Professor Ruth did not ask Leo to leave the staff room. That was almost more worrying than if she had yelled. She stood beside the desk while he kept the grey book closed beneath his hand. The academy library was quiet around them. Somewhere in the public wing, a printer was making a dying noise, but nobody came to check it. "Movement theory," Professor Ruth repeated. Leo nodded. "A fascinating subject. Lots of movement. Some theory." "You searched the royal diplomatic archive." His mouth went dry. The archive notification had said administrator notification pending, but Leo had hoped pending meant several weeks. Apparently it meant Professor Ruth walking into the room before he had time to invent a better lie. "I searched a public record." "The record is not public." "It was on a terminal without a warning label." "The warning label appears after the second access attempt." "Then I am glad I stopped at one." Professor Ruth’s eyes narrowed. "You accessed it once." Leo sa

The name stayed on the crystal reader for less than a second.Then the screen went dark.Daniel slapped the side of the device. "That was not supposed to happen.""It gave us a result," Hannah said."It gave us half a result. Those are different and usually more annoying."Leo reached for the reader.The moment his fingers touched the metal, his class window opened.[Compatible evidence source detected.] [Record owner correlation: Nadia] [Restoration progress: 2.05%]He pulled his hand away before anybody could notice the grey light beneath his skin."Can you make it display the trace again?" he asked.Daniel frowned. "Maybe. The reader is built for equipment, not records. Whatever it detected was not a normal object signature.""Try anyway."Daniel tried three times.The first attempt showed the academy’s storage system. The second produced a list of broken mana batteries. The third caused the reader to smoke.Daniel quickly placed it inside an empty food bag."I think it needs a

The lights went out.Leo heard Hannah move beside him. Daniel made a small noise that was probably meant to be brave and failed halfway through.The circular room became completely dark.Then the lamp above the centre table turned on.Nadia was still sitting in the empty chair, but her body kept breaking apart at the edges. Dust passed through her shoulders. Her face sharpened for one second, then blurred again. The scar above her left eyebrow remained clear.She looked at Leo."You brought witnesses."Leo glanced at Hannah and Daniel."They invited themselves.""That is not how witnesses usually work.""I am new to the whole process."Nadia looked toward the two students. Hannah had her knife drawn, although the blade was made for training and would probably annoy a real monster more than injure it. Daniel was holding the broken crystal reader in both hands."Can they hear me?" Nadia asked."Yes," Leo said.The System window opened above the table.[Record manifestation: Partial] [

The first part of the obstacle course went well.That should have warned Leo.The course contained three moving barriers, two training constructs, and a set of platforms that rose and fell at irregular intervals. The purpose was to reach the opposite side, collect a flag, and return before the timer expired.Leo had spent the morning practising one-metre returns, but the course required him to move faster than the Library’s instructions recommended. He had not told Hannah about the exact limits because admitting that he needed two seconds to escape from a club did not sound impressive.The training field was crowded. Students watched from behind the safety line, waiting to see whether the useless librarian would fail again. Leo could feel the attention pressing against his back before the bell even rang.Hannah crossed the first section by punching through a padded barrier.Leo went around it.He marked a path at the edge of the platform, moved two metres forward, and activated Thread