Deep beneath the arena.
The pulse beneath the arena fades.
The instructors don’t move for several seconds.
Master Thorne finally lowers her hand.
“The match is over. Medical team, take Drake to the infirmary.”
Two healers hurry Marcus away. His condition is serious, but the academy’s healing specialists are already stabilizing the damage.
Master Pell remains beside the fractured arena.
He brushes dust from one of the exposed stones.
His expression becomes increasingly troubled.
“These aren’t part of the combat array.”
Veris crouches beside him.
“No.”
Pell traces a rune half-buried beneath the modern enchantments.
“They’re older.”
Thorne looks toward the students.
“How old?”
Pell doesn’t answer immediately.
He taps the stone.
The rune responds with a faint green-gold glow.
Several students gasp.
Pell’s spectacles rotate rapidly.
“Old enough that I don’t recognize the script.”
Veris’s attention shifts immediately toward Dev.
Not suspicion.
Interest.
The same intense curiosity he had shown during their first meeting—but now mixed with caution.
Before anyone can question what happened, a sharp crack comes from beneath the arena.
One of the exposed ancient runes fractures.
A thin line of green light travels through the stone floor.
Then stops.
Silence.
Master Pell stands.
“Seal the lower foundations.”
Thorne turns sharply.
“Why?”
“Because if those formations are connected to what I think they are, we’ve just damaged something we were never supposed to touch.”
The students begin murmuring.
An instructor orders everyone toward the exits.
Elira, however, remains near the arena’s edge, watching the faculty.
She looks from Pell to Veris.
Then toward Dev.
Her expression says one thing clearly:
Something is very wrong.
Veris approaches Dev once the other students have been moved back.
He stops several paces away rather than crowding him.
“Professor Pell and I need to examine something beneath this arena.”
His eyes briefly move toward the shattered battlefield.
“And I have a question about what happened when you interacted with the arena’s mana.”
He pauses.
“But not here.”
A deep vibration rolls through the floor.
This time, everyone feels it.
Pell looks down.
“…Too late.”
From somewhere far below Argent Spire—
something moves
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