Clovis spent the next three days expecting the boy to have reported to the High Magisters, which would have forced him to track down the child and burn the last seventy-two hours out of his skull but instead on a rainy Thursday afternoon, the double doors came open and he came in.He looked terrible, dark circles under his eyes and his hands were stuffed into his coat pockets to hide the shaking.He hadn't slept a wink since that day, it took him three days to muster courage to return, he took hesitant steps towards the counter, then slowly sat on one of the high stools.“This is no bar kid,” Clovis muttered, not looking up from the papers he read.“I—” Chadwick didn't know where to begin or how to begin.With a deep sigh, Clovis sat up straight, “You have exceptional spatial awareness, Mr. Brook, but your survival instincts are abysmal.”“I did some reading,” Chadwick finally said, shaking his head.He seemed uneasy as he glanced around the empty foyer, “The historical records say th

Every step Lexi took was a testament to the horror she had witnessed. The students gathered around whispering and staring so much Lexi felt like even the walls were watching her.She trembled, her knees threatening to give up when finally she reached her room and practically threw herself inside, slamming the door shut before leaning her weight against it.She closed her eyes, her breathing shallow, with no tears left to cry, her chest felt hollow as if the horror had burned out her ability to cry.From across the room, her roommate turned sharply towards Lexi's arrival, “Lexi?” Belle rushed over, her robes swirling around her ankles as she reached out to grab Lexi’s trembling shoulders.“Lexi, oh gods, I heard. The whole campus is talking about it. Are you alright?”Lexi couldn't even speak, as her teeth clicked together rhythmically from the residual shock.Belle guided her slowly toward the edge of the unmade bed, “Do you want to talk about it?”It took several long seconds for Lex

Day two of the gruesome training was a waking nightmare.The students had already started giving up, some throwing up violently, others fainting mid-sprint and a dozen carried to the emergency ward with severe mana exhaustion.Yet, through the panic, the realization had dawned on them: their parents wouldn't come to their aid until the term was over, whether they survived this military encampment or what came after it, even worse the term was far from over.During the run, Belle caught up with Lexi, breathing heavily, “Hey, Lexi,” Belle panted, matching her stride. “Where have you been for goodness sake? You weren't even in the dorm last night!”Lexi froze internally, her breath catching in her throat as her boots faltered on the stone. The secret felt incredibly heavy on her tongue as panic seized her chest.She thought frantically for a lie, her silence stretching too long until Belle snapped her fingers right in front of her face.“Earth to Lexi! What is wrong with you?”The pressu

“Any update on tracing the animal or person that unalived and dismembered Magister Paul?” the Grand Magister asked, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the council chamber.He leaned forward at the head of the massive table, staring intensely at the Lead Tracker.The tracker shook his head, “There is nothing, sir. No residual mana signature to read, no physical tracks leaving the dining hall. Whoever—or whatever—did this must've been incredibly skilled because they left absolutely no trace.”“But that makes no sense,” another Magister chimed in, “What human would be able to be so horrific? To show such primal, animalistic brutality? The fingers were chopped and sorted, for gods' sake!”The Grand Magister remained silent, his eyes fixed on the center of the table. Around him, the other groups of Magisters began arguing, speaking over one another, but as they debated back and forth, a dangerous, dark, yet entirely logical idea began to brew in the Grand Magister's head as everything

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clovis said smoothly, his voice flat and perfectly steady. He stood in the center of the Grand Magister’s chambers with his hands clasped behind him. The room was lit only by a circle of candles on a long table. The Grand Magister had called another meeting, and half a dozen of the academy's highest-ranking magisters were now seated around the room, their eyes boring into the librarian. The Grand Magister leaned forward, resting his chin on his steepled fingers. “Tell me, Mr. Dupond... where did you say your hometown was again?” “Aethelgard,” Clovis replied without blinking. A collective breath was drawn across the room as one of the magisters rose, “But Aethelgard went down alongside its citizens.” Clovis offered a weary shrug, “Then I suppose I