THE MOUNTAIN RECOGNIZES ITS WRAITH
The torii gates of Mahoutokarou trembled the moment Rafael stepped onto the stone path. Not from wind. Not from shifting earth.
From him.
The summer storms that always hung over the mountains parted just enough for a shaft of silver light to fall through the clouds, illuminating his form as if the sky itself acknowledged his return.
Students who had been arriving all morning froze mid-conversation.
Whispers rippled through the courtyard.
"He's back—The Wraith—"
"He looks stronger—look at his aura—"
"He brought the Barioth—NO WAY—"
Frostfang padded beside Rafael, now the size of a tiger cub—muscular, elegant, wings slightly folded, eyes bright with ancient intelligence. Frost mist curled around its claws with every step, freezing tiny patterns into stone.
Rafael walked calmly, Fenrir's Chains glowing faintly on his wrists, black-and-white travel robes fluttering behind him, hair tied loosely back.
He was taller.
Sharper.
More dangerous.
The kind of dangerous that made spirits bow and rival heirs swallow hard.
The mountain recognized him.
And it showed.
As Rafael approached the main gates, the torii rings lit up with golden-blue lightning, reacting to his divine core and Sky Flames. Kanji carved into the wood—normally dormant—glowed in resonance, one by one in sequence, like an ancient greeting.
The gates opened without a single hand laid upon them.
Students gasped.
Even upperclassmen flinched.
Mahoutokarou had spoken clearly.
The Wraith had returned.
---
Inside the entrance hall, older students wearing the embroidered badge of the Raijin Pillar Clan regarded him with thinly veiled hostility. Their leader, Ryuunosuke Taiga, lounged arrogantly against a pillar, arms crossed, a faint smirk on his lips.
Taiga was tall, broad-shouldered, and strong—one of the most promising Year 4 students. He had a reputation for ruthlessness and pride. And he had spent all summer bragging that he would be the one to put the Wraith "in his place."
Beside him stood two juniors—one nervous, one eager.
Rafael didn't spare them a glance.
He walked past smoothly, Frostfang trotting at his heel, breath frosting the air.
Taiga's smirk twitched.
Too subtle for most.
Not subtle enough for Rafael.
The Wraith's gold eyes flicked once toward Taiga.
That was all.
Taiga's heartbeat stuttered.
---
Students followed Rafael through the halls like nervous ducklings, peeking from corners and whispering loudly enough for Frostfang to flick his tail in annoyance.
His name trended through the campus already:
Wraith
The Storm Wolf
The Divine-Core Heir
Raijinko's Fury
But Rafael ignored it.
His mind wasn't here.
It was with the small glowing device in his pocket.
Hermione.
He took a breath and tapped the side of the device with his thumb.
A soft golden pulse answered.
She had messaged.
Rafael stepped aside into a quiet corner, Frostfang curling around his feet protectively as he opened the message.
Made it safely to Hogwarts today. Harry says hello. I… already miss summer. There's so much I didn't get to say to you. I hope you're settling in well. And I miss you. More than I should admit in writing.
Rafael exhaled slowly.
His thumb hovered over the reply.
He typed:
You can miss me as much as you want. I won't mind.
He erased it.
He typed again:
I'm glad you arrived safely. Frostfang says hello. …And I miss you too.
He sent that one.
Frostfang made a teasing trill.
Rafael went still, pretending not to hear.
---
Classes began after opening ceremonies.
Year 3 was brutal—designed to weed out the weak from the promising. Rafael walked into class after class and found the same pattern:
Instructors paused mid-sentence.
Students fell into anxious silence.
Rafael sat quietly in the back.
Even attempts at intimidation from older students failed. One especially cocky Year 4 student tried to shoulder-check him in the hallway.
He bounced off Rafael and stumbled three steps back, clutching his shoulder.
Rafael didn't break stride.
Frostfang chuffed once, derisively.
The campus was on edge.
Whispers followed him everywhere.
But beneath them…
there was something else.
Interest.
Fascination.
Girls staring too long.
Boys pretending not to stare.
Younger students whispering "Can we ask him to teach us?"
But Rafael didn't notice.
He was thinking about Hermione.
Thinking about the way her eyes lit up when she saw him.
The way she blushed when he teased her in person.
The way she held his gift like it was precious.
Everything else washed away.
---
After the second day of classes, Rafael returned to his dorm to find something chilling.
The box.
The box of Hermione's letters.
Gone.
Taken.
His heart stopped.
He turned slowly.
A folded slip of paper lay on his desk.
Frostfang sniffed it, growling—a low, guttural sound that sent a chill down Rafael's spine.
He opened the note.
Meet us in the old dojo at dusk.
Come alone.
We have your letters.
Rafael's hand tightened so suddenly the note crumpled into dust.
Lightning crackled faintly beneath his skin.
Frostfang hissed, claws sinking slightly into the wood floor.
"Let's go," Rafael whispered.
A hush fell over the halls as he walked through them.
Year 1 students scrambled out of his way.
Year 2 students avoided eye contact.
Year 4 students whispered nervously.
By the time he reached the old dojo, the sun was dipping behind the mountains, casting shadows across the worn wooden floors.
Three students waited inside.
Two juniors.
And Taiga.
The Raijin Pillar senior held Rafael's box in one hand and a lit match in the other.
"Wraith," Taiga greeted mockingly. "We found your little treasure chest. Thought we'd have some fun."
The juniors snickered nervously.
Taiga dropped the match onto the floor.
Rafael didn't move.
Taiga smirked and raised the box.
"Hand over the CAD tech… and your familiar… or her letters burn."
A hush.
A heartbeat.
Lightning flickered somewhere in the rafters.
Taiga scoffed. "What, no threat? No dramatic comeback?"
Rafael lifted his head slowly.
His eyes glowed.
Gold.
Burning.
Wrathful.
He spoke quietly—dangerously.
"Put. It. Down."
Taiga laughed. "Or what? You going to cry?"
Frostfang bared his fangs.
Taiga ignited another match and held it near the box.
"Last cha—"
Rafael moved.
No one saw him move.
One heartbeat he stood ten feet away.
The next—
Taiga crashed into the far wall, the match extinguished, the box ripped from his hand. Rafael's forearm pressed into his throat, Fenrir's Chains humming with barely-contained power.
The juniors screamed as Frostfang launched at them, pinning one to the floor with one massive paw and freezing the other's shoes to the ground.
Rafael leaned closer to Taiga.
"You touched what's mine."
Lightning danced along his knuckles.
"If you EVER threaten her again—"
The dojo trembled.
"—I won't stop at warnings."
Taiga couldn't breathe.
Couldn't speak.
Couldn't move.
The Wraith wasn't loud.
He wasn't violent.
He was terrifying.
Rafael released him—not gently—sending him collapsing to the floor gasping.
He retrieved the box, checking every letter.
Every note.
Every small drawing Hermione had sent him when she'd been lonely or scared.
All intact.
He closed the box, exhaled once, and turned for the door.
The room was silent.
As he left, students hidden behind the doorway scrambled to get out of his way.
A whisper shuddered through the crowd:
"…Wraith…"
"…He really is a demon…"
"…Taiga didn't stand a chance…"
"…Don't ever steal from him…"
Rafael didn't look back.
His heart ached—not from violence, but from how close her memories had come to being destroyed.
Hermione deserved better.
He would protect everything she gave him.
With everything he was.
---
That night, Hermione discovered something else.
She had finally opened the ancient lineage book Rafael had given her.
She found the Dagworth-Granger chapter.
Then another.
The Potters.
She read it—heart pounding—and ran to find Harry.
They studied it together.
Ron hovered behind them, jealous and simmering.
"Why are YOU reading that?" he snapped.
Hermione flinched. "Rafael… he gave it to me."
Ron exploded.
"Oh, RIGHT—your special friend! Maybe he should've taken YOU with him instead of giving you dangerous foreign magic!"
Harry stepped back.
Hermione's eyes burned with hurt.
And the CAD in her pocket flared—glowing gold and warm—the tether to Rafael responding to her emotions.
"Oh, what NOW?!" Ron yelled. "More of his stupid—"
The device crackled so sharply he jumped back in fear.
Hermione fled in tears.
Dumbledore arrived moments later.
"What is that device, Ronald?"
"It—it belongs to her! Some foreign boy gave it to her! It—it glows when she talks to him!"
Dumbledore's eyes hardened.
Umbridge smiled cruelly from the shadows.
Two days later, a letter addressed to Rafael left Hogwarts.
---
The letter did not reach Rafael.
It reached Lady Yuki.
And Lord Thomas.
Their expressions twisted—Yuki with cold fury, Thomas with military precision.
Rafael only learned one thing:
His mother's voice calling through the halls:
"Son. You received… mail."
Her tone made the mountain itself tremble.
---
The next day, Rafael approached the Headmaster.
The man in the black-and-gold robe turned slowly, dragon tattoo coiling along his arm, ancient eyes bright with hidden storms.
"Rafael."
"Headmaster Takeda," Rafael said quietly, "do we have… a forge on campus?"
The Headmaster's smile was slow, knowing.
"I have been waiting for you to ask."
He led Rafael deep into the mountain—past shrines and sealed doors and wards so ancient they hummed like sleeping beasts.
At the heart of the mountain lay the Divine Forge.
Rafael's heart pounded.
This was where the great artifacts of Mahoutokarou had been shaped centuries ago—where spirit and steel merged.
"Forge what you must," the Headmaster said. "Your path is your own."
Rafael stepped forward.
The System window opened.
SHOP – OPEN
RARE METAL: VOID-IRON (EXTINCT) – PURCHASED
WEAPON BLUEPRINT: DEMON FANG TWINS – PURCHASED
WEAPON BLUEPRINT: BLOOD-CRYSTAL SPIRITBLADE – PURCHASED
RING SYSTEM BLUEPRINT (KHR) – PURCHASED
BOX WEAPON BLUEPRINT (KHR) – PURCHASED
TEMPLATE: MASH BURNEDAD – PURCHASED
A rush of power flooded him.
His muscles tightened.
His bones hummed.
His stance deepened instinctively.
He could lift mountains.
Again.
He set the raw metals on the anvil.
Lightning surged.
Frost mixed into the air from Frostfang's breath.
Spirit flames danced across the forge.
And Rafael began to craft.
His black-and-white armor took shape first—sleek, lethal, divine.
The Demon Fang Twins glowed red-black as he quenched them.
The Blood-Crystal Spiritblade sang with frost and lightning.
The first KHR ring glowed with Sky Flame.
The first box weapon blueprint etched itself in silver.
By dawn…
Rafael had begun forging his future.
---
By the time classes resumed for the week, Rafael walked the mountain's halls with a quiet and terrifying maturity.
Frostfang followed.
Girls watched.
Boys avoided eye contact.
Shrine spirits bowed.
Teachers whispered.
The Shikigami Master observed silently, nodding to himself.
A storm walked in human skin.
A wolf with lightning bones.
A boy with the heart of a man in love.
Hermione messaged that night:
I'm still thinking about summer…
And you.
I hope you're alright. I had a bad day here.
But your device glowed warm and it made me feel better.
Rafael closed his eyes.
Then the System chimed softly.
SUMMON TOKEN AVAILABLE.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUMMON YOUR FIRST COMPANION?
Y/N
Rafael looked toward the mountain, Frostfang curled at his side, the forge's glow still in his bones.
Maybe…
He wouldn't walk this path alone.
He touched the interface.
"Soon," he whispered. "Not yet… but soon."
The storm outside rumbled in approval.
--