Before Master Satoshi and Master Serena departed for the Sovereign Summit, Satoshi had placed a heavy, brass-bound warding stone into Brook's hand.
"The Archive's safety rests on your shoulders while we are gone, Brook," Satoshi had instructed sternly. "Keep the disciples focused on their literature, but maintain perimeter patrols. If the barrier fluctuates or an external threat approaches, shatter this danger-sense gem. Serena and I will return instantly."
With the masters gone, Brook took his role as senior instructor seriously. He immediately organized a rigorous evaluation for Mokshit, Rohan, Meera, and Nikhil to test everything they had absorbed over the past four brutal days of nineteen-hour study cycles.
The library was filled with the sounds of groans, lighthearted banter, and deep concentration. Brook had compiled a practical literature quiz, forcing the squad to demonstrate how theoretical energy vectors applied to real-world magic casting.
To break up the exhaustion and regain their flagging energy, Jessy led the tired disciples through high-intensity physical stretches and ridiculous cadence chants, making Rohan sing elemental formulas out loud to keep him awake. Mokshit and Nikhil laughed as Rohan stumbled over the verses, but the ridiculous exercise worked—the mental fog cleared, and their retention rates soared under the combined tutoring of Jessy and Misty.
Once the kids were settled into their practical drills under Misty and Jessy's watchful eyes, Brook drew his longsword, activated the danger-sense gem at his belt, and stepped out into the misty perimeter forest to conduct his routine perimeter sweep.
Several hundred yards away from the Archive's outer barrier, the silence of the ancient woods was shattered by a toddler's shrill, panicked cry.
Brook stopped dead in his tracks, his senses flaring. Slipping through the dense foliage like a ghost, he closed the distance in seconds.
In a small clearing, the unconscious, blood-soaked teenage girl lay on the damp soil. Despite being passed out from severe blood loss, her arms were instinctively wrapped tight around her toddler brother, shielding his trembling body with her own.
Towering over them was a monstrous beast—a subterranean Gore-Tusk Bear, its thick hide sprouting dark obsidian horns and razor-sharp ivory tusks dripping with venomous saliva.
The beast reared back, letting out a deafening roar as it lunged through the mid-air, its massive razor-clawed paw descending directly toward the defenceless siblings.
Clang!
A flash of silver light cut through the forest canopy. In a fraction of a second, Brook intercepted the beast in mid-air. His blade gleamed with condensed spatial mana as he executed a swift, effortless cross-slash.
The Gore-Tusk Bear didn't even have time to whimper; its massive frame was sliced cleanly in two before it hit the ground, dissolving into dark ash.
Sheathing his sword with a quiet click, Brook knelt beside the fallen children. He gently lifted the unconscious, bleeding teenage girl in one arm and scooped up the sobbing toddler in the other.
"You're safe now," Brook murmured quietly, dashing through the trees toward the safety of the Infinite Archive.
While Misty and Jessy rushed the wounded girl into the medical pavilion and tended to the frightened boy, Master Satoshi and Master Serena went to the Sovereign Summit, stepping through the main hall's gateway.
They immediately gathered the senior tutors to deliver the official decrees handed down by the High Head, the Vice-Head, and the Wandering Master to inside a dark room.
"The rules for the Tournament of Power Grade are finalized," Satoshi announced, laying out an official parchment sealed with three royal wax emblems. "It will be a multi-stage survival and tactical bracket. Factions will compete not just in raw strength, but in environment adaptation, team synchronization, and literature application."
"The High Head has placed a strict ban on lethal force, but high-tier combat methods are fully permitted," Serena added, her expression sharp. "Our disciples have twenty-five days left to complete their training. They must win at least one round to validate the Archive's standing."
Before Satoshi could outline the practical combat test scheduled for the next morning, Brook gave intel and reported the incident in the perimeter forest, explaining the wounded girl and her little brother currently resting in the medical wing through the danger sense gem.
Later that evening, inside the softly lit medical pavilion, the scent of crushed medicinal herbs and warm steam filled the quiet air.
The teenage girl's eyelids fluttered open. Panic seized her the instant her vision cleared. Seeing unfamiliar stone walls and three figures—Brook, Misty, and Jessy—standing near her bed, she gasped sharply.
Driven by pure survival instinct, she ignored her bandaged, heavily injured leg and tried to throw herself out of bed, her hands instinctively reaching for a hidden weapon that wasn't there.
"Where is he?! Where is my brother?!" she cried out in a raspy, desperate voice, her body trembling violently as she tried to force her wounded leg to support her weight. "Don't touch me! Who are you people?!"
Before she could collapse or hurt herself further, Misty stepped forward with gentle, glowing hands, carefully applying a soothing water-charm to her shoulders to ease her frantic breathing.
"Stay calm, please!" Misty said softly, her voice brimming with warmth and comfort. "We are not going to harm you. You're inside the Infinite Archive. You are completely safe here."
"Your brother is right next door," Jessy added with a reassuring smile, pointing toward the adjoining room. "He's fed, washed, and fast asleep. No monsters can touch him here."
Brook leaned casually against the doorframe, his arms crossed, his eyes calm yet unyielding.
"You're in no condition to fight anyone right now," Brook said plainly, his steady tone cutting through her panic. "Even at full strength, you would be no match for us in battle—especially not with a leg that almost bled out an hour ago. Rest your body."
The girl looked from Brook's calm eyes to Misty's comforting smile, the tension slowly draining from her exhausted frame. She let out a long, shaky exhale, sinking back into the soft pillows as tears of relief welled up in her eyes.
"We will inform Master Satoshi and Master Serena about your arrival in the morning," Brook concluded quietly. "For tonight... just sleep."