she replied, "right where the academy plans to take us tomorrow."
The mention of the academy came with double intentions, as if implying she knew more than she let on. And Dark noticed it, so he went straight to the point.
"How much do you know about me?"
She stared at him without blinking for a second.
"I know a lot and, at the same time... I want to know more. You're an interesting specimen, Dark. Or rather... Re—"
"Don't call me that," Dark interrupted. "Not here."
The young woman's smile did not waver at the abrupt interruption. In fact, her curiosity seemed to have increased.
"I understand. Let's get back to what's important: if you get the scales, I can craft you a mask that perfectly conceals your identity."
She extended her hand forward.
"Lend me your PDA for a moment. I'll add my contact so we can communicate."
Dark hesitated but ended up giving her the device.
The young woman's fingers moved rapidly across the screen, typing characters in a matter of seconds.
"My name is Aimi, by the way," she said with too much confidence. "Aimi Strighan."
Everything began to make sense for Dark. The girl in front of him belonged to the mysterious Strighan tribe, demi-humans of owl lineage.
Beings of prodigious intellect and bearers of the oldest secrets not only of the capital but of the entire continent.
That this girl knew so much about him was not a mere coincidence.
Aimi finished adding her contact and returned the PDA to Dark.
"We'll be in touch."
Dark took the device and didn't even say thank you.
"We'll see," he corrected.
With a final smile, Aimi spread her wings.
"See you tomorrow. Or not."
Aimi positioned herself on the edge of the bell tower and closed her eyes.
She let herself fall backward into the void in a controlled freefall.
Her feathers caught an upward current of wind, and she executed an elegant turn that was almost insulting to someone with such pronounced dark circles under their eyes.
She glided away, becoming a black speck against the beautiful sunset.
Dark, still atop the church, checked the PDA out of sheer distrust.
His surprise was great when he saw what Aimi had done.
The PDA no longer showed his real-time location. The problem that had taken him two nights to partially solve had been resolved by her in a blink.
Dark adjusted his cap, and a slight curve touched his lips, but it wasn't a smile.
It was a recognition.
In the end, Aimi could prove more useful than expected.
✦☾✦
Sunlight filtered through the academy's large windows; its glow reached the student residence, illuminating their dormitories and marking the beginning of a new school day.
And with it, the start of an excursion.
But unlike them, I had no time for sleep.
Our class, only our class, was called by Maerin to review the details of the excursion to the Luminara Mountains.
"The Luminara Mountains are territory of magical beasts that will not hesitate to devour you. That's why this trip was organized for the learning of survival skills," Maerin explained; "you will learn what you should and should not do in wild and hostile environments."
Her explanation seemed superficial to me, and her smile, so mysterious, gave me the impression that learning was a vague excuse, a facade for her true intention.
And then, Maerin added:
"Also, since we will be outside the academy, we will be able to carry out activities that are forbidden here."
A student, nervous about the idea, raised a trembling hand.
"W-What kind of activities, professor?"
Maerin's smile widened at the question.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, a small exhibition tournament to... gauge your level. And as I said, being outside the academy perimeter, magic will be permitted."
There was the trick. A tournament where the use of magic would be allowed, the perfect excuse to observe my abilities.
If I'm not careful, my secret will be exposed to the entire class and, above all, to Maerin.
Suddenly, I felt a gentle tug on my sleeve.
Turning to see who it was, I met Aimi's piercing gaze. Her face was almost pressed against mine.
Oh... this girl doesn't know the meaning of personal space.
"What do you want?" I asked directly.
"We meet again... Rei ArcDusk," she said.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Aimi moved even closer, if that were possible, and I could feel her breath against my skin.
"You know what I'm talking about. Or did you forget what we did last night?"
"What we did last night?!" a voice exclaimed.
Aimi and I turned at the same time, looking towards the source of that shrill voice.
Arisa was looking at us with her arms crossed, as if she had caught us doing something indecent; but her flushed cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.
"Who is she?!" she demanded to know. "Since when do you have friends?!"
I didn't understand the reason for her anger, but her explosive reaction was causing everyone to stare at us.
Aimi wrapped her arms around mine.
"We are... companions. Your princess brain wouldn't understand."
My body tensed like a spring from the unexpected contact. I immediately pulled my arm away; I wasn't used to physical contact that didn't come from Liria.
Speaking of her, I miss her calmness...
Arisa was offended by the comment. Her expression returned to that of a cold princess.
"Watch your words! You're speaking to the crown princess, so show more respect."
I massaged the bridge of my nose, searching for patience where there was none.
I was about to tell them to be quiet, but Maerin beat me to it.
"Silence! The excursion will begin shortly. You should be preparing. And Rei... control those two better."
Of course, it's all my fault. I didn't even say anything to make them act this way, and I'm the one to blame?"
"Yes, Professor," I said, resigned.
Maerin's gaze lingered on me for an extra second, then swept across the entire class.
"Alright. Everyone, regroup in the center of the courtyard. We'll use the teleportation platform to transport to the mountains."
We all boarded the platform located in the center of the courtyard. It consisted of a giant hoop, approximately two meters wide; it looked modern, yet had intricate runes snaking across its surface. And, in the center of the hoop, a sphere of compressed energy emitted a pulsating glow, like a beating heart.
Maerin activated the mechanism and the rings began to spin; the core flickered erratically and the runes on the hoop lit up, changing to a violet color.
"Close your eyes," Maerin warned.
For the first time, I decided to follow Maerin's orders.
I closed my eyes.
The excursion to the Luminara Mountains had begun.
I had a goal... and a catalyst to find.
Therefore, to annihilate the legendary dragon confined within them.