Professor Aldwin sat on the makeshift bench outside the dungeon entrance, flipping through his clipboard like it had insulted his mother. His quill scratched rapidly, quick notes, then annoyed scribbles as he crossed half of them out.
A few steps away, the gray-haired woman inspected the wards lining the dungeon gate. Her fingers glowed faint blue, expression calm.
Meanwhile, the youngest instructor, paced back and forth, muttering curses as he juggled a crystal tablet and a mana-gauge device.
"Should've been my assignment," he grumbled. "But no. Aldwin has to supervise everything—"
Aldwin didn't look up. "Did you say something, Taryn?"
Taryn froze mid-step. "N-Nothing. Just… calibrating readings."
Aldwin gave him a slow, skeptical glance then returned to his notes.
Taryn exhaled. Almost relaxed—
Then, the ground shivered.
His eyes snapped to the mana-gauge. The device shrieked, numbers spiking once, twice, then rocketing past limits they had no business reaching.
