The academy was shrouded in darkness, a heavy quiet settling over the grounds.
Only the soft glow of a few lamps illuminated the stone paths, and the occasional figure patrolled in the shadows, eyes sharp for any signs of mischief.
After the recent incidents, security had tightened, and students were warned to remain in their rooms.
But that didn't stop Silva and Valeria.
Cloaked in shadows, they navigated the labyrinthine halls of the academy with the grace and precision of seasoned thieves, slipping past patrols as they moved toward their target.
Silva paused beside Valeria, her expression cool but impressed. "Not bad for a thief."
Valeria grinned, a hint of pride glimmering in her eyes. "You're not bad yourself. Stealth seems to suit you."
They exchanged a fleeting look before continuing, their movements perfectly synchronized as they reached the door of the first teacher's office.
Silva listened for any signs of life, then carefully eased the door open, and they slipped inside.
The room was dimly lit by a single candle, casting long shadows across the polished wooden desk and shelves lined with ancient, dust-covered books.
Scrolls and manuscripts lay scattered, a few rare artifacts glinting in the candlelight.
Silva and Valeria moved carefully, their footsteps muffled against the thick carpet as they began their search.
Valeria opened a drawer, carefully rifling through neatly organized papers and pausing to examine a peculiar, jewel-encrusted relic.
She lifted it, admiring the craftsmanship, when Silva's voice cut through the quiet.
"Find anything?"
"Nothing… suspicious," Valeria muttered. "But this—" she held up the jeweled item, its intricate silver filigree gleaming in the light, "—is exquisite. Might be worth something."
Silva narrowed her eyes. "Put it back."
Valeria blinked, looking almost offended. "What?"
"We're here to find information, not to loot the place. This is the academy, not some den in the underground city," Silva said sharply.
Valeria flushed, casting one last longing look at the item before gently placing it back. "Fine. It's just an… Amulet of Vitalis."
Silva gave a curt nod and resumed her search, meticulously checking every corner of the room, but after a thorough inspection...
It was clear there was nothing of note.
"Another dead end," Valeria sighed.
The two slipped out, moving to the next office, and the one after that, finding nothing but more papers and a few minor magical trinkets.
As they continued, Valeria's gaze wandered to a window across the hall, catching sight of a faint light flickering in the distance.
She followed its glow to a familiar building on the academy grounds—Eclipse's quarters.
"What do you think he's up to?" Valeria asked, her curiosity piqued.
Silva, focused on her search, barely looked up. "Why does it matter?"
"It's just… he told me not to come by his room for a while, and then he goes and buys all these strange items. Do you think he's trying to become an alchemist?"
Silva shook her head with a scoff. "Impossible. No Warbringer would stoop to alchemy. His family prides itself on inner mana strength, relying on nothing but their innate abilities. They'd consider alchemy beneath them."
Valeria bit her lip, suppressing the information she had about Eclipse's recent behavior, remembering when he took that potion.
Her gaze drifted back to Silva. "Do you think… he knows about you?"
A slight twitch passed over Silva's face, but she kept her tone steady. "Of course not."
Valeria hesitated. "So… will you really go through with it? Will you… kill him?"
Silva's expression hardened. "I accepted this job, and I'll finish it. After we find your sister. That was our deal."
Valeria nodded, feeling a strange pang of sympathy for Eclipse.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how isolated he was.
No friends, barely any allies, and even his own maid seemed set on his demise.
She pushed the thoughts away, reminding herself of her own goal.
I need to find and save my sister.
They continued their search, each room revealing nothing but ordinary papers and a few trinkets.
Valeria's heart sank, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were close, as if just one more step would reveal what they were looking for.
One of her informants had insisted that a teacher here at the academy had been seen with her sister.
She just had to find who.
_______
Meanwhile, Eclipse's...
Eclipse's room looked more like the laboratory of a mad scientist than the quarters of a noble.
Tables were littered with flasks, beakers, and an array of herbs and minerals.
He had transformed his once pristine space into a workshop filled with vials of bubbling liquids, scribbled notes, and strange, shimmering powders.
With a frown of concentration, Eclipse carefully added crushed silverroot to a flask, watching as it dissolved into the faintly glowing mixture.
He reached for another vial, pouring its contents drop by drop, muttering calculations under his breath.
Alright… if I'm not completely wrong, this should create a potion that allows one to see and manipulate mana...
The theoretical knowledge he had from the game filled him with confidence, though this was the first time he'd ever tried it in real life.
Now… let's just hope it doesn't blow up in my face.
As he finished adding the last ingredient, the potion in the flask turned a brilliant shade of blue, a faint light radiating from it.
"Mana Sense," a potion that would heighten a person's ability to observe and interact with mana in the environment.
Eclipse felt a sense of satisfaction—until he realized he still needed a test subject.
"Hey, slime, get over here," he called, his voice casual.
The slime oozed its way over, its jelly-like body quivering with excitement.
Since coming into Eclipse's service, it had managed to consume various potions and ingredients he'd left around, giving it an odd assortment of colors and faintly glowing patches.
Eclipse held the potion above the slime's head, eyeing it thoughtfully.
"If it doesn't kill you, that means it works. Besides, you're more sensitive to magic than humans. Let's see if this has any effect."
He explained to the slime, mostly to reassure himself, that it was actually safer to use the slime as a test subject.
Slimes had lower life force than humans but were much more sensitive to potion chaos, meaning they'd react immediately if something went wrong.
With that, he poured the potion over the slime's quivering body, watching for any sign of reaction.
He expected a brilliant light or at least some kind of shimmer. Instead, the slime simply sat there, looking as unimpressed as a slime could.
"Nothing? Seriously?" Eclipse sighed.
One possible reason crept into his mind: without the alchemist trait, his efforts might be doomed to fail, no matter how precise his methods were.
"Does this mean… I actually need to hire an alchemist?" he muttered, disgusted by the thought.
Not just any alchemist, though.
He would need someone skilled in dark mana alchemy, a forbidden branch capable of functioning without relying on the inner mana he lacked.
In the world of Aeloria, dark mana was forbidden for good reason.
Unlike the usual mana, which relied on the innate power within a person, dark mana functioned almost like an explosive fuel, an external power source that anyone could wield regardless of their own mana strength.
Normal potions depended on the user's mana to fully activate, but dark mana could bypass this, flooding the user's system with raw energy.
However, it was highly unstable, prone to corrupting both the user's body and soul if used recklessly.
Dark mana was effectively a double-edged sword—a potent power that came at a heavy price.
Eclipse shook his head, sinking onto his bed, exhausted.
He'd been feeling a persistent pain in his chest, subtle at first but now a sharp, unignorable ache.
He brought up his blue screen with a flick of his wrist, and there it was:
Status: Decay
The cause had to be the Draught potion he'd taken before.
He was slowly deteriorating, and only one person could reverse the effects—the alchemist behind the potion it seemed like.
And if anyone knew where that alchemist was, it would be Valeria.