NOVEL WEB Chapter 28 – Team 3
The stone-slab training field buzzed faintly underfoot, Echo lines glowing in quiet spirals beneath the three newly assigned students.
Across from them, leaning lazily against a cracked training post, stood Raiden Kurogami—the so-called "Thunder God."
His disheveled coat hung half-buttoned, his eyes half-lidded like he hadn't slept in days, and a faint hum of electricity coiled around his fingertips as he yawned.
"Alright…" he mumbled, voice smooth but tired. "Before we head out for any mission... introductions."
He stretched his arms overhead, thunder crackling lazily along his sleeve.
"Name. Affinity. Dream. That's all I ask. So we don't stab each other in the back later. Sound good?"
Kaen scoffed.
"If you'd shown up yesterday like a real mentor, we could've started already."
Raiden cracked one eye open. "Tch. I had an emergency, you brat."
Then he turned to the other two.
"Go ahead, princess and pretty boy."
Rael Eluron's emerald eyes narrowed slightly. "Why am I on a team with... him?" He motioned to Kaen like he was pointing at spilled soup.
Kaen clenched his jaw. "What did you say?!"
Lira stepped forward before the air sparked.
"Enough. We just got here. Can we at least pretend to be civil?" Her voice was gentle, but firm like sunlight through fog.
Raiden let out another long sigh. "Lira, you're up first. Set an example."
She nodded.
"Lira Valenne. Affinity: Bloom — traditional." Her lavender eyes shimmered softly. "I want to become the Head of the Blood Medic Division."
Raiden arched an eyebrow. "Not a Lunar Sage? You've got the talent."
She smiled faintly. "My older sister's the heir for that. I'm more useful on the battlefield, healing those who bleed in silence."
Raiden's smirk faded into something more respectful. "Good dream. Rare one."
Kaen muttered, "Heh." but didn't argue.
Rael stepped forward next, the wind brushing his platinum hair as if bowing to him.
"Rael Eluron. Affinities: Bloom, Wind, Lightning... and Stone."
His hand hovered near the Lumen Blade sheathed at his hip elegant, restrained.
"My dream is to become a Lunar Sage. But to do that..." His gaze hardened. "I need to find that person. And kill him."
Silence fell, sharp and heavy.
Raiden tilted his head, a thin current of static brushing the ground near his boots.
"Vengeance, huh?" he murmured. "Be careful. That path... it eats you slow. Makes you forget what you were before it."
"I'm prepared." Rael's voice didn't waver.
Then he turned slightly and his sharp emerald gaze landed on Kaen.
"And I'll kill every last Voidborn I meet."
Kaen stiffened.
"What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm Voidborn, you bastard?!"
Rael's tone was ice. "Not now. Maybe later."
Kaen stepped forward, flame flickering faintly at his palm. "You wanna say that again?!"
Raiden finally groaned.
He lifted his hand, a sharp burst of thunder snapped the air like a whip. Both boys flinched.
"Enough. You two wanna fight? Do it in a sanctioned duel, not on my training field."
His thunder faded, the crackle dying down.
"Now, Kaen. Introduce yourself or I'll zap your eyebrows off."
Kaen huffed but straightened.
"Kaen Suro. Affinity: Flame… and Shade."
That last word drew a visible shift from both Rael and Lira.
Kaen's voice didn't waver.
"My dream? To become an Eclipse Vanguard."
He looked straight at Raiden, fire flickering behind his eyes.
"And to make them recognize that I'm not the monster people think I am."
There was no tremble in his words. No hesitation. Just a quiet, stubborn fire.
Raiden raised a brow, crackling a small arc of thunder between his fingers.
"Hoh... That's a big dream, kid."
"But recognition doesn't come cheap."
"You sure you're ready for the price? The pressure? The part where everyone doubts you before they clap for you?"
Kaen smirked. Not cocky. Not smug. Just sure.
"Giving up isn't in my motto."
The air buzzed.
Even Rael paused, his narrowed eyes watching Kaen a second longer than before.
Lira glanced at Kaen, lips parted slightly, as if hearing him for the first time.
Raiden exhaled slowly. A lazy smile played on his lips but the approval behind it was real.
"Heh. Good answer."
Raiden clapped his hands once—
A sound like thunder cracking through a cloudless sky.
"Alright, Team 3."
"You've got your names, your dreams, and your grudges."
He smiled, the lazy edge of it barely hiding the storm behind his eyes.
"Now… let's see if you've got teamwork."
The three of them turned toward him—Rael with arms folded, Lira standing calm and upright, Kaen tense with coiled frustration.
Raiden casually raised a single sheet of paper between two fingers.
"This."
He waved it once in front of them.
"Is your mission slip."
A moment of silence.
Then his eyes sharpened, playful and dangerous at once.
"If any one of you can take this from me—alone or together—I'll approve your team for deployment."
"But if you fail?"
He shrugged.
"No mission. No advancement. No exceptions."
Kaen narrowed his eyes.
(That's it? Just take a damn piece of paper? Easy—)
But Raiden's next words killed that thought cold.
"Oh. And one more thing."
"If you destroy it—"
He grinned.
"I'll count it as a win too. So go wild."
The air crackled pressure blooming like lightning behind a stormcloud.
Lira furrowed her brow.
(No way he's making it that simple... That paper's a trap. It's never just the paper.)
Rael's eyes narrowed, analyzing everything from Raiden's stance to the angle of his grip.
(He's baiting us.)
(If it were just about speed, he wouldn't be holding it like that. Which means… it's about something else.)
Kaen clenched his fists.
"So we take it from you… or destroy it?"
Raiden tilted his head.
"Correct. But if not one of you can manage it—then the three of you are clearly not ready to fight Voidborn together."
He lowered the paper slightly, like dangling prey.
"Time limit: None."
"Come at me when you're ready."
To be continue
Author Note:
In the world of Veinwalkers, every team no matter their strength or status must take on missions.
But what many forget is this: missions themselves are ranked.
From the deadly and world-shaking Class S missions, to the more manageable Class A and B, all the way down to Class C, E, or even F, every mission holds value.
A mission's class determines its difficulty, danger, and importance but not its meaning.
Whether it's a high-risk assignment to seal a collapsing Vein Rift or a low-class scouting job in the outskirts, a mission is still a mission.
Veinwalkers grow by taking on what's given to them.
The mission might be F-rank, but how a team handles it can define their future. Even the smallest task can lead to awakening… or destruction.
Because in the end, a mission no matter the class is still valuable to a Veinwalker.