The first sign something was wrong didn't come from an alarm. The council room shuddered beneath their feet, just enough to rattle the papers on the table. Chairs scraped as everyone shifted at once. A low thud echoed throughout the building, followed by a sharper vibration that traveled up the walls like a pulse. Stella's head snapped up towards the source.
Cedric was already standing. "That wasn't structural," he asserted, calm but alert. "That came from above."
Another impact hit somewhere overhead as glass shattered. Still, no alarms sounded. No pylons flared. The intercom stayed silent. That absence made Stella's stomach drop.
"Class B," Kai hypothesized slowly, eyes narrowing. "That's where the vibration localized."
Yumi's grin sharpened. "Huh. Guess something slipped surveillance."
Cedric grabbed his weapon. "Move."
They were out the door before the echoes finished fading. Boots hit the stairs hard as they took them two at a time. The lights dimmed automatically for after-hours, shadows stretching long across the walls. Stella felt the resonance halfway up.
Definitely above D-tier, she thought immediately.
The pylons should've caught this.
Stella felt the thought lock into place, cold and immediate. The outer sensors would have flagged it first, then the midline, then the outer ring.
Nothing triggered.
Offline systems left traces through partial alerts or mismatched readings. There had been none of that. The pylons must have been prevented from responding.
"Overwatch didn't flag anything?" Kai asked, breath steady despite the pace. "They'd have to cross three layers of pylon detectors before even seeing the academy."
Yumi laughed under her breath. "Guess today's special."
They reached the entrance of Class B just as another impact struck from within. The doorframe splintered, dust shook loose from the ceiling tiles.
Cedric raised a hand, "Formation." They moved without question.
Cedric took center, hand resting on his hilt, stance grounded. Yumi slid to the left, already angling for line-of-sight, her sniper coming up smoothly. Kai shifted behind her, sigils threading instinctively into place as he began reinforcing output and perception.
Stella stepped in last. She positioned herself opposite Yumi, staff in hand, off-angle from Cedric. The resonance responded immediately as she began to channel mana. She was close enough to cover him, but kept distance to avoid crossfire. A thin form of resonance gathered along the staff in controlled layers as she began shaping a containment field, keeping it shallow enough to deploy instantly without interfering with Cedric's movement.
Faculty would arrive, as they always do for internal breaches.
This wasn't a live-fire zone nor was it a tournament. This was supposed to be classified first.
The classroom door burst inward. Desks lay overturned, chairs shattered against the far wall. Papers drifted through the air like ash. At the center of the room stood the spirit. Humanoid in shape, but wrong in every detail. Its form pulsed unevenly, resonance leaking from fractures along its torso. It twitched as it turned toward them, movements jerky and unfocused.The spirit did not advance. Its posture remained fixed, resonance output fluctuating in short, uneven pulses that never fully stabilized.
Stella's barrier pulse tightened.
"It's confused," she told herself. "If it escalates, I shield. If it stabilizes, I will contain it. Either way, I'm ready."
Cedric stepped forward. "Now-"
The words barely left his mouth as Yumi moved. She broke formation in a single fluid motion, vaulting over a fallen desk as her scope snapped into alignment. Kai's buff flared automatically, threading into the bullet in the chamber before Stella could react. The shot cracked through the room.
The spirit didn't recoil, but shattered. Resonance bloomed outward violently, then collapsing in on itself. Fragments dissolved as they hit the air. The pressure vanished so fast it left Stella dizzy.
Her barrier started, but had nothing left to contain. Silence slammed down.
Yumi landed lightly, straightening as if she'd just finished stretching.
"Huh," she said lightly, rolling her shoulder. "Didn't mean to steal that," she shrugged and grinned easily. "Haven't fought something real all year."
Cedric exhaled and sheathed his blade. "No worries," he replied reassuringly. "Threat neutralized."
Stella realized no one had looked at her once.
Kai chuckled. "That leap was insane. Cleanest shot I've seen this semester."
"One more tally for the board," Yumi added, closing her eyes as she smiled. "Guess I was overdue."
Stella didn't move. Her staff hummed faintly in her grip, resonance dissipating unused. She stared at the empty space where the spirit had been, trying to reconcile the stillness with what had just happened.
It hadn't attacked. Her body had already prepared to shield, and now there was nothing left to contain.
Footsteps echoed somewhere down the hall. They weren't close nor urgent.
Cedric gestured toward the door. "Let's report and clear out."
The footsteps arrived at the doorway. Faculty.
An administrator stepped in, gaze sweeping the room before settling on the damage. His gaze lingered briefly on Stella's staff, still charged.
"Report will list this as a D-tier escalation," he informed flatly. "Contained internally, with no external alert."
His attention stopped on Stella. "You hesitated," he concluded with confidence. "And hesitation was unnecessary."
The word landed heavier than the tremors. Stella opened her mouth, but the words stayed at the tip of her tongue.
"Yes, sir," she let out, looking down at the floor.
The administrator nodded. "Replacement planning will be addressed during your review next month."
He turned and left without another glance. The room felt colder after that.
The council filed into the hall. Yumi stretched, hands lacing behind her head. Kai was already talking about something else, the tension evaporating from his voice. Cedric walked ahead, posture unchanged.
Stella followed last, her staff felt heavier now, as she walked out with her head down, following the feet of the others.
The response had followed procedure exactly.
And for the first time, she wondered whether the system allowed space for anyone who refused to act without legitimacy.