The journey to Mount Solmora took several days. The further they traveled, the wilder the land became. Cities disappeared. Roads faded into narrow dirt trails. Eventually, even the trails vanished, replaced by endless forests and rocky terrain.
In the distance, a colossal mountain slowly rose into view. Mount Solmora. The Crown of the Sun. Far beyond the eastern horizon, the massive peak pierced the clouds like a spear reaching toward the heavens. Dark storms circled endlessly around its lower slopes, thunder rumbling through the valleys. Yet strangely—the summit remained bathed in brilliant sunlight. Legends claimed the mountain had been formed from the first ray of Light that ever touched the world. Ancient Light warriors once trained there centuries ago, long before the Battle of Eclipse.
After days of climbing steep cliffs and narrow paths, Lux and Rose finally reached the summit. Lux looked around. And froze. There was… nothing. Just endless green grass swaying gently in the wind. Tall ancient trees surrounded the clearing. Shrubs and wild flowers grew freely across the land. There were no buildings. No temple. No warriors. No school. Just silence.
Rose slowly turned in a circle, confusion written all over her face. "This… is Mount Solmora?"
Lux frowned. He scanned the entire area again. Nothing. His shoulders slowly lowered. "…Maybe I was wrong," he muttered. Rose looked at him. Lux sighed quietly. "After all… why would I trust someone who tried to kill me?"
The wind rustled through the trees. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Lux turned around. "Let's go."
Just as they began walking away— A calm voice suddenly echoed behind them. "Who are you, young man?" Lux and Rose both stopped instantly. "And how exactly did you manage to climb up here?"
Lux turned around. Standing near the edge of a small hill was an old man. His long white beard flowed down to his chest, and his hair was tied loosely behind his head. He wore simple monk-like robes and leaned slightly on a wooden cane. Despite his fragile appearance… Something about him felt strange. Rose felt it immediately. The air around the old man felt warm. Almost like standing near sunlight.
Lux walked closer cautiously. "We came looking for the Light training school," he said.
The old man blinked in surprise. "Oh?" He slowly stroked his beard. "The school, you say?"
Lux nodded. "Yes."
The old man sighed softly. "Oh, you poor boy…" Lux frowned. "You're about ten years too late."
Rose looked confused. "What do you mean?"
The old man tapped his cane gently against the ground. "This place used to be a training ground for Light warriors," he explained calmly. "But it was closed ten years ago."
Lux's eyes widened slightly. "Closed?"
The old man nodded. "After the world began forgetting the true meaning of Light… the warriors here slowly left." His voice grew distant. "Eventually… only I remained."
Lux stepped forward, his eyes burning with resolve. "I still want to train. Please teach me."
The old man shook his head slowly, his expression weary. "I have laid down that burden, boy. I no longer take students. Go back to the world below; find your peace there."
"I can't!" Lux's voice cracked with desperation. "I've seen what's coming! Please, I'll do anything. I won't leave this mountain until you say yes."
He dropped to one knee, his head bowed. The monk watched him for a long time, the silence stretching until the wind seemed to hold its breath. Finally, seeing the unshakable determination in the boy's eyes, the old man let out a long, heavy sigh.
"You have the stubbornness of the sun itself," the monk murmured. "Very well. If you truly wish to walk this path of thorns… I will teach you."
The old man's eyes slowly shifted toward Rose. "And who might this young lady be?"
Lux answered casually. "She's my assistant."
Rose immediately turned toward him. "Your WHAT?"
Lux shrugged. "She came here to take care of me."
Rose stared at him in disbelief. "I did NOT come here to be your assistant!"
The old man laughed heartily. "Assistant, huh?"
Rose crossed her arms. "For the record, I'm only here because someone refuses to take care of himself."
Lux ignored her. But inside, Rose's thoughts were racing. Lux had always seemed mysterious to her… but coming all the way to Mount Solmora just to become stronger? How strong does he want to become?
The old man continued observing Lux quietly. "Tell me something, boy," he said calmly. "Why do you want to become stronger?"
Lux hesitated. Ray's broken body flashed across his mind. The purple cracks. The explosion. Then the hooded boy's voice echoed again. "Even the strongest aren't strong enough to save others." Lux clenched his fists. "Because I wasn't strong enough."
The old man's expression changed slightly. For the first time, he seemed interested. "Hmm." He slowly walked forward and sat down on a rock near the edge of the clearing. From a small kettle beside him, he calmly poured tea into two wooden cups. "My name," he said quietly, "is Aurelion."
Rose's eyes widened slightly. "Aurelion?"
The old man nodded. "Once… people used to call me the Radiant Sentinel."
Lux's eyes narrowed. Aurelion looked toward the distant horizon. "I fought in the era after the Battle of Eclipse," he said quietly. "I protected the final Light temple that once stood here."
Rose felt a chill run down her spine. Battle of Eclipse… She had heard that name only in old history books. Yet this old man was talking about it like he had witnessed it himself.
His golden eyes slowly shifted back to Lux. "Now tell me, boy…" Aurelion gently tapped the ground with his cane.
In the next instant— A massive wave of invisible pressure exploded outward. Lux's eyes widened. His knees slammed into the ground instantly. The ground cracked beneath him. Rose gasped. "Lux!"
Lux tried to stand— But the pressure was overwhelming. It felt like standing beneath the weight of the sun itself. Rose felt it too. Even standing several meters away made it hard to breathe. Her heart pounded. What is this…? This old man… His presence alone is terrifying… Aurelion sighed softly. "The world calls you the strongest Light warrior…" He calmly sipped his tea. "…yet you cannot even stand." Rose's eyes widened. Strongest Light warrior…? She slowly looked at Lux. Lux had never told her that. Not once.
Lux gritted his teeth. Slowly… painfully… he forced himself to lift his head. Light energy flickered faintly around his body. Rose noticed it immediately. Her eyes widened again. Wait… That light… She had seen Lux use healing techniques before… But this energy felt different. Stronger. Pure. Aurelion's eyes glowed faintly gold. For the first time, the old man looked directly at him. "Tell me, boy…" His voice grew calm and heavy. "Who sent you here?"
Rose looked between them both. Her mind was spinning. How much of Lux do I actually know…
Lux approached slowly, the grass beneath his boots whispering softly as the mountain wind moved across the summit. "I came here to become stronger."
The old monk didn't even look at him. He remained seated on the rock, his posture relaxed, as if Lux's words carried no weight at all. He simply replied, "Strength is the favorite excuse of the arrogant."
Lux frowned slightly. "I'm not arrogant."
The monk lifted his cup and took a slow sip of tea, completely unfazed. "The arrogant always say that."
For a moment, silence lingered between them. Lux's fingers tightened into fists at his sides, but he forced himself to stay calm. "There's someone I need to defeat."
That finally made the monk glance toward him. "And who might that be?"
Lux hesitated. The memory of the fight returned vividly. The broken streets. Ray's lifeless body. The hooded figure standing calmly in the chaos. "I… don't know his name."
The monk raised a single eyebrow. Lux continued slowly. "He's about my age… maybe a little older. Around nineteen." Still no reaction. Lux took another breath. "He barely talks. Almost never. Black clothes. Completely silent during the fight."
Behind Lux, Rose listened quietly. Lux rarely spoke about that fight. This was the first time she was hearing the details.
The monk calmly set the teacup down beside him. Lux continued. "I couldn't sense his technique. Not even a trace."
The monk's hand froze mid-motion. Lux didn't notice. "It felt like… everything around him swallowed the energy."
Now the monk slowly turned his head toward Lux. His calm expression was gone. Lux kept speaking, his voice quieter now as the memory replayed in his mind. "And his eyes… they were white. Completely white."
For several seconds, the wind was the only sound on the mountain. The grass swayed gently. Leaves rustled in the trees. Then the monk stood up slowly. The peaceful atmosphere around him changed instantly. Lux felt a sudden shift in the air. It was subtle at first… like the moment before a storm breaks. Rose felt it too. Her chest tightened slightly. What is this…? The monk suddenly slammed his staff into the ground. A shockwave of radiant energy burst outward across the summit. The grass flattened instantly. Loose stones cracked. Lux instinctively stepped back. Rose staggered slightly as the pressure rushed past her.
The monk's voice was no longer calm. "Impossible…" He looked toward the distant horizon, his gaze piercing through the clouds as if searching for something far beyond the mountain. His jaw tightened. "After all these years…?"
Lux frowned. "You know him?"
The monk slowly turned back toward him. For the first time since they met, there was real tension in the old man's face. "That boy…" He paused. Then spoke the name like it was something cursed. "Umbra." The name hung in the air like a shadow. Lux repeated it quietly. "Umbra…"
Behind him, Rose felt the word send an uneasy feeling through her chest. Umbra… The monk continued, his tone now completely serious. "The last descendant of the Dark Sovereign."
Lux blinked. "The Dark… what?"
The monk slowly began walking past him, his staff tapping softly against the stone. "Centuries ago… during the Battle of Eclipse, one warrior stood against the entire world." His voice grew heavier with each word. "He wielded the Dark techniques."
Rose's eyes widened slightly. She had heard of many technique types—Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, even rare ones like Gravity and Sound. But Dark? That was something she had never heard mentioned seriously.
The monk continued. "The other technique users feared him. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth… even Light." His grip on the staff tightened. "So they united."
The mountain wind picked up slightly, swirling around them as if the past itself was stirring. "They fought him together." Lux listened silently. Rose did too, barely blinking. "And they wiped out his entire bloodline." The monk's voice grew colder. "Or at least… that's what the world believed."
Lux slowly began connecting the pieces. A quiet chill crept down his spine. "You're saying…"
The monk finished the sentence for him. "That boy you fought… is the heir of the Dark warrior who stood against the world during the Eclipse."
Rose's breath caught slightly. Her eyes slowly moved toward Lux. Lux fought someone like that…? She had always known Lux was strong. But the way the monk was speaking now made it sound like that battle had been far more terrifying than Lux ever admitted.
Lux felt the weight of the revelation settle in his chest. Umbra. The name echoed in his mind.
The monk suddenly looked directly into Lux's eyes. His voice was deadly serious now. "You are not fighting a normal enemy." He pointed his staff toward the distant horizon, toward the world far beyond the mountain. "You are facing the return of Darkness itself." Rose felt a shiver run down her spine. The wind suddenly felt colder. The monk's gaze hardened. "And if that boy truly is Umbra…" He paused. His eyes narrowed as though staring at an inevitable future. "Then the world is standing on the edge of another Eclipse." Silence fell across the summit once more. The grass swayed. The sky remained bright. But something in the air had changed. Rose slowly looked at Lux again. Her thoughts were racing now. Lux… what kind of battle did you really survive…? And for the first time since they arrived on Mount Solmora— She realized the path Lux had chosen might lead them into something far greater than either of them had imagined.