(Aurora’s perspective)

  I hadn't been able to sleep. Not that I'd planned to.

  I knew I needed rest. My body was already feeling the strain of constant vigilance. But the thought of leaving all these people unprotected just so I could have a night of sleep felt inexcusably selfish.

  I'd considered asking Emberheart for help with the watch rotation, but that would defeat the purpose. He wasn't here to help me lead. He was here to evaluate me, to assess whether my skills were worth the Director's continued interest.

  Of course I knew their games. The Director wanted to recruit me after graduation, to bind me to the academy as a permanent asset. Emberheart was his pawn in that plan, observing, reporting back, measuring my worth.

  At least it isn't Greystar.

  That thought gave me some small comfort. Having her on this expedition would have made everything ten times worse.

  When dawn provided enough light to see the path ahead, I woke everyone. Most moved slowly, groggy and disoriented. The corrupted inn hadn't provided restful sleep for anyone.

  But not Anya. Her eyes simply opened, instantly alert, as if she'd been awake the entire time. Though I knew she hadn't been. I'd checked on everyone periodically through the night. She'd slept, but lightly, like a wild animal that never fully let its guard down.

  She was different from the other first-years. Refused to attend classes, worked independently, doing her own research on the corruption. I knew why, of course. Her brother had been taken by the corruption three months ago. She'd accepted his death and channeled her grief into understanding the enemy that had killed him. When the academy announced this expedition, she'd volunteered immediately.

  Single-minded purpose made for reliable team members, if you could direct it properly.

  Nico was awake quickly too, emerging from wherever he'd been sleeping in the shadows. He and Mira were useful assets. Nico came from a long line of Shadows, trained since childhood in espionage and elimination. His family served the crown directly. Mira was the daughter of one of the academy's Protectors, inheriting both talent and connections. Having them align with me politically would be valuable after graduation.

  Soon I was leading everyone out of the village, following the path the corruption had laid out for us.

  It was obviously a trap. The corruption was assessing us at every moment, testing how far it could push us, gauging our capabilities. But we hadn't revealed anything significant yet. As long as we kept our true power hidden, we maintained the advantage.

  At midday, I called for a lunch break. We'd likely be walking until nightfall, and I didn't know when we'd get another chance to rest. Better to maintain everyone's stamina than push too hard too early.

  Everyone seemed to be holding up well enough. I scanned the group, automatically checking for signs of exhaustion or injury.

  My gaze caught on Kai, and I found him already looking at me.

  I turned my head away immediately.

  Of course I'd noticed him staring throughout the day. I was used to it. Everyone stared at S-ranks. But after that conversation last night, it felt... different. Uncomfortable in a way I couldn't quite define.

  Most people who looked at me wanted something. Power, protection, prestige by association. Or they feared me, maintaining careful distance, eyes always slightly averted. The proper deference shown to someone far above them.

  But Kai didn't seem to know he was supposed to act that way. He just looked at me like I was anyone else. No fear, no calculation, just... looking. Like the gap between us didn't exist.

  It was completely opposite to what I was used to, and I didn't know how to process it.

  He was a complete mystery. I knew everything about everyone else on this expedition. Their families, their histories, their political connections. It was all part of managing leadership responsibilities. But Kai? The academy had no files on him. His registry listed empty scores. He was unranked, which hadn't been possible before this year, though no one seemed to question it.

  And now, for some incomprehensible reason, he'd decided he trusted me. Completely. Without reservation.

  That bothered me more than it should have.

  Why should I care about him? Why should I have to take responsibility for someone who threw their trust at me like it was worthless? Why did his words from last night keep echoing in my mind?

  Why did I care?

  I tried to push the thoughts away. After this expedition, he'd go back to his friends, and I could return to my normal life. Alone. Away from weird conversations and unwarranted trust and feelings I had no business entertaining.

  When we entered the deeper corruption, I forced myself back into complete focus. The wall sealed behind us with finality.

  "Keep moving," I said, taking point. "Don't touch anything unless you have to."

  This intense corruption was different from what we'd encountered before. It lacked the testing, probing quality of the earlier manifestations. This felt more primal, more absolute. It simply existed, forcibly consuming every trace of life from its surroundings like a natural law rather than an intelligent force.

  After about five minutes, Nico's quiet voice cut through the tension. "Here. I found something."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  When we reached him, I immediately analyzed the clearing. The corruption covered every surface, including the ground. That was unusual. The corruption typically avoided creating complete coverage like this. It left paths, options. This felt more like a stage being set.

  At the center, surrounded by corruption that pulsed with visible feeding patterns, was a boy.

  Anya's brother. I recognized him from her description, and the resemblance was unmistakable. Same light red hair, same facial structure.

  The corruption was consuming his mana, draining it so completely I couldn't sense any magical signature from him at all. He should have been dead. The fact that he was still breathing meant the corruption was keeping him alive deliberately.

  Why?

  "No." Anya's whisper barely reached me. Then louder: "No, no, no—"

  She moved before I could stop her. Not that I would have. Stopping her would have been heartless, and strategically pointless. If the corruption wanted us to retrieve the boy, it would let us. Fighting Anya would only waste time and energy.

  "Anya, wait!" The warning left my mouth automatically, though I knew it was futile.

  The corruption rose to block her path, tendrils grasping, but I could see the truth immediately. It was pretending to resist. The movements were too slow, too easily deflected. The corruption wanted us to take the boy. This was theater.

  But why? What did it gain from this?

  My attention snapped to the wall behind us. It had started closing in the moment Anya moved forward. There was the real threat. We were being enclosed.

  "I'll help her," Mira said, her hands already forming spell circles.

  I assessed her casting. Personal protection, anti-corruption ward, structural reinforcement. Three relatively simple circles, but she was executing them flawlessly. The barrier would hold long enough.

  "Be careful," I warned her. "Everyone, be ready to use whatever mana you need to escape if this goes wrong."

  No point conserving mana now. We were in immediate danger. Even if using magic let the corruption analyze our capabilities, hesitation would be more dangerous.

  Mira's barrier pushed the corruption back as expected, and I finally got a clear view of the ground beneath.

  Runes. Carved into stone. I caught glimpses as the corruption shifted: "Prison." "Summoning." "Corruption." Simple component words that didn't reveal the full spell structure. I'd need to see the complete circle to understand what had been cast here.

  But the corruption was clinging to those runes, drawn to them like iron to a lodestone.

  "This place..." Lina said. "Did anyone else see those carvings? There were runes under the corruption. Complex ones. This site was used for a spell. Probably only a few months ago based on the wear patterns."

  Impressive. She'd drawn accurate conclusions from a brief glimpse. Theron had recommended her personally for this expedition. Now I understood why.

  "The corruption was feeding on the runes," she continued. "It's attracted to residual mana. That's why it was concentrated there."

  Her logic was sound, but incomplete. There was no residual mana anymore. The runes were completely drained. And the boy similarly showed no magical signature at all.

  That should have been impossible. Every living being had mana, even in trace amounts. The corruption must be actively blocking our perception somehow, but the mechanism wasn't clear.

  I began formulating a plan. If Aurelius used his force affinity to push back the corruption, we could examine the rune circle properly. Understanding the original spell would tell us how this corruption started. And if we understood its origin, we might find a way to unmake it.

  "Do we leave?" Aurelius was suddenly beside me, his voice low and urgent. "I can cut us a path."

  Leave? We'd accomplished nothing. Why would the corruption deliberately deliver the boy to us and then simply let us leave? There was a larger pattern here.

  "We need more information. It wanted us to see the boy. This is bait. We need to understand why before we—"

  "We need to leave!" Anya's voice cracked with desperation. "He needs medical attention. Now. I'm not leaving him here another second!"

  I reassessed immediately. Attachment. Anya wouldn't consider any option that didn't involve getting her brother to safety immediately. And in her current emotional state, trying to force her to stay would compromise the entire group. She'd become unpredictable, dangerous to herself and others.

  "Aurelius," I said. "Open an exit."

  If he created an escape route, everyone could leave safely. Then I'd be free to proceed however I deemed best. Perhaps my light magic could burn away the corruption long enough to reveal the full rune circle. Or perhaps I could attempt communication with whatever intelligence was directing this.

  Aurelius followed my instruction immediately, channeling his force affinity through a spell-less application. Raw power, perfectly controlled, tearing through the corruption like tissue paper.

  Impressive. And that wasn't even his strongest ability.

  The corruption began reclaiming the space, but slower than it should have. It was still playing with us, still pretending.

  Mira rebuilt her barrier, this time using her mana manipulation to define the form instead of a third circle. The corruption ate at it halfheartedly, providing exactly enough resistance to seem threatening without actually preventing escape.

  "Go!" I commanded. "Everyone out, now!"

  I waited, monitoring the situation, counting footsteps as people fled through the tunnel. Mira would leave last since she was maintaining the barrier. Then I'd assess my options.

  The corruption remained passive, simply waiting. Watching.

  "Mira, go!" I called when the footsteps stopped.

  I heard her sprint through the tunnel, and immediately turned my attention back to the clearing. Finally. Now I could—

  Kai stood a few meters away, looking directly at me.

  Why was he still here?! Everyone else had left. Why hadn't he gone with them?

  The tunnel was closing, but there was still time. If I could just push him through, he'd be safe and I could continue with the investigation. I could handle the corruption alone, get the information we needed, then escape using my light magic for speed.

  I moved toward him, already calculating the best angle to shove him through the opening.

  "Remember what I said about trust?"

  The words stopped me cold. Why was he talking about this now? Did he mean he trusted me to return safely? Was this some kind of goodbye?

  His hand caught mine. Then my arm. He moved with speed that shouldn't have been his. Kai was unranked, his physical abilities were average at best. What was—

  "Trust me."

  The world tilted as I felt myself being thrown. My instincts screamed to resist, to use magic, to be faster. But his words had made me hesitate for just a fraction of a second, and that was all he needed.

  I hit the ground on the other side of the tunnel. Hard. The impact drove the air from my lungs.

  The corruption sealed behind me with horrible finality.

  I stared at the wall, my heart racing, my hands shaking.

  No.

  My stomach twisted violently. A feeling I hadn't experienced in years crashed over me, completely overwhelming my carefully maintained composure.

  Fear.

  Kai was trapped in there. Alone. Because I'd let my guard down for one moment. Because his words about trust had distracted me.

  "No." The word came out strangled.

  For the first time in years, I had absolutely no idea what to do.