The stairs felt like they went on forever. Cassian walked in total darkness, but he did not trip. Every time his foot moved, it felt like the stone under him was waiting for him. The air was thick and tasted like old iron and salt. The "thump-thump" sound was so loud now that it felt like it was beating inside his own chest.
Finally, the stairs ended. Cassian stepped into a room that was so large he could not see the ceiling.
A soft, green light began to glow from the floor. It was not magic light. It was a type of glowing moss that grew in the cracks of the stone. As the light spread, Cassian saw where he was. He was in a giant laboratory, but it was not like the clean, bright rooms the S-Ranks used.
This place was filled with giant glass tanks. Some were broken, and the floor was covered in dried liquid. Inside the tanks that were still whole, things were floating. They looked like creatures made of shadow and bone. On the walls, there were thousands of papers pinned to the stone. The ink was faded, but the drawings were clear. They were maps of the human body, showing how mana moves through the blood.
"So this is where they did it," Cassian whispered. "This is where they tried to turn humans into monsters."
At the center of the room, there was a large metal chair. It was covered in heavy chains. Sitting in the chair was a figure. It was tall, wearing a long, grey robe that was torn and dusty. Its head was bowed, and its long, white hair fell over its face.
It was not moving, but it was breathing. This was the source of the heartbeat.
Cassian walked closer. He did not pull out a weapon. He did not look afraid. He stopped just three feet away from the figure.
"The Academy thinks this room is empty," Cassian said, his voice echoing off the high walls. "They think the experiments were destroyed a hundred years ago. But you are still here."
The figure's head moved. Very slowly, it looked up.
Its face was pale, almost like glass. It had no eyes—only smooth, white skin where eyes should be. But when it "looked" at Cassian, it seemed to see everything. It opened its mouth, and a sound came out that was like two stones rubbing together.
"The... Null," the creature rasped. "The boy who is... a hole in the world."
The creature did not try to attack. It leaned forward, the heavy chains rattling against the metal chair.
"I am the Guardian of the Foundation," the creature said. "I was left here to watch the door. For a hundred years, I have listened to the feet of the children above. But I have never heard someone like you. You do not walk on the ground. You walk on the silence."
Cassian crossed his arms. "I'm just looking for a way to stay out of trouble. But I found this." He held up the Void-Core he had taken from the woods.
The Guardian's body shook. A sound like a dry laugh came from its throat. "That is not a stone, boy. That is a piece of the First Fracture's heart. By taking it, you have started the clock. The Academy is a lid, yes. But a lid only works if the pot is not boiling."
The Guardian raised a thin, bony hand and pointed to the floor. "Beneath this room, the First Fracture is hungry. It has been fed by the mana of the students for too long. It is no longer a rift. It is a mind. And now that you have its heart, it knows your name."
Suddenly, the green moss on the floor turned red. The heartbeat sound sped up—thump-thump-thump-thump.
"It is coming," the Guardian whispered. "Not the rift. The ones who serve it."
Cassian felt a change in the air. From the shadows at the edges of the room, figures began to emerge. They were not humans, and they were not rift-beasts. They looked like shadows that had been sewn into human clothes. They moved without making a sound, their long fingers ending in sharp, black claws.
"The Shadow-Servants," the Guardian said. "The Academy teachers do not know they exist. They live in the spaces between the walls. They want the heart back, Cassian Valerius."
Cassian looked at the five shadow-figures surrounding him. He let out a long yawn. He looked like he was bored, but his body was perfectly still.
"I just wanted a nap," Cassian sighed. "But everyone wants to talk, and everyone wants to fight. It's very tiring."
One of the shadows lunged at him. It moved like a snake, its claws aimed at Cassian's throat.
Cassian didn't move until the claws were an inch away. Then, he simply shifted his weight. He didn't punch. He didn't kick. He reached out and touched the shadow's chest with one finger.
"Erasure," he whispered.
The shadow didn't scream. It didn't explode. It simply turned into a cloud of dust that vanished before it hit the floor. The other shadows stopped. They looked at each other, then back at the boy who had just deleted their friend.
The shadows did not leave. They hissed and prepared to jump all at once. But before they could move, a bright, silver light flashed through the room.
DING!
The sound of a tuning fork rang out, vibrating the very air. The shadows recoiled, their smoke-like bodies shaking in pain.
Lyra Thorne stepped out from the staircase, her face pale. She was holding her Star-Silver fork high. She had followed him, unable to let a mystery like Cassian go. She knew he was strong—she had seen him "delete" the shadow—but she still believed he was just a powerful lone student, not a man with a whole organization behind him.
"I told you I'd be your eyes, Cassian," she said, her voice shaking. "But I didn't say I'd stay upstairs."
She threw a handful of glowing salt in a circle around them. The shadows hissed but could not cross the line.
"This," Cassian said, pointing to the shadows, "is the reason we are going to be very rich. Or very dead. Possibly both."
The shadows backed away, disappearing into the stone walls. The Guardian in the chair closed his mouth, his task finished for now.
"Go," the Guardian rasped. "The light is coming."
Cassian grabbed Lyra's arm and led her back up the stairs. They reached the library, and Cassian locked the hidden door. He looked at Lyra. She was staring at him like he was a monster.
"You're a high-level master," she whispered. "You've been faking everything."
"I'm a guy who wants to sleep, Lyra. Now go back to your dorm. We need to look like we still hate each other in the morning."
Lyra nodded, her mind already calculating the profit of having a "Master" as a partner. She left the library quickly. Cassian watched her go, then headed back to his own bed in the basement.
He reached his room, hid the Void-Core inside his mattress, and lay down on his new goose-feather pillow.
"Finally," he muttered, closing his eyes just as the sun began to rise. "Sleep."