Capital Orca, Mage Association.

" Arcane in shambles…"

" Is it over for Arcane...."

" Celestial Wolves strike…."

" Is it the beginning of Beast Wars…."

" More than a million dead…."

" Over thousand are still missing...."

" Is this going to be the repeat of Vina tragedy...."

"Bang!"

The screen showing different news reporting cracked.

" Stop them, don't let them talk anymore….it is only going to strike fear in the minds of people. Let them slowly switch the attention to the All Academy Competition….if needed...let them do a live broadcast.", the man on the chair threw the remote in anger and spoke with a grim look on his face.

The nameplate on his desk clearly revealed that he was the greatest authority in the Mage Association.

The Mage King.

" Sire, some of the family of the students might object to the broadcast…", the secretary spoke calmly.

" You don't need to worry about that. We have the meeting of the 12 houses...I will bring this up in the meeting.", the Mage King said as he got up from his chair and walked towards his door.

But suddenly he halted his steps and turned around.

" Is my baby here?"

" Sir, she is on her way and would probably reach here in two days.", the Secretary replied.

" Hm...prepare to get her into the Orca Academy and inform me immediately when she reaches here."

The Mage King said as he got out of the room.

'I can't believe I put my sweetheart in danger. Baby, once you are back...papa promises to protect you.'

And yeah...the Mage king loves his daughter a bit too much.

…..

Several huge powers were moving towards the Capital. Each had its own purpose.

The 12 Novel houses were moving to discuss the steps to be taken in concern with Arcane. The situation was clearly worse than they had imagined. They had already lost around 12 Master Tier Mages not to talk about the rest.

Arcane was destroyed along with the border city. Several neighboring cities had too been affected. People were evacuated. There was no other option.The Celestial wolves had made their lair around Arcane and it had become one of the most dangerous areas on the continent.

The first wave of reinforcements sent to Arcane from all the close cities were wiped out. While the one's from the Capital had still yet to arrive.

The Dark Society which had been silent on the surface was going through several changes too.

….

Iron Smithy, Capital Orca.

An old man was sipping his tea as he unfolded a letter in his hands. The words weren't the one any common person could understand.

" Sigh! I hope that brat(Max) is alive. Even though he was one of the shittiest people I ever taught, he is important for us. It's been a while since all the Five Ancient Families met. I wonder if that geezer is still alive. His son ( Stark ) really made my wallet empty while his son's disciple had made my wallet bleed. I will definitely get my money back from him."

This man was none other than Mr. Stark's Master or Max's grandmaster.

" Edward you there…", he said in a light tone.

" Geez gramps!! You already gifted this smithy to me. Why are you always here in your free time? Just stay at your place."

A boy around 17 years of age with green hairs and a good looking face walked in the room with another guy behind him.

" Hm...Is this your friend Edward?", the old man asked as he looked at the guy behind Edward with a pair of glasses on his face. This boy had a muscular build and there were several marks on his hands which showed that he must be practicing some kind of Weapon art.

' What a hard-working kid! '

The old man exclaimed in his mind.

" This is my friend Mark. He has a strong Fire element and I have asked him to help with one of my experiments.", Edward replied with a sparkle in his eyes.

He was a smithing Maniac.

" Fine have some fun...I gotta go.", the old man said before leaving.

" Hm...Mark is everything alright. You don't look good today. How about we watch an anime after finishing the work", Edward asked in concern.

" I am fine...it's just...you heard about Arcane right?"

" Who hasn't?", Edward replied.

" I have a friend who was studying in Arcane. He was in the Blacksmith department like you too.", Mark spoke with a light smile.

" Is he safe?"

" I don't know. I can't reach him. He is really making me worry.", Mark replied.

…..

" Calm down dear...You need to have faith. Nothing is going to happen to our son. He will definitely be safe."

The man spoke as he hugged his crying wife.

He was Max's father.

" W..hy is t..his happ..ening with.. him? My poor child…", the lady couldn't control herself as tears rolled down her face.

" Don't worry...I have already volunteered myself to go to Arcane...I will definitely go and find him..", he said.

" Huh...take me..with you..", the lady suddenly turned her head and made an outrageous request.

Zack knew very well how dangerous this trip was. He couldn't allow his wife to accompany him.

" No..honey..you can't come with me…..we can't leave Lilly alone right now."

Hearing him, she calmed down a bit and looked towards the bed In the corner where a little girl was sleeping comfortably.

" Just trust me...I will find him…I am going to talk to dad for a bit.", Zack said as he grabbed his wife's hand for a while before turning around to leave.

But as he reached the door, his wife spoke.

" I won't forgive your father if anything happens to my son. And please....come back...I won't be able to…"

Her words were not complete and she didn't try to complete them.

Zack left the room with red eyes. He fully understood his wife's words.

She was a Strong Mage and was raised in one of the 12 Noble Houses. She very well knew the situation in Arcane and the chances of Max surviving. But the heart of a mother refused to accept it.

So when Zack left, she spoke those words. She knew that he would probably do something dangerous in case he didn't find Max and she didn't want to lose him too.

But if she said those words out loud...it would mean accepting the fact that Max was dead.

Zack could only leave his wife crying alone. He didn't have words to comfort her. He was barely controlling the tears from falling out of his eyes. If he broke down in front of his wife, whose shoulder would she have to lay her head down on?

It was his duty to suffer silently and he had learned this quality from his own father. That was the only reason he had never questioned his father. But it looked like today he couldn't hold back any longer.

He was already walking for a while and had finally reached his location.

He pushed the door open and spoke.

" Father, I need to talk…"