After receiving the confirmation, Yohn only gave a small nod as if the outcome had already been expected from the moment he asked.

There was no wasted motion, no satisfaction drawn out for effect. Time had become too valuable for that. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He rose from the old chair in one smooth movement while the black bird on his shoulder spread its wings once before settling again.

Without another pause, Yohn lifted one hand and traced a short pattern through the air. Magic gathered instantly into a dense and controlled pattern, then split space itself into a circular portal of dark blue light that hummed with restrained force. The room brightened under its glow.

"Wait for a few seconds," Yohn said calmly. "I’ll call them."

Velrion nodded. But the stiffness in his body had become impossible to hide now.

For all his discipline, for all the years he had spent mastering thought over emotion, this was different. He was not preparing to meet nobles, kings, or the strongest of Mages and cultivators. He was about to stand before Dragonborn, beings buried in legend so deeply that even scholars argued whether they had ever existed at all.

His mind even still struggled to accept that this moment was real.

Yohn stepped through the portal and vanished.

The room fell silent again for only a brief stretch of seconds before the portal flared brighter than before. Velrion instinctively straightened.

Then figures began to emerge.

Not one.

Not two.

Not three.

But four people stepped out from the portal one after another, carrying themselves with a natural certainty that made the room feel too small the instant they arrived.

Velrion’s eyes widened sharply.

The pressure that rolled from them was immense. It was not hostile, but it was overwhelming in a way no ordinary being that wield Magic could imitate.

Their presence alone seems to bend the atmosphere. Magic in the room reacted to them like water before mountains and shifted instinctively around forces that seemed far greater than itself.

Velrion felt layers within that power, ancient depth hidden beneath calm human appearances, and for the first time in many years he forgot to speak.

Yohn glanced toward him and said in an even tone, "These four are the Dragonborn I told you about. Three of them came from another world. And one has lived in this world for a long time."

Velrion remained frozen where he stood. His brilliant mind, which could untangle the most complex Magical structures in hours, failed to organize what stood before him.

Eccar looked at his expression and let out an amused chuckle.

"I never get bored of that face," he said. "The moment people realize that we are actually Dragonborn."

Erend gave a tired sigh beside him as if he had heard that joke too many times. Aesa simply crossed her arms and stood in silence, her indifferent gaze drifting over the room.

Then Erend stepped forward slightly and offered a polite nod.

"Greetings," he said. "Nice to meet you, Archmage Velrion."

Velrion remained stiff for another brief moment after Erend’s greeting, as if his mind needed one final instant to align itself with reality.

Then years of discipline reasserted themselves. He drew a slow breath, coughed once into a closed fist, and straightened his posture with deliberate control.

The shock did not vanish completely, but it was forced beneath layers of practiced composure that had guided him through crises, courts, and wars alike.

The disguise he had worn also began to fade. Subtle distortions along his face and body unraveled into threads of Magic before dissolving into the air.

The ordinary old man vanished, replaced by the true presence beneath it. His features sharpened back into their familiar form and the quiet authority that naturally surrounded the Archmage of Leonora returned with full weight.

His robes settled neatly around him as if even fabric recognized its proper place.

When he finally spoke again, his voice had regained its measured steadiness.

"Greetings to you as well," Velrion said, offering Erend a respectful nod. "And allow me to say that this meeting is far beyond anything I expected when I woke this morning."

Eccar grinned at that. "That tends to happen around us."

Aesa gave no visible reaction and remained with her arms crossed, though her eyes briefly shifted toward Velrion as if assessing how quickly he had recovered.

Velrion glanced across the four of them one by one, still feeling the immense depth hidden beneath their calm appearances. Even composed, he could not ignore that standing in front of him were beings his world had treated as myth for generations.

"You will forgive my earlier reaction," he said. "Even an Archmage does not often prepare himself to greet legends face to face."

Erend gave a faint smile. "That’s a fair response."

Yohn moved to the side and leaned lightly against the wall, leaving the center of the room to them. The black bird on his shoulder remained silent and watchful.

Velrion then gestured toward the worn chairs and sparse room around them. "This house is hardly suitable for guests of your stature, but it is what we have."

"We’ve stood in worse places. Heheh," Eccar said casually.

That earned the faintest exhale from Erend before he looked back to Velrion, his expression becoming more focused.

"You must have already heard from Yohn," Erend said, "what we are here to do."

Velrion’s expression tightened at once as the remaining traces of astonishment fully gave way to duty.

The Archmage within him stepped forward completely now, setting emotion aside in favor of reason and order.

He folded his hands behind his back and met Erend’s gaze with calm intensity. The air around him was steadier than before. Whatever legends stood in this room no longer mattered as much as the crisis attached to them.

"I understand the urgency," Velrion said in a measured tone. "But before I commit this world’s resources or judgment, I will need to hear a full explanation first. Start from the beginning. Please."

—