The next day, they finally pushed past the dense vegetation, emerging onto a narrow forest path winding south. Elar took in the scenery, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. He sighed, lost in memory.

"I remember this place."

Emily glanced away from the half-bloomed flowers to her right, shifting her focus to Elar. "Familiar to you?"

My first job from the Adventurer’s Guild—well, kind of. More like an unofficial request. Some guy stole a lady’s necklace, and I just happened to be there when it happened."

"How'd that turn out," Alexander asked, quickening his pace to match Elar’s stride.

"Oh, I smoked him!"

Taber leaned in skeptically. "Which means...?"

"He smoked me."

"Figures," Kieran muttered from the front, glancing at the map to keep them on track.

"It's okay, though," Elar stammered, pressing on with the story. "I caught up to him and got the necklace back! I mean, sure, it took a few hours, but I got it! When I made it back to Farendelle, I returned it to the lady. I tried to offer a date as a reward rather than Gold, but she declined. Said some kind of stupid reason like, 'you're too young for me' or something. But! Her grandfather did gift me this awesome gauntlet! So, I call it a win." The group chuckled at the tale, falling into casual conversation as they continued their trek through the forest.

Eventually, they came across a run-down stone fortress. It was unimpressive in size—at a walking pace, they could probably circle the entire perimeter in under three minutes. Small, to say the least. Some might even laugh at the thought of calling it a ‘fortress.’ Still, they made their way to the gate. Locked, of course.

The five surveyed it, searching for a lever or mechanism, but as expected, none existed on the outside.

"So how are we getting in," Taber asked, rubbing his chin as he crouched near the gate’s edges

"Doesn't seem like there's an easy way in. Nothing stealthy, at least," Kieran concluded, giving the gate a firm shake.

"So what," Alexander asked flatly.

Elar smirked. "Gates are a lot like rules..."

He and Alexander exchanged glances, then, as if on cue, their grins widened into identical mischievous smirks.

"They were made to be broken!" They shouted in unison. Magic surged in their hands as they reeled back and struck the gate. "JINX!"

Alexander’s fire flared, blending with Elar’s gauntlet, and in an instant, molten rock gushed forth, melting the iron bars in seconds. As the molten metal dripped, Emily swiftly cooled it with water, solidifying it into stone. With their path cleared, the five rushed inside.

The fortress’ winding corridors quickly came alive with movement as a few guards stormed toward the commotion. One was unfortunate enough to round a corner just as Taber came barreling in, his knee encased in solid stone. He drove it into the man’s helmet, denting it so violently that it wedged onto his head. The remaining guards immediately conjured their magic—fire, light, and water flaring to life in their hands. Emily acted first, using her water to snuff out the flames in one guard’s grasp as Alexander leapt forward, slamming a fist to the ground.

"Fire Magic: Flame Pillar!" A column of fire roared to life, engulfing one of the men. He screamed, thrashing as the flames consumed him. The Water Mage turned to aid his comrade, hands outstretched to douse the fire—but before he could douse more than half of the flames, Kieran flashed through the corridor in a streak of lightning.

"Thunder Step: Shock Slash..." His blade sliced through the water, the current of electricity shocking not only the conjurer, but the burning man as well. Both of them dropped to the ground. Taber created a wall of stone, carving out a few dozen conical segments.

"Now!" He called back.

Elar reeled back his fist. "Terra Fist Combo: Grapeshot Drills!" The entire wall crumbled to bits, sediment and projectiles embedding themselves in the last guard, who fell over crying out in agony. Without missing a beat, the five charged ahead, searching for where this 'Josei Baram' could be hiding. After a few minutes of hasty roaming, they stumbled upon a staircase that led to a second story.

Reaching the top, they found a dark-haired man standing alone in what must have once been a planning room, now stripped bare and repurposed as a training hall. Weapons of every kind lined the walls—swords, axes and spears—each well-worn from use. At the center, a wooden square marked the boundaries of a sparring ring.

The man turned, scratching absently at his stubble as his face tensed. "Ladies and gentlemen," he drawled to an imaginary audience, his voice dripping with mockery. "Might I present to you... these insolent brats." His deep olive eyes, alight with something dangerous, fixed on them. "To what do I owe the pleasure of you five storming into my fortress, cutting down my men, and waltzing into my training hall without so much as a bow?"

"Josei Baram," Alexander said evenly. "That's you, right?"

Josei's brow arched. "And if I am?"

"Then maybe you can tell us about a woman we're looking for."

A chuckle rumbled from Josei’s throat. "You’re serious? Kid, you truly are naive. I assume you mean Master Eros. But what, pray tell, made you think I’d just hand my Lady over? I mean, shit, I’m Josei Baram of the Eros Four! My sole purpose is to protect her and her secrets."

"Yeah," Elar sighed. "I figured his name sounded familiar..."

Josei's laughter turned darker, an eerie dark mist curling at his feet. The air thickened as tendrils of inky black energy slithered into existence. "Then perhaps you also know my more famous name?"

Elar nodded slowly as his throat tightened. "Josei of the Void..."

"JOSEI OF THE VOID?!" Kieran's voice cracked in anger as he ducked just in time to avoid a pitch-black beam that left behind a perfectly-round hole in an instant. "YOU KNEW HIS NAME AND DIDN'T THINK TO MENTION IT?!"

"I don't know, must have slipped my mind!" Elar threw himself forward, his right fist slamming into the ground mid-somersault. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, the shockwave rippling toward Josei. But Josei simply sidestepped, unfazed, retaliating with a volley of writhing tendrils. Elar snatched a shield from the wreckage and deflected them just in time.

"Yeah, must have!" Kieran snarled.

Taber raised five layers of barriers, but Josei’s attack tore through four of them like paper. "Less arguing, more fighting!" he barked. His eyes widened as he dove to the left, narrowly dodging an incoming orb. It struck the ground with terrifying precision, leaving a perfect, yawning crater where he had stood.

Josei barely moved, his presence growing more menacing by the second. More void orbs flickered into existence around him, each a swirling vortex of nothingness, tendrils spilling forth like grasping fingers. Alexander clapped his hands together. "Fire Magic: Searing Jet!" A cone of flames erupted from his fingertips, but as the fire raced toward Josei, the orbs inhaled it greedily, swallowing the magic whole. Damn it, he thought. I didn't think he'd have black holes for magic!

Josei let out a guttural laugh, his tendrils whipping through the air, tearing training equipment from the walls and shattering the stone around them. "Such bravado from mere insects! What exactly did you think you would accomplish?" His eyes flicked to Emily as she dodged five orbs, barely managing to twist away. One scraped her shoulder, sending her skidding across the floor with a pained cry.

A cruel grin spread across Josei’s lips. "This ought to teach you exactly who you’re dealing with... Void Magic: UMBRAL MAIDEN!"

Elar’s stomach lurched as the orbs gathered around Emily, closing in like a black sun about to collapse. No time to think. He slammed his rock-hardened fist into the floor. "QUAKING HAMMER!" The ground heaved violently, cracking apart in all directions. The floor beneath Emily shattered just in time, swallowing her whole before the void tendrils could impale her.

The overall integrity of the structure began to fail. The walls splintered, the floor collapsed, and the ceiling trembled as the entire structure threatened to bury them alive. Taber hit the ground first, the only thing saving his legs being the fact that he'd reinforced his legs with stone. The others, however, landed hard behind him. As he struggled to his feet, he looked up just in time to see debris breaking loose above them.

He hadn't practiced how to make domes with his magic yet, it was a form too complicated to conjure at his current skill level. Regardless, he grabbed Emily and rushed her to the middle with the rest of the group, groaning from the fall. Desperation fueled him. He slammed his hands onto the ground, forcing three walls up—vertical, solid, but not enough. He needed angles. He’d only ever done it once before, but that was with a pillar the other day.

Come on…!

He strained, a single slanted wall rising over them. It wasn’t perfect, but it was all he had. As larger chunks of ceiling crashed down, he poured his last reserves of strength into reinforcing it. With a final, trembling effort, he raised two more vertical supports before collapsing into unconsciousness.

Dust and debris thickened the air, making it hard to breathe. Alexander coughed, using his cloak to filter the dust as he stumbled through the wreckage, calling out for the others. A small pile of rocks shifted to the right of Alexander as he rushed over to help unbury them. Kieran hacked the dust from his lungs as he emerged. "Remind me to kill that idiot later..."

Alex would have retorted, but he was more relieved that he wasn't the only one who'd survived the collapse. Behind them, two more bodies rose from the rubble. Emily attempted to use her healing magic on her shoulder as Elar wiped the dust from his face and whooped. "AW, HELL YEAH! THAT WAS AWESOME! DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

"I didn't have to, I lived it," Kieran spat. "Watch how you use your magic, damn it! You almost killed us!"

Elar had the decency to look sheepish, but Kieran’s focus shifted quickly. His head snapped around as he counted the survivors. His eyes narrowed. "Where the hell is Taber?"

Alexander’s breath caught. His eyes darted across the ruins until he spotted him—a motionless heap in the corner, half-buried under debris.

"Taber!" He dashed over, ripping chunks of stone and shattered wood off of him and hauling him out by the torso. Relief flooded through him as he felt the steady rise and fall of his friend’s chest. However, his relief was cut short as a low rumble warned them that the fortress wasn't done collapsing.

"Come on!" Kieran shouted. "Drag him out before this whole place buries us!"

Alex nodded as he hoisted Taber, staggering under the weight. He nearly tripped over the rubble at his feet, when a firm hand caught him.

"Move faster, dumbass!" Kieran barked, grabbing Taber's leather harness and yanking him out of the ruins. Alexander struggled to stand up, slipping on rocks that rolled out from beneath his feet. Alexander felt Kieran's hand gripping the back of his cloak. "What the hell did I say?!" He grunted, yanking him free just as the last remnants of the fortress crumbled to dust.

Alexander landed hard, coughing as the world settled around them. Emily was already at Taber’s side, hands glowing as she worked to stabilize him. "He’s just drained of his Energy," she assured them, relief in her voice. "He’ll recover."

Alexander exhaled, brushing off his torn cloak. "Thank God," he breathed. A tense silence fell over them as they looked back at the wreckage, scanning for any sign of Josei. Kieran’s sharp gaze traced the destruction, his grip tightening on his weapon. He'd be content, if he wasn't bothered by the fact that there was no hint of a corpse.

A couple of moments of peace passed, and they thought the battle was over. Until their blood curled at the change of pressure in the air. A dark, twisting pressure. Unnatural. Thick. Suffocating.

"Okay," a muffled voice hissed, crawling up their backs as if the void itself was calling to them.

Darkness swelled, a swirling, inky sphere expanding where Josei had been buried, devouring every flicker of illumination around it like a black hole. "Now you brats have really pissed. Me. Off..." Their eyes darted over to witness as the sphere imploded, revealing Josei standing amidst the carnage, untouched. His cloak, once tattered, now dripped with an abyssal black aura, tendrils of void energy curling into the air like smoke. His olive eyes, once sharp with amusement, had turned bottomless, a reflection of something ancient and monstrous.

"I think it's time," he growled, his voice thick with venom. "I stopped playing with my food..."