The Strongest Sage had returned, and the world was nowhere near ready for him.
As the light intensified, a figure stepped out from the shimmering veil of mana. He didn’t look like a god or a monster. He looked like a young man, barely twenty, with hair the color of midnight and eyes that held the terrifying calm of a deep ocean. He wore simple, archaic robes that predated the current era by centuries. 1 : The Strongest Sage Appears.
The sky over the Kingdom of Althea didn’t crack, and the earth didn’t tremble. Instead, the air simply grew heavy, thick with a sudden, suffocating pressure that made the birds fall silent mid-flight. The Strongest Sage had returned, and the world
In the center of the Capital’s Great Plaza, a circle of ancient runes—dormant for a thousand years—ignited with a cold, violet flame. The Royal Mages scrambled, their staves clattering against the stone. He looked like a young man, barely twenty,
"The seal!" the Head Mage cried, his voice cracking. "The Forbidden Vault is opening!"
He took a single breath, and the magical pressure vanished instantly, sucked into his lungs like a vacuum.