The forested slope stretched endlessly, shadows caught between jagged rock and thin trees. Selene moved without hesitation, her boots silent over damp earth. Every breath she exhaled shimmered faintly, the air around her always a little colder than it should be.

A rustle broke the stillness. From between the brush, three Riftfang Boars lunged forward—short-legged beasts with tusks dark as obsidian, sparking faint arcs of mana. Their small eyes glowed, hungry and vicious.

Selene didn't flinch. Her grip on her wand tightened, the crystalline rod pulsing faintly like frozen light.

"Cryo Grasp."

The ground beneath the first boar cracked with frost. Jagged, spectral hands of ice surged up, locking around its legs before spreading to its torso. It squealed and thrashed, sparks spitting uselessly against the frozen hold.

The second and third charged anyway. Selene's expression didn't change. She pivoted slightly, raising her wand.

"Frozen Lance."

A spear of condensed ice shot forward, piercing straight through one boar's skull and driving it into the ground. The body twitched once, then stilled. Another lance followed a heartbeat later, tearing into the side of the last creature mid-charge. It stumbled, momentum shattered, and collapsed in a heap of blood and frost.

The first, still bound by ice, let out a muffled roar. Selene flicked her wrist, and the frost constricted until its body shattered like brittle glass. Silence returned, broken only by the crackle of melting shards.

She stood there a moment, her breath even. Inside, though, thoughts pressed against her calm exterior.

'Three Adept-rank beasts, gone in seconds. And yet… it doesn't feel like enough. If he were here, Noel would've done the same. Maybe faster.'

The air shifted. A low hiss slithered through the rocks above, vibrating down the mountain slope. Selene froze mid-step, her golden eyes narrowing as a shape uncoiled from a ledge—a Graviton Serpent, scales mottled gray and silver, its body rippling with unnatural weight. Every movement bent the air, pressing down like invisible chains.

It lunged. The ground itself seemed to pull her feet downward, heavier with each second. Selene's teeth clenched.

"Gravition Hold."

She mirrored the beast's tactic, doubling the gravity around its coiled midsection. The serpent's descent faltered, its momentum slowing just enough for her to leap aside, skirts brushing against the dust of impact. The ground shook as its head slammed where she had stood.

Her wand spun in her hand.

"Frigid Bloom."

Ice flowers erupted beneath its body, petals razor-sharp and glowing with frost. They carved into the serpent's scales, blood spraying as it recoiled with another hiss. Its tail whipped forward, breaking through part of the frozen field and forcing Selene back.

Her chest rose and fell quicker now, but her gaze remained steady. She raised her wand high, her voice colder than the air itself.

"Frostfall Requiem."

The temperature plummeted in an instant. Her breath crystallized, frost crawling across the serpent's scales. Then the pulse of magic burst outward like a heartbeat—an explosion of white storm. Wind howled. Needles of ice lashed the serpent, embedding deep, freezing flesh and shattering bone.

When the storm subsided, the serpent lay broken against the rocks, its massive body twitching in the snow that hadn't existed moments ago.

Selene exhaled slowly, lowering her wand.

Selene wiped frost from her lashes, scanning the serpent's carcass one last time. The cold still lingered in the air, her spell's remnants twisting like phantom snowflakes. She was about to move deeper into the ridge when a different sound cut through the silence.

Not the hiss of a beast. Not the weight of gravity.

Clashing steel. Mana discharges. Shouts carried by desperation.

Her eyes narrowed. 'That's not a monster.'

She followed the echoes, boots crunching lightly over frost and stone. The slope curved into a plateau overlooking a clearing. Below, three figures moved—two in finely cut armor, insignias glinting faintly under the light, and one she would recognize anywhere.

Noel.

He was surrounded, Revenant Fang gleaming dark as it intercepted twin blades. Sparks burst as steel met cursed black, the sound sharp even from her vantage point. His movements were precise, economical—yet there was a raw edge in the way he advanced, pushing the two noble heirs back with bursts of flame and arcs of lightning.

Selene's chest tightened unexpectedly. 'So they've decided to challenge him. It isn't against the rules… but clearly they thought numbers would give them the advantage.'

Her gaze lingered. Noel's face was calm, but his eyes… sharp, calculating, unyielding. He slipped between shadows—Shadow Step—appearing behind one heir and forcing him to retreat with a singed shoulder. A counterstrike from the other was met with "Glacialis," the shard of ice slamming into his leg and dropping him to one knee.

Selene gripped her wand, breath caught in her throat. 'I should move. Intervene. But why can't I look away?'

Every strike, every spell felt like it burned itself into her. The boy she had once seen struggling in morning drills was gone. What remained was someone terrifyingly strong.

The clash below reached its breaking point. Noel's blade, wreathed in fire, cut through the last desperate guard of one heir. The boy stumbled back, arm trembling, his weapon slipping from his grasp. The other, already limping from the icy wound, grit his teeth and raised his blade again—only to freeze as Noel's Revenant Fang rested inches from his throat.

The fight was over.

Selene's fingers tightened around her wand, her breath slow. 'That's it. He won.' Relief should have followed, but something else stirred—something restless.

Then, in the quiet aftermath, it happened.

A flare of mana, sharp and wrong, streaked across the clearing from the treeline.

Selene's eyes widened. Cowards…!

Noel didn't see it coming. He was still lowering his weapon, his focus on the beaten heirs.

Her body moved before thought caught up. She dropped from the ridge, gravity bending to her will. "Gravity Step." The world slowed, her feet barely touching the ground as she shot forward, wand snapping up.

"Permafrost Halo!"

A ring of freezing energy burst from her, locking into place just as the crimson arc of fire collided. The impact shrieked against her barrier, shards of ice scattering, the shockwave whipping her hair into her face.

The flames sputtered out, crushed beneath the weight of her magic.

Noel turned at last, eyes narrowing when he saw her standing in front of him, wand steady, the ice still glowing faintly around her.

Selene didn't look at him. She kept her gaze fixed on the treeline, voice low, cold.

"They weren't done. Someone else is here."

Inside, though, her pulse was pounding. 'Why did I move like that? Without thinking…'

The drones above hummed softly, recording everything—the battle, the ambush, and now her stepping in to shield him.

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