Dominic was stunned. Felix had mentioned before that he was academy staff, someone with enough authority to grant special access with the hexagonal necklace Dominic carried for his entrance.
But Dominic had never imagined it went this far. The man standing in front of them, looking barely older than twenty or thirty years old, was the Head of the Research Department.
Neither Dominic, Sevran, nor Gaudia truly understood what a research department head did in detail. But a position like that could only belong to someone with overwhelming merit, skill, and trust from the academy itself.
Dominic felt a strange jolt in his chest.
From the very beginning he had received help directly from someone at that level.
It made him think back to their first meeting in the Labyrinth months ago and Felix's interest in his power. The way Felix had said that his Bloodmark was strange.
Did Felix see something in him back then?
Did he decide, right there, to take him in? To keep him close and use his Bloodmark for research?
The thought unsettled Dominic more than the corpse in front of him. That was something he needed to keep in mind.
"Yeah. Surprised?" Felix said, breaking the silence with a grin. "You don't need to be. I'm not like those old geezers who lock themselves in towers and argue with papers all day."
He chuckled. "I'm pretty relaxed. I just happen to be passionate. Heheh."
Those words alone eased their tension.
Felix didn't carry the stiffness or eccentric air Dominic imagined from someone in such a serious position. If anything, his casual tone made him feel easier to deal with than most people in high positions.
"Alright," Felix said, clapping his hands. "Let's get to work."
He crouched beside the Spiderhorse without hesitation and pressed the knife against its thick hide.
The blade sank in and a wet sound echoed through the chamber.
Dominic, Sevran, and Gaudia exchanged uncertain looks.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Gaudia asked, her voice steady despite the tightness in her posture.
"Something that maybe felt like a stone," Felix replied casually as he widened the cut. "Something unusual."
Sevran stiffened. "That's… vague."
"It is," Felix agreed. "Because I don't know what it looks like either."
Dominic frowned. "Then how are we supposed to find it?"
"Simple," Felix said. "If it looks like a stone and feels like stone and doesn't belong inside a living creature, that's probably it."
He glanced back at them. "You'll know when you see it."
There was a brief pause for a couple of seconds. Then, reluctantly, all three moved.
They knelt beside the corpse, knives in hand, fighting back their disgust as the smell of blood and strange fluids filled the air.
Dominic began cutting into the Spiderhorse's hide, forcing himself to focus on the resistance beneath the blade rather than the smell.
"Is there any rule for dissecting Labyrinth creatures?" he asked after a moment. "Like… organs to avoid or something?"
Felix didn't even look up when he said, "Not for this one. Cut however you want as long as you find the stone."
"That's reassuring," Sevran muttered as he worked his knife in, his face twisted in discomfort. "I've butchered goats, cows, even chickens before. But a Labyrinth creature just looks wrong. Urgh…"
"Stop being a pussy and keep cutting," Gaudia said suddenly.
Both Dominic and Sevran froze.
Even Felix paused and glanced at her.
Gaudia didn't stop cutting. "What?"
Sevran stared at her with an unhappy look. "Your mouth. Why are you so vulgar?"
"Ugh, come on. It's not that bad," Gaudia replied flatly.
"You're next to the Head of the Research Department," Sevran hissed.
That made Gaudia stop.
Slowly, she looked at Felix, as if just realizing the situation she was in. Her expression stiffened for half a second.
"Heheh," Felix chuckled, already returning to his work. "No problem. I told you already, I'm not like those old geezers. You can swear around me. But not at me, though. Haha. No one stays polite while dealing with annoying things like this anyway."
Gaudia relaxed almost immediately. A small smile tugged at her lips.
"See?" she said, glancing at Sevran. "Told you it's not that bad."
Sevran clicked his tongue. "I don't know how your parents would react if they heard you talk like that."
There was a brief pause. Gaudia's knife kept moving.
"My parents are gone," Gaudia said calmly. "I'm alone now."
Sevran stiffened. He looked at Dominic in shock.
Dominic grimaced slightly, already regretting where the conversation had gone.
"I never knew my father," Gaudia continued with the same unchanged tone. "My mom died just before I entered this academy."
She didn't stop cutting.
Hearing that, Dominic finally understood her sharp words, her hostility, and the way anger seemed to emanate from her. She had lost the only family she had, then walked straight into the academy, only to be mocked by noble brats.
"I… I'm sorry," Sevran said quietly.
"Yeah," Gaudia replied. "You should be. Now keep cutting unless you want us stuck here all day."
They worked in silence after that.
Dominic focused on the sensation in his hands. As his knife moved deeper, something felt off. A subtle but unmistakable pulse brushed against his palm through the flesh.
His brow furrowed.
It felt as if his hand was being guided to something.
Dominic followed the sensation, pushing deeper into the flesh and ignoring the blood, the heat, and the stench.
His knife struck something solid then he stopped.
"I think I found something," Dominic said.
His fingers closed around a hard, cold object buried deep inside the Spiderhorse.
Felix, Sevran, and Gaudia all turned toward him at once.
"What?" Sevran asked, tension snapping into his voice.
Dominic didn't answer immediately. The object in his hand… was warm.
Not just that. It was getting warmer and warmer.
The heat was spreading fast, seeping through his palm and up his fingers. The warmth was coming from the thing itself.
Dominic's eyes widened.
"Something's wrong," he said.
A moment later a sharp wet sound echoed through the chamber. The Spiderhorse's head jerked violently.
Its eyes snapped open with new life. Its mouth stretched wide and a piercing shriek came from its throat.
"KHUUUU!!!"
—