The Pursuit Of Catalyst: A Dive Into Another Verse

As the swirling shadows of the portal faded behind them, Sylves and Elza stepped onto soft grass under a night sky—though time had shifted. It was midnight here, the air crisp and heavy with magic. A quaint stone cottage stood a short distance ahead, lit gently by floating crystal orbs. Around them stretched a vast, open lawn, enclosed by what Sylves instantly recognized as a high-grade anti-magic detection barrier. He could feel the tingle on his skin, the static in the air—nothing magical could enter or exit unnoticed.

Before he could even fully take in the surroundings, Hawk Frost turned to face them.

That single movement made Sylves's breath catch in his throat. The man's presence was like an avalanche waiting to fall. Sylves's usually composed demeanor wavered. He straightened unconsciously, posture sharpening. Even Elza, who still clung lightly to his sleeve, stiffened.

Then Hawk spoke.

"Introduce yourselves."

His voice was like iron—grating, direct, commanding.

Sylves hesitated only a moment, then replied with practiced grace.

"I am Sylves Ellesmere, heir and only child of Duke Danise Ellesmere. And this girl here is—"

"I said introduce yourselves!" Hawk's voice cracked through the air like thunder.

Sylves instinctively took half a step back. His heart quickened. But Hawk's glare wasn't aimed at him this time—it was focused entirely on Elza.

She froze.

It was clear to her now—if she kept hiding behind Sylves, she'd never grow stronger. Her sister had entrusted her to this boy, yes—but Hawk Frost had no patience for shadows that couldn't stand in the light.

Slowly, she took a small step forward.

"I... I am—"

"LOUDLY!"

The command hit her like a whip.

Her hands clenched at her sides. Her knees trembled. But then she closed her eyes tight, inhaled sharply, and shouted with all the strength her lungs could muster—

"I am Elza Glens! The third and last child of Court Mage Marsh Glens, and the younger sister to Sarah Glens of the Royal Elite Force!"

The wind itself seemed to pause.

When Elza opened her eyes, blinking away tears she hadn't realized were forming, she was met with Sylves's stunned expression...

And the impossible sight of Hawk Frost smiling—just slightly.

"What, after all, you can speak." He folded his arms, nodding once. "Good. Then we start."

Elza's breath caught. Sylves looked between her and Hawk, uncertain.

"Start what...?"

"A quick spar," Hawk said simply, stepping back to the center of the moonlit lawn. "Both of you will face me—individually. Use anything at your disposal. Any spell. Any trick. Don't hold back."

Sylves instinctively stepped forward, but Hawk raised a hand to stop him.

"Elza goes first."

Elza's eyes widened. Her lips parted to protest, but stopped. She glanced at Sylves—he gave her a single, steady nod. She swallowed her fear.

And stepped forward.

She now stood directly opposite the most intimidating man she had ever seen—her first teacher in the path to vengeance, strength, and self-worth.

Sylves stepped to the side, arms folded tightly, watching every moment with an unblinking gaze. His heart beat faster for Elza than it had ever for himself. But he wouldn't interfere—not now.

This was her moment.

And Hawk?

Hawk just stood there, relaxed, hands still behind his back.

Waiting.

The night air crackled with tension. Elza took her stance. Her breath was steady, but her heart thundered in her chest. Across from her, Hawk Frost stood unmoving, arms calmly folded behind his back, like a statue carved from obsidian.

"Begin," he said.

Elza didn't hesitate. She slammed her palms together. Void magic surged through her veins, wrapping around her arms in tendrils of darkness. A sphere of compressed void energy formed in front of her palm, humming with unstable power.

"Void Spear!"

She thrust her arm forward. The violet-black spear shot through the air, ripping through space itself. A direct hit.

But Hawk was already gone.

The grass where he stood rustled as if disturbed by a passing breeze.

Elza spun around—he was behind her again. Still unmoving. Arms still behind his back.

She gritted her teeth.

"Shadow Bloom!" she yelled.

Multiple black flowers erupted around him—each one an explosive trap.

They detonated in unison.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Smoke and darkness engulfed the field—but there was no cry, no impact. The wind dispersed the smoke, revealing Hawk standing exactly as he had before.

Unscathed. Unmoved.

Elza charged, summoning whirling blades of void magic around her. "Void Orbit!" The blades circled her like angry comets. She darted forward and slashed—left, right, then a spinning kick fueled with a burst of wind magic.

Hawk leaned an inch to the side, then a step back, then ducked ever so slightly. Each strike missed by a hair's breadth, but never once did he lift a hand to block. He watched her—not with condescension, but with clarity.

Elza shouted in frustration, summoning every ounce of energy she could. She leapt back and slammed both hands into the earth.

"Void Nova!"

The ground cracked, and a black dome of chaotic magic exploded outward from her position, devouring the lawn in waves of destructive force. Even Sylves had to take a step back as the intensity of her power shook the training ground.

When the dust settled, Elza fell to one knee, panting, sweat dripping down her brow.

And Hawk was still there. Unscathed.

Behind her.

"Too slow," he said.

Before she could turn, she felt a light tap on the back of her neck. She froze.

His voice was calm—firm, but not cruel.

"Here. You died."

Silence fell over the field.

Elza's arms dropped to her sides as she knelt down in defeat, her head bowed.

"I... I used everything I had," she said in a cracked whisper.

Hawk walked to stand before her now, the first time he'd truly moved toward her.

"You did. And that's the lesson."

He looked to Sylves now, who stood quietly nearby, fists clenched.

"Power alone won't save you. Emotion won't control your magic for you. And fury without discipline is just noise."

He extended a hand to Elza.

"Now. Your turn Sylves."

Sylves stood tall, stepping forward as Elza, exhausted and trembling, moved back to the side. She looked up at him with wide, teary eyes, but Sylves only gave her a reassuring nod before facing the silent force of nature that was Hawk Frost.

The obsidian-eyed instructor hadn't shifted his stance.

"You watched," Hawk said. "Let's see if you learned."

Sylves raised both hands. His aura flickered—unlike Elza's erratic swells, his magic flowed like a perfect storm waiting to erupt. Light, fire, wind, water, and deep within, Void—the rarest and most dangerous.

Sylves took a deep breath.

And vanished.

Wind magic burst under his feet as he launched forward with a spatial blink, closing the distance between him and Hawk in the blink of an eye. A blade of pure light magic slashed from his hand.

Hawk tilted his head, narrowly avoiding it, arms still behind his back.

But Sylves was already mid-spin, switching seamlessly into fire magic—his palm ignited in blazing heat, sending a burst of flames point-blank. Hawk stepped through it without even blinking, his coat barely ruffled.

Sylves leapt back, combining wind and water now—blades of ice, spinning like chakrams, hurtled toward Hawk from all angles. At the same time, Sylves whispered an incantation. His left hand shimmered with a thin layer of void energy.

"Phase Rift."

The chakrams exploded into a mist that concealed a teleportation marker—a trick Sylves embedded within the spell. Hawk blinked as Sylves materialized above him, a massive void-forged spear in his hand, charged with spatial magic to increase impact.

"Not bad," Hawk muttered.

The spear came down—fast, loud, rippling with power.

But Hawk sidestepped just in time. The weapon embedded into the earth with a thunderous boom, shattering stone and air alike.

Sylves wasn't done.

He twisted, using his foot to pull the spear back through the ground, causing a mini-shockwave beneath Hawk. The instructor, for the first time, jumped back, his boots skidding slightly across the dirt.

Elza gasped.

He moved…

Sylves landed gracefully, his chest rising and falling fast. He looked up at Hawk, sweat glistening on his brow.

"I'm not done yet," he muttered.

Hawk chuckled—low and ominous.

"I would hope not."

Sylves lifted his hands, and the very air began to bend around him. Multiple light glyphs spun into the sky, intertwining with void sigils—an unnatural pairing, yet somehow stable under his control.

A barrage of mixed spells rained down on Hawk: light arrows, wind daggers, fire shards, void needles—each with unpredictable trajectories. Hawk danced through them, still elegant, arms at his back, but this time… he was being pushed back.

Elza's eyes widened in awe.

"He's… pushing him."

Sylves blinked behind Hawk again and appeared just a foot away. He unleashed a burst of soundless magic, a combination of compressed wind and void. The resulting shockwave hurled Hawk backward several steps before he corrected his footing mid-air.

When the dust cleared, Hawk stood, finally pulling one hand out from behind his back and clapping once—slowly, sharply.

"Very good," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "You're the first child I've trained who made me move my feet on their first try."

Sylves wiped blood from the corner of his mouth but didn't smile.

"You moved your hand," he said flatly. "That's better than I expected."

Hawk's eyes glinted.

"Then let's go a step further."

With a flick of his fingers, the ground beneath Sylves shifted, warping as Hawk cast spatial fold to disorient his footing. Sylves responded instantly, using a counterfold of his own, stabilizing before retaliating with a light barrage.

The two engaged in a rapid series of exchanges—void for void, spatial for spatial.

Sylves now used two magics at once, layering them with clever intent—wind to speed up his movement, void to increase the weight of his blows. He lunged in a blur and forced Hawk to block a strike with his forearm.

That was it.

The crowd of one—Elza—held her breath.

He'd made Hawk defend.

The master grinned, a rare fire in his eyes.

"You're dangerous," he said. "And that excites me."

Sylves launched forward for a final strike, both hands glowing with void energy. His eyes burned violet.

He didn't know what he was casting—but he knew this: it would land.

But Hawk had seen enough.

He raised his left hand and whispered a single word in an ancient tongue.

"Submerge."

A wave of null-space energy burst around him. It wasn't destructive—it was consuming. The moment Sylves made contact, the energy inverted his spell, canceling it, and a split-second later, Hawk tapped two fingers against Sylves's forehead.

"Sleep."

Void rippled through Sylves's mind—not violently, but decisively.

His body tensed… then slumped forward.

Hawk caught him before he hit the ground.

Elza screamed, running to them.

"What did you do?!"

"He's fine," Hawk said, gently laying the unconscious Sylves down on the grass. "I used a sleep spell embedded with void frequency. No damage—just silence."

He looked at Elza, his expression unusually soft for a man so harsh.

"He impressed me. Both of you did. You have potential—more than most. But Void Magic is dangerous, unstable, and merciless. You must learn to wield it without letting it devour you."

Elza knelt beside Sylves, who now slept peacefully. She looked up at Hawk.

"Will he be okay?"

Hawk turned toward the rising sun, arms again behind his back.

"He'll wake in an hour... I'll be back by then."

And then, without another word, Hawk vanished into the fading shadows.

After an hour…

Sylves stirred, a dull ache throbbing behind his eyes. The chill of the morning wind brushed against his cheeks, but he didn't feel the grass beneath him—only warmth, and a faint trembling under his head.

He blinked.

His vision cleared slowly to the sight of Elza, her violet eyes misty but calm. She was sitting on the ground, cradling his head in her lap. Her silver hair swayed in the breeze, catching a few rays of the climbing sun.

"You're awake… finally."

Her voice was soft, teasing, but with a distinct note of relief.

"I was supposed to be the one looked after," she continued with a shaky chuckle. "Idiot. After everything you said last night… look at you now."

Sylves tried to speak but ended up sighing as he gently shifted, propping himself up on one elbow. "I… lost?"

"Obviously," Elza said, puffing her cheeks and brushing his hair lightly. "But you made him move. You even made him use his hand."

Sylves gave a weak smile. "That alone makes it a win…"

Then he froze. A sudden pressure loomed behind him.

He turned his head slowly, and from a veil of mist near the tree line, Hawk Frost stepped out like a shadow given form.

Sylves sat upright immediately.

"I see you've woken up," Hawk said, his deep voice even and unmoved. "Good. I didn't use enough to damage you—just enough to silence the storm."

Elza stiffened, instinctively pulling herself closer to Sylves. Hawk noticed.

"Elza," he said, tone softer than before but still commanding, "Go into the cottage. There's hot water waiting. Wash, rest, and calm yourself. I need to speak with Sylves… alone."

She hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave Sylves's side.

Sylves turned to her, offering a small smile. "It's alright… I'm okay now."

Elza's eyes lingered on his face for a moment longer before she finally nodded and rose to her feet. As she began walking toward the cottage, she turned once, glanced at Hawk, then slipped inside.

Silence followed.

Hawk walked over to Sylves and stood with his hands once again behind his back, staring down at him.

"That was a good fight," he said bluntly.

Sylves sat cross-legged, silent.

"You did better than expected for a child. You were calculated, fluid, and clever with your layering. Most importantly—" he paused, "—you showed restraint. That's rare in people who wield Void Magic."

Sylves looked up. "...But not enough restraint to stay conscious."

Hawk huffed softly. "That sleep spell was a lesson. One you needed. You fought well—but you don't understand what you're carrying."

Sylves tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Void is not just an element. It's the absence of everything. It devours… light, matter, memory… even self. Most people who dabble in it too long lose who they are. You, however—" Hawk knelt, locking eyes with him, "—still cling to everything that makes you human. That's good. But dangerous too."

Sylves swallowed, feeling a cold wave crawl down his spine.

"I'm not training you to win tournaments or show off," Hawk said. "You are a beacon. The moment you channeled Void, the Catalyst of Despair felt you. It wasn't coincidence that they came. You and that girl… are calls to chaos."

Sylves nodded slowly, his expression hardening. "Then train me… so I can silence them."

Hawk studied him carefully, then stood up straight again.

"I intend to. But I won't go easy. What you're asking for… it will cost you."

Sylves's fists clenched. "I'll pay it."

---

As the mist receded and the morning light tried to creep over the warded horizon, a dense silence settled over the training field.

Sylves sat on the cold grass, fingers curled, eyes fixed on his trembling palms. The pain from earlier was gone, but something deeper—something unsettled—gnawed at his core.

Behind him, Hawk Frost's voice cut through the stillness like a blade.

"Are you... really a child?" Hawk's gaze slowly shifts to Sylves.

Sylves's breath caught. His entire body tensed.

---