The ground for kilometers around Lucian was now utterly devastated. The dense, twilit forest had been replaced by a barren, cratered wasteland. And in the center of this new clearing, now visible, stood two figures.
They were young, likely students, like him. One was a male, tall and powerfully built, with short, spiky blond hair and eyes that seemed to burn with an inner fire. He wielded a massive greatsword that pulsed with faint elemental energy. The other was a female, lithe and agile, with long, flowing silver hair. Her movements were fluid, and she held two wickedly curved daggers that shimmered with a cold, blue light. They had just finished off a monstrous, multi-limbed creature whose corpse was now dissolving into particles of light.
The remnants of Lucian's counter-shockwave slammed into them.
"What the—!" the blond male yelled.
