Reyan looked down at the dead Arcane. The creature's core was still somewhere inside its body, but he wasn't interested in collecting it. His goal was the soul. He crouched beside the corpse and tried to sense what remained inside it. At first, he noticed nothing unusual. The body was simply dead, and the faint glow beneath its plates had faded. Then he felt something different from the energy he had sensed when using Fire Resonance. It was difficult to describe, almost like a presence that had not completely disappeared with the creature's last breath. Reyan extended his hand toward the Arcane. He didn't know how to consume its soul. The System had never given him a clear explanation of the process, and his earlier experiences had not taught him how to control it. He could only rely on the strange ability that had allowed him to consume souls before. He concentrated. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then a thin, pale mist rose from the creature's body. Reyan pulled his

Dev had begun examining a small Arcane Core that one of the instructors had placed on a cloth-covered table.“Can Wex interact with this?” he asked.Harris looked at him. “What exactly do you mean?”“My ability allows me to manipulate Wex that I've stored. I was wondering whether I could use it to move or control the energy inside an Arcane Core.”“You may be able to influence the core's position, depending on the amount of Wex you use. But manipulating its internal Resonance is another matter. Wex and Resonance aren't the same thing, even if both can affect the physical world.”Dev leaned closer to the core without touching it.“So I'd need to test it.”“Under supervision,” Harris said firmly. “A damaged core can release its stored energy unpredictably. If you're interested in studying it, speak to one of the instructors before trying anything.”Dev nodded, already considering how he might approach the experiment.Reyan watched him for a moment before turning his attention back to th

The battle had spread across the northern side of the village. The guards were trying to stop the Arcanes from breaking through the fence, while the students moved between the defensive line and the inner roads, protecting anyone who had been caught outside.The creatures did not attack in a single group. Some charged directly toward the guards, while others moved around the edges of the village. A few ignored the soldiers entirely and headed toward the houses.Reyan noticed the pattern, but there was no time to study it properly.An Arcane lunged at him from behind a damaged cart. He turned and raised his arm to block the attack, but its claws tore through his sleeve and cut into his forearm. He struck it with a burst of fire, forcing it away, then followed with another attack that burned through the plates along its side.The creature fell.Reyan looked at the wound on his arm. Blood ran down to his wrist, but the bleeding was already slowing. He could feel the damage beginning to c