Mana -- the all-connecting energy, present in everything and everywhere. There are two primary ways to wield it.

The first is to gather and store mana within yourself  to enhance the body. One can also gradually infuse it into objects to strengthen them or activate magical artifacts. This method is essential for becoming an advanced knight and is considered the most common form of magic.

The second is to collect and focus mana from the surrounding environment  from nature, the air, from everything around the mage. Only those with a special affinity for this type of manipulation can become true mages. Contrary to popular belief, this form of magic isn’t as rare as it seems. What matters isn’t rarity, but the ability itself.

There are plenty of examples of mages who reinforced their bodies and fought in close combat, or knights who kept a hidden ace up their sleeve in the form of a long-range spell.
That's how magical swordsmanship was born...
But that's not what this story is about right now.

Meanwhile...

Inside the Stella’s private study, father and son were in the middle of a lively discussion.
By the end of it, Theo had thoroughly dismantled every argument Nero had made  about the North, the artifact, and everything else.

Smirking with quiet satisfaction, Theo leaned back in his chair. Nero, realizing he had no good counterpoint left, simply spun in his seat and stared out the window.

Theo’s eyes flicked to the wall clock  and he frowned. Nero’s birthday was almost here.

Where the hell is Schulz…? he thought.

But before he could dwell on that worry.. “Um… Dad… What’s with the window?” Nero asked, pointing directly at the panoramic glass in front of them.

Theo turned his head — just in time to see a thin sheet of frost spreading across the glass.
And in that same instant, a chill shot through his bones.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
His instincts howled in warning, his heart pounding faster and louder in his chest.

The unnatural silence in the house, Schulz's sudden disappearance.  The abrupt cold creeping into the room.. All of it…

It clicked. All the signs.A chilling, horrifying realization that struck like a slap to the face.

And worse than anything, Theo sensed something. Someone. An unfamiliar presence. Unseen, but terrifyingly close...

Then.. the light went off.

Theo leapt from his chair, grabbed Nero by the arm, and without hesitation, threw him straight into the mirror on the wall  shouting a spell Nero didn’t catch.

A flash of deep blue light, and then, the enTyre room exploded with jagged ice spikes, erupting in every direction.

They pierced everything  furniture, curtains, rugs... and Theo himself, who was still standing by the window.

The world flipped upside down.

The study was completely destroyed, consumed by the sudden surge of frost magic.
And in the doorway… stood a shadow.

“Long time no see, old friend…”

A knight without his sword is no match even for a far weaker opponent.
The more one trains, the more the weapon fuses with the soul  becoming an extension of the body.
To enter battle without it… is to be defeated before the first strike.

This is what led to the downfall of the Stella.

That… and the fact that instead of readying for the enemy, Theo chose to save his son.

With great effort, Nero opened his eyes.

He found himself in an incredibly cold and tight space.

“Huh…? What… Where am I…? Where… Where is this…?”

The disorientation lasted only a moment.
Then he looked toward the only source of light.

And the sight froze him solid.

Two men, both dressed in black, stood over the lifeless, ice-covered body of Theo Von Lavrelio.

Nero’s breath caught in his throat.

“No… No… This can’t be happening…” His heart pounded in his chest. He fought back a scream that clawed at his throat.

One of the men turned toward the enormous mirror.

Nero didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t blink.

The man standing before the mirror rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Something’s not right. No… No, no, no.
There was supposed to be another one.
A second member of the Lavrelio family.”

He stared at the reflection, searching. But all he could see was his own shadowy outline.

Yet Nero noticed something.

Even though the man's face was lost in the darkness, one distinct detail stood out —
a deep crimson ribbon, tied into his long hair, lined with a white trim.
That ribbon burned itself into Nero’s memory like a brand.

He could barely breathe.
Terror gripped his chest like a vice.

Then, a hand landed on the man’s shoulder.

“What are you standing around for? What’re you waiting on?”
The voice belonged to his partner  the one with blue hair.
He clearly expected the plan to move forward by now.

“Nothing. Just got distracted,” the ribboned man replied, then raised his wand.

But he paused.

“You go ahead,” he said firmly, his tone implying he’d handle the rest alone.

The blue-haired mage nodded silently and left the room.

The man with the ribbon watched him leave, then turned toward the window and whispered:

“Canncel.”

Immediately, the frost vanished  as though it had never been there.
Theo’s frozen corpse collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The man scanned the room and then raised his wand toward the ceiling.

“DaemonesFlame.”

His wand ignited with a flash of hellfire-red light then dimmed.

He turned and exited the room.
Seconds later, flames erupted behind him.

The inferno devoured everything; the wood, the fabric, the furniture…
The fire spread rapidly into the hallways.

Within moments, the temperature soared past the melting point of enchanted glass.
The massive mirror softened, warped  and melted downward like molten wax, sealing the hidden dimension within.

Where Theo had hidden Nero… Posthumously.

Twenty-two minutes before Nero’s twelfth birthday.

The Lavrelio estate was engulfed in flames.And in the darkness… in complete silence, broken only by nervous sobs… Nero sat.

Crammed inside a tight tunnel  suffocating, alone.

The heat was rising.
Every minute, the air got thicker.
Unable to bear it, or maybe just desperate… Nero began crawling forward.

At some point, a strange, white light appeared ahead.

But it wasn’t an ordinary light.
Its glow shimmered and split like moonlight shining through slats in a grate.

With every meter, the light grew farther away.

Nero panicked  was the tunnel getting longer?

Was he being pulled away from his only hope of escape…?

But his thoughts weren’t on that.

“No… no, no, no! This can’t be real! Father… he’s strong… I know it better than anyone…He’s definitely going to...” His thoughts were cut off — his foot hit something solid.

A wall?

There shouldn’t have been a wall.

He tried crawling back.. but his back slammed into another wall behind him.

“What the…? What the hell is going on?! ...There was no dead-end here a second ago!”

He was surrounded... Trapped... Panic surged through him....

And then.. the sound of cracking glass.

The tunnel around him began to collapse, the walls pressing in. The Looking Glass  the hidden space was falling apart.

If it closed with him inside, he’d be lost forever.

In sheer panic, Nero threw himself forward, shoving off the wall behind him with his legs, crawling as fast as he could 
as the very walls squeezed inward like a vise.

“Come on… I see it! I see the exit!..”

The light was closer.
So close he could reach for it.

Nero stretched out his arm, pushing against the crushing dark walls.

The pressure was unbearable.
He couldn’t move.
Could barely breathe.

Then  a deafening crack.

And the next instant the looking glass spat him out through the magical panoramic window.

The enchanted glass had already shattered from the fire, but somehow still held its structure and magical barrier.

Nero didn’t cut himself to pieces only because the mana density in his body exceeded the threshold of the remaining barrier.

Even so, the pain from the impact and the panic surged through him in waves.

The moment Nero slipped through the glass, it exploded behind him.

He landed outside.
Right beside one of the glass walkways leading to the newly built botanical garden.

Nero stumbled away, in shock but not from the pain.

He looked up and couldn’t believe his eyes.

The house was on fire.
The barracks were burning.
The stables, the servants’ wing… even the glass garden…

All of it consumed in flames.

A towering column of thick black smoke rose into the air above the estate, blotting out the stars.

Author's note: Everyone who has read this far, thank you so much, guys! I’m so happy that my story is interesting to someone xD If you think my story is really good and you’re intrigued about what will happen next, please like and subscribe to my story. :) It motivates me to continue....