Roselle and Risebelle moved stealthily down the corridor. Suddenly, two female students ing their way. One of them, a girl with long, flowing hair who was twirling her hair around with one finger. She nudged her friend and whispered something, causing the irl to gn their dire as well.

  The troached Roselle and Risebelle, curiosity evident in their eyes. The girl with long, flowing hair spoke first, her tone friendly but with a hint of suspi.

  “Hey there! You two look a bit lost,” she said with a smile. “Are you newbies here at the Academy of Magic? Like, we haven’t seen you around before.”

  Risebelle nodded, keeping her demeanor calm and posed. “Yes, we’re udents,” she replied. “We’re still getting the hang of things around here.”

  The irl, with a more pin face chimed in. “That’s uandable. This pce be a bit overwhelming at first. By the way, I’m Arnda, and this is my friend Risa. What are your names?”

  Roselle and Risebelle exged a brief gnce before Risebelle introduced them. “I’m Risebelle, and this is Roselle. o meet you both.”

  Arnda eyes sparkled with curiosity as she tio ask questions. “So, Risebelle and Roselle, what’s yical affinity? You know, what kind of magic are you best at?”

  Risebelle and Roselle shared a silent, uain look. They khey had to maintain their cover, but answering this question without revealing magical power could be tricky.

  Risebelle and Roselle exged another quice before Risebelle responded, “I have an affinity for water magic.”

  Arnda’s eyes lit up with i. “Water magic? That’s fasating! And what about you, Roselle?”

  Roselle hesitated for a moment, then replied, “I have an affinity fhtning magic.”

  Risa nodded in aowledgment. “Water and lightning, huh? Those are unique choices. It’s not every day you meet students with those affinities. We’re both skilled in wind magic ourselves. It’s o have some diversity here at the academy.”

  Arnda leaned in closer with a whisper. “You know, there’s a rumoing around that the academy is on high alert because of some powerful outsiders who have been spotted on the isnd. Have you heard anything about that?”

  Risebelle and Roselle exged another look, then took on deadpan looks. “We’ve heard a few things,” Risebelle admitted cautiously. “But what do you know about it?”

  Arnda leaned bad shrugged nontly. “Not much, just that the Headmaster is ed and has ordered increased security. It’s all quite mysterious, really.”

  Risa’s eyes narrowed in suspi. She leaned closer to Arnda and whispered, “Arnda, do you notiething odd about them?”

  Arnda g her friend, her curiosity piqued. “Odd? What do you mean?”

  “Arly, it’s super weird, right? Like, how they be students here with zero magic? It’s, like, a magic school, after all.”

  Arnda nodded, her own sense of curiosity and growing. “e to think of it, yeah, you’re totally right, Risa. It doesn’t add up at all.”

  In a swift and ued motion, Risebelle drew her oo silencer mode, and fired two precise shots at Arnda and Risa. The shots hit their marks, pierg their hearts and leaving holes in their bodies before they could react. The two girls colpsed to the ground, lifeless.

  Roselle watched in shock as the events unfolded. The uhat had been building within her grew stronger, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread at the ruthlessness of their as.

  Risebelle observed Roselle’s hesitation and the turmoil in her eyes. She spoke with a cold tone, “Roselle, you’re ag like you haven’t killed before. Remember our purpose here. Humans are our enemies, and we will do whatever it takes to fulfill our mission. Don’t let seality cloud your judgment. If you have to shoot, shoot.”

  Risebelle thrusted out one hand with a straight fad said. “Roselle, take one of their robes. It might be a better fit for you. And remember, we ’t afford to show mercy or hesitation here. This is about our survival and the success of our mission.”

  Roselle hough she did seem flicted within her face. She approached one of the fallen students and began to ge into the robe.

  Risebelle and Roselle stepped into the room, and as Risebelle quietly closed the door behind them, they overheard a versation from the adjat room. It was hushed but audible.

  “The Forest energy extractors are nearly operational,” one voice said, filled with a sense ency.

  “Yes,” another voice replied, “the Headmaster has ordered us to drain the Mystic forest pletely. It’s the only way to ehe project’s success.”

  Risebelle leaned against the wall and motioned for Roselle to guard the door. She o listen carefully to gather information about the academy’s pns.

  “If we succeed,” the first one tinued, “the power we gain from the Mystic forest will allow us to propel not only ourselves but also the Headmaster’s project to reach the city. It’s the final step in our escape pn.”

  Risebelle’s eyes narrowed as she absorbed the implications of what she had just heard. This Headmaster seemed to have a grand scheme in motion, ohat involved using the Mystic forest’s magic for their escape.

  Risebelle khey o report this to Dr. Kintovar immediately. But first, they needed more information, and they couldn’t risk being discovered.

  “Roselle,” Risebelle whispered, “guard the door. We o gather as muformation as we without getting caught. This could be crucial for our mission.”

  As the versation tinued in the adjat room, Risebelle straio hear every word, her focus i on gathering as muformation as possible.

  “They say Kintovar’s creations are somewhere on this isnd,” the rough-sounding female decred. “I won’t rest until I’ve crushed every one of them, especially that ‘Roselle’ who defeated Thalindra!”

  Risebelle’s eyes wide the mention of her name, and she exged a ed gh Roselle. It seemed their presen the isnd had not gone unnoticed, and the academy had a particur vea against them.

  However, other’s in the room responded with caution. “Easy there, Sylra,” one person cautioned. “We ’t afford to be reckless. We have a mission to plete, and that involves draining the Mystic forest of its magic. Going after Kintovar’s creations will only distract us from oal.”

  Another chimed in, “Besides, we don’t know the full extent of their abilities. It’s not worth risking our lives over a personal vea.”

  Risebelle took note of the differing opinions within the group. While one was eager for revehe majority seemed more focused on their mission to drain the Mystic forest for power.

  She leaned in closer to Roselle and whispered, “Did you hear that? They’re aware of us and have a personal grudge against you. “

  Risebelle tio listen attentively, hoping to gather more information about the academy’s pns. The versation in the adjat room carried on, revealing further details about their operation.

  “The Mystic forest’s magic is potent, but we o be careful with the extra process,” oioned. “Draining it too quickly could have dire sequences for the isnd’s bance.”

  A hotheaded student made his presenown with a brash and dismissive tone. “Who cares about the forest or the isnd’s bance?” he decred with a hint of frustration. “Our main objective is to harhat power for the Headmaster’s project. If a few trees wither away, so be it.”

  Risebelle and Roselle exged a silent but knowing look. It was clear that not everyohin the academy shared the same s about the sequences of draining the Mystic forest.

  The dissenting person tinued, “I say we drain it as quickly as possible a out of here. The Headmaster’s project is the only thing that matters. We deal with Kintovar’s creations ter if they dare to interfere.”

  Risebelle g Roselle and spoke lowly. “This is why I despise humans, Roselle. Their selfishness and disregard for the world around them are infuriating.”

  She turo Roselle and whispered, “We have enough information for now. Let’s get out of here and inform Kintovar. Hopefully she will give the orders to kill them all. We ’t let them drain the Mystic forest.”

  “You two aren’t going anywhere,”

  Suddenly, the he door behind Risebelle and Roselle clicked and locked, sealing them ihey were trapped In the chamber. Soon, the figure of a mage emerged from the shadows. Her fiery red hair seeming to dah embers in the low light.

  The mage had an aura of fidence around them. She wore vibrant red and gold robes that plemented her affinity for fire, and her eyes bzed with the same fiery iy.

  “You two thought you could sneak around and eavesdrop, huh?” she said, her lips curling into a smirk. “Well, you’ve got ahing ing. I don’t take kindly to intruders.”

  Roselle attempted to maintain their cover, “W-We’re just udents here, a lost. We didn’t mean to intrude.”

  Risebelle shook her head. “Save it, Roselle. Our cover’s been promised. They knoe are.”

  Elysia’s fiery eyes locked onto Risebelle, her smirk widening as she sehe tension in the room. “Oh, you finally decided to drop the act? Smart move. I could tell just by looking who you two are. Now, prepare to face the sequences of your intrusion. Now you’ll face Elysia, the Pyro Queen! Remember that name in yraves, Creation of Kintovar!”

  Risebelle didn’t respond to Elysia’s taunts with words. Instead, she subtly poi something behind Elysia with her finger. Elysia, momentarily surprised by Risebelle’s gesture, turo look in the dire indicated. It was a simple but effective distra, and in that brief moment, Elysia’s fiery demeanor turned into one of embarrassment as she realized there was nothing there to see.

  Her face turned a shade of red, and she gnced back at Risebelle with an annoyed look.

  “You little... don’t think you distract me with cheap tricks!”

  Risebelle responded with a smirk.

  “Well, it seems like you’re the one who fell for the oldest tri the book. Shows how ‘smart’ you really are, ‘Pyro Queen’.”

  Elysia’s temper fred at the taunt, and she ched her fists, fmes flickering around her. “Yoing tret uimating me, Creation. I’ll show you the true power of fire magic!”

  With a swift motion, Elysia raised her hand, juring a bzing fireball. She hurled it toward Risebelle and Roselle, the fmes crag with intense heat and speed

  As Elysia’s fiery projectile sped toward them, Roselle swiftly summoned her on into her hands with the and “on”. With practiced precision, she fired a single shot that collided with the ining fireball, extinguishing it in a burst of sparks and dissipating fmes.

  Elysia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?!” she excimed, her fidenentarily shaken by the ued turn of events. She hadn’t anticipated that her attack would be so effortlessly tered.

  Risebelle seized the opportunity, summoning her own on and firing off a barrage of shots towards Elysia. The room filled with the sound of rapid gunfire as the projectiles homed in on the Pyromancer, f her to react quickly to defend herself.

  Elysia, uerred by the initial setback, grinned with renewed determination. Her fiery eyes bzed with iy as she decred, “You ain’t seen nothi! Inferno Waltz”

  With a swift and fluid motion, Elysia ignited her pyromancer abilities, surrounding herself with a swirling vortex of fmes. The fiery tempest danced around her, spiraling with grad ferocity. She trolled the fmes, direg them in a mesmerizing and deadly dance of destru.

  The Inferno Waltz had begun, and Elysia’s movements were a fusion of precision and chaos. Fmes twirled, leaped, and whirled around her, making it nearly impossible for her oppos to predict her move.

  Risebelle and Roselle braced themselves for the fiery onsught, knowing that they had to overe this challeo tiheir mission.