[A few days earlier]
Noir sat down in the inn where he lodged.
He was by himself, something he had grown used to. However, this time it was different.
He found himself thinking about Ciara and the others often, something he wouldn't have done naturally.
He realized that he had already grown attached to them—no, rather he had grown attached to Ciara. Why?
The reason evaded him, but he knew one thing for sure.
"I can't..." Noir reminded himself.
There were many reasons why he couldn't allow such emotions and thoughts to dwell within him right at the moment, or at all even.
One of such was the recent visit of one of the other Homunculi, 'The Truth'.
Even though he had already known the something like this would eventually occur, the entire situation was not within his control.
'I'm too weak.' Even he realized that.
The problem was, Noir couldn't understand the reason for this.
He knew... he barely ten percent of his original power, and even with a hundred percent, it would be really difficult to fight against one—not to mention all—of the Homunculi.
This was, however, not his most urgent worry.
"Trevor Netherlore. 'The Truth' warned me about him, I've had my suspicions, but... It's time to thoroughly investigate the matter." Noir whispered to himself.
Trevor Netherlore was a celebrity in the Academic City, so it wasn't going to be too conspicuous if he asked around for information about him.
But, public knowledge amounted to little when looking for real information. He needed to look deeper.
"The only way is to infiltrate the Institute's inner grounds." Noir reasoned.
There was only one way for him to get the information he needed.
"I'll have to see this man myself."
A direct approach would be the most effective and efficient. Noir didn't have time for mind games.
He had decided to interfere with the things that were in the works, and so he had to act quickly.
[THE PRESENT]
Noir calmly looked around him. He was in a dark tunnel, or rather, a catacomb.
It was an old pathway that connected the outer parts of the institute to the inner one.
He had discovered the entire underground structure since the first week of his stay in The Academic City, however, this was the first time he had ventured within it.
Most likely, the entire passageway was made as a secret route for an emergency escape or any other insurgencies or crisis.
However, since it had not been used for any of such events in a while due to the relative peace the Empire experienced, it was the perfect route for infiltration
There was no resistance at the start of his journey, in fact, it was smooth sailing. That is, until he was at the center.
The center was a wide expanse of space, there was illumination, provided by shiny gems which had clearly been imbued with Magic.
Upon exiting the passageway that led to the center of the secret route, he saw an exit some meters in front of him.
'Looks easy enough...' Noir reckoned silently.
However, as soon as he started walking—and was halfway through the wide center—a bright glow came from below him.
He looked below and around him, the glow was emanating from none other than a Magic circle.
'Ah...'
The light glowed brighter, and Noir noticed the color. Purple!
"Tier 7?!" Noir's eyes widened slightly as he murmured to himself.
Suddenly there was a vibration, Noir felt his entire body go numb, he couldn't move.
The vibration deafened him, he couldn't hear anything. But that wasn't simply all the circle achieved.
The purple light kept glowing, hampering Noir's sight, and his nose also twitched in response to yet another Magic reaction.
An ashen smell filled the entire area, Noir couldn't perceive anything other than the burnt scent generated by the circle. As he inhaled it, he felt his brain buzz, his entire consciousness was being affected.
'Oh, so that's how it is...' Noir thought to himself.
The Magic Circle—the Rune that was affecting affecting him—had been engraved on the ground, by a skilled mage, no less.
The Rune had 5 effects. Each was directly interfering with certain senses of the body.
The bright purple light hindered Noir's sight
The ashen smell hindered his smell and disoriented his consciousness.
The vibrations hindered his hearing and sense of direction.
The rune itself was still active, and Noir suspected another one of its effects was to interfere with the magic usage of anyone who was trapped in it.
The last effect, was concealment... Concealment of the enemy's attacks and other traps.
"Nice trick..."
He looked around him, glancing throughout the room. He didn't sense any enemy attacks or traps.
The Tier 7 rune was very sophisticated and well prepared. For it to have had so many effects, not only affecting him but also the surrounding vicinity...
"It seems you're quite competent, Trevor." Noir whispered.
For him to have made such a Rune, he had to have been higher than Tier 7.
"Tier 9 is an overestimation, and Tier 7 is not enough to measure his abilities. He'll be a Tier 8 Mage. Interesting." Noir reasoned.
The pounding in his head increased and his body grew even number. He estimated that it would take ten more minutes for him to be entirely paralyzed, and then 5 more minutes to lose consciousness.
He had to do something before that.
"[Code: Hollowed Ground]" Noir said calmly.
Immediately, light dispersed around him, the color was silver, a Tier 8 spell.
"I didn't want to do this, since it's so exhausting... But my means are limited."
The Rune which trapped him began to clear up, the purple sparks subsided, and the markings started getting erased.
Almost as soon as Noir activated his Code, the Magic Circle faded away, causing all its effects to disappear.
"Now that's more like it," Noir said, stretching his body a bit.
He began moving his hands and legs to grasp the condition of his body.
"Looks like I made it in time before the Rune caused any long-lasting damages to me. That's a relief."
Noir looked around him, seeing countless Runes on the walls, on the ground, and even the ceiling. Lots of traps had been triggered and activated just by him being in the Magic circle.
"Another one of its effects eh?" Noir said amusingly.
The traps around him started glowing. The runes were at least Tier 4. Some were Tier 5, and a few he saw were actually Tier 6.
"Tch, how troublesome," Noir groaned.
Even though Tier 6 magic would not have devastating effects on him, and most of the traps were most likely not destructive ones.
The Rune traps are most likely focusing on immobilization. Maybe only a few contain flashy offensive capabilities.
Since the perpetrator's aim was not to kill him, that would mean the runes placed were to capture him.
There was also the fact that the entire underground structure would collapse from the impact and bombardment of the runes that were being launched.
One thing was certain though, Trevor Netherlore—or rather, whoever it was that was the mastermind behind these things, as well as the true culprit—was exceedingly skilled and smart.
"I might need to get serious," Noir said with a slight glare.
The runes shone bright and lit up, signaling their immediate execution.
"For him to have prepared this well and thought this far, also realizing my limitations... I'm impressed." Noir murmured.
"It seems I have but one card to play..." He added.
Then he smiled slowly.
"So it seems..."
Suddenly a dark shadow emerged from Noir's stagnant figure. The darkness surrounded the entire vicinity, covering the entire center underground. The magic circles which were generated by the runes were all plunged into the strange dark shadow.
"Unfortunately for you... I don't." Noir said.
The darkness filled the whole expanse, and then as suddenly as it appeared, it returned back to Noir, merging with his body and disappearing from sight.
"Aaaand, we're done," Noir stated, looking around and noticing that all the traps set had already been removed.
"Now then... Let's move on."
The dark-cloaked Noir left where he stood and walked toward the exit of the catacomb—just as he planned.