Transmigrated into another world with the strongest core

Chapter 5: The Silence of Mira

The Magic Research Club room was tucked away in the older wing of the academy, far from the polished lecture halls and crowded corridors where students gathered between classes. Few ventured this deep into the building unless they had a reason. The stone walls here were older, etched with faded runes that had long since lost their sharp edges. Some were cracked with age, others patched together in mismatched styles by students who had tried to repair them without fully understanding their original purpose.

Shelves lined every available space, stretching from floor to ceiling. Grimoires of varying thickness were crammed together with loose parchment, crystal fragments, vials of unidentified liquid, and half dismantled magical devices whose functions were anyone’s guess. The air carried a faint metallic tang, mixed with the dry, dusty scent of old parchment and burnt mana residue.

Lucas stepped inside and immediately felt it.

Aether lingered in the room, heavier than anything he had felt in the classroom. It did not flow naturally like a current. Instead, it clung to the space, compressed and restless, shaped by countless experiments that had been started, abandoned, and restarted again. His chest tightened slightly, a subtle pressure forming near his Core, as if it were reacting before he could consciously register why.

“This place hasn’t changed at all,” Gerald muttered, carefully nudging aside a leaning stack of notebooks so he could sit on the edge of a table. “Still feels like it might explode at any moment.”

“That is statistically unlikely,” Roderic replied, adjusting the strap of his satchel as his eyes scanned the room. “Only three minor detonations in the last year.”

Gerald stared at him. “That is not reassuring.”

Elara did not respond. She had already moved toward the center table, where several sheets of parchment were spread out in careless disarray. She stopped short, her expression tightening the moment she saw them.

“Mira was here,” she said quietly. “Recently.”

Lucas joined her, leaning over the table. Some of the ink on the papers was still dark, not yet faded by time or absorbed by ambient Aether. The diagrams were uneven, drawn in haste, with corrections layered over one another. Between familiar spell circles were strange symbols that Lucas did not recognize, woven together in ways that made his head ache if he stared too long.

A faint chill ran down his spine.

“What was she researching this time?” Gerald asked, his usual humor gone.

“Aether compression,” Elara replied. “But not the standard external method. This was internal.”

Roderic stiffened. “That is beyond our current tier. Even discussing it in theory is dangerous.”

Lucas swallowed. The pressure in his chest pulsed once, then settled again, as if something inside him had acknowledged the words. He had no memories of Mira, no shared moments or conversations, yet her name felt heavy, important. Like something had been torn away before he had a chance to understand it.

Elara gathered the scattered papers into a neat stack. “She would not disappear without leaving a reason. If Mira pushed this far, then something went wrong.”

The room fell silent.

The faint hum of residual Aether seemed louder now, vibrating softly through the stone floor and the wooden tables. Lucas exhaled slowly. Whatever the Magic Research Club had been studying, it was no longer harmless theory.

Something had crossed a line.

“Roderic,” Elara said after a moment, turning to him. “Come. Let me share my Aether with you so you can see where she was last.”

Roderic hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

They sat opposite each other on the floor, legs crossed, hands clasped. The moment their palms touched, a faint glow sparked between them, growing brighter within seconds. Light gathered around Roderic’s eyes, thin lines of Aether tracing across his temples.

“That means his sight is activating,” Gerald said quietly, tension creeping into his voice. “Let’s just hope nothing goes wrong.”

Lucas watched, his hands clenched at his sides. He could feel the Aether shifting again, drawn toward Roderic like iron filings to a magnet.

Suddenly, Roderic’s eyes snapped open.

They glowed.

His face twisted in pain, his breath hitching as the light intensified. His shoulders trembled as if he were being crushed by an invisible weight.

“Roderic,” Elara said firmly. “Do not be afraid. Just focus.”

A soft green light flowed from her into him, wrapping around his hands and arms. The tension in his body eased slightly, though the glow in his eyes remained.

“I see her,” Roderic said, his voice strained. “She was drawing a magic circle. Similar to these. But the place she is in is not here.”

He swallowed hard.

“There is someone else with her. A man. I cannot see his face, but he is tall.”

The air in the room felt heavier.

“He stood up,” Roderic continued. “He walked straight toward me.”

Roderic gasped sharply. “He laughed. He said, ‘I can see you. You are here for this girl, right? Do not worry. You will see her soon. All of you will.’”

He screamed.

The light vanished instantly, and Roderic collapsed forward. Lucas lunged and caught him before he hit the floor.

“Roderic,” Lucas said urgently. “What happened?”

“I think,” Roderic whispered, shaking violently, “I think he saw me.”

“What do you mean he saw you?” Gerald snapped, panic breaking through his composure. “That should be impossible.”

“Gerald,” Elara said sharply. “Enough. Let him speak.”

Roderic’s breathing was uneven. “He was wearing a mask. I could not see his face. But he knew I was watching.”

Fear settled over the room like a suffocating fog.

“This timing is strange,” Gareth said quietly from the doorway, his expression grim. “Why now, of all times? Especially when a new Paragon of Aether has just been appointed in Eldoria.”

“You are right,” Elara replied. “Whoever this man is, he is powerful. Whether he is a contestant or something else entirely, we cannot be sure.”

Her gaze hardened. “But we need answers. And we need them quickly.”

No one disagreed.

They could not afford to lower their guard.

Not now.

Not when Mira was missing.

And not when something had already begun watching them in return.