Lahat ng Kabanata ng Jade: The Hybrid Mage: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

I didn’t know how long I lay there.Minutes? Hours? Days?The pain made time meaningless.I didn’t cry out—I couldn’t. My body wasn’t mine anymore. Just bones and nerves trapped under the weight of something too vast to comprehend. Something ancient and angry, pressing on every part of me like it wanted to flatten me into dust.I couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe right.All I could do was feel. And plead.I whispered to the darkness, over and over, “Let it end.”When that didn’t work, I begged.When begging didn’t work, I asked for death.And then—just when I thought the cave would keep me forever—It spat me out.One moment I was crushed beneath its aura. The next, I was flying.I hit the dirt outside the cave mouth hard, landed face-first in gravel, and gasped for air like it was treasure.I didn’t even lift my head.But I saw the boots.Polished. Familiar.A hand grabbed my collar and turned me over.And there she was.Lysar.Smirking down at me like I was exactly what she expected t

My aura wasn’t fierce like fire.Not in the way I expected.It didn’t rage or scream or crackle.It was . . . cool.Not cold.But steady. Deep. Endless.And yet, when I reached for it, I felt the truth—It wasn’t gentle at all.It was heavy. Condensed.Like trying to pull a mountain up by its roots while lying beneath it.I clenched my jaw, fingers twitching on the stone beneath me. My bones felt like they were vibrating from the inside out.I gritted my teeth.Tried to yank it out.The pressure of the cave didn’t help. It shattered every ounce of focus I scraped together.The weight of it all—inside and out—was suffocating.My lips cracked when I whispered, “Come on—”‘Stop fighting it,’ Naila said, her voice a tether in the storm. ‘You can’t pull aura like magic. You become it. Let it rise. Don’t command it—join it.’“I’m trying,” I hissed through clenched teeth.‘You’re not trying. You’re battling it. That won’t work. This isn’t an enemy. It’s you.’I slumped.My chest rose and fel

The news came the evening before the match.We were at the 5-Year Cadet Barracks when it dropped—right after evening drills, soaked in sweat and panting from a brutal sparring rotation. I’d barely unclenched my fists when the announcement flared across the nearest magic veil, the glowing script scrolling like a judge's verdict."UPDATE: Team Match Initiated. Jade Ishola and Lysar Fallan will no longer face off in a duel. Instead, each cadet will assemble a team and be deployed into the Evil Forest. Mission Objective: Recover a sacred crest stolen by bandits. First team to return with the item wins."A silence passed through the training ground when the update dropped. Then chaos.“They what?!” Lotanni shouted. “A mission? We’ve been training for the RGT, not an actual op!”Lysar’s voice cut through the noise, smooth and mocking. “Lucky cunt, Jade. Guess I won’t get to publicly humiliate her ass with a good beating after all.”She stood off to the side with her squad—older cadets in sh

Lysar strolled through the mist like she was taking a stroll through a rose garden, not a death trap.Her squad was all seasoned—fourth-years and fifth-years. They moved around her like a deadly pack, relaxed but hyperaware.She smirked behind her black half-mask, her portal magic flickering in tiny spirals around her fingertips, playful and casual."Poor Jade," she said lightly, almost singing. "Must be choking on her fear right about now."One of her teammates chuckled.Another—the royal mage—stepped closer, offering Lysar a playful grin. "Maybe she'll get lucky and die quickly."The royal werewolf stiffened a few paces back, silent. His golden eyes flicked to Lysar, then to the mage, then away. His posture rigid. His fists clenching.Lysar caught it all, of course.And smiled wider.She stepped toward the royal mage, tracing a finger down the front of his armored vest. Slow. Taunting."You’ll protect me, won't you, Arien?" she purred.The werewolf’s jaw tightened. A low, near-silen

We moved through the thinning trees in silence, the kind that settles when fear lingers just behind your ribs. No one said a word. Everyone was shaken. Raw. But we were alive. That counted for something.The dense branches gave way to a wide clearing, and there it was—a black lake stretching out before us, its surface still as death. Not a ripple. Not a sound. It reflected nothing, not even the fractured sky above.Lotanni stepped forward."Wait," I said quickly, grabbing her arm.Something moved.The surface rippled. A sleek tendril rose from the water, tasting the air. Then another. And another. Long. Wet. Coiling like a snake with no bones. A low moan echoed from deep below, rattling the ground.Bainer stumbled back. "What the hell is that?"My stomach twisted. "A still lake . . . and twirling vines," I whispered.I recognized this from the journals. “Don’t tell me . . .” The words barely left my mouth.This was one of the worst places anyone could end up in the Evil Forest."The