A storm rolled in by morning.
Not rain. Not wind. Something else.
Riven felt it the moment he stepped outside. The air had weight—like it was watching him.
He pulled his cloak tighter and moved through the courtyard, boots splashing through shallow puddles left by yesterday's downpour. Students buzzed with whispers.
"Another dorm raided."
"They say a beast got through the wards."
"Professor Glayn's arm is gone, man. Gone!"
Riven ignored them. Mostly. His mind was too wrapped around the letter, the pendant, and the new coordinates etched into his memory. But the tension around the Academy was impossible to miss.
Then he saw her.
Lira.
Standing alone beneath the cracked bell tower, eyes skyward, lips trembling.
She wasn't supposed to be here. She was just a child. But something had drawn her beyond the wards.
Her eyes met his—and in that moment, Riven felt something cold crawl down his spine.
[Warning: Unstable Aura Detected – Class Signature Unknown]
The system didn't recognize her.
That… wasn't supposed to happen.
He approached slowly. "Lira?"
She blinked, once. Her pupils were glowing faint violet. Not human. Not anymore.
"I dreamed of the Bell Tower," she said softly. "And the bones beneath it."
Riven's breath caught. "What bones?"
She pointed downward.
And then the bell tolled.
It hadn't worked in years. The entire Academy froze as the sound rippled through the air like a scream.
Students looked up. Professors ran. A siren flared somewhere deep inside the main hall.
Riven grabbed his sister's hand and turned to run but the ground cracked.
Something vast and skeletal burst from the foundation beneath the tower. Not flesh. Not metal. Some cursed fusion of both. Hollow eyes glowed molten red, and runes burned across its ribs.
[System Alert: Cursed Construct Detected – Classification: Abyssal Reaver (Fragmented)][Level: Unknown][Combat Recommended: Absolutely Not.]
Riven didn't wait.
He ran, dragging Lira behind him as the reaver's jagged claws shattered stone. Students screamed. Arrows fired. Spells launched. None worked.
The reaver turned its head… and looked straight at him.
He swore under his breath. It wasn't here for destruction.
It was hunting.
Meanwhile, within the Headmaster's hidden chamber, alarms flared crimson.
The masked figure at the table tapped a sigil with long, rune-inked fingers. "It has awakened earlier than projected."
A deeper voice answered from the shadows. "The chaos is spreading. But he's not ready."
The masked man sighed. "None of them ever are."
Back in the ruins of the courtyard, Riven and Lira dove behind the old alchemy greenhouse. Glass shattered above them as the reaver roared. Its voice wasn't sound—it was memory. Echoes of war, blood, fire.
Then Lira stood.
Riven grabbed her arm. "Lira, no!"
But her eyes were glowing again. The runes around her shimmered silver and green.
She lifted a hand.
And the world froze.
The reaver stopped mid-step.
Air stilled.
Even the fire paused, its flames hanging motionless in the wind.
Lira whispered three words:
"You are forgotten."
And just like that, the reaver crumbled—dust and bone scattering to the wind.