Light.
A blinding white light tore through the darkness.
The magical beams of the guards' lanterns swept across the decaying brick walls like swords of light.
Gravel crunched under approaching boots. Close. Closer.
Maria flattened herself against the wall. The small creature trembled in her arms.
Her gaze snapped around for an escape.
Nothing but a wall.
A high, ledgeless brick wall blocked the path behind her. Dead end.
Maria gritted her teeth.
Only one option remained. A dangerous gamble.
Maria let go of the creature and gently nudged it with the tip of her boot toward the darkest corner of the wall, where a pile of rusted metal pipes was stacked.
A hand gesture: Go. Hide.
The creature paused. The light swung toward them.
Maria took a deep breath and darted out of her hiding place. Right into the center of the light. She raised her hands to draw attention.
"I'm here!"
The lights snapped toward her. The guards were taken by surprise.
"Here she is! Got her! Don't move!"
In that single breath of distraction, a small black shape slipped into the darkness behind the pipes and silently disappeared.
A rough, powerful hand grabbed Maria's shoulder, spun her around, and slammed her hard against the wall. She felt the cold bite of the anti-mana cuffs around her wrists.
Her face scraped against the bricks of the wall. The guards panted behind her.
Another guard ran toward the trap site. A few moments later, his voice rang out:
"Sir! The trap is disabled! The source crystals are shattered."
The second guard, who was holding Maria, angrily pulled her collar and turned her around. He shone the light in her face.
"Where is that beast? What did you do to it?"
Maria narrowed her eyes against the glare.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just taking a walk."
"Taking a walk? Behind the restricted area building? Right when our trap malfunctioned? Do you think we're stupid?"
The man turned to his colleague:
"Hey, over there, search the pipes thoroughly."
Maria froze, and a cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Hope he doesn't find it…
As the other man approached the pipes, Maria desperately searched for a way to let the creature escape.
Nothing came to her mind. She wanted to make a fuss to distract them from the pipes. Just then…
The man said loudly to his colleague:
"There's a hole in the wall behind the pipes. It must have escaped through here."
Maria let out the breath she'd been holding.
So you managed to escape...
The guards pushed Maria to start walking.
"Where are you taking me? What are you going to do to me? According to Academy rules, you must take me to the Dormitory Warden."
The guard sneered.
"Warden? No, little girl. You entered Master Varon's private property. He decides what to do with a thief who destroyed his property."
As Maria was being dragged away by force, in the heart of the darkness, ruby eyes watched her from the shadows until the last moment... as if this was not the end of their meeting.
***
The pungent smell of ozone and unknown chemicals replaced the cold autumn air.
The guards sat Maria on a metal chair in the middle of the room.
It was one of the Academy's laboratory classrooms, cold and vast. Stone walls were lined with shelves full of jars containing organs of various creatures. In another corner, a large blackboard full of complex magical calculations could be seen.
Behind a large desk at the end of the room stood a man with his back to them. He was carefully measuring something on the desk.
"Sir, we caught the thief. The trap was neutralized, and the specimen escaped."
The man behind the desk, without turning around, said in a calm but firm and cold voice:
"Escaped? Is that so."
He turned.
Master Varon.
Contrary to Maria's imagination, he didn't look like a mad scientist with spiky hair and thick glasses. He was a middle-aged man with short, neat salt-and-pepper hair, a bony face, and sharp, piercing eyes. His gaze was that of a surgeon looking at his patient; cold, precise, and devoid of extra emotions.
Varon glanced at Maria.
" A child? Seriously? I expected the Academy Guard or one of those nosy professors from the Ethics Department snooping around my work... but a child?"
The guard stepped forward and placed a folder on Varon's desk.
"Sir, this is the information we extracted from the ID card she had on her."
Varon opened the folder. His eyes quickly scanned the lines.
"'Maria'... Class F... First Year."
His eyebrow went up slightly.
"Interesting. The same girl who defeated Damian Von Taurus in strategy class today."
Varon closed the folder and stared at Maria.
"Apparently, your victory today has caused you to suffer from delusions and think the Academy rules don't apply to you."
Maria said nothing. Her eyes scanned the environment. The exit door was locked, and two armed guards were there.
Varon picked up a piece of crystal that Maria had shattered and the guards had collected, holding it up to the light.
"Unauthorized entry into a restricted area. Destruction of expensive research equipment. And aiding the escape of a dangerous specimen."
Varon came forward and leaned against the desk.
"Do you know what the penalty is? Immediate expulsion and handover to a military court for damages. Even Edward can't save you, because this time you broke the law, not a student's nose."
Maria swallowed and clenched her fist. The image of the slums and her mother Alice came before her eyes.
Expulsion means the end. It means becoming homeless, returning to the slums, breaking the promise I made to my mother.
"I didn't steal."
"Doesn't matter what you say. The evidence is against you."
Varon threw the broken crystal onto the desk. It hit the desk with a sharp crack.
"But what has made me curious isn't your motive. It's your method."
Varon's look changed. From the look of an interrogator, it turned into the look of a researcher.
"This trap was a 'Closed Mana Circuit'. According to the principles of magic, if you physically broke the source crystal, the stored energy should have been released and an explosion occurred. Your hands should have been blown off. But you... you are completely unharmed."
He looked at Maria's hands.
"According to your file, you don't have the mana capacity to cast a 'Counter-spell'. So how did you cut the current without it exploding?"
Maria realized this was her only trump card. Varon wasn't looking for a thief; he was looking for answers.
Maria raised her head.
I have to embellish my story as much as possible and tell it with scientific details; even use parts of my guesses from Varon's own words to get his attention.
"I didn't fight it with magic, Master. I worked with the laws of physics."
"Explain."
"Your trap had three sources. Like three legs of a table. If I broke one, the other two would lose balance and an explosion would occur. So I drained the energy."
"How? You don't have the capacity."
"Not me. But my bracelet did."
Maria shook her now-empty wrist (the guards had taken her mana storage bracelet).
"I connected the bracelet as an energy sink to the circuit. The bracelet's potential was empty; the source crystals' potential was full. According to the laws of nature, energy flows from high to low. When the crystal emptied, I broke it. Without energy, there is no explosion."
The lab went still.
Varon blinked for a few moments. A faint smile touched his mouth. Not an evil smile, but the satisfied smile of someone who had just found a useful tool.
I knew from the moment the trap went off there was a brain behind it, not simple vandalism.
"Laws of nature... using potential difference..."
He suddenly laughed. A dry, short laugh.
"Interesting. Very interesting. Students here only know how to chant spells and wave wands, even the upperclassmen. No one cares about the 'Physics' behind the magic."
Varon turned and walked toward a large blackboard full of complex formulas. Formulas that remained unfinished.
"You know, Maria... I'm working on a project that has hit a dead end for months. I'm trying to build a 'Magic Circuit' that can simulate the trait of that escaped creature. 'Shadow Movement'."
He tapped a spot on the formula with chalk.
"But every time I close the circuit, it becomes unstable and burns out. I have many strong mages, but I don't have an 'Engineer'. Someone who can see the flow without magical bias."
Varon picked up a paper and started writing.
"I have a proposal for you."
He placed the paper in front of Maria.
"I can write your expulsion report right now, and you pack your bags in the morning."
He slammed the pen down next to the paper.
"Or... you can become my 'Personal Assistant'. You come here at night. Work on my circuits. Use your weird perspective on 'potential difference' and such things to solve my problem."
Maria looked at the paper.
This man was dangerous. He was the one who wanted to dissect that creature. But... this laboratory was full of equipment and knowledge. The only place that could compensate for her mana weakness.
If I accept, I'm walking into the lion's den. If I don't accept, everything is over.
Maria fixed her gaze on Varon.
"If I help you... what do I get? Besides not getting expelled."
Varon clasped his hands behind his back.
"Access. Access to my personal library, rare parts, and the science of crafting magical equipment. You have no mana, little girl. But if you can understand these circuits... maybe you can build things that even an S-Class can't stand against."
A deal with the devil. Or perhaps a deal with science.
Maria took a deep breath.
"Deal."
Varon tore up the report sheet and threw it in the bin.
"Good. Tomorrow night, 10 PM, be at the Academy's basement laboratory."
Then he added in a serious and warning tone:
"And by the way... don't think I forgot. If you see that creature again, bring it to me. Every progress requires a sacrifice; the question is who the sacrifice will be."
Maria took her mana storage bracelet from the guard and left the room.
When the door closed, Varon whispered under his breath:
"If you hid that creature... or prove useless in my experiments... I see no reason for you to stay alive."