The hallway stretched out before me, bathed in pale moonlight that clung to every surface like a secret. The silence wasn't comforting—it was the kind that made your skin itch, like the whole world was holding its breath. In Arcadia, peace like this wasn't peace at all. It was the intermission before disaster took center stage.
And I knew what was coming. Not a gut feeling or some half-baked hunch—this was an episode I'd seen before. Back on Earth, it played out in my favorite novel. Every twist, every tragedy. I'd devoured every page, and now it was all coming to life, right on schedule.
It would start with the B Rank Class students—those poor bastards. By the time they showed up in the novel, they were no longer students. Just bloated monsters, bursting with unstable mana. Lost causes, every one of them. But here? They were still roaming the academy, twitching, unstable, but not quite gone. Yet.
Which was worse, honestly. They were dangling at the edge of a cliff, and the wind was starting to blow.
And here's the part that's got me on edge—none of this was in the novel. Not the build-up. Not the flickers of uncontrolled mana spilling out in random bursts. In the book, it skipped straight to the action, the carnage, and the big damn hero moments. But here? I was stuck in the missing pages, figuring things out as I went.
The story wasn't going to hand me the answers. If I wanted to survive this—and make sure things played out close enough to how they were supposed to—I'd have to fill in the gaps myself.
Because one thing was certain: the disaster was already on its way. And when it hit, there'd be no turning back.
I spotted Dorian heading toward the dorms, hands buried deep in his pockets, looking as relaxed as someone with no idea the universe had penciled him in as its next problem solver. Typical.
In both the novel and the game, Dorian's awakening was coming up. His Divine Element—a perfect fusion of fire, water, wind, and earth—was the academy's only hope against the soon-to-be monster brigade of the B Rank students. That kind of overpowered nonsense was exclusive to main characters, of course. No one else gets to juggle four elements and come out divine on the other side.
Problem was, Dorian didn't have the faintest clue he was that guy. To him, we've just been through a bunch of scrappy fights since I arrived. We've got the sort of camaraderie that comes from knowing someone will cover your back in a brawl—not quite friends, but close enough. Normally, I wouldn't go out of my way to strike up a conversation, but considering what was looming on the horizon? This felt like a good exception.
I matched his pace, walking beside him. "Dorian."
He glanced over, a little surprised but not thrown off. "Lucius? What's with the late-night stroll?"
"Just thought I'd check in... you know, before everything goes to hell," I said, keeping it casual.
He gave me a grin. "Well, Lucius, you sound pretty funny with that joke."
I shrugged, a grin tugging at my lips. "I try."
Dorian's grin didn't fade as he pushed the door to the dorm open. "You know, I'm always ready for everything." He gave me a lazy wave without turning back. "See ya."
And just like that, he disappeared inside—completely unaware that the storyline had him pegged as the one who'd need to actually be ready.
I exhaled slowly, shaking my head. Of course, the MC walks off without a care in the world, right before everything blows up. Typical.
Hopefully, he was right about being ready. Because if his moment didn't come at just the right time... well, let's just say my "funny" joke wouldn't feel quite so amusing later.
I hadn't planned on returning to the library so soon, but sleep had decided to play hard to get. No matter how many times I tossed and turned, the thoughts swirled in my head like a storm, each one more chaotic than the last. I needed answers, and Fiona was my best shot at getting them.
The door creaked ominously as I stepped inside, a sound that would have made a less seasoned hero jump. But there she was—Fiona—exactly where I'd left her. She sat at the same table, a fortress of books surrounding her, her notes looking even messier now. She didn't even look surprised to see me.
"Back already?" she asked, not bothering to lift her gaze from a particularly dense tome.
"Couldn't resist," I said, sliding into the seat across from her. "I wanted to double-check a few things."
She shot me a brief glance, the corner of her mouth twitching in what might've been a smirk. "You have a hard time sitting still, huh?"
"Comes with the territory," I replied, feeling a bit more grounded now that I was in familiar territory. "What did you find?"
Fiona's expression shifted from casual to serious in a heartbeat as she shuffled through her notes, her fingers flying over the pages like they were under some sort of magic spell. "The mana corruption—it's spreading faster than I thought. It's not just some random overflow, either. Someone's deliberately messing with their cores."
That revelation hit me harder than I expected. In the novel, the students' transformation had been an uncontrollable curse, an organic disaster. But here? Things were far more complicated—and downright dangerous.
"Any leads?" I asked, leaning in as if the closer I got, the more I could grasp the situation.
"Not yet," she muttered, frustration creeping into her voice like an unwanted guest. "But I'm getting closer. It's only a matter of time."
I leaned back in my chair, tapping my fingers on the table, a nervous rhythm that matched the growing tension in the air. "Dorian's going to be the key to stopping this. He just doesn't know it yet."
"Then let's hope he figures it out soon," Fiona replied, her pen moving furiously across the page as if she could write our way out of this mess. "Because if he doesn't..."
"We're all screwed," I finished for her, the weight of the words hanging in the air like a thundercloud ready to burst.
The Calm Before the Chaos
I stood to leave, hands shoved deep in my pockets as I tried to shake off the chill creeping up my spine. "Well, if anything new comes up, let me know."
"Will do," Fiona said, her focus locked on her notes, oblivious to the world outside her chaotic library fortress.
I gave her a lazy salute before slipping out into the hallway. The chill of the night air wrapped around me like a cold warning, its icy fingers creeping into my bones. The silence felt heavier now, as if the academy itself was holding its breath, waiting for something inevitable to unfold.
Somewhere in the distance, the hum of unstable mana throbbed beneath the surface—a faint pulse, but enough to put me on high alert. I caught sight of one of the B Rank students loitering at the far end of the hall, and my gut twisted. His hands twitched, a sign of mana leaking out in chaotic bursts like fireworks gone awry. He wasn't fully transformed yet, but the signs were clear: it was only a matter of time.
Clenching my fists, I fought the urge to intervene. Jumping in too soon would only mess everything up. Dorian had to be the one to awaken his Divine Element at just the right moment, and I couldn't afford to tip the scales too early.
"Just hang in there a little longer," I whispered, more to myself than the student. My heart raced as the hum of unstable mana crescendoed, vibrating through the walls like a living heartbeat.
A chill skittered up my spine, and I glanced over my shoulder, half-expecting something—or someone—to leap out of the shadows. The air felt electric, charged with the promise of chaos waiting just beneath the surface.
It was starting. The stage was set, and the players were unaware of their roles. I couldn't shake the feeling that the next moments would change everything. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing thoughts. Whatever was coming, I had to be ready. Because if this was just the beginning, then we were about to find ourselves in the eye of a storm that would turn the academy upside down.
With a final glance at the twitching student, I turned on my heel and headed down the hall. Whatever darkness was brewing, I was determined to face it—preferably with Dorian on my side, unaware that he was the linchpin in this narrative. If only he'd wake up to his destiny before it was too late.
If Dorian's Divine Element awakened in time, we had a fighting chance at stopping the chaos. But if it didn't... well, let's just say I wasn't eager to find out what Plan B looked like, especially since I had a feeling it involved a lot more running and screaming than I was prepared for.
The pieces were in place, the board set with a precarious balance. I could practically hear the gears of fate grinding as I analyzed everything, trying to figure out how best to move them. The B Rank students were a ticking time bomb, and the longer we waited, the closer we edged toward an explosion that would level everything we knew. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was caught in a twisted game of chess, where the stakes weren't just a king or a queen—but our very lives.
Dorian, however, was a wild card. He was the main character in this twisted tale, and I had to trust that when the time came, he'd rise to the occasion. In the novel, he had no clue about his potential until the last moment, when everything went to hell. But I wasn't willing to let that happen. I had to ensure he recognized the power lurking within him before it was too late.
He had always been the kind of guy who could pull through against the odds. There was something about him—maybe it was his relentless optimism or that innate bravery. Whatever it was, I trusted him. But trust only went so far, and with this level of danger looming, I needed to keep a close eye on him.
As I paced the dimly lit hall, I wondered about the invisible puppet master pulling the strings behind the chaos. The mana corruption wasn't random; someone was orchestrating it. But who? And why? In the original story, the students' transformations just happened, like a nasty side effect of some magical flu. We were never told who was behind it or why they were hell-bent on creating monstrosities. I'd always assumed it was the work of a classic villain, lurking in the shadows, cackling over their master plan. But now? Now I was starting to think it was more complicated than that.
Was it possible there were other players in this twisted game, forces at work that the original author hadn't bothered to flesh out? The thought nagged at me, planting seeds of doubt and uncertainty. I rubbed my temples, forcing down the wave of anxiety that threatened to drown me. "Focus, Lucius," I chided myself, glancing at the flickering candles lining the hallway. "Don't get lost in the chaos before it even begins."
I pressed my lips together, piecing together every bit of information I had. Dorian needed to awaken his Divine Element naturally; forcing it would only mess things up. But would he be able to do that when everything started to fall apart? Every detail began to click into place, each one adding weight to the growing sense of urgency. I couldn't afford to be blindsided, not again. The stakes were too high. The academy was our home, a sanctuary that had nurtured us. Losing it would mean losing everything.
"Here's the play," I murmured, stepping into the unknown. "Keep Dorian close. Let Fiona do her thing. And above all else, stay one step ahead of whatever's brewing. Because whether the story wanted to follow the script or not, we were all about to become part of this episode. And there was no skipping to the next chapter this time."