Ares sat alone in his small stone room, the air heavy with anticipation. He had been working on the teleportation conduit.
"If I just remove the conduit the moment before I connect the motes, it shouldn't hurt."
The pattern wavered. Suddenly, he thought of his sister, and the teleportation weave flickered. Before he could correct it, the light burst, and the world folded around him.
The world was quiet. Too quiet.
Ares stood in what used to be his home. The walls were still there, but everything else felt hollow, as if the air itself had been drained out. Dust hung in the light like ash. His throat was dry. His body ached from exhaustion, but he couldn't stop moving.
He called out once.No one answered.
He searched each room, one by one. The kitchen, the old hall, his parents' room — all empty. But there were traces. Faint lines of green and gray mana, barely visible, like afterimages. Someone had been here. Someone powerful.
He pressed his hand to the floor. The cold made him shiver."Is it because of me…?" he whispered it to himself, afraid that if he said it out loud it would make it reality.
He followed the traces down the corridor. They bent, twisted, and disappeared near the back door. When he stepped outside, he saw it — a faint shimmer, the shape of a man forming out of the still air.
Ares froze.An old man stood there, wearing black overalls. A strange silver motif was stitched into his shoulder — a circle with seven marks running through it. His presence felt wrong, heavy, as if he pulled the light around him.
Ares hid behind the doorway, holding his breath.But the man turned his head slightly. His voice was calm, but it carried weight."Come out."
Ares didn't move.The man raised his hand. A thin thread of light shot forward, wrapping around Ares's chest and locking his arms. He was dragged into view, unable to move.
The old man looked him over, frowning."Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Ares struggled against the spell, but it only tightened."This is my house," he said through his teeth. "Who are you, and what have you done to my family?"
The old man blinked. "Your family?" His tone shifted — from suspicion to confusion. He studied Ares more carefully. Then something changed in his face, a brief moment of recognition.
He released the spell.Ares fell to his knees, gasping for air.
The old man didn't move. His eyes were distant, as if he were listening to something Ares couldn't hear. And then Ares saw it — through the sight he'd been training, the mana sight.
Inside the man's chest, something was alive.A creature made of burning mana, shaped like a devil with seven horns. Its face was sharp, intelligent, and cruel. It turned toward Ares and smiled.
"Interesting… you can see me?" The devil spoke to Ares. It was a weird, horrifying feeling — he heard no words, just knew what the devil wanted to say.
"He can? Really?" The old man looked intrigued as he closely inspected Ares. "How are you able to do that?"
Ares didn't answer. His hands shook.
The man crouched slightly, curious now. "I have never heard of something like this. Maybe I should take him back with me."
Ares clenched his fists. "Take me with you... Don't change the subject. Where are my parents? What did you do to them?"
The man's expression hardened. "Stop telling lies." His tone was cold now, almost formal. "Be glad I have a promise to keep, or we would be having a completely different kind of conversation…" He paused. "But if you tell me how you can see him, I might give you a hint."
Ares didn't answer. His throat burned. He wanted to scream, but the fear in him was heavier than anger.
Before he could say anything, the air shifted.The old man stopped mid-breath and looked behind Ares. His eyes narrowed.
A second later, a pulse of golden light filled the room.When it faded, Arwen was standing there — tall, calm, the faint glow of a mana halo behind him. His presence pressed against the air, quiet but impossible to ignore.
The old man clicked his tongue. "You shouldn't be here," he muttered.
"I could say the same," Arwen replied.
For a moment, the two only looked at each other. There was history in that silence — something unspoken and sharp. Then the old man turned, muttered something under his breath, and vanished. Not a single trace of magic was left behind. Even the air was still.
Ares stared at the empty space, heart pounding."What was that? Who was he?" Ares asked, a million questions racing through his mind.
Arwen didn't answer. He walked past Ares and looked around. His expression darkened. "They have no reason to come here."
He bent down and brushed the floor with his hand. A faint shimmer of mana lit the cracks — green, familiar. He studied it for a long moment."It's definitely them, but why…" he said quietly. Then he looked toward Ares's panicked expression. "I am missing something."
Ares stepped closer. "Why are you just standing there? Who was the old man? What… what happened to Mom, Dad... Mia? Is it because of me?" Ares uttered each word with pain. He thought back to the warnings of Arwen of how the world of magic is dangerous. He didn't want to believe that his family was targeted because of him.
Arwen nodded once. "No." Then his tone changed, lower, colder. "This is something different. Something else. And I am sorry that this happened to your family. But the chances of them being alive are quite low."
Ares's voice broke. "Don't say that."
Arwen remained silent, looking at the broken youth before him, wondering what good it would do for him to know the truth.
"Tell me where they are! You're supposed to be the strongest magician! You can find them!" Ares shouted.
Arwen looked at him without expression. "You think strength means knowing everything?" Arwen rebuked. "...Strength is relative."
"Please. I'll do anything. Just tell me—"
"Anything? Then do the one thing I have instructed you since the beginning," Arwen said.
"What, go to the magic academy? Are you serious? My family is missing and you want me to go to the university?" Ares couldn't believe what Arwen was asking him to do.
"Do that for me and I will try to find out what happened to your family. If you don't, forget about everything that has just happened. But make no mistake — you will never be able to find your family."
The words hung in the air.
Ares stood still, trembling. "Fine! I will go to that goddamn university. As long as you promise to find out about my family."Arwen turned away. "I will not make any promises — only that I will try. You would have much better chances of finding out about your family if you just attend the university. The people related to the man you just saw now would also be attending."
"They will? Tell me who they are?" Ares felt a glimpse of hope. He finally had something that he could do instead of wasting time in university.
"Earn the right first, and then we will talk..."
"Why does everything have to be so goddamn hard? Why can't you just tell me where they are? Why can't you just help me find them? I would have…"
"You would have what? Found them? Helped them? Boy, if I had not appeared now, you would have disappeared from the world. It's always the ignorant that make the boldest claims. I understand that your family is gone. So what? What do you expect me to do? Leave everything and start working on finding your family? Wake the hell up, kid. You can't be that naive. If it wasn't…" Arwen cut himself short. He breathed to calm himself. "I have had enough of this. You know where you have to be. Do so if you want a chance to help your family. If not, stay here and live with regret." Arwen said coldly as he disappeared.
And just like that, the room fell silent again, leaving Ares standing in the ruins of everything he had known.