2026-09-17 22:31:24
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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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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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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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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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“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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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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