"Is it... expanding?" Lina asked, though it was clear she already knew the answer.

  "Yes." Aurora moved closer, studying the dark puddle carefully. Serin accompanied her, hovering protectively, ready to strike if the corruption showed any aggression. "But it's not like last time. This is just normal corruption."

  "Wait, last time wasn't normal corruption?" Erick asked. Sometimes I forgot he hadn't been on the expedition. "What was it, some kind of super corruption?"

  "Last time it was uncontrolled," Mary explained in her measured way. "Expanding rapidly, and displaying signs of intelligence."

  "Last time it was a hunter," Anya added quietly. Now that Serin wasn't by her side, she just stood at the back of our group, unmoving. "This time it's just a force of nature."

  "What about the runes?" I asked, looking at the intricate symbols carved into the ground around the corruption. "Could they have generated it?"

  Aurora and Lina both moved closer to examine the circle. Lina already had her notebook out and was scribbling observations. She pulled a thick book from one of her bags and started flipping through pages rapidly.

  Aurora spoke first. "These are channeling runes, not generating ones. They're similar to mana batteries in function..." She paused, her brow furrowing. "Though some of these symbols are placed strangely. I've never seen them arranged in this order before."

  "Of course you haven't!" Lina said, excitement breaking through her nervousness. "This is experimental work! They're not reproducing established magic, they're creating something new. This circle is probably one of many test versions."

  "How can you be sure?" Aurora looked genuinely curious.

  "The runes they used. See?" Lina pointed at different sections of the circle. "They used completely standard runes up until these last few here. This is textbook methodology for testing new runework. You always start from the end, so you know what the baseline effect should be, then you can identify what your modifications changed."

  She was fully in her element now, the fear replaced by academic excitement.

  "They probably made multiple versions of this circle, each with different symbol combinations at the end, testing which combination would produce the desired effect."

  "Okay, but what does it actually do?" Erick asked, cutting through the technical explanation.

  "Well..." Lina adjusted her grip on her notebook. "Aurora's right that it's a type of battery. It channels mana from the surrounding environment. But there's this corruption-aligned rune here, and another symbol I've never encountered before, so I can't say for certain what the end result is."

  Aurora reached into her own bag and pulled out a book, handing it to Lina. "This should help."

  Lina took it, glanced at the cover, and almost dropped it.

  "Th-this... This is..." Her hands were shaking slightly.

  I leaned over to look. The title was written in ancient script, but I could make out enough to understand. It was a book on forbidden runecraft.

  "This kind of book..." Lina continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's only available in the restricted section of the library. How did you...?"

  "I figured it might be useful," Aurora said simply, like borrowing forbidden texts was completely normal.

  "Nice!" Erick grinned. "What's in there? Some cool forbidden magic?"

  "Kind of..." Lina handled the book like it might explode. "It's runes that worked during testing but were then banned from publication and practical use. Dangerous stuff."

  She opened it with extreme care and began reading through the pages, cross-referencing with the runes on the ground.

  While we waited for Lina to work, we settled around the clearing. Everyone kept glancing at the corruption puddle like it might suddenly lunge at us.

  The silence stretched for a minute before Erick apparently decided it had gone on long enough.

  "So Mary," he said casually. "What do you really think of the Prince?"

  She didn't even flinch, her expression remaining perfectly neutral. "Aurelius is an excellent prince and will become an exceptional emperor."

  "Yeah, cool, now for your actual opinion." Erick leaned forward. "Guy's kind of an ass, especially to you."

  "It is not my place to judge his behavior," Mary replied with practiced smoothness. "I doubt many people would handle his position any better."

  "He could be a little less insufferable though," I added, unable to help myself. "Especially around Aurora."

  Aurora looked up from where she'd been examining another section of the circle. If she'd been trying to stay out of this conversation, she was definitely involved now.

  "He's competitive," Aurora said diplomatically. "Nothing unusual for someone his age and status."

  "You're not fooling anyone," Erick pointed at her accusingly. "I can see it on your face."

  I laughed. Aurora allowed herself a slight smile.

  "Well, if I have to admit something..." She relaxed her posture a fraction. "It does get tiring sometimes."

  "Aurora..." Mary's voice held the faintest hint of reproach.

  "I'm sorry, but it's not often I get the opportunity to speak freely without someone interpreting it as a political statement." Aurora's tone was gentle but firm. "If I said something like this at the academy, the next day I'd probably receive a summons to speak with the emperor himself."

  "See? You should try it too," Erick suggested to Mary. "Feels great to talk shit about the Prince."

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  "If I am to join the royal family, I must conduct myself properly at all times." Mary's words came out carefully measured. "I cannot afford to be so... careless. It would insult my family and everything they expect of me."

  "That sounds exhausting," I said honestly.

  "Sounds like a prison," Erick agreed bluntly.

  Anya shifted slightly, like she wanted to say something, but she held back.

  Mary's situation bothered me. But did she even want help? She seemed content with her role, or at least she was incredibly skilled at pretending to be.

  Aurora seemed to sense the conversation had hit an uncomfortable point and changed subjects. "Emberheart has you training with an orb now?" she asked me.

  "Yeah, but right now I can barely make it wobble, let alone actually control it."

  "I can see the vision though," Erick commented enthusiastically. "It's got style. Way better than a boring sword."

  "Swords are still more practical in most situations," Aurora countered. "Though this orb is remarkably well-crafted. It certainly has potential."

  "You're missing what's truly important," Erick said.

  "And what's that?"

  "Winning with style. Anyone can win with a sword. But winning with a big metal sphere? That's way more impressive. Psychologically devastating for your opponent."

  Aurora smiled at that. Mary looked like she was remembering something unpleasant.

  "It does have... a certain style to it," Mary admitted reluctantly.

  That surprised everyone. Even Aurora raised an eyebrow.

  "That's what I'm saying!" Erick looked delighted. "See? Mary gets it."

  "I merely acknowledge that unconventional weapons can have their place," Mary clarified quickly, though a hint of something almost like amusement crossed her face.

  Lina stood up suddenly, her expression serious.

  "I found it."

  We all gathered closer, forming a circle around her as she prepared to explain.

  "The symbols... It's a gathering circle. Completely standard in its base structure, but these modifications here..." She pointed to specific runes. "They transform the gathered mana into corruption at the conclusion of the ritual. But that's not the worst part."

  She paused, letting us process that information. So the corruption in the circle was probably just the mana the forest had naturally generated over the past few weeks, converted into this dark puddle.

  "One of these runes..." Lina's voice dropped lower. "It was used for human experimentation."

  The atmosphere shifted immediately. Even Erick stopped smiling.

  "It was tested as a medical tool for a time, apparently," Lina continued reluctantly. "But it was abandoned because of the risks and consequences. Basically, this rune makes the circle affect not just the environment, but anything living that enters its bounds. Specifically, humans."

  The implication hit me like a physical blow.

  Anya's brother had been used as a battery. His mana drained to fuel the corruption spreading through the forest.

  How long had he been trapped here? How long had his life force been siphoned away?

  Anya's expression didn't change. Maybe she'd already prepared herself for this possibility.

  "But..." Lina's voice pulled my attention back. "This still doesn't add up. The amount of corruption that was here during the expedition could never have come from a single person alone. We're still missing something crucial."

  So the corruption mages had created a circle to transform Anya's brother's mana into corruption. The question was...

  "Why?" I asked without thinking. "If this would only generate a limited amount of corruption, why go to all this trouble?"

  "To increase their power," Anya said quietly. It was the most she'd spoken since we arrived. "The more corruption they create, the more they can experiment. The more they can evolve their understanding and control."

  The weight of it settled over all of us.

  This was what we were up against. This was what the academy was trying to hide by keeping the expedition details secret.

  Corruption mages had accidentally stumbled upon a huge amount of corruption in one of their experiments.

  "Should we destroy it?" Erick asked, already looking around for something to throw at the circle.

  "I doubt we can," Aurora said, moving closer to examine the runes carved into the ground. "We could try, but if we fail, we might just be feeding it more mana. Making it worse."

  "We could try to disrupt the runes themselves," Lina suggested, though her tone was uncertain. "But it would be extremely risky."

  "How would you go about it?" I asked, an idea forming. "What's the way to disrupt this circle that would take the least amount of effort?"

  Lina looked confused by the specific question. "Well... I suppose just altering the first rune would do it. Any significant damage to a key rune would disrupt the entire circle's function. But it would require tremendous force. Runestones are incredibly resistant to damage, both physical and magical. And touching it directly would make you subject to the circle's effects."

  "Can't we just throw one of the rocks somewhere far away?" Erick picked up a stone from the ground experimentally.

  "The magic binding the circle would prevent that too," Lina explained. "Moving any component would require the same amount of force as destroying the entire structure. It's a built-in security measure."

  "Okay." I made my decision. "You guys go on ahead. I'll deal with this."

  "Cool." Erick immediately started walking back toward the village.

  The rest weren't quite so enthusiastic about leaving.

  Aurora looked at me like I was about to sacrifice myself again. Lina looked worried, probably imagining all the ways I could accidentally cause a magical catastrophe. Mary appeared confused, trying to understand what I could possibly do that they couldn't. Anya just watched me with that unreadable expression, clearly not convinced I could accomplish anything.

  "Come on, you can trust me," I tried to sound reassuring.

  "I'm not doubting your potential, I'm doubting the..." Lina started to argue, but anything specific she said might reveal too much to the others. "Just please keep it simple! Don't do anything complicated!"

  She was the first to give up and leave. Mary followed soon after, still looking puzzled.

  Anya stepped closer, Serin hovering beside her.

  "You still hide," she said quietly. "You promised to do the impossible, yet you hide the ability to do so. Your choices make no sense."

  She turned and walked away, Serin trailing after her like a ribbon of light.

  Aurora was still standing there, clearly worried.

  "This isn't some kind of sacrificial play, right?" she asked.

  "Not at all. Just trying to not reveal too much about what I can do." I met her eyes. "No risk involved, I promise."

  "I never asked about it, you know." Her expression softened slightly. "I respect your reasons for hiding whatever this is."

  She paused, then added more quietly, "But eventually, I want to know."

  She turned and left, her white uniform bright against the dead forest as she walked away.

  Alone in the clearing, I looked at the corruption circle.

  There was only one thing left to do. A rule. Small and simple, to avoid generating too much corruption from the magical energy.

  I raised my finger and wrote in the air: ‘This symbol is broken’

  The warmth spread through my hand as reality shifted.

  There was no explosion. No dramatic flash of light or burst of magical energy. The runestone simply cracked down the middle with a quiet snap, splitting cleanly in half.

  The corruption in the center of the circle remained, still dark and spreading. But without the circle to channel more mana into it, it would grow much slower now.

  It wasn't a perfect solution. The corruption was still there, still a threat.

  But it was something.

  I turned and followed the others back toward the village, leaving the broken circle behind.