Today's class was as dull as ever.
Third-year lectures never held much weight for us--at this level, everything depended on performance, on power, not theory. Still, I showed up, pretending to listen while the professor repeated the same lines from last semester.
Beside me, Ryuk leaned in and whispered, "You two look suspicious."
I didn't even glance at him. "Do we?"
He raised a brow, but Ruan answered with his usual grin. "You're just paranoid, man."
Ryuk didn't push further. He knew us well enough to sense when not to. Whatever I was planning with Ruan, it wasn't something I wanted dragging anyone else into.
By the time class ended, the sun was low, bleeding gold through the Academy's glass walls.
We moved quickly, blending in with the crowd of students heading toward the training yards. No one noticed when we veered off, taking the quieter path that led toward the Teachers' Quarters.
Ruan's father's apartment sat on the far end,isolated, warded, and definitely off-limits to anyone who valued their neck.
"Still sure about this?" I asked, my voice low.
Ruan smirked. "Too late to back out now."
He wasn't wrong. The man's main residence was outside the university, but we both knew his real treasures--his documents, personal notes, and research..were all stored here. Especially the ones no one was supposed to see.
We reached the back of the building just as the light dimmed. I glanced at the top windows, calculating.
"He's out?"
Ruan nodded. "Yeah. But the wards won't be easy. They recognize blood."
"Then it's your turn," I said.
He grinned, showing a bit of fang. "You're lucky I'm his son."
I didn't reply. My focus shifted briefly to my phone--Serie's name glowing faintly on the screen. I'd messaged her earlier:
"Training will be late today."
Her reply had come fast:
"Okay, teacher!"
It wasn't much, but it tugged something unfamiliar out of me--a smile.
I shut off the screen and shoved the phone back into my pocket.
"Let's make this fast. The less noise, the better."
Ruan cracked his knuckles. "Fast and quiet. My specialty."
We slipped into the shadows of the Teacher's Quarters, where even whispers felt heavy.
The Teacher's Quarters smelled of old magic--salt, iron, and secrets. Wards glittered faintly in the dusk, faint lines of power coiling around the windows like veins of light.
Ruan stopped beside me, rolling his sleeve up to the elbow. "Ready?"
I nodded once.
He pulled a small blade from his belt and drew it across his palm. Blood welled instantly, rich and dark.
As soon as it hit the ward, the magic hissed and weakened, the shimmering barrier shuddering like glass about to crack.
"Your blood?" I asked.
"My father's wards only obey family," he muttered. "This will make them blind to us..at least for a minute."
The barrier rippled, paling. We moved.
Shadows wrapped around both of us, my own power cloaking our forms. Under the veil, even the whispers of the Teachers' Quarters couldn't find us.
I crouched behind a crooked tree at the edge of the courtyard, heart steady but alert. "I'll stay here," I murmured. "My shadow will go with you."
"Fine," Ruan said, wiping his palm. His form flickered once then blinked out of existence.
A shadow dog materialized at my feet, all black smoke and glowing eyes.
I sent it forward with a flick of my hand. My sight bled into its eyes as it padded silently beside Ruan.
Through the dog, I saw everything.
Ruan moved fast, slipping through corridors only he knew.
They reached his father's private study....a small, dim room lined with shelves. Old books crowded every wall, dust motes floating in the thin shafts of light.
All useless, I thought, scanning the spines through my shadow's eyes.
Then something caught my attention.
There.
A small, old journal---brown leather, edges worn. My shadow raised a smoky hand, gesturing toward it.
Ruan hesitated, then reached for the book. The leather creaked as he opened it. The first page was written in flowing, elegant handwriting:
"To my baby girl…"
In the corner, a name: Selena.
Below it: your mother.
My heart kicked once, hard.
The shadow flipped the pages faster. A passage scrawled near the back stopped me cold.
The same cryptic lines I'd found in Marginalia-the flame puzzle.
But here, one addition:
"The Luring Seer—where whispers make even the strong falter."
My fingers tightened on the bark of the tree. So the seer wasn't just a myth.
Then--footsteps.
"Someone's coming," I hissed through the link.
Ruan snapped the journal shut and blinked out. My shadow dissolved in a hiss of smoke, the connection breaking.
I waited, pressed against the tree's shadow, my power cloaking us both.
Two figures appeared at the door. His father. Drunk. Laughing. With a woman.
The woman leaned in, whispering something.
He laughed louder, then kissed her in a way that turned my stomach.
Beside me, Ruan's jaw clenched hard enough to creak. His fists balled.
I reached out and patted his back once....sharp, quiet.
"Calm down," I murmured.
He exhaled, eyes still locked on the window where the two figures disappeared inside.
When the door finally closed behind them, we moved..silent as smoke..melting back into the dark.
....
Regio Obscura was always louder at night.
The air whispered, like the dead still trying to talk, and the cracked stone well in the center gleamed faintly under the half-moon.
I stood there, waiting.
Every night here felt the same..until the bond tugged.
She was close.
A shadow creature of mine...this time shaped like a falcon..shot through the dark to guide her in.
A few moments later, Serie stepped into the shielded circle, green eyes glowing faintly under the light, her steps sure.
"I'm level three now," she said first, proud, breathless.
I let a crooked grin slip.
"Impressive. My student's not hopeless after all."
She rolled her eyes.
"My IQ's not zero either. Just saying. I can take whatever test you give."
I chuckled. "So confident."
"Always."
Her confidence made my jaw tighten but also amused me.
So, I decided to play.
"Fine,"
I said, walking toward her, letting shadows slide behind me like smoke.
"Let's see if your brain matches your power."
"Try me...!! Riddle?" she asked, smirking.
"Something like that." I stopped close--close enough for the bond to hum between us.
" Solve ...and I'll start teaching you like you're more than a beginner."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"Where two flames cross, the seam may loosen;
but the seam eats the hand that cuts.
And
The Luring Seer--where whispers make even the strong falter."
Her brow furrowed. "That's not from the books."
"No," I said softly. "It's older."
Serie went still. Then she muttered under her breath, repeating the words, tasting them.
"Two flames…" she whispered. "Crossing… the seam loosens… but eats the hand that cuts…"
Her eyes snapped up to mine. "That's the bond, isn't it? Ours."
My smile thinned. "Keep going."
She stepped forward, her golden glow flickering faintly across her fingers. "Two flames-two souls. Crossing means-connection. The seam… the thread."
Her voice lowered. "But if one of us tries to break it…"
I didn't move. "Yes?"
"It'll destroy the one who cuts first."
The silence between us cracked like glass.
Her power flared again, gold light running along her hands. The shadows around us trembled, whispering louder.
Finally, I said, almost a growl, "You're getting sharper."
She didn't smile this time. "I'm getting tired of being the weak one."
That hit harder than I expected. "So?" I asked quietly. "Do you pass your own test?"
Her glow brightened again, curling out from her fingers.
"The Luring Seer---where whispers make even the strong falter.
" she whispered. Her gaze flicked around us, at the stones, at the cracked well.
"This place. This is it, isn't it? The 'luring seer.' The whispers. This is where the seam loosens."
I froze.
It clicked.
She'd said it aloud before I could.
The puzzle from the journal, the warning about the seer, the whispers that made weaker minds crumble.
Regio Obscura. We were standing in it.
I let out a short, rough laugh.
"You're not just leveling up. You're learning."
She straightened. "Then teach me."
I hesitated only a second, then stepped back, motioning with my hand.
"Alright. Training starts now."