Team: Rajieru, Reuel, Giyuu.
Location: Northern Ridge – Verdenholt Outskirts.
Mission Time: 10:42 AM — Windy, Snowy.
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The air shifted sharply as the wind rolled down from the upper ridges of the northern cliffs, cutting through the trees like unseen blades. Here, the terrain rose into jagged stone spires half-buried by snow, where the mountain's scars remained untouched since the war. The magic here felt...still. Not dead, but waiting.
Rajieru was the first to speak as the trio reached the high-ground overlook. "Y'know..." he muttered, spinning a candy stick between his fingers before biting it, "this is the kind of place where someone falls off a cliff and no one finds their body 'til spring."
Reuel gave him a silent look, the wind tugging lightly at the hem of his dark cloak. His golden eyes scanned the terrain below without a word, analytical and unbothered by the cold.
Behind them, Giyuu stood still, half-shrouded in shadow despite the clear morning sun. His presence, as always, was quiet—calm to the point of discomfort. He didn't respond to Rajieru's joke. He didn't need to.
Rajieru squinted down the ridge and gestured with a lazy flourish. "So," he said, dramatically stretching his arms out to the rocky expanse, "no villages in sight, no monsters crawling out of the trees. Kind of a letdown, huh? I was hoping for some action. At least a possessed squirrel."
Still nothing from Giyuu.
Reuel finally replied, voice low. "Stay focused. This isn't a playground."
"Aw, come on," Rajieru replied with a grin, "a little banter's good for morale."
He took a few steps toward the ledge, crouching to examine the ground. His voice lowered a touch, more serious now. "These rocks are fresh-shifted. Wind doesn't do this. Something heavy passed through here—big and fast."
Reuel stepped beside him and knelt to inspect the same area. Jagged lines carved into the frost-covered soil. Not quite claw marks. Not quite tracks. But whatever it was, it hadn't been here long ago.
Giyuu finally moved, slowly descending toward the lower slope. His cloak whispered behind him, the only sound he made. When he reached the treeline, he paused—just once—and looked up. "...There's mana in the wind," he said softly.
Both Rajieru and Reuel turned.
"What kind?" Reuel asked.
Giyuu didn't answer at first. He held his hand out, fingers slightly parted, feeling the air between them. "...Distorted. Like it's looping."
Reuel frowned. "A residual echo?"
"No," Giyuu said. "A warning."
The three of them went silent again, tension beginning to coil beneath the surface.
Rajieru broke it with a dry laugh. "See, now this is more like it."
He tapped his foot against the ledge and glanced back at the others. "What do you say, gents? Wanna follow the creepy magic trail into the woods and see who screams first?"
Reuel stood. "We proceed. Quietly."
Rajieru mock-saluted. "Aye aye, Captain Brood."
The three of them descended together, slipping into the trees like ghosts. The wind howled faintly above, but in the forest beneath, it was muted... almost like the woods didn't want to be heard.
Somewhere deeper ahead, beyond where the trees grew thicker and the snow lost its purity, something shifted. A heartbeat in the shadows.
Giyuu's gaze flicked toward it. "...It's moving."
And just like that, they were in motion—silent and fast, spreading out in practiced formation. As they vanished into the forest, the Northern side of Verdenholt felt just a little colder.
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