Part II – Rena and the Trio
Steel boots pounded behind them. Mana-imbued crossbow bolts hissed through the air, embedding in the walls as the trio sprinted down the narrow corridor, Rena at the front.
"Left—!" Ryn shouted, his voice cracking. They cut sharply into a branching hallway, narrowly avoiding a rain of bolts that shattered the stone behind them.
"Keep running!" Rena snapped, her blade flashing behind her to deflect a shot that would have skewered Sera. Despite her calm tone, her face was pale, strained. These weren't ordinary guards—they moved with precision, each strike reinforced by mana.
Finally, the corridor opened into a dimly lit chamber. Unlike the sterile halls they had passed through, this place smelled of dust and parchment. Stacks of shelves lined the room, filled with old tomes, metal cases, and files marked with faded symbols.
The trio stopped in their tracks, stunned.
"This is…" Lena's voice trailed off, her eyes wide. "A library?"
Rena stepped forward slowly, her eyes scanning the shelves. She pulled out one of the records, its edges brittle. As she opened it, her sharp breath drew the others closer.
Inside were sketches of monstrous humanoid figures, annotated with precise notes. Phrases leapt out at them:
[Mana-Core Infusion Trials]
[Survivor Rate: <5%]
[Subject retains partial humanity but unstable.]
The trio paled.
"That guard… the thing we fought outside… it was one of these," Sera whispered, her hands trembling.
Ryn clenched his fists. "They're making weapons. Out of people."
But Rena wasn't listening. She had picked another file, this one heavier, sealed with a black sigil that broke under her mana. Her eyes flicked across the lines rapidly until she froze.
"…Class Evolution Research."
The trio looked at her sharply.
"What does that mean?" Lena asked, her voice faint.
Rena's jaw tightened. "It means the government knows more about our growth than they admit. Class evolution… higher forms of power. They're… categorizing us. Limiting us."
She flipped to the last page and her eyes widened further. There was a diagram, showing branching pathways from Basic Classes to higher evolutions. Assassin, Warrior, Mage, Forger—all had potential offshoots she had never heard of.
And at the bottom of the page, scrawled like an afterthought, was a single line:
[Known Limit: Level 100. Above this—Class Ascension Required.]
The trio stiffened, disbelief flashing across their faces.
"Level… one hundred?" Ryn muttered. "No one's ever…"
Sera swallowed hard. "They're hiding it. They've always known."
Before anyone could speak again, the sound of boots echoed closer. Rena snapped the book shut, her expression hard.
"We can't take it all. Grab what you can carry. The rest—they'll erase once they know we've seen it."
They stuffed files and fragments into their packs, their hands shaking as they worked. Lena lingered a moment longer, staring at one page that mentioned Ego Weapons. Her lips moved faintly as if committing it to memory before she tore it free and tucked it close to her chest.
Then the chamber shook violently. Alarms blared, crimson lights bathed the shelves, and a voice crackled through hidden speakers:
"Unauthorized intrusion detected. Eliminate the trespassers."
Rena gritted her teeth. "Move! Now!"
The four of them bolted toward another corridor as armored guards swarmed the library, their blades glowing with mana.
Behind them, forgotten files fluttered to the floor, pages scattering like dying leaves. But the words they had read—about evolutions, about limits, about the truth hidden under the government's mask—were burned into their minds.
And though they didn't know it yet, Shadow had seen something entirely different elsewhere in the facility. Their paths would converge again, but by then… nothing would be the same.