As Kane walked through the seemingly endless tunnel, the echoes of his own footsteps were the only sound keeping him company.
Up ahead, Olivia and Corey had been arguing about something trivial—at least, that's what it had seemed like at first. Their voices overlapped, growing sharper, louder—
—and then they were gone.
Kane stopped.
"Olivia? Corey?"
No response.
He quickened his pace, turning corners, retracing his steps, but the tunnel stretched on in the same monotonous way. There was no sign of them.
After several minutes of searching, Kane clicked his tongue and forced himself to move forward.
They probably went ahead…
Eventually, something unusual caught his eye.
A small opening—barely noticeable—was embedded in the cave wall. Kane approached it cautiously and peered inside.
Beyond it was a larger cavern.
But he couldn't enter.
A translucent barrier, flickering faintly like the surface of a screen, sealed the opening. When he reached out, his hand stopped inches before passing through.
"…What is this?"
He frowned and glanced back.
The path he came from was gone.
Sealed.
Kane's expression darkened. Slowly, he leaned closer to the opening and looked down into the cavern below.
Three figures entered his field of view.
Lily.
Arlen.
And another girl—someone from their grade, likely mid-ranked.
They moved cautiously toward the center of the cavern, where the corpse of a massive spider lay sprawled across the ground, its body partially devoured.
Something had been eating it.
Kane's eyes shifted upward.
There.
A humanoid figure crouched above the corpse, tearing into it with unnatural hunger.
His stomach tightened.
The three of them approached.
The creature stopped.
Then it turned.
Even from above, Kane could see Lily's face clearly—
The fear in her eyes made his chest tighten.
No…
The battle began.
Lily moved first, casting spells Kane had never seen her use before—soft, radiant bursts of light that flickered against the darkness.
Light magic…? Since when…?
For a brief moment, hope flickered inside him.
They might actually—
The creature raised its hand.
A pool of blood spread rapidly across the ground.
The moment it touched them—
All three collapsed.
Kane froze.
"…What?"
The creature loomed over Lily's motionless body.
For a split second—
Kane didn't move.
Didn't think.
Didn't breathe.
"No…"
The word slipped out, barely a whisper.
Then everything hit at once.
"NO!"
Kane slammed both hands against the barrier.
The impact echoed uselessly.
It didn't even ripple.
"Get up… Lily—get up!"
His voice cracked.
She didn't move.
Not even a twitch.
The creature's shadow swallowed her.
Something inside Kane snapped.
Mana surged wildly around him, flickering out of control as he struck the barrier again—harder, faster, over and over.
"MOVE!"
A spell formed—unstable, incomplete—and detonated against the barrier.
Nothing.
Not even a scratch.
His breathing spiraled.
Too fast.
Too shallow.
"Why won't you break—?!"
He didn't wait for an answer.
Another spell.
Then another.
Each one sloppier than the last.
Desperate.
Useless.
The creature bent down slightly, its distorted form hovering closer to Lily.
Kane's vision tunneled.
Not her.
Out of everyone—
Anyone—
Not her.
"I said get up!"
His voice broke completely now, raw and uneven.
"Lily—please—!"
The word please barely made it out.
He hit the barrier again.
Skin split across his knuckles.
He didn't feel it.
Didn't care.
All he could see—
Was how still she was.
Too still.
"No… no no no—"
He shook his head violently, like he could reject what he was seeing.
"This isn't real—this isn't—"
But the sound of the creature shifting—
The weight of the moment—
The silence from Lily—
It was too real.
Far too real.
Kane pressed his forehead against the barrier, his hands trembling against its surface.
"…I can't reach her…"
The words came out hollow.
Small.
Kane felt completely powerless.
The creature raised its arm.
Kane's eyes widened.
Mana exploded outward in a violent surge, cracking the ground beneath his feet—
But the barrier didn't move.
Didn't even acknowledge him.
Kane's voice dropped to a broken whisper.
"…please…"
The creature's hand began to descend—
And Kane lunged forward—
And in the next instant—
He was back in the tunnel.
Olivia and Corey stood in front of him, staring.
"…Kane?" Olivia asked, her brows furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
Kane's entire body trembled.
"You… didn't see that?"
Corey exchanged a glance with Olivia before replying, confused, "See what? You just froze for a few seconds… then started shaking."
Kane's pupils shrank.
"…A few seconds?"
His mind raced.
The cave. The fight. Lily collapsing—
It felt so real.
Too real.
Then it clicked.
"…Fear…"
This maze—it wasn't just a test of strength.
It showed them their worst fear.
And his—
Was losing Lily.
Kane clenched his fists, forcing his breathing to steady.
"…It was nothing. Probably just an illusion."
Even as he said it, his voice lacked conviction.
He turned away quickly.
"Let's keep moving."
Meanwhile, inside the cavern—
Lily slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision was blurry. Her body felt heavy.
"…What… happened…?"
Fragments of memory slipped through her mind like water through her fingers.
The maze.
The cave.
A teacher casting something—
And then…
Nothing.
She pushed herself up weakly.
Around her, Arlen and Gina stirred, each of them wearing the same confused expression.
"…Do you remember anything?" Gina asked, pressing a hand to her head.
Lily hesitated.
"…No… not really."
But something felt wrong.
Like a missing piece she couldn't quite grasp.
They exchanged uneasy glances before steadying themselves and moving toward the exit of the cavern.
Whatever had happened—
They couldn't remember it.
As the door opened—
A wave of sound crashed into them.
Cheers.
A massive arena stretched out before them, filled with spectators.
"THEY'RE OUT!"
"FIRST TEAM TO CLEAR!"
"LILY'S TEAM!"
The noise was overwhelming.
Lily blinked, trying to process everything.
Half a day had passed inside the maze.
And somehow—
They had won.
As that realization began to settle—
A figure descended rapidly from above.
The headmaster.
Without a word, he raised his hand.
Space warped.
In the next instant, the three of them found themselves inside his study.
They sat in silence across from him.
Lily. Gina. Arlen.
None of them spoke.
But all of them felt the same thing.
They had done something wrong—
Even though they didn't know what it was.