"So… you two finished analyzing the barrier?" Opal asked, crossing her arms.
Mark nodded. Zara smirked. "Yeah. Mark even broke it. I guess we're going in though it's gonna take some time to scale it."
Mark turned to face them both, his expression flat. "We're not scaling it. We're going directly to the throne room where Jessie is."
Opal blinked in surprise. Did he… find another entrance? "How are we supposed to get in from here?"
Mark simply clapped his hands together. Above them, a sphere of fire appeared, greedily pulling oxygen from the air. The flames deepened from red… to blue… then burned so hot they turned white. Rock began forming around it, shaping into a massive spike.
"We're breaking through the wall," Mark said. "There's a second barrier keeping water out of the castle so even if we destroy a section, nothing will flood."
From inside her stone prison, Rellana's voice rang out, laced with mockery. "Are you an idiot? That castle is built from Gray Wyvern Stone! Not even an S rank spell can scratch it!"
Mark didn't react. His face was cold, almost lifeless, as he set the spike spinning at blistering speed, wind howling around it.
Zara sighed and glanced toward Rellana. "Trust me. He can break it. I don't have a doubt."
Rellana's manic eyes bulged as she gripped the rocky wall of her prison. "Oh please. Enlighten me. How's he going to get in with that little rock covered flame?"
Zara kept his tone calm, but there was a certain weight in his words. "I don't know how he's going to break it. But every time I've seen him cast a spell, it's been something I can guarantee has never been recorded in history."
He paused, letting the wind carry his words. "And I know… he's been holding back."
Rellana's laugh was sharp, manic, and broken. "Oh, right like I'd believe that."
Zara exhaled slowly, his gaze fixed on the spinning mass of stone and flame in Mark's hands. "Alright then… can you even name the spell he's using right now?"
Rellana opened her mouth to retort then froze. She realized she had no idea.
The spike launched.
It tore through the water like a living spear, spinning so fast the surrounding current screamed around it. The sharp, torpedo like shape let it cut through with almost no resistance.
Then it hit.
The moment the stone and flame connected with the Gray Wyvern Stone, the impact detonated an eruption on par with a nuclear blast. The shockwave ripped through the ocean, sending the surface water upward in a massive burst, turning the sea into rain.
Mark had created a magic torpedo.
Inside the castle, the world shook. Multiple second years scrambled, pouring mana into a massive barrier to shield against the incoming rubble.
Jessie looked up at the newly carved hole in the wall water hovering just beyond it, held back by the castle's protective barrier. "What… what was that?"
Back on the surface, Mark turned to the others. "Stay up here. I'll handle this."
Opal stepped forward, frowning. "Wait won't it be easier if we all attack? I agree you're stronger, but there's got to be too many of them in there "
Zara placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let him go."
Mark's and Zara's eyes met.
It wasn't a glance. It was a conversation without words.
Zara's eyes said: I know you're wearing a mask. You're not the goody two shoes you pretend to be.
Mark's replied: be careful keep searching and you might find something you don't like .
They both smiled faintly and nodded. To anyone watching, it looked like they were simply wishing each other luck. But in reality, they had just said: I know you're faking.
Without another word, Mark dove into the water. He surged forward, manipulating the currents around his body with water magic propelling him faster and faster toward the gaping hole in the castle wall.
Mark burst through the gaping hole in the castle wall, water parting violently around him as he landed. Without a single word, he slammed his palms to the ground stone and debris twisting upward, shaping into hulking rock golems.
The creations roared forward, crashing into the ranks of second-year students like living siege weapons.
Mark's focus, however, locked on the black and red haired boy standing near the throne. Shackled beside him was Jessie, eyes wide and wrists bound in glowing chains.
Yeah… that's gotta be the leader.
Mark's hand ignited, a fireball blooming to life, its heat cutting through the cold, damp air. He hurled it straight at the boy
but a massive puppet's hand exploded out of a swirling portal, intercepting the attack with a deafening thoom. The puppet's backhand sent Mark hurtling through the air, smashing into a stone wall.
He didn't fall. Instead, he planted his feet sideways against the vertical surface, wind magic swirling under his boots, creating suction strong enough to hold him there. His eyes narrowed.
"And that," Mark muttered, "is the second ability of the Puppet Master's mana core… puppet summoning."
A blade of living flame erupted along his forearm, fed with compressed oxygen until it burned blinding white, the heat so intense the air shimmered. It was less a sword and more a plasma cutter.
"Those puppets might be tough," he said coldly, "but I'm pretty sure this will cut through them like paper."
The boy with Jessie's chains raised his voice, eyes flicking to the golems tearing through his allies. "Wait! Call off your golems… or the girl gets hurt."
He knelt beside Jessie, pressing a knife against her throat.
Mark scoffed, eyes hard. "You won't do it. You need her."
A thin smile crept onto the boy's face. "Ah, yes… she is useful. But not useful enough to lose all my soldiers."
Mark froze. The tone in his voice wasn't a bluff. He meant it.
Tch.
With a flex of his fingers, the flames on Mark's arm vanished. The ground rumbled as the golems crumbled into heaps of rubble.
Mark slowly raised his hands. "I surrender. Who are you… and what do you want to let her go?"
The black and red haired boy smirked. "You don't need my name. Just call me Shadow. And what I want…" His eyes glinted like a predator's. "…is that dragon inside you."
Mark's gaze hardened. His fists clenched.
Shadow yanked Jessie closer, pressing the knife against her neck. "Ah ah. Don't make a single move… or she dies."
Mark's jaw tightened. The idea that this punk thought he'd give up his mana core for a girl he'd just met was laughable. At first, Jessie had only interested him because of her potential. But something about Shadow's words didn't sit right this wasn't just a kidnapper fishing for leverage. He spoke like he could take mana cores. That was different… and dangerous.
Mark needed him talking. "So, the rumor about my mana core finally reached you. But how exactly am I supposed to 'give' it to you? It's not like I can just… take it out."
Shadow's grin stretched wider. "Don't worry about that. Just take this."
He tossed a small black pill toward Mark. Mark caught it, instantly recognizing its purpose. Knockout agent. Shadow wasn't careless he was trying to keep his secrets.
"And no funny business," Shadow barked. "Or I kill the girl right here, right now."
Mark's voice was calm. "Alright." He popped the pill into his mouth… and collapsed.
Shadow shoved Jessie to the ground. She caught herself on her hands, glaring at him. "Damn it, Mark… you shouldn't have come."
Shadow turned to the other first years. "Hurry up. Get his body prepped for a core extraction surgery."
One of them asked, "Yes, sir. Should we bring him to Alpha or Gamma?"
"Alpha," Shadow replied without hesitation. "Gamma can't handle this level of power. His core's too strong for him to extract."
Shadow's confidence swelled. Not only had he captured the Blessing's mana core, but now he had the Heavenly Dragon's as well. Soon, he'd be powerful enough to rival the king himself.
He glanced at Jessie and smirked. "Who could've guessed you'd be so"
A portal bloomed beneath her.
She fell through before he could blink.
"NOOO!" Shadow lunged, fingertips grazing the edge of the portal just as it snapped shut.
Jessie landed hard on the shore near Zara and Opal, coughing. "What… just happened?"
Back in the castle, Shadow's eyes darted wildly. "Who took her?! I've only ever seen the headmaster use space magic so who "
"It was me."
The voice rolled through the hall like a dragon's roar, rattling the stone.
Shadow froze. "How how are you awake?! Even if you held the pill in your mouth, it dissolves the second it touches saliva!"
Mark stepped forward, opening his mouth to reveal a small swirling portal hovering above his tongue. "I sent it somewhere else before it dissolved. Simple."
Shadow slammed his fist into the wall. "Hhhhaaaa! You insolent little bastard! You shouldn't even know space magic! My spies watched your fights with the Phoenix and Mr. Coraline you never used it once!"
Mark smirked. "That's because it was a secret, dumbass. Why would I reveal all my abilities? The only reason you're seeing this one…" His tone dropped to something cold and final. "…is because you've left me no choice. And I'm sorry" his smirk sharpened into something dangerous
"but since you've seen it… you all have to die."