The gentle sunlight streamed through the tall glass ceiling of the workshop, reflecting off the metal tables and polished tools. For most students, it meant cheerful morning; but for Maria, it burned
The Magical Equipment Workshop was a vast, loud space. The sound of filing on metal, the clinking of delicate hammers, and the faint hum of circuit testing merged into a restless metallic roar.
Maria entered late. She gripped the straps of her backpack with both hands, as if it were filled with lead.
Dark hollows shadowed her eyes. The red veins in the whites of her eyes told of three consecutive sleepless nights. She had been busy calibrating "optical stabilizers" for Varon until dawn last night.
Master Jovan, a short, stocky man with braided beards and welding goggles on his forehead, shouted in a deep voice:
"Listen up! Today is a day for precision. We want to tune the 'Basic Storage Bracelet' circuit."
He held up a blue crystal.
"These crystals are sensitive. If you connect the circuit pins wrong or if there are impurities, the circuit will burn. Focus! This isn't a place for sleeping."
Maria dragged herself toward the nearest empty table.
Whispers swelled around her:
"Look at her... looks like a walking corpse."
"I heard she dozed off in History class too."
"Is this the same genius who beat Damian? Looks more like someone who partied till morning."
Maria sat indifferently on the metal stool. She didn't even have the energy to frown.
Let them talk... they don't know whatpulling all-nighters for science means. They don't know what fear of Varon means.
Maria was paired with a boy from Class E. A bespectacled, flustered boy who was both happy and terrified to be partnered with the "Famous Maria."
The boy stammered:
"H... Hello Maria. I'll insert the crystal; you tune the circuit. I heard you're skilled at this."
Maria just nodded. She picked up the fine pliers.
The circuit board in front of her blurred and then cleared again.
Her mind wasn't here.
Her body sat at the table but her thoughts were still underground.
Last night's formula... Varon said if I reverse the flow, the shadow becomes more stable. I have to close the input... yes... input must be closed.
Her hands moved on the training bracelet's circuit, but her brain was analyzing the complex "Shadow" circuit.
In the Basic Storage Bracelet circuits, the mana return path had to remain open for overload discharge. But Maria, lost in laboratory thoughts, unconsciously closed the silver discharge wire.
A very small change.
A small shift—enough to ruin everything.
"Done."
Maria put down the pliers and rubbed her eyes.
Her partner looked at the circuit with delight.
"So clean! Your speed is amazing. Well... shall we turn it on?"
Maria rested her head in her hands.
"Yeah... turn it on."
The boy placed the crystal in the slot and pressed the mana injection key.
Bzzzzzz...
The device didn't sound normal. Instead of a gentle hum, a loud noise like tearing fabric was heard.
Maria suddenly lifted her head.
This sound; she recognized it instantly. The sound of "Mana Over-Density." The sound before the shadow explosion in Varon's lab.
She was instantly wide awake. Her eyes locked on the wire she had closed.
Damn it! This isn't the lab! This is a normal circuit!
She shouted:
"Wait! Turn it —"
It was too late.
The circuit's light suddenly turned from soft blue to blinding white. The crystal began to shake and cracked.
POOF!
A sound like a large lightbulb bursting, but with a pressure wave made of mana.
The heavy metal table shook. Tools, screwdrivers, and wire cutters were thrown into the air and fell to the ground with a clatter.
Her partner was thrown backward with his chair by the force of the blast wave and fell to the floor.
"Ouch!"
A blinding white light engulfed the entire hall for a second, blinding everyone momentarily.
Black, foul-smelling smoke rose from Maria's table.
The workshop went still. Everyone stopped working and stared at the smoke-covered table.
Master Jovan emerged from the smoke with a flushed face. His beard trembled with anger.
He looked at the melted, black circuit on the table. Then at the frightened boy on the floor, and finally stared at Maria.
"Who set this up?"
The partner, whose glasses were crooked, pointed a trembling finger at Maria.
"I... I just placed the crystal... Maria did the wiring."
A murmur rippled through the hall.
"See?"
"Her luck ran out."
"Genius? Ha! This girl doesn't even know the basics. She almost got us killed!"
Damian, in the other corner of the class, watched the scene coolly and noted something in his notebook.
The Master stared angrily at Maria.
"You were the strategy hero until yesterday. What happened today? Has your pride blinded you, or do you really know nothing?"
Maria lowered her head. She couldn't say "I'm tired because I work like a slave in a mad scientist's lab at night."
"I'm sorry, Master. I made a mistake."
"Mistake?!"
The Master held the burnt piece in front of Maria's face.
"Here, a 'mistake' equals a severed finger or your partner going blind! If the crystal was bigger, that boy's face would be burned right now!"
He paused and exhaled angrily.
The lunch bell rang with a jarring sound, breaking the heavy silence after the explosion.
Students packed their things faster than usual, as if wanting to get away from the "Danger Zone."
Master Jovan pointed contemptuously at Maria's blackened table.
"Your grade for today is zero. The rest go to lunch, but you stay. You will clean all the burnt parts and make the table shine. Maybe it'll lower your pride and bring back your focus."
Maria said nothing. She just lowered her head.
The kids left in groups. The looks they gave her were sharp enough.
"See? She didn't even apologize."
"She nearly blinded us."
One of Brook's henchmen deliberately bumped Maria's chair while passing and whispered:
"Paper genius. Finally exposed."
The workshop doors remained open until the last people left.
Maria remained alone, amidst the pungent smell of burnt metal.
She picked up a piece of the melted circuit. It was still hot and burned her skin, but she felt no pain. Her hands were shaking. Not from fear, but from absolute physical weakness and nervous pressure.
I'm screwing everything up...
Clang!
She threw the piece into the metal bin.
I create masterpieces in Varon's lab, but here I fall short in front of a bunch of kids. I'm losing control of both my lives.
She picked up a cloth and started scrubbing the black stain on the table. Every time she wiped, the blackness spread more, no matter how hard she scrubbed.
Maria paused. She sensed someone's presence at the door. She raised her head, with the vain hope that maybe Sarah had stayed to comfort her as always.
Sarah was there. But she wasn't alone.
She stood at the threshold of the exit door, but this time she wasn't waiting for Maria.
Sarah stood next to two other girls from the general class. Girls Sarah wouldn't even look at until yesterday because all her attention was on Maria.
Sarah was listening to them and nodding. She hugged her bag tight, as if it were a shield between her and the world.
Suddenly, her gaze turned and fell inside the workshop.
Eye to eye with Maria.
Maria waited. Waited for that usual look: worried, kind, or even a bit angry at the neglect.
But Sarah's look was none of those.
It was cold.
And worse than cold... it was cautious.
The look one gives a "dangerous stranger" or a "bomb that might explode at any moment." A look that said: "I tried, but you don't want to be saved. Now I have to protect myself."
Sarah looked away. She said something to her new friends and exited with them, without looking back even once.
Maria stood frozen in the empty workshop. The dirty cloth fell from her hand.
Damian hadn't built this distance. Brook hadn't. Varon hadn't.
She had built it herself.
And now, for the first time in this new world, she tasted real loneliness, which was bitterer than poison.
She whispered:
"This was what I wanted... right?"
But her voice in the empty space of the workshop was trembling and unsure.
***
Behind the old building, the courtyard lay in heavy winter silence—nothing like the beehive chaos of the dining hall.
The cold wind passed through the tall weeds, spreading the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves in the air.
Maria sat on her usual broken stone bench. A simple food tray rested on her knees, but her soup was no longer steaming; a layer of fat had formed on it. She hadn't eaten more than a few bites; her appetite was gone.
At least here, no one looked at her with pity or hatred.
At least here, she didn't have to force a smile.
She raised the spoon, but before it reached her mouth, she heard footsteps from the other side of the building.
A calm, unhurried, and confident rhythm.
Not like students rushing to get to afternoon classes.
Maria lowered the spoon and raised her head slightly.
A long shadow passed by the brick wall of the building.
Someone was tossing something up in their hand... and catching it.
Thump... catch.
Up...
Thump... catch.
And back in the hand. The steady rhythm grated on her nerves.
Maria grumbled under her breath:
"Seriously? You again?"