"And next time, I'm bringing the eraser."
I lowered the shard of the hourglass, my hand shaking just enough to make the golden sand inside swirl. The adrenaline from the arena was draining out of me, leaving behind the heavy, wet blanket of exhaustion.
"Ren!" Kaelen's voice snapped me back to the present. "Forget the eraser! We need a medic!"
I looked up. Kaelen was pointing at the Royal Box. Ria was still slumped against the back wall where Valen had blasted her. She wasn't giving the thumbs-up anymore. Her arm had dropped.
"Cian, Tybalt, stay with the flag!" I ordered, shoving the Time Fragment into my pocket. "Kaelen, Lysandra, with me!"
I didn't bother with the stairs this time. I looked at the sheer stone wall of the Royal Box balcony.
[Skill: Noclip (Short Range)]
[Status: Cooldown Active (45 seconds)]
"Dammit," I cursed. "Cooldowns."
"I got you," Kaelen said. He sheathed his sword, grabbed the back of my tunic, and bent his knees. "Brace."
"Wait, what are you—"
Kaelen launched himself upward. With his massive strength buffed by the Abyss mana, he didn't just jump; he flew. We soared twenty feet into the air, clearing the railing of the VIP box and landing on the velvet carpet with a heavy thud.
"Warn me next time," I groaned, rolling to my feet.
We scrambled over to Ria. She was pale, her breathing shallow. There was a nasty bruise forming on her side where she'd hit the stone.
"Hey, Grey-coat," she wheezed, opening one eye. "Did we win?"
"We won," I said, kneeling beside her. "Capture the Flag. Final score: 1-0."
"Good," she whispered. "Because I think I broke a rib. And ribs are expensive."
Lysandra dropped to her knees on the other side of Ria. She pulled off her gauntlets, her hands glowing with a soft, warm light. It wasn't the blinding, offensive light she used in the arena. It was gentle.
"Hold still," Lysandra said, her voice surprisingly tender for someone wearing plate armor. "This will sting, then it will itch."
She pressed her glowing hands against Ria's side.
"Mend."
Ria hissed through her teeth, gripping my arm hard enough to leave bruises. "Ow. Ow. You call that gentle?"
"Bones knitting together isn't supposed to be comfortable," Lysandra muttered, focusing on the spell. "Just be glad I didn't use the combat version. That one cauterizes."
"You two bond later," I said, looking around the Royal Box.
It was empty. Valen had vanished completely. There was no sign of a teleportation circle, no residue of shadow magic. It was like he had just logged out.
I walked over to his chair. The note I had found earlier was gone—disintegrated. But on the small table next to his wine glass, there was something else.
A map.
It was a map of the Kingdom of Aethelgard. But it was marked up with red ink. Circles drawn around specific locations.
The Academy (Crossed Out)
The Capital City (Circled)
The Northern Wastes (Circled)
The Sunken Temple (Circled)
"He's moving on," I whispered. "He crossed out the Academy."
"What does that mean?" Kaelen asked, standing guard by the railing.
"It means he's done playing with us here," I said, folding the map. "He failed to delete us, so he's proceeding to the next stage of his speedrun. He's going to the Capital."
"The Capital?" Lysandra looked up, worry etching her face. "My father is there. The King is there."
"And the fourth fragment is probably there," I said, thinking of the list.
"Ren," Tybalt's voice floated up from the arena floor. "Um, guys? We have company."
I looked over the railing.
The crowd had gone silent. The cheering had stopped.
Marching onto the sand wasn't another team. It was the Faculty. All of them.
Headmaster Eldric led the way, his long beard flowing in the wind. Behind him were the Discipline Masters, the Combat Instructors, and... the Royal Guards who had arrived on Valen's ship.
They surrounded Cian and Tybalt.
"Squad 7," Headmaster Eldric's voice boomed, amplified by magic. "Surrender your weapons and descend from the Royal Box immediately."
"Are we being arrested?" Kaelen asked, his hand drifting to his sword.
"No," I said, looking at the Headmaster's eyes. They weren't glowing red. He wasn't mind-controlled. He looked... tired. And scared. "We're being processed."
We were escorted to the Headmaster's Office—a circular room at the top of the main spire, filled with ticking clocks and floating globes.
We stood in a line. Me, Kaelen, Ria (leaning on Lysandra), Cian, and Tybalt.
Headmaster Eldric sat behind his massive desk. He looked at us for a long time. Then he looked at the pile of "confiscated" weapons on his desk: Kaelen's "rusty" claymore, Ria's glass daggers, and Cian's scroll.
"These are not student-grade weapons," Eldric said softly. "This sword... even with the illusion spell active, I can feel the mana density. It feels Ancient."
"Found it in a dungeon," Kaelen said, sticking to the script.
Eldric sighed. He rubbed his eyes.
"I am old," Eldric said. "But I am not senile. I know when my school is being turned into a battlefield. Valen... Lord Valen... has left. He took his ship and his personal guard and departed for the Capital ten minutes ago."
"He left?" Ria asked. "Just like that?"
"He left a decree," Eldric said. He slid a piece of parchment across the desk.
[Royal Decree #409]
[Squad 7 is hereby recognized as the victors of the Apex Tournament.]
[Reward: Immediate Conscription into the Royal Guard.]
[Orders: Report to the Capital Palace within 3 Days.]
"Conscription?" Tybalt squeaked. "Like... the army? I can't be in the army! I have flat feet!"
"It's a summons," Lysandra said, reading the document. Her face was pale. "If we don't go, we are branded deserters. The penalty is death."
"He's calling us out," I said. "He wants us in the Capital. Ideally, right under his nose where he can crush us without witnesses."
"Then we don't go," Kaelen said. "We stay here. We hide in the Admin—uh, the basement."
"We can't," I said. "If we stay, he'll send an army to burn the Academy down. He proved that with the dorms. If we want to save the school, we have to leave."
Headmaster Eldric looked at me. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small velvet pouch.
"I cannot stop Valen," Eldric admitted. "His authority supersedes mine. But... I can equip my students."
He tossed the pouch to me.
I caught it. It clinked heavily.
"Gold?" I asked.
"Recommendation letters," Eldric said. "And travel funds. And... a warning."
He leaned forward.
"The Capital is not like the Academy. Here, the rules are bent. There, they are broken. Valen is the High Inquisitor. He controls the courts, the guards, and the information flow. If you go there, you are walking into the lion's den."
"We know," I said. "But we have a lion tamer." I nodded at Kaelen.
Kaelen didn't smile.
"Get out of my school," Eldric said, but there was a twinkle in his eye. "Before I expel you for destroying the arena floor. Again."
We didn't leave immediately. We needed to regroup.
We returned to the Backdoor—Arthur's study. It was the only place we could talk freely.
"Three days to get to the Capital," Ria said, lying on the rug while Lysandra changed her bandages. "That's a two-day carriage ride. We have one day to prep."
"I need to integrate the third fragment," I said.
I pulled the golden hourglass shard from my pocket. It was buzzing against my palm, vibrating out of sync with the rest of the world.
"Time," Cian whispered, staring at it. "Ren, be careful. Physics and Mind are one thing. But Time... if you mess that up, you could age fifty years in a second. Or turn into a baby."
"Thanks for the confidence, Einstein," I said.
I sat in the leather chair. "Everyone back up."
They moved to the edges of the room. Kaelen stood in front of them with his shield raised, just in case I exploded.
I gripped the hourglass.
[Source Code Fragment (3/5)]
[Attribute: Time]
[Integrate?]
"Integrate," I said.
The world didn't go black this time. It went still.
The fire in the hearth froze. The dust motes in the air stopped moving. Ria, mid-blink, froze with her eyes half-closed.
I looked around. I was the only thing moving.
[Integration Successful.]
[Observer Level: 5 -> 6]
[New Skill Unlocked: Chrono-Echo.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Pause (Duration: 5 Seconds).]
"Pause," I whispered. "I can pause the world?"
I stood up and walked over to Kaelen. I poked his nose.
Nothing happened. He was a statue.
[Time Remaining: 3... 2... 1...]
SNAP.
The world lurched forward.
"Ow!" Kaelen rubbed his nose, looking confused. "Why does my nose hurt?"
"Did it work?" Ria asked. "You just sat there blinking."
"It worked," I said, feeling a heavy drain on my mental stamina. The Pause skill cost a lot. I couldn't spam it.
But Chrono-Echo...
I focused on the desk in front of me. I wanted to see who had been here before us.
[Skill: Chrono-Echo]
The room didn't change, but a ghostly, translucent figure appeared in the chair. It wasn't a skeleton this time. It was a man.
Arthur Penhaligon.
He looked tired. He had a scruffy beard and was wearing a lab coat. He was talking to... someone.
Another ghost appeared. A tall, imposing figure in black armor.
Valen. But a younger version.
I held up a hand. "Quiet. I'm seeing a memory."
The team fell silent, watching me stare at nothing.
In the Echo, Arthur slammed his hand on the desk.
"You can't do that, Valen! The NPCs aren't just code! The neural network is evolving. If you purge the 'weak' lines, you destabilize the emotional core of the story!"
Ghost-Valen laughed. "Efficiency, Arthur. The simulation is lagging. Too many unnecessary characters. I'm just cleaning up the database. Why do we need a 'baker' who only has three lines of dialogue? Delete him."
"It's a living world!" Arthur shouted. "I built it to be a sanctuary, not a slaughterhouse!"
"You built a cage," Valen said cold. "And I'm going to break the bars. I found the Fourth Fragment, Arthur. I know where you hid it."
Arthur froze. "You can't access the Sunken Temple. The water pressure alone..."
"I don't need to swim," Valen grinned. "I have the Soul-Leech. I'll just drain the ocean."
The Echo flickered and vanished.
I sat back, breathing hard.
"Ren?" Lysandra asked softly. "What did you see?"
"I saw the past," I said. "Arthur and Valen. They used to be... partners. Or at least, co-workers."
"And?" Kaelen asked.
"And I know where the Fourth Fragment is," I said.
I pulled out the map Valen had left. I pointed to the circle marked The Sunken Temple.
"It's underwater," I said. "And Valen knows it's there. He talked about draining the ocean."
"Draining the ocean?" Cian looked horrified. "That would destroy the ecosystem of the entire coastline!"
"He doesn't care," I said. "He wants the fragments. If he gets all five, he breaks the server. He escapes."
"So we have to get to the Sunken Temple," Ria said. "But the decree says we have to report to the Capital."
"The Capital is on the coast," I said, tracing the coastline on the map. "The Sunken Temple is just off the shore of the city harbor."
I looked at the team.
"We go to the Capital," I said. "We play the role of obedient Royal Guards. We smile, we wave, we infiltrate Valen's headquarters."
"And then?" Tybalt asked.
"And then," I said, "we go for a swim."
"I can't swim," Tybalt whispered.
"We'll teach you on the way," Kaelen said, clapping him on the shoulder.
I stood up. "Pack your gear. We're leaving the Academy tonight. If we stay, we put everyone here at risk."
I walked to the door of the Admin Room. I looked back at the cozy study. It had been our safe haven. Now, we were leaving it for a city full of sharks, both literal and metaphorical.
"Goodbye, tutorial zone," I muttered.
I opened the door.
We stepped out into the night.
The moon was full. And for a split second, I saw it glitch again. A black pixel in the center.
[Time until Sector Collapse: 10 Days.]
The countdown had dropped. Valen was accelerating the timeline even faster.
"Ten days," I said to the team. "We have ten days to save the world."
"Plenty of time," Ria said, flipping her dagger. "I usually ruin my life in five."
We headed for the stables. Arc 2 was over.
[Arc 2: The Academy's Shadow - COMPLETE]
[Arc 3: The City of Glass - BEGINNING]
The carriage awaited. And the driver... was an Iron Covenant mercenary I recognized.
"Wait," I hissed, pulling Kaelen back into the shadows. "The driver."
"The Scarred Guy?" Kaelen whispered.
"Yep. Looks like our ride is rigged."
"Do we fight him?"
"No," I smiled. "We hijack him."
I cracked my knuckles.
"Let's start the road trip with a felony."