Ryan stood before the Magic Tower after a long and exhausting journey.
For a moment, he simply remained there, unmoving, letting the wind brush against his cloak. He slowly lifted his gaze toward the towering structure. The ancient stone walls rose high into the sky, layer upon layer, until the upper floors disappeared into a pale curtain of drifting mist. The tower had always felt eternal untouched by time, indifferent to the lives that moved within it.
This place had once become his home.
But he no longer intended to stay.
A faint tightening formed in his chest as he stepped forward.
The massive wooden doors opened with their usual low groan, as if recognizing him. The familiar scent of aged parchment, burning wood, and cold stone wrapped around him the moment he crossed the threshold.
He lightened his footsteps instinctively.
He did not want to be seen.
He had already said goodbye once. If the others saw him now, they might misunderstand. They might think he had returned for good. They might believe he had failed, or worse that he had changed his mind.
He hadn't.
He was only here to finish something.
The staircase spiraled upward endlessly. His boots made faint echoes against the stone steps, though he tried to silence even that. The tower felt different tonight. Or perhaps it was simply him who felt different.
When he reached the third floor, his plan unraveled.
"Ryan?"
The voice was soft.
He froze.
Isabella stood in the middle of the stairwell, illuminated by the warm glow of floating lantern light. Her eyes widened in surprise, then quickly softened into something warmer something that looked dangerously close to relief.
She approached him slowly.
For a brief second, Ryan considered turning back. But it was too late.
She stopped in front of him and gently placed a hand on his head, brushing through his hair like she used to.
"So… you succeeded."
Her voice carried quiet pride and something else. A tremor. As if she had feared the opposite outcome.
Ryan felt something twist inside him. A strange discomfort he couldn't quite name.
He said nothing.
Isabella studied his face more closely. Her smile faltered almost imperceptibly. She must have noticed it the subtle shift in his eyes. The quiet absence of something that used to be there.
But she didn't ask.
She simply stepped aside.
"Go on," she said gently.
Ryan nodded faintly and resumed climbing.
He did not look back.
He hadn't returned to stay.
He had come to say farewell properly.
By the time he reached the highest floor, his breathing had grown heavier though not from exhaustion.
Nathan's door stood at the end of the corridor, just as it always had. Solid. Unchanging.
Ryan stopped before it and inhaled deeply. The familiar weight of habit guided his hand.
He knocked three times.
A pause.
Then
"You may enter."
Ryan opened the door.
Inside, he found someone he hadn't expected.
A blonde girl stood near the fireplace, speaking with the elderly master of the tower.
Lisa Stewart.
The granddaughter of the Tower Lord.
The princess of the Valerith Kingdom.
The sole heir to the throne.
The moment she saw him, her entire expression brightened, as though a hidden sun had risen behind her eyes.
"Ryan!"
She rushed toward him without hesitation and threw her arms around his neck.
Ryan stiffened slightly, caught off guard by the sudden warmth. The last time they had seen each other was two months ago. She had left the tower after being summoned by her father. Ryan had never asked for details. Royal matters were complicated, and he had no desire to involve himself in the politics of a foreign kingdom.
He was, after all, just a commoner.
Nathan Murphy watched the scene from beside the fireplace. His expression was unreadable.
Ryan felt his master's gaze and gently pulled Lisa back.
"I missed you too, Lisa."
She smiled brightly and turned toward her grandfather.
"Grandfather, look Ryan's back."
Nathan gave a slight nod.
"Yes… he has returned."
A strange silence filled the room.
The air felt heavier than it should have.
After a few moments, Nathan spoke calmly.
"Lisa, would you leave us for a while? I have something to discuss with Ryan."
Lisa hesitated only briefly. She glanced at Ryan once more before heading toward the door.
In her eyes lingered both happiness and a quiet, unspoken worry.
The door closed.
Now only Ryan and Nathan remained.
Nathan moved toward the armchair near the fireplace and sat down slowly. He gestured to the seat across from him.
Ryan approached with measured steps and sat. His posture was straight, but his head remained slightly lowered. He could not bring himself to meet his master's eyes.
"So," Nathan began, his voice steady, "since you were able to return, I assume you completed the mission. Congratulations."
Ryan did not respond.
Nathan studied him carefully.
"There is something different about you."
Ryan assumed this was merely an attempt to ease into conversation. But when he finally glanced up, he saw no softness in Nathan's expression.
Only scrutiny.
Silence stretched between them.
Then Nathan asked:
"Did you kill a human?"
Ryan's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
Then they cooled.
"Yes."
One word.
Emotionless.
Nathan's gaze sharpened, though he did not appear shocked.
"The creature you encountered… it was not a natural monster, was it?"
Ryan shook his head once.
Nathan exhaled deeply.
"Tell me everything."
And so Ryan did.
He described the encounter. The unnatural presence. The distorted body that had once been human. The way its eyes had pleaded and snarled at the same time.
He explained the choice he had made.
He did not justify it.
He did not regret it.
As he spoke, the only other sound in the room was the soft crackling of the fireplace.
When he finished, Nathan rose to his feet.
"Experiments…" he muttered under his breath.
He closed his eyes, thinking.
After a long moment, he looked at Ryan again.
"What would you say to attending the Magic Academy?"
Ryan blinked.
"The Academy?"
"You understand it yourself," Nathan said seriously. "The things you will face from now on will not be ordinary. You must become stronger. And what you can learn here… has limits."
A short pause followed.
"I can write you a letter of recommendation."
Ryan fell silent.
The Academy.
Nobles.
Politics.
Power struggles hidden behind polite smiles.
Not everyone there would be like Lisa.
He had no desire to entangle himself with spoiled aristocrats who looked down on common blood.
Yet…
Nathan was right.
The world outside was shifting.
If unnatural experiments were already surfacing, then something far larger was moving beneath the surface.
Slowly, Ryan nodded.
"I'll go."
Nathan allowed himself a faint smile.
"Good."
He turned slightly toward the window, where the distant horizon lay swallowed by darkness.
"Because this world is about to grow much darker."
And for the first time in his life
Ryan heard something in his master's voice that resembled fear.