All Chapters of ROOM 1313: Chapter 101
- Chapter 110
118 chapters
101
Liam moved before Alex could be surrounded.He swept one hand across the street, gathering the mana around him into a broad current. Two residents were pulled off balance, their feet sliding across the ground. He followed with a burning-mana projectile that struck the symbol on the nearest attacker's forehead.The dark energy recoiled.Alex seized the opening and swung his axe.The resulting blast sent the remaining attackers tumbling across the street."Thanks!" Alex shouted."Watch your blind spots!" Liam called back."I was a little busy!""Then stop being busy in the wrong direction!"Alex laughed despite himself and returned to the fight.Liam stayed close enough to support him, intercepting attackers with controlled mana currents and precise railbow shots. He had become the strongest member of their formation in terms of overall cultivation and battlefield control, but he knew better than to confuse that advantage with invulnerability.He could fly, manipulate mana, and use burn
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The ground beneath Havenridge continued to tremble.A crack spread across the central square, cutting through the stone pavement and splitting an abandoned fountain in half. Black mana rose from the opening, carrying fragments of stone into the air. The buildings surrounding the square shuddered as something beneath them began drawing energy from the entire settlement.Liam hovered a few metres above the street, staring toward the disturbance.The voice had called him a vessel.Not a human. Not an intruder. A vessel.He had heard similar words on Veyra, and he was beginning to suspect that the two incidents were connected. However, wondering about the connection would not help him survive what was coming.He needed information and a way to survive. He could sense danger from whatever was coming out. "Everyone, don't approach the square yet!" he called. "Keep the residents away from each other. Alex, check whether those symbols are connected to the structures around us. Lily, try to
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“Don't waste energy trying to control everything.” Liam whispered to himself. He drew a slow breath and forced himself to narrow his attention.One threat at a time.Across the street, Alex reached the damaged building. He placed one hand against the exposed wall and activated a small engineering device from his equipment bag.A faint blue light spread across the stones."I found the channel!" he shouted. "It's running directly beneath the foundation, but it's protected by a layer of reinforced mana!""Can you break it?""Not without damaging the building!"Liam activated Insight again.The flow beneath the building became clearer. The reinforced layer was strongest around the central section, but the mana feeding it passed through two narrower junctions near the outer wall.He could disrupt one of those junctions with a precise application of Dark Mana Control.He could also lose control of the flow and bring the entire structure down.He studied the pattern for another moment.Then
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Whatever waited beneath Havenridge was no longer content to send its servants after them.The central square rose another few inches.Stone cracked beneath the fountain, and black mana poured through the widening gaps. The pressure was strong enough to rattle windows throughout Havenridge. Above the square, the grey haze twisted into a dark spiral, drawing loose debris toward its centre.Liam watched the disturbance carefully.Insight remained inactive. He had pushed himself too hard during the previous fight, and his head still throbbed whenever he tried to process too much information at once. He needed to recover before relying on it again.But the enemy wasn't giving him that opportunity."Everyone, fall back!" he ordered. "Don't let those tendrils separate us!"Karl's summoned wolf spirits immediately regrouped around the team. Lily drew her blood magic close, while Lucas positioned himself beside Karl. Alex tightened his grip on his axe.Liam rose into the air.The instant his
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Lucas wiped blood from the corner of his mouth."They let us leave."Liam looked toward the distant settlement."Maybe."He didn't like the alternative explanations. Either the network couldn't pursue them beyond the town, or it had allowed them to escape for a reason.Neither possibility was reassuring.Alex adjusted the strap of his equipment bag."Where do we go now?"Liam examined the terrain. A narrow trail followed the ravine toward a cluster of old buildings built into the base of the mountains. The structures appeared to be part of an abandoned ranger outpost, possibly used by the planet's defence forces before the invasion."We find somewhere to recover and contact the academy," he said. "Then we work out our next move."They followed the trail.---The abandoned outpost was larger than it had appeared from a distance.Several stone buildings stood behind a low defensive wall. Most of the windows were broken, and vegetation had begun growing through the cracks in the courtyar
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Karl moved in front of the entrance. His remaining wolf spirits emerged beside him, their silver bodies glowing more brightly as he poured mana into them.Lucas took position on the other side.Lily helped Elena move behind the central support wall before turning toward the windows. Angelina forced herself upright, golden light gathering around her hands despite her injuries.Alex abandoned the communication array and lifted his axe.The first Abomination struck the wall.The entire building shuddered.A second hit followed, then a third.The defensive structure began to crack."How many?" Karl demanded.Liam used Insight to examine the mana signatures beyond the walls."At least forty. More are coming through the forest.""Forty?" Alex repeated. "We were already having trouble with twenty!""They're stronger now.""Of course they are!"The wall beside the entrance exploded inward.Karl met the first Abomination with a powerful claw strike, driving it back through the opening. His wol
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The ground split beneath the force of the attack and the entire outpost was illuminated by Liam's mana.Elena stared upward in shock as she looked at Liam.He was flying.Not jumping or being carried by a spell, but hovering freely above the battlefield while controlling the mana around him.Her mouth fell open."Liam..."She had known he was talented. She had watched him analyse problems that left other students confused, and she had seen him survive situations that should have been beyond him.But this was different.His mana pressure was on another level."He broke through to Gold," she whispered in disbelief.Angelina looked up, her expression equally stunned.The golden light around Liam was unmistakable.He had crossed the boundary between Silver and Gold.And he was fighting like someone who had only just begun to use his abilities."Move!" Liam shouted from above. "Take the opening!"Karl reacted first, charging into the corridor with his summoned wolf spirits. Lucas followed,
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Angelina had no answer Elena asked so she kept quiet. The Abomination drew Liam closer to its face.A black symbol began forming across his chest, spreading over his clothes like ink.His Adaptive Core pulsed violently.[Foreign Authority Detected.][Forced Synchronization: Initiated.][Warning: Core Integrity at Risk.]Liam's breath caught.The creature wasn't merely trying to kill him.It was trying to establish a connection with his core.He felt something pressing against the evolved structure within him, searching for a way inside. His Dark Mana Control responded instinctively, but the force pushing against him was overwhelming.He couldn't stop it.He had analysed the battlefield, identified weaknesses, and used his abilities as efficiently as he could but it still wasn't enough.The creature's grip tightened and his vision began to darken.Then the sky changed.A sudden pressure swept across the battlefield, forcing the Abominations to pause. The air above the outpost distort
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Eleanor looked at the fading black marks on Liam's chest and her expression became difficult to read."That," she said quietly, "is what we're going to find out."Lucas approached, his face pale from exhaustion."The projection knew him."Karl stood beside him, his remaining wolf spirits fading around his legs."And it called him a vessel."Lily looked toward the sky where the ancient figure had appeared."That thing came from another planet. How did it find us here?"Nobody answered.Even Eleanor remained silent for several seconds.Then she rose."We're leaving."One of the senior instructors stepped forward."What about the settlement? And the remaining Abominations?""Recovery teams will handle the settlement. The barrier has weakened enough for them to enter, and the academy will send a containment unit to investigate the underground structure."She looked at the injured students."My priority is getting everyone back safely."An instructor opened a spatial passage.Eleanor caref
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Liam considered the question."Different.""That's all?""My mana responds more easily than it did before. I can maintain flight without constantly adjusting my circulation, and controlling the surrounding mana feels more natural."Lily sat up slightly."Even without a technique?""Not exactly. I still need to understand what I'm trying to control. Gold gives me a much stronger affinity with mana, but that doesn't mean I can do anything I want with it."He paused."And Dark Mana Control is a separate problem."Lily's expression became more serious."That ability you used during the mission?"Liam nodded."It lets me interfere with dark-mana flow. It doesn't mean I can control every Abomination or shut down an entire network whenever I want.""Good."He raised an eyebrow."Good?""I would have been worried if you thought otherwise. You already have enough ways to get yourself killed.""Thank you for your concern.""You're welcome."She settled back against the couch.Liam smiled despit