For several seconds, nobody moved.
The golden light beneath the stone had become the only thing that existed in Luca's field of vision. It pulsed faintly beneath the engraved bell, illuminating the cracks that had spread across the surface, and with every pulse, the surrounding mana seemed to grow thinner. The researchers stared at their instruments in disbelief, while the students instinctively stepped backward, and even the two guards who had been assigned to accompany them tightened their grips around their weapons.
Luca remained crouched beside the stone, his hand hovering just above it.
Something was happening beneath them.
He could feel it now.
It wasn't an explosion of mana, nor was it the awakening of some enormous creature. Instead, the sensation reminded him of something opening its eyes after an extraordinarily long sleep. There was no hostility in it, but there was an unmistakable presence, ancient and distant, that seemed to exist far below the forest floor.
