'He can wield a secondary elemental Art?! What else is there to note?!'
Eric's mind raced, caught in the whirlwind of battle and revelation.
He wasn't the kind of mystic who lived knee-deep in arcane studies or participated in the elite circles of the mystic order. That life was never fully his.
There was a time back when he was a rough-edged teenager, fumbling his way into adulthood that he had taken steps into that world. Back when the future still held its promise. As an orphan forced to carve a place in a timeline that didn't belong to him, Eric had no choice but to straddle two complex systems: the national order and the mystic order.
He'd never risen to greatness in either path. No prestigious title. No royal crest. But what he lacked in status, he made up for with perseverance. He'd walked far enough in both worlds to know how their gears turned, and more importantly, how their people fought.
