Silence hovered heavy over the fifth floor.
In front of the semi-framed wall that once guarded the entrance to the boss's room, the Rector watched motionless, his hands entwined behind his back. The flickering light of the magic crystals danced across his face as one by one the Academy professors took their positions at his sides, urgently summoned.
A magic circle opened on the ground, giving off a golden glow. From it emerged Professor Marn Eltovian, master of the arcane arts, accompanied by three spellcasters from the magic department. Soon afterwards it was the turn of Yla Mirk, expert alchemist, with her apron soaked in reagents, and Professor Belinda Veyra, whose stern gaze spoke more than a thousand words.
Finally, Professor Brak Moldharn, forger and scholar of the creation of magical weapons, also appeared.
"It's worse than I thought..." muttered Belinda, brushing the air still saturated with purplish magical residue.
"How did a flame dragon get there on the fifth floor?" asked Marn, frowning.
"To figure it out, we have to enter the boss's room. But first we have to free it," replied Belinda, carefully inspecting the debris.
The Rector nodded slightly. He took a step forward and placed his hand on the rocks that barred the passage. Then he moved backward half a meter, raised his right arm and activated the Telekinesis skill.
One by one, the boulders began to rise slowly, suspended by a silvery halo, and were placed precisely to the side. The professors followed suit, channeling their energies carefully.
They could not afford a structural collapse of the floor: any excessive vibration, any mishandled bump, could bring down the entire section.
After several minutes of meticulous work, a passageway slowly opened. A stream of dry, warm air swept over them as the entrance finally showed its interior. The Rector approached, carefully inspecting the collapsed ceiling above the opening.
"Look there," he said pointing to an irregular fracture in the vault.
"The roof was collapsed and the weight caused the floor to give way," Yla said.
"The rest of the structure is solid and there doesn't seem to be any structural failure." Professor Brak continued
"Plus the walls collapsed only at the entrance." concluded Professor Draker
Belinda being an exceptional magician noticed this immediately.
The rocks at the entrance were soaked with residual magical energy. This was not a simple collapse-someone or something had intentionally knocked them over to seal the entrance.
"Someone ... intentionally blocked the room." Said Belinda.
A sudden tension ran through the group.
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"So whoever was inside tried to keep anyone else out ... or to keep something inside," Belinda added.
The dean clenched his jaw.
"Let's enter carefully. If the dragon is still there, or if something has released him-I want to know before we set foot in his lair."
The professors nodded silently and jumped into the deep hole created by Mark and his friends.
-Break-
"It's not possible..." exclaimed Leo in a voice broken with disbelief.
He was the first to arrive. Aaron and Nayra joined him a few moments later, and their gaze froze in the same horror.
A huge underground area opened up before them, littered with corpses. Hundreds of orcs lay on the ground, dead. But not burned: the dragon could not have been the author of the massacre. And they had not slaughtered each other. The cuts were too sharp, precise, clean. Their weapons were too big to cause such wounds.
"It can't be..." whispered Nayra, bleaching.
"You mean Mark and Vanessa ... killed them all?" added Aaron, unable to believe it.
They advanced, uncertain, trying to understand. The closer they got to the center of the area, the more deafening the silence became.
Then, suddenly, the air changed.
She became dry. Hot. Unbreathable.
Thin black smoke began to pour from the hallway behind them. Then, in the smoke, a red eye, blazing like embers, stared back at them.
The dragon of flames.
The same creature that, only hours before, had nearly ended their lives.
A chill ran through them. Despite the oppressive heat, their skin grew cold. They were motionless, unable to react. The mere presence of the being paralyzed them.
Then, a deep, guttural laughter shook the room.
"Ahahahah...humans. Your terror smells so...thick."
The voice was roaring thunder, and from the shadows finally emerged the dragon, gigantic and majestic.
"You dared to hurt me, yet you still tremble. Pathetic."
When the vault collapsed thanks to Vanessa and Leo the creature was hit squarely on the left eye.
"Let's do this..." he muttered, amused with his jaws wide open in a grin.
"Let's play. I'll give you ten seconds to escape. After that... I will hunt you down. If I catch you, you will be my meal."
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three..."
It took them exactly three seconds to react. Aaron, Leo and Nayra recoiled from their shock and began to run as fast as they could, without looking back.
As they ran, Nayra spotted a crack in the wall from which a pulsing blue light was filtering.
"There!" she shouted, and everyone ran into it.
The passage was narrow. Too narrow for the size of the dragon.
"Humans-you lack strength, but make up for it with cunning. I will wait for you. Even if it is for a hundred years."
The dragon's voice died out slowly, swallowed by stone.
"We are ... safe!" exclaimed Aaron, gasping between nervous laughter and a sigh of relief.
Leo and Nayra reached him, when they suddenly froze.
A few steps away from them, sitting on the ground and almost unconscious, was Vanessa.
"Vanessa!" shouted Leo, running toward her.
"She is in danger. Her skin is white, I can't--I can't feel the mana flow, she's dangerously low on mana!"
The Mana Break condition. A critical state in which the body continues to use skills without having magical energy. If prolonged, it can slowly consume the entire body to the point of causing death.
"I'll try to give her my mana!" said Leo, placing one hand on Vanessa's forehead and the other on her abdomen-the two centers where magical energy resides.
A faint glow spread around his hands.
"Vanessa, where is Mark?" asked Aaron, but got no answer.
"He can't talk, he's at the end of his rope." answered Leo, concentrating on transferring mana.
Then Nayra noticed something: a slight movement, a muscle reflex starting from the shoulder to the hand. A faint but clear gesture.
"She's pointing over there-that black doorway."
Everyone turned around. The gateway was imposing, a dangerous energy emanated from it.
"Mark is in there." said Aaron, getting up.
"And alone." added Nayra.
A moment of silence. No one spoke, but the look they exchanged was enough.
"We have to help him!"