The ground exploded. A massive fissure opened beneath dozens of rats. The monsters fell screaming. Stone spikes erupted from the inner walls of the trap.

Bodies were impaled. Bellies ripped open. Legs torn off. Jaws shattered. Blood sprayed in every direction. Their shrieks echoed through the forest.

But... the rats behind them simply ran over the corpses. As if they had never existed.

Then came the second line.

Hundreds of earthen spikes shot out of the ground. Some completely pierced the monsters. Others hurled them into the air. Bodies spun through the sky. Tails were torn away. Eyes burst. Black blood rained down.

Before they even hit the ground... Small runes hidden within the spikes glowed.

’BOOM!’

Explosions of fire. The impaled bodies immediately burst into flames. The smell of burning fur spread throughout the village.

Lukas had to hold his breath.

But that was only the beginning.

The third trap activated. The solid ground turned into quicksand. Hundreds of rats desperately sank into it. The more they struggled... the deeper they sank. Then... Flames erupted beneath their bodies. Their paws began to char. Their bellies burned slowly.

The screams became unbearable.

Even so... the horde kept coming. Without stopping. Without slowing down.

Lukas watched everything from above. His vision was far superior to everyone else’s. He could see the entire extent of the horde.

He saw rats trampling over their own brothers. He saw some pushing others into the traps. He saw monsters burning alive while dozens ran over them.

It was a true black sea. And it seemed endless.

Master Thorne raised both hands. Several spheres of fire appeared around him, slowly revolving like miniature planets. With precise movements of his fingers... The fireballs shot forward.

One. Two. Five. Ten.

Every shot struck exactly where it was supposed to. The explosions triggered secondary traps. Pillars of fire burst from the ground. Rats were hurled into the air completely engulfed in flames. Some, still alive, ran around in a frenzy. Setting others around them on fire.

Soon... the entire battlefield had turned into an inferno.

The heat reached even the rooftop where Lukas stood. Smoke began to rise. Thick. Dark. Mixed with the smell of blood. Burnt fur. Roasted flesh. Damp earth. Mana.

The guards watched in complete astonishment. None of them even needed to fight. The traps did all the work.

Even so... the rats never stopped coming.

Hour after hour. New waves emerged from the forest. More numerous. More aggressive. Some managed to escape the first trap. But died in the second. Others crossed two defensive lines. Only to sink into the burning quicksand.

Very few actually managed to reach the wall. And those that did... Were immediately reduced to ashes by Thorne’s spells.

Even so... the old mage was beginning to breathe with difficulty. Tiny beads of sweat ran down his forehead. His face grew paler and paler.

Clavor noticed.

"Can you keep going?"

Thorne smiled faintly.

"I still have enough mana..." He launched another volley of fireballs.

"...to finish off a few thousand more."

The hours passed slowly. The moon crossed the entire sky. The pile of corpses continued to grow. The charred bodies had already formed small mountains before the wall. Blood flowed across the ground, forming dark streams. Flies began to appear even before dawn.

Around the fifth watch of the morning... Lukas noticed something.

The red eyes were beginning to diminish. The waves were becoming smaller. The shrieks grew more and more distant.

Then... Without any warning... the remaining rats simply retreated. They disappeared back into the trees.

Silence returned. A heavy silence. An unpleasant one. Broken only by the crackling of the bodies still burning.

The first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon. The golden light completely revealed the scene.

Hundreds. No. Thousands of corpses. Piled together. Charred. Impaled. Dismembered.

The field before the village looked like an enormous graveyard.

Lukas remained still for a few seconds, staring at the sight before him. A chill ran through his entire body.

Then he fired a strand of web toward the ground. He quickly descended.

His legs felt heavy. His eyes burned. He had not slept for a single minute.

He approached his father.

"Father..."

His voice came out tired.

"I’m going back to the manor. I need to get some rest."

Clavor smiled faintly. He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.

"Go."

Lukas nodded. He called Tilbo. Prata slowly gathered her webs. Astra returned to his shoulder.

The four of them followed the trail toward Dmond Manor as the sun finally illuminated the forest.

Clavor remained standing atop the wall beside Master Thorne. The two silently observed the vast field of corpses.

After a long silence... Clavor spoke.

"Considering everything... today was relatively easy."

Thorne looked toward the forest. His expression remained serious.

"Yes..."

He paused briefly.

"But that was only a test."

Clavor turned to look at him. The old mage continued.

"The Rat King now knows all of my traps." Smoke still rose slowly behind them. Thorne tightened his grip on his staff.

"Tonight..." His voice became solemn.

"He won’t make the same mistake twice."

The sun had risen. But the true darkness was yet to come.

...

Lukas walked slowly along the dirt path connecting Hill Village to Dmond Manor. The golden light of dawn filtered through the treetops, casting long shadows across the road, yet his mind remained on the battlefield he had left behind.

The rats’ shrieks still echoed in his ears.

The explosions of fire. The earthen spikes pierced dozens of monsters at once.

The traps were swallowing entire hordes as though they were insignificant.

He had never imagined that a single mage could be so powerful.

Master Thorne had remained almost completely motionless throughout the entire night. All he had to do was raise one hand, control his mana with precision, and cast another spell. Every spell was calculated. Every attack eliminated dozens of rats at once. Thousands of monsters had died, and almost none had even managed to reach the wall.

Lukas gently clenched his fists.

’So... this is what a true mage is capable of...’

His heart raced. He wanted to learn. He wanted to command the earth like that. He wanted to unleash flames capable of turning an entire army into ashes.

Not out of pride. But because he wanted to protect his family.

If one day an enemy even stronger than that horde appeared, he wanted to stand on the front line beside his father instead of merely watching from the rooftop.

A small smile appeared on his face.

’I truly hope I’ll be able to use magic.’

As he imagined the countless possibilities, the massive silhouette of Dmond Manor emerged from between the trees.

Its stone walls reflected the light of the rising sun, giving off a strange sense of safety.

Lukas took a deep breath, passed through the gate alongside Tilbo, Prata, and Astra, and headed into the manor.

After a long night of keeping watch, all he wanted now was to rest... and dream of the day he would finally wield his own magic.