~Laurent The courtyard was quiet, and the moon hung low — a pale coin over the academy roofs. The arcanist who stopped me earlier stood under one of the torchlights, his face half-shadowed. “Talk about what exactly?” I asked, folding my arms. “About the strange things happening in this school. Especially during the tournament.” He replied. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I replied. He smiled thinly. “Then maybe this will interest you. I saw you near the arena during the matches yesterday. You looked… distracted. Which means you saw it too.” I frowned. “Saw what?” “The energy,” he said, voice low. “The kind that doesn’t belong to anyone in that ring. I’ve been sensing it all week — faint at first, then stronger every round. Someone’s interfering. Using magic that’s prohibited.” I studied him. He didn’t look like he was lying. “So you came to me,” I said slowly, “because…?” “Because I can’t investigate it myself,” he replied, glancing around as if the wal

~LaurentThe cafeteria was a graveyard of sound. The clatter of trays and laughter from moments ago had vanished — replaced by the heavy drag of my own heartbeat.The men in suits didn’t loosen their grip as they turned me toward the exit. My chair screeched against the floor, a sound that made the silence worse.Every eye followed.Whispers started to rise behind me — small at first, then growing, spreading like fire.My jaw tightened. I didn’t look at them. I couldn’t.But as we reached the door, I caught a glimpse of someone standing at the far end of the room. Ciela.She wasn’t saying anything. Just watching. Her face unreadable — shock, worry, something else I couldn’t name.For a second, the noise faded again.I wanted to tell her it wasn’t true. That I hadn’t done anything. But what could I say that wouldn’t make it look worse?So I said nothing. Just held her gaze for a moment longer before they pulled me out the door.⸻I was dragged into a hall. They prepared for my arrival

~LaurentMy hand was in my pocket, the world narrowed to two breathing monsters and the place between us. I slid my hand out and let Gorath’s Chainfang materialise, the abyssal long sword unfurling from nothing into black metal veined with red. It didn’t snap into my grip; it grew there.I walked toward them, one hand still in my pocket, the other holding the sword out like an invitation. The blade caught the dappled light and drank it.They watched me. The nearer behemoth curled its lip; the farther one hammered a foot and churned the soil into mud. Their breaths came out like small storms. Their claws left scars on the trunk of the trees as they shifted. I could feel the forest holding its breath with me.“Playtime,” I murmured, and then I split myself.Blood Clone rippled from my chest — twelve of me, twelve reflections that were both wrong and very much like me. Each copy spawned from condensed blood, each took the abyssal sword in a synchronized motion that would have made any ch

~LaurentThe forest was quieter than I remembered. There was no wind today and the usual movement that this place was usually overrun with was absent.The Verdant Forest stretched endlessly ahead, the same place that had almost killed me, the same place that made me something else. Something that I still didn’t understand.I needed to find the tomb. Maybe I’ll find the answers there.I adjusted my posture and then clones walked out from me. If I wanted to find the tomb, I’d need more pair of eyes. “You know what to do,” I said, facing the clones.They nodded and vanished into the trees, spreading through the forest like a quiet disease.I kept walking. Every few seconds, a faint pulse tugged at the edge of my mind — the link between me and the clones. It throbbed steady, rhythmic. Then it flickered.One disappeared.Then another.Then three at once.Something was killing them.I stopped, tilting my head slightly. The bond snapped again. Only one clone left now, somewhere to the east.

~LaurentI didn’t expect to see him again — not this soon, not half-naked, and definitely not at my window in the middle of the night.For a moment, I just stared. Then the glow of the searchlights cut through the dark behind him, and I decided to let him in. I’d figure out what was happening later. I slid the window open. Denzel all but tumbled in, landing hard enough to shake the frame. I shut the window and turned, waiting in silence until the sweep of light moved past the dorm and faded. Only then did I speak.“They’re gone now.” My voice came out level. “Would you mind telling me what is going on?”“I broke into the director’s office,” he said, breath still uneven.I blinked once. “Didn’t think you were the rebellious type.”“Guess I’m full of surprises,” he muttered.I sat back on the desk. “What’s going on?”He paced once before answering. “When you said you wouldn’t help me take down the monsters working with humans, I decided to do it myself. I broke into the management buil