Kael could feel the ruins changing around him.
The deeper he ran, the less the environment resembled the academy evaluation grounds above. The stone pathways had darkened with age, fractured mana inscriptions spreading across broken surfaces like veins. Sections of the structure floated unnaturally overhead, suspended by unstable mana currents that flickered weakly through the darkness below.
The air itself felt heavier.
Wrong.
Behind him, footsteps echoed through the ruins.
"Seriously, just stop already!" Brann shouted.
Kael ignored him and kept moving.
His legs burned from exhaustion. Every breath scraped painfully against his chest while sweat mixed with dust across his face. The burn along his arm pulsed sharply every time he forced himself forward.
But his mind still worked.
Always.
The pathway ahead narrowed into an elevated stone bridge suspended above a deep black abyss. Ancient support pillars beneath it were cracked apart, faded mana circuits flickering weakly across their surfaces.
Dangerous.
Kellis clearly noticed it too.
"…Brann," he called from behind. "I think we should leave."
Brann scoffed immediately.
"What, scared now?"
"This place feels messed up."
Another burst of fire exploded against the nearby wall as Brann launched another attack carelessly toward Kael.
The bridge shook violently.
Dust rained downward into the darkness below.
Kael's eyes sharpened instantly.
Structural instability.
The entire area was one strong impact away from collapse.
Rhett noticed too.
His gaze moved calmly across the fractured bridge before returning to Kael.
"You've got nowhere left to run," he said quietly.
Kael didn't answer.
Because for once—
Rhett was right.
Behind him were three stronger students.
Ahead of him was unstable ruin terrain barely holding together.
No good choices remained.
Brann stepped forward again, irritation clear on his face now.
"You're seriously getting annoying."
Flames spiraled around his arm violently.
Kellis frowned.
"Brann, wai—"
Brann attacked.
The fire blast slammed directly into the bridge.
And the ruins answered instantly.
Ancient mana inscriptions lit up beneath the stone like cracked lightning. The entire structure trembled violently as deep cracking sounds echoed through the abyss below.
Kael's footing shifted.
The bridge broke apart.
Everything collapsed at once.
Stone exploded outward while massive sections of the pathway shattered beneath him. Ancient support pillars snapped apart one after another as unstable mana surged through the ruins chaotically.
"WAIT—!" Brann shouted.
Kael fell.
The world vanished into darkness beneath him as broken stone and debris crashed downward around his body.
Above him, the bridge continued collapsing violently until dust completely swallowed the entire sector from view.
Then—
silence.
---
The collapse settled slowly.
Dust filled the air while fractured pieces of the bridge disappeared into the abyss below.
Kellis stared downward pale-faced.
"…What the hell…"
Brann's expression had completely changed.
"I didn't mean to—"
"There's no way he survived that," Kellis muttered.
Rhett stepped closer to the broken edge silently, staring into the darkness below.
No movement.
No sound.
Nothing visible beneath the collapse.
Like Kael had simply disappeared.
Rhett's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he turned away.
"…Let's go."
Kellis blinked. "What?"
"He's gone."
Brann looked uncertain for the first time in a long while.
But eventually—
the three of them left.
---
Far below the ruins, Kael crashed hard against fractured stone.
Pain exploded through his body instantly.
His vision blurred violently as he rolled across broken debris before slamming into the side of a damaged pillar.
For several long seconds, he couldn't breathe.
Dust filled his lungs as darkness swallowed everything around him.
Above him, there was nothing.
No voices.
No light.
No visible path back upward.
Only silence.
Kael forced himself up slowly, one shaking arm pressing against the rubble beside him. Pain shot through his side immediately.
Probably bruised ribs.
Maybe worse.
"…Damn it…"
His voice came out weakly.
He looked upward again.
Still nothing.
The abyss above stretched endlessly through darkness and collapsed ruins.
No one was coming.
Of course they weren't.
His hands tightened slowly.
The academy allowed this.
The teachers ignored it.
And the moment things became dangerous—
everyone left him behind.
Again.
A cold pressure twisted inside his chest.
Then—
a sound echoed nearby.
Footsteps.
Kael's body tensed instantly.
Someone was here.
The darkness ahead shifted slightly before a figure stepped out calmly between the ruined pillars.
Black uniform.
Messy dark hair.
Hands in his pockets.
Tovin.
Kael stared.
"…You followed me?"
Tovin shrugged lightly.
"You're loud when you run."
Kael frowned immediately.
That wasn't true.
Before he could respond, part of the damaged structure above suddenly cracked again.
A massive section of stone collapsed downward toward them.
Kael's eyes widened.
Too fast.
Then Tovin moved.
For the first time since Kael met him—
his presence changed completely.
Mana surged sharply beneath his feet.
Not explosive.
Controlled.
Precise.
Tovin stepped forward once and struck the falling debris with the side of his hand.
The stone shattered instantly.
Not burned.
Not blasted apart.
Broken cleanly through sheer reinforced force.
Kael froze.
The pressure behind that single movement was completely different from anything Tovin had shown before.
Not F-Class.
Not even close.
The rubble crashed harmlessly around them as dust spread through the darkness.
Tovin calmly lowered his arm.
"…You can stand, right?"
Kael stared at him silently for several seconds.
Then finally—
"…You're not actually weak."
Tovin looked mildly annoyed at that.
"I never said I was."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
That level of mana control…
That reinforcement…
At minimum—
C-Class.
Maybe higher.
But Tovin simply turned and began walking deeper into the ruins casually.
"There's another route out," he said without looking back. "Unless you want to stay here."
Kael slowly pushed himself upright despite the pain.
Then followed him through the darkness.