"Huh?" Max muttered, raising an eyebrow.
She pouted. "I want to go and gain new experiences, find something that can help me grow."
"Here, it's a world on the brink of apocalypse," Max explained, his voice calm. "You'll have access to all of your powers, so don't worry."
He glanced at her to make sure she was listening. "Though even if you were to die, you'd just return here. And if at any point you feel like quitting or things get too rough, just say my name and say 'I want to quit'—it'll pull you out immediately."
Lumia grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Got it. You're really spoiling me, you know that?"
Max smirked. "Only a little."
"Best of luck," Max said with a lazy wave.
Lumia looked at him, slightly surprised. "You're not coming?"
"Nope. You're on your own this time," he said, yawning as he stretched out on the bed.
Lumia huffed but smiled. "Fine, don't miss me too much."
As she stepped back into her room, she glanced down at the ticket Max had given her—glowing faintly with swirling energy. Holding it tightly, she took a deep breath… then tore it in half.
In an instant, light enveloped her, and she vanished from her room—teleported away to the world on the brink of apocalypse.
Max turned his head, gazing at the spot where Lumia had just vanished moments ago.
"I hope this trip actually teaches her something," he murmured to himself.
With a tired sigh, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him, the faint hum of residual magic still lingering in the room.
The moment Lumia tore the ticket, her surroundings were swallowed in a vortex of silver and violet light. The air twisted around her, weightless and wild, and then—
Silence.
She found herself standing in the middle of a broken city. The sky was cracked like shattered glass, with crimson lightning crawling through black clouds. Buildings lay in ruins, the wind carried a faint metallic scent—blood and ash mixed in the air.
Lumia blinked, her expression steady despite the chaos around her. Her white cloak fluttered behind her as she looked around.
"Well," she whispered, her voice calm but excited, "he wasn't kidding. This place really is on the edge."
Her senses picked up movement nearby—faint footsteps, not human. Her hand slid to her waist, where a misty blade formed in her grip, humming softly.
Then, from behind the wreckage, emerged twisted beasts—half-metal, half-flesh, glowing red eyes locked on her.
A smirk formed on Lumia's lips.
"Alright then," she muttered, lowering into a stance, "let's play."
Back in his room, Max felt a slight pulse through the mark he left on her. He smiled faintly without opening his eyes.
"She's already fighting, huh? Figures."
He rolled over. "Don't die too quick, Lumia… I want to hear your whining when you get back."
Lumia dashed forward like a blur of moonlight, her blade trailing mist with every movement. The first beast lunged, its jaws lined with rusted fangs and cables, but she ducked low, sliding beneath it and slicing its legs clean off. The creature let out a screeching metallic howl before collapsing into a pile of sparks and twitching limbs.
Three more rushed her from different angles.
She spun, leaping high as mist exploded from her boots, slowing time for just a moment. In that frozen instant, she twisted mid-air, slashing twice. When time resumed, the two beasts behind her collapsed in perfect halves, while the third was flung back by a surge of misty energy.
Lumia landed softly, her expression calm but her eyes sharp.
"So far," she muttered, wiping blood off her cheek, "not bad. But this isn't even the real challenge, is it?"
A deep, guttural roar echoed through the ruins. Something big was coming.
A shadow moved in the distance—towering, mechanical, and radiating malice. Lumia took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around her blade as she whispered.
"Let's see just what kind of place this is…" Lumia mumbled to herself as her blade faded into mist, dispersing into the air like smoke.
She began walking through the shattered streets, her boots crunching over broken glass and ash. Craters marked the roads, some still steaming, and strange blackened growths sprouted from cracks in the earth—twisted vines made of metal and bone, pulsing faintly like veins.
"Definitely not Earth…" she muttered, crouching beside a cracked wall. She brushed her fingers over a faded poster—a wanted sign, the language unrecognizable, but the picture was of someone with glowing eyes and armor made of scales.
Her ears twitched slightly at a distant sound—voices. Not human, but speaking in a tongue she somehow understood. Muted, broken words.
"...Sanctuary... breached... the Heart is waking..."
Lumia narrowed her eyes. "The Heart?"
She turned the corner and climbed atop a collapsed building for a better view. In the distance, she saw a massive tower-like structure rising from the ruins. It looked like it had grown from the earth, twisting upward like a spiral of stone and metal. Red lightning danced across its peak.
And even from here… she could feel something alive pulsing inside it.
"Okay," Lumia whispered with a grin. "That looks like a place worth checking out."
She jumped down, the mist around her ankles softening her landing as she began moving toward the tower—unaware that several cloaked figures hidden in the shadows were now watching her every step.
Lumia's steps were light, her senses sharp. The wind howled through the ruins, carrying voices that didn't belong—whispers, almost like the city itself was trying to speak. She ignored them, focusing on the tower in the distance, its peak crackling with that strange red lightning.
As she moved through a narrow alley between two partially-collapsed buildings, she felt it—eyes on her.
She paused.
"…You gonna come out, or do I have to drag you out?" she said calmly, glancing over her shoulder.
***
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