The explosion rocked the chamber, slamming Lyle against a jagged wall. Pain blossomed along his shoulder, his vision momentarily blurred. He coughed, tasting dust and blood.
"Ari? Dex?" he croaked.
No response.
He blinked through the haze. Ari was down, pinned under debris with blood streaked down her forehead. Dex had been thrown clear across the room, his limp body twitching slightly but clearly unconscious.
Standing in the center of the wreckage was the masked man—unscathed, silent, and radiating power. His armor was matte-black, his cloak torn but still flowing unnaturally in the dungeon wind.
> This isn't a cadet. He's not from the academy, Lyle thought.
The man moved with predatory calm, stepping toward the glowing mana crystal in the heart of the room. The pedestal had already cracked from the shockwave—another hit might destabilize it.
> If he removes it, the dungeon will collapse... with us inside.
Lyle struggled to his feet, muscles aching. His spellbook pulsed faintly under his cloak, sensing his desperation.
But he didn't reach for it. Not yet.
The man turned slightly, finally acknowledging him.
"You're not a mage," the masked figure said. His voice was hollow, almost disinterested. "Your presence feels... incomplete."
Lyle said nothing.
He raised his hand and summoned a basic [Arcane Bolt]—nothing fancy, just raw energy. The spell fizzled mid-air, barely stable.
The man didn't even dodge.
The bolt hit his shoulder and dispersed harmlessly.
Lyle's chest tightened.
> He tanked it without flinching. He's not using mana… he's using something else.
The system flickered in the back of his mind:
> [Ability Type Detected: Internal Amplifier – Class B]
Warning: High resistance to low-tier arcane spells. Evasion recommended.
> No time to run. No backup. They'll die. I'll die.
The man lifted a hand again, forming a pressure wave with a mere twitch of his wrist.
Lyle barely managed to roll behind a chunk of rubble as the blast shattered a stone pillar like paper.
Chunks of ceiling rained down.
The dungeon itself began to groan and shudder.
> He's not here to steal the crystal. He's here to destroy the whole place.
"Why?" Lyle shouted. "Why would you kill cadets?!"
The man paused, as if debating whether to answer.
Then: "Because children like you shouldn't be fed into this war machine."
He stepped closer.
"I've killed mages twice your level. You? You don't even register."
Lyle's hands trembled.
Not from fear—but from restraint.
He wanted to unleash the system. To tear this man apart with everything hidden beneath the surface.
But he couldn't.
> Too soon. Too exposed. If I show too much now… they'll never let me out of this place alive.
The book pulsed under his cloak.
A faint message scrolled in his mind:
> [Emergency Protocol Available: Arcane Displacement Glyph – Grade I]
Effect: Force enemy back with spatial rupture. Unstable. Risk: Medium. Exposure Level: Minimal.
Activate? [Y/N]
He hesitated—
Then Ari groaned beneath the rubble.
The masked man heard it too. He turned, palm glowing faintly with that invisible pressure again.
He was going to finish her.
> "No choice."
YES.
Lyle's hands moved instinctively, forming a circle with his fingers—runes burning dimly between them.
The man turned.
"What—"
BOOM.
A twisting surge of compressed air and blue light exploded around Lyle's fingers. A ripple cracked through the air, rupturing the ground beneath the man's feet.
The masked attacker was thrown back into a wall with a grunt.
He slid down slowly, stunned.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
He stared at Lyle now—not with boredom, but suspicion.
"You're not just some cadet," he hissed.
Lyle forced a panicked look on his face.
"I—I don't know what that was! I swear!"
The man rose to his feet slowly, one arm held at his side. He stared a moment longer—then the air around him shimmered.
And just like that—he vanished.
The dungeon quieted. The rumbling slowed. The crystal core dimmed slightly, stabilizing.
Lyle dropped to his knees, breathing hard. Sweat poured down his face, and his hands still hummed with leftover arcane feedback.
The system flashed once more.
> [Emergency Spell Used: Arcane Displacement Glyph – Grade I]
Result: Target repelled
Exposure Level: Low (Deception Success: 91%)
Suggested Explanation: Instinctual Awakening – False Affinity]
Perfect.
Ari groaned again, eyes fluttering open.
Lyle crawled to her.
"You okay?"
"I think so… What happened?"
He forced a weak smile.
"I think I panicked and… awakened something."
Dex groaned nearby, starting to come to.
"Did we win?" he mumbled.
Lyle stared at the burned-in glyph beneath his feet, now fading into the stone.
> Not really. But we survived.