Julian Vane entered the area with that same crooked smile and perpetually untidy uniform.
A red apple spun in the air, reflected the sunlight, and landed back in his hand.
"What a cozy spot you found, reclusive strategist."
Without invitation and with annoying intimacy, he sat on the stone bench opposite her and stretched out his legs.
Maria put the food tray aside and hugged her arms.
"Looking for me?"
Julian shrugged.
"Maybe."
He took a loud crunching bite of the apple. The crisp sound echoed in the silence of the courtyard.
"Or maybe I was just looking for a quiet place where rumors don't scream so loud."
Maria frowned.
"Speak straight, Julian. I don't have time."
Julian's honey eyes narrowed slightly. His smile didn't fade, but it changed; from "joking" to "analytical."
"Your performance has been in freefall for a few days, Maria. No focus in class. Not in the dorm at night. In the mornings, you look like a corpse fresh out of the grave."
He leaned forward slightly, and the scent of apple and his bitter cologne filled the air.
"And it's interesting that these changes started exactly after the day you asked me about Varon."
Maria's heart skipped a beat. A chill ran through her, but she kept her face indifferent as stone.
"You're spinning too many tales. I'm just studying hard."
Julian spun the apple on his finger.
"Possible."
He locked his gaze on Maria's hands (which still had slight traces of blackness and chemicals under the nails).
" Or maybe someone has been working somewhere at night they shouldn't be. A place that smells of ozone and hot metal."
Their conversation paused for a few moments.
The cold wind moved the dry leaves on the ground, and their rustling echoed in the heavy atmosphere between them.
Maria realized Julian already knew. Or at least he was close enough that denying was useless.
"If you have something to say, say it. Want to go to the Headmaster?"
Julian suddenly laughed and leaned back against the bench. The tension snapped.
"Relax. I told you, I'm not the Disciplinary Committee. I didn't come to rat you out."
He paused. His look became serious.
"Just wanted you to know that sometimes, people you think you've shaken off are still watching you."
He tossed the apple up and caught it.
"Varon is a dangerous man, Maria. He doesn't play with fire; he plays with hell itself. If one day you see things getting out of control... if you see the price you're paying is more than what you're getting..."
He stood up. His shadow moved off Maria.
As he turned to leave, he said:
"Come to me."
He walked a few steps. Then, without turning back, he added:
"I usually find the exit."
The apple spun in the air again.
And Julian disappeared behind the building wall.
Maria looked at the empty space.
Her appetite was gone. The cold air had now penetrated her bones.
Only one sentence spun in her mind:
Exactly how much does he know? And why hasn't he sold me out yet?
***
The sun had set, and shadows had grown long and stretched.
Maria diverted her path to pass by the stone walls bordering the forest. The place where, a few days ago, she had released that creature.
Her eyes searched through the bushes and thick shadows with the precision of a tracker.
Where are you? Did you find food? Are you still there?
For a moment, she felt she saw movement. A shadow that moved against the wind.
Maria stopped.
"Hey...?"
She went closer and pushed aside the thorny bushes.
No one was there. Only darkness and cold earth.
But her gaze locked onto a flat slab of rock.
On the rock, a few drops of dried, black blood were visible. And next to the blood, the small bones of a bird.
Maria's shoulders eased.
It hunted... so it's still alive. It's still fighting.
She gently placed her hand on the cold stone.
"Hang in there... I'm hanging in there too."
Laughter and low conversation drifted from the main path.
They were heading towards the dormitory.
Maria quickly stood up and straightened her clothes. No one should see her here.
With a last look into the depths of the dark forest, she turned back and disappeared into the shadows of the buildings.
Night was approaching, and her part-time shift was about to begin.
Maria closed the heavy door and entered. The smell of smoke and burnt metal from the Academy workshop still lingered on her uniform, mixing with the lab's ozone smell.
Varon was behind the main desk, under the focused light of a surgical lamp, working on a complex silver bracelet.
Without lifting his head, he said:
"You're late."
Maria threw her bag in a corner. Her shoulders slumped.
"I had detention. Had to clean the workshop."
Varon impatiently put the tweezers aside and pushed the bracelet toward Maria. To him, Maria's daily problems were as insignificant as the dust on the table.
"Come look at this."
Maria stepped forward.
"What's the problem?"
"Thermal instability. High mana consumption. After ten seconds of use, the metal gets hot and burns the user's hand. Calculations are correct, but the metal's physical properties aren't responding."
Maria picked up the bracelet. It was still warm.
She narrowed her eyes and followed the engraved paths on the silver.
The flow path is too long. It's like spinning water in spiral pipes. Friction causes heat.
She was silent for a few seconds.
Then she put the bracelet on the table.
"Bypass the main flow path. Straight from source to output."
Varon frowned.
"Then the backlash will hit the main crystal. It'll explode."
Without a word, Maria went to the parts shelf. She picked up a small, yellow, diamond-shaped crystal (temporary storage) and returned.
She carefully placed it at the circuit junction.
"We send part of the mana load into this crystal. It acts like a 'stabilizer'. It takes the excess pressure and releases it slowly. Heat decreases, and flow becomes stable."
Varon looked at the new combination.
"Temporary storage..."
He placed his hand on the bracelet and injected mana.
The circuit lit up.
This time, no jarring buzzing sound was heard. A clear, blue light, smooth, stable, and tremor-free, radiated from the bracelet. The metal remained cold.
The bracelet worked perfectly.
The lab grew quiet. Only the quiet hum of the devices remained.
Varon removed his hand. He stared at the modified bracelet for a few moments, as if looking at a work of art.
Then he raised his head, but didn't look into Maria's eyes. He looked at her hands.
"Hmm."
He paused and went back to his work.
"At least you're good for something."
It wasn't a compliment.
It was the sentence of someone who has found a "precise and rare tool." Varon's brief, fleeting glance was cold but possessive. For him, Maria had transformed from an "annoying student" to a "valuable asset."
***
Maria was climbing the spiral stairs.
She looked at her hands. Her fingertips were black and oily, but a faint smile sat on her lips.
It was a strange contrast.
During the day, a girl mocked by everyone, her circuits exploding, and humiliated by the Master.
During the night, a girl correcting the equations of the Academy's genius professor and approved by the most dangerous man in the Academy.
She whispered to herself:
The only place I'm useful is right here... underground. Between monster corpses and burnt circuits.
She opened the exit door, and the cold night air hit her face.
Her smile faded.
Her legs suddenly went weak.
She stumbled, and her shoulder slammed against the stone wall.
"Ouch..."
Her head was spinning. The world blurred and spun before her eyes. Her heart beat like a sparrow's.
She put her hand on her chest and panted.
Her young body was screaming in protest. Sleeplessness, constant stress, and physical labor were taking their toll.
She almost passed out right there.
She forced herself to hold on.
No... not now. Must reach the bed.
She dragged herself toward the dormitory.
The realization came quietly:
Success in the dark was swallowing her daylight. This was unsustainable. Her body was crushing under the weight of this double life.
***
It was crowded by the class bulletin board. Monthly assessment results and class grades had been posted.
Students were checking their grades excitedly.
"Wow! I got a B in Mana Control!"
"Damian is first again. Full marks!"
Maria, with eyes forced open and deepening dark circles, stepped forward.
She looked at the list.
Her eyes moved lower and lower—until they reached the bottom.
Rank: Last - Maria.
Grades:
Strategy: A+
Magic Fundamentals: C
Mana Control: D-
Technical Workshop: F
...
The Guidance Counselor, standing by the board, frowned upon seeing Maria. His voice was loud, and everyone heard:
"Maria. Your standing is deteriorating. Continue like this, and consequences will follow."
He handed a warning slip to Maria.
"If you continue like this in the next exam, according to educational rules, you must go to 'Mandatory Remedial Classes'. Those classes are held on weekends."
Maria took the paper. Her hand went ice cold.
Mandatory remedial classes on weekends? Meaning I lose my only chance to rest after a week of grueling double life.
Brook's sneer was heard from behind:
"One-dimensional genius. Only knows how to play with mud soldiers."
***
Maria stared out her room window with exhaustion and despair. The dormitory lights were turning off one by one.
She didn't know, but below, among the dense, dark trees by the Academy wall, something was moving.
The shadows moved against the still air.
Deep in the darkness, two red points glowed.
The small creature hadn't left.
Shadows rippled beneath its feet.
The creature flattened its ears. A fresh bloodstain marked the bandage Maria had tied around it.
Its ruby eyes were fixed on the window of room 304.
In the distance, the searchlights along the Academy wall turned on.