[ Do not read it. The story needs fixing and is not being followed correctly. Please do not purchase it. ]
The dull gray ash of the Time Box swirled violently.
"Again," Lucian ordered, his voice echoing flatly across the barren dimension.
Fifty yards away, Sera didn't say a word. She wiped a mixture of sweat and ash from her forehead, adjusting her grip on her heavy broadsword. Her chest was heaving, her academy uniform completely soaked, but her eyes were entirely devoid of their usual naive fire. They were cold, focused, and locked onto Lucian's hands.
Off to the side, Elira stood atop a jagged stone pillar, her hands glowing with dense, sub-zero mana, ready to intervene if the calculation failed.
Lucian raised his right hand, his silver eyes flashing.
A vertical black rift tore open in the air just two feet to Sera's left. It didn't expand. It just hovered there, humming with a terrifying, unstable frequency.
Sera didn't flinch away from it. Instead, she lunged forward.
