"This heat is absolutely unacceptable." Katia staggered forward. "I know practical lessons are important, but couldn't they have picked a cooler day?"

  "Nothing we can do about it," I replied, looking at the group ahead. "At least the expedition's destination seems interesting."

  "The destination would be more pleasant if the weather would cooperate." She put a hand to her forehead, as if trying to measure something. "Doesn't the heat bother you?"

  "Twice as much as you think."

  Before Katia could answer, Varis's sharp voice cut through the air, bringing instant silence and expectation.

  "Your task is simple. At least in theory," she declared, leading the group. "Each team will receive a partial map of the region. Our objective is to locate three magical artifacts hidden in the terrain, activate them, and return to the starting point. Easy, right?"

  A student at the back raised a hand, doubt written all over his face. "That's really it?"

  "Of course not. The artifacts are very well hidden. Furthermore, enchanted creatures have been released to test our reactions under pressure. Nothing lethal, but... well, nobody likes being trampled by a stone boar."

  Her tone was so deliberately casual that an immediate murmur of suspicion ran through the group. Katia crossed her arms beside me, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

  “Which group are we going with?” Katia asked, while stretching her arms above her head as if trying to break free from the heat.

  "I don't think it makes much difference. But given there are enchanted creatures, let's wait and see which groups form."

  Katia simply nodded before turning to the discussion forming among the larger groups.

  "Varis, how do we activate the artifacts?" A voice rose from the crowd.

  "Take yesterday's notes as your foundation," she began. "Mana from different elemental affinities have different properties. Mana from a fire affinity tends to consume to sustain itself, a water affinity can be a base for energy..."

  Now that makes sense. There are 33 people here... Most likely, we'll split into groups of 11 based on elemental affinities. The thought raced quickly as the discussion took shape. What exactly am I supposed to do in that case?

  Katia placed her hand on my shoulder, in what seemed to be a gesture of compassion.

  Can she read my mind?

  "Hold on," a student interrupted, arms crossed. "Enchanted creatures? Isn't that a bit much just for a practical lesson?"

  Varis scratched her head, a casual smile spreading across her face. "You, as mages, will have many paths ahead of you. Engineers, soldiers, medics, researchers... The list is long, and society needs you. Mages are a minority, and that's why you're valued."

  "But don't be fooled. Just passing the entrance exam guarantees nothing. I don't know how it works in other kingdoms, but here in Fontana, to practice any regulated profession, you'll face severe tests. The standard is quite high."

  She paused, letting the words sink in, before finishing with a glint in her eyes that was half encouragement, half warning:

  "So, if your plan is to become something more interesting than just soldier-mages, you'd better start pushing yourselves now. Today's practical lesson is just the first step."

  "Professor?" A particularly tall student with a skeptical expression spoke up. He didn't even raise his hand. "A personal question. How did you become a professor so young?"

  Katia discreetly tugged my uniform sleeve, leaning toward my ear.

  "I kind of want to know that," she whispered in response to the question hanging in the air. "My dad said the test for the teaching position is complicated."

  "Complicated how?"

  Katia made an expression as if trying to remember something.. "Once, my dad and Aunt Bela had a huge fight. She wouldn't stop rubbing it in his face that she had passed the instructor selection test, and he hadn't."

  "Bela was a teacher?" The question came out as a reflex. "When?"

  "About ten years ago," Katia answered with a shrug. "She quit after a year or two. Said it was too much bureaucracy and not enough real action. Plus, the students weren't worth it."

  That explains why she knew so much about the exam process, I thought, with a clarity of muscle memory. She definitely gave some class some impossible practical lessons.

  Varis, standing before the students, sighed, recapturing their attention and stretching her body in a gesture of complaint. "That's all you guys want to know."

  In the next movement, she slowly raised her index finger, as if pointing at something on the horizon. All eyes followed the imaginary line. With a delicate smile curving her lips, an expression of power was drawn in the sky.

  About fifteen meters ahead, in the air, a small flame sprouted from nothing. It was a perfect, silent orange dot, hovering like a candle flame. It pulsed once, twice, and went out, leaving only a ripple of hot air in its place.

  Everyone stared at the empty sky where the flame had hovered. The silence was absolute for a long second, broken only by the buzz of insects in the heat. Then, as a single organism, every pair of eyes turned to Varis.

  That's unexpected... Katia's touch on my arm accompanied my thought, as if she was expecting to confirm what we had seen.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" Varis made a dramatic pause. "Understanding transforms into power, effort is the foundation upon which your feet will rest. Overcome your fears and embrace new experiences."

  Before anyone could respond, she declared the matter closed with the sound of her clapping hands. "Now, back to the exercise."

  The courtyard transformed into a marketplace of anxieties. Students clustered together, voices overlapping in offers and searches. "I need an earth affinity!" "Who has fire?" "The group needs a water affinity, one spot left!"

  I don't think I have a place in any group. Katia pulled me by the arm, dragging me into one of the groups without my approval.

  The group Katia invaded consisted of eight people. The chatter around us ceased for a second when they saw us arrive. Three pairs of eyes landed on Katia with a mix of recognition and hesitation.

  "Lady Icehart," one of the students said, with a formal nod that seemed ridiculous amidst that chaos.

  Katia showed no reaction. She didn't smile, didn't nod back, didn't raise an eyebrow. She simply kept her lavender gaze fixed on him, silent, as if waiting for the sentence to finish leaving his mouth so they could move on to what really mattered.

  While the scene with Katia unfolded, a particularly tall figure stopped beside me. It was the student who had asked about Varis – hair of dark beige and a sharp gaze, as if he was always searching for something.

  "I guess I'm the last one, huh?" he said, his hands crossed behind his back.

  The candidate who challenged Cecita with a sword in the entrance exam... Elian Steeloo, if I'm not mistaken.

  "We were in need of someone with an earth affinity," I pointed out, watching Katia play dumb to forget the student's speech. "I never thanked you for your help during the entrance exam. Elian, correct?"

  "No need. It's an honor that the star of the exam remembered my name" He turned his gaze towards the group. "She's amazing."

  For a fraction of a second in another world, I agreed, thinking he was talking about Katia. He then shook his head, clarifying: No, Varis.

  "Yes," I corrected, avoiding the conversation that only existed in my mind. "Even knowing the concept, mastering casting fields of that extent is incredible."

  "Do you think her strength comes from a Mark?" he asked, his tone now serious, investigative.

  "Probably not," I responded without hesitation. "What she did, and the position she holds, seem to come from extraordinary knowledge, not just brute power."

  "I think the same," Elian replied, his tone now more neutral, almost professional.

  He took a step forward and integrated into the larger circle where the girl with light eyes and the boy with the bowl cut still seemed to be competing over who annoyed Katia more.

  His presence seemed to solidify the group, ending any silent debate about its composition.

  Katia took advantage of the distraction to extricate herself from the subgroup and return to my side. She arrived with a deep, almost theatrical sigh.

  "Should I change my name to 'Icehart, then Katia'?" she murmured, quietly enough for only me to hear. "Two minutes of conversation and I already feel like I aged ten years."

  "You don't seem to mind as much as you're letting on," I commented, observing her from the side.

  She shrugged, but the gesture seemed heavier than usual. "My father warned me this might happen. He just said I could do whatever I wanted and... let it go."

  I was thoughtful for a moment. "Is your family really that... 'noble'? I thought you'd already be headed for an arranged marriage or something."

  Katia turned to look at me with an expression of pure disbelief. "Mio... You should stop living in the past."

  Varis's quick steps interrupted our conversation. In her hands was a bundle of faded-colored parchment maps.

  "Very well, my disoriented little mages," she announced, distributing the maps. "One per group. Don't lose them, don't tear them, don't use them to start a fire. And don't let the stone boars eat them."

  The groups scattered like disoriented ants under the relentless sun.

  From our position, we could see Varis atop a flat rock, sitting, kicking her feet in the air, watching our progress with the relaxed attention of a falconer. Soon as possible we started walking, following the map's markings across the uneven terrain.

  A few steps ahead, a trio of students were already debating loudly.

  "Guys, vital question," a boy began, gesturing as if from a pulpit. "A Dragon or a Charybdis. Who wins?"

  All the boys around him stopped instantly, as if he had cast a freezing spell.

  "That comparison doesn't even make sense," objected another, crossing his arms. "How do you expect a flying creature and an aquatic one to even meet to fight?"

  "A Charybdis has superior brute force," murmured a third, more to himself. "But a Dragon's magical potency... is incomparable."

  "So what would you compare to the dragon?" the first boy challenged.

  "A Friesian, without a doubt," replied the second, nodding with conviction. "It would be an epic fight."

  "You want to compare a horse to a dragon?" The first one rolled his eyes. "You've completely lost your mind."

  "It's not just a 'horse,' it's a magical horse. Its prowess in combat..."

  Elian stopped beside them, his dark beige hair swaying with the movement. He didn't elaborate, didn't debate—he simply delivered the verdict as if it were natural law.

  "A dragon." The silence that followed came with the wind, turning Elian's statement into a poetic declaration.

  Katia tugged my sleeve, her lavender eyes sparkling with amusement. "I bet in a few seconds they'll be arguing about whether they can defeat a dragon."

  "I'm not taking that bet," I replied, the answer coming out before I could even think. She was right, of course—I'd already seen the boy who started the discussion begin to talk about exactly that.

  We ignored the rest of the debate and walked for a while under the merciless sun, following the map's markings. When the terrain began to rise and the first chipped stones appeared under our feet, I knew we were close.

  The trail climbed and then the landscape changed.

  It was as if the modern world had taken a step back. First, chipped stones under our feet, then whole blocks of ancient masonry, worn by time. And then, emerging from the low, hardy vegetation, the ruins.

  They weren't the grand arches from tales. They were the bones of a forgotten place: low walls still stubbornly standing, outlining what were once rooms. Houses with no roofs, thick, aggressive vines covered everything, embracing the stones like persistent green fingers, trying to pull what remained back into the earth.

  "This place is destroyed. But I've always wanted to see ruins up close," Katia declared, her voice softer now. Before I could process, her hand closed around my forearm. With her other arm, she began pointing at various spots in the ruined site.

  "Look at that wall! The way the stones fit together... And that entrance over there, it looks like an arch! Do you think it was a temple? A square? Mio?" Katia shook my arm lightly when she got no response.

  "Mio?" Another shake, stronger. Her voice tinged with confusion.

  It was then that she stopped pointing. Her hand on my arm loosened. She turned to stare at my face, and her lavender eyes widened in surprise. Her voice sounded like a distant echo. My focus had already been captured by the architectural enigma before us.

  These walls... They look like houses, but the district is too small to be a village... Is it a temple or something? A square? No... It's too far from the other structures... There are vines everywhere, it seems like no one has touched this place in centuries.

  "Mio... you're spacing out..." A distant, almost unrecognizable voice seemed to pass by my ear.

  Katia raised her hand slowly, as if approaching a wild animal. Her index finger aimed for my cheek, as if wanting to touch the gleam she swore she was seeing—or perhaps to confirm that I was really there.

  My body reacted before my mind could process the gesture. A minimal and precise tilt of my head to the side, and her finger passed through the air, an inch from my skin. As automatic as the ideas racing through my imagination.

  There's a forest right next to it, could it be some sort of watchtower base? Are the ruins of the other groups similar? The thought continued following the runic structures on the horizon.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Mio... You've short-circuited..." Katia protested, shaking me firmly before stopping.

  But her expression softened almost immediately. "But it's not like I don't understand. It's really different from what we know."

  "Hey! You two!" A voice from behind cut through the moment. "Don't fall behind. We have to find the artifact."

  I blinked, the background voice bringing me back to the surface. The landscape of the ruins recomposed itself around me, still fascinating, but now just a backdrop.

  "Katia... Why are you standing there?" I asked, slightly frowning at her frozen expression.

  For a second, she just stared at me. Then, a slight tremor ran through her lips, and she let out a muffled chuckle, waving her hand as if shooing an insect.

  "Just forget it. Let's go, before the group actually leaves us behind and we have to find them and the artifacts."

  We rejoined the rest of the group in the meager shade of a higher wall. The air within the ruins was a bit cooler, heavy with the smell of damp earth and old stone.

  We were eleven now, forming a tight circle near a high wall that cast a broad shadow on the ground.

  "This is bigger than it seems," Elian broke the silence. "If we all stay together, we won't cover the perimeter in time. What do you think about splitting up?"

  "It's a good idea," Dennar continued. "But I doubt the artifact will be hidden in an obvious place. It's very likely we'll have to locate it through mana detection."

  Even searching with mana detection, it's still a very large perimeter to cover. The best idea here is to split up.

  "In that case, we just separate the two best at detecting mana and distribute them to opposite sides," Elian replied without hesitation.

  A shyer girl with bowl-cut green hair raised her hand hesitantly. Her voice came out almost a whisper when everyone looked at her.

  "And... What if we find any of the monsters the school put here? Separated, we're more... exposed, aren't we?"

  Silence fell over the group. The possibility, until then ignored for the sake of efficiency, now hung palpably in the warm air. Several glances turned toward the dark entrances of the corridors between the ruins.

  "Splitting up is still the fastest option," I said, before another discussion could solidify. "But if the risk worries you, assign those with the worst mana perception to visible positions on the edge of the ruins. They could serve as sentinels. If something approaches, they'll see it first and can alert or even serve as bait."

  "It's a logical approach," Elian admitted. "Seems solid enough. We just need to decide who will volunteer to serve as sentinels."

  There was no debate. Three people, including me, volunteered. The group dissolved into movement, forming trios that disappeared among the stone corridors. In less than a minute, I was alone on the eastern edge of the ruins, leaning against the narrow shadow of a high wall.

  There was nothing else to do, my mana detection is terrible. Maybe now that I've entered the school it's time to pay attention to concepts related to mana manipulation. My gaze crossed the horizon, unconcerned, and landed on the figure atop a rock. Is Varis laughing? Did the other group find the stone boar?

  A few minutes passed. The sun seemed to have climbed another degree, tightening its vise of heat on the stones. The silence in my position was almost total. Until a shout echoed from the center of the ruins.

  Did they locate the artifact? I walked slowly to where the group was gathering.

  "Dennar, did you find the artifact?" Elian asked, questioning the reason for the gathering.

  "Not me, it was Lira," Dennar immediately replied. "She said it was amidst some vegetation near a wall."

  All eyes, as a single organism, turned to the small figure with short emerald-colored hair who was trying to make herself invisible behind Dennar.

  Before anyone could press Lira for more details, quick footsteps echoed on the stone. Katia emerged from a side corridor.

  "What happened?" she asked, still catching her breath.

  "They found the artifact," I replied, keeping the explanation to the bare minimum.

  Dennar held the object, studying it with an expression of deep concentration. He held it up so everyone could see.

  It was a flat disk, the size of a large bowl. On its smooth surface, adornments in a deep, vibrant blue formed intricate geometric patterns. What caught the eye, however, were the three engraved lines: two were thick, parallel, cutting across the disk from one edge to the other. Between them, a third line, thin as a thread, meandered on an independent path.

  "It's a beacon," Dennar concluded, turning the disk in his hand. "It makes perfect sense with what Varis explained. We activate it, it emits a pulse the instructors can detect. Simple."

  "Ice and earth are out," Elian declared. "They're solid-state elements; their mana doesn't fuse easily. We need something that flows and mixes."

  "Water and electricity," Katia suggested, almost bouncing in place. "It's the most basic combination for energizing an artifact."

  There was a murmur of general agreement. The suggestion was good, intuitive.

  The two main lines on the disk were already decided, so the discussion then turned to the smaller circle line. Someone suggested fire, but it was quickly rejected; mana from a fire affinity tends to consume to stay energized.

  While the voices overlapped in elemental hypotheses and theories, they began to fade into the background in my ear, becoming a constant hum. Replaced by another sound. A low, growing buzz, as if the air was being pulled away from us. Then, a dry crackling.

  The smell of mineral dust tainted the air. Earth, sand, ground stone—sensations that scratched the nose and throat.

  My feet left the ground in a futile impulse. The meticulous control I maintained over every situation dissolved into the chaos of the senses. The darkness was a saturation: of muffled noises, of particles in the air, of the sudden absence of ground.

  And then, a silence descended upon us. Louder than any thunder or roar.

  The low visibility highlighted the sound of sharp exhalations, irregular breaths hitting walls that seemed endless.

  The silence was broken by an echo inside my own head, a fact that had already become reality but which I still didn't seem to fully accept.

  We fell? My eyes were just beginning to adjust to the darkness. A silent worry began to take shape as I regained my sense of reality. Katia... Is she okay?

  Arms and legs intact, no external wounds or broken bones. I stood up, brushing the dust off my shorts.

  "Calm down! Stay where you are! Dennar, with me! Check the injuries on the right!"

  That voice... Is that Elian? My feet carried me to the left path, where a lighter silhouette stood out in the brown haze.

  "Katia." My voice came out lower than I intended, hoarse from the dust. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes," she said, keeping her head low. "But he's not." She was talking about the figure resting in her lap. "His leg broke from the fall; he fainted from the shock."

  I knelt beside Katia, my eyes quickly scanning her body. No visible blood, no bones apparently out of place.

  "Are you really okay?" My hand rested on her shoulder, seeking more than words.

  She simply gave a short nod, her eyes not leaving the pale face of the unconscious student.

  The sounds around us were organizing. The dust began to settle. Elian's voice, now firm and in command, sounded clear:

  "Is everyone here? Report!"

  A murmur of scared but present voices confirmed. The count was quick. Eleven. Ten standing, one on the ground.

  I stood up and crossed the few meters separating us from Elian, who maintained a tense posture, assessing the ceiling of rubble his earth shield was still holding up.

  "Elian, there's an injured person," I interjected into the group. "He fractured his right leg. We need a splint. Can you mold one from stone?"

  He wasted no time. With precise gestures, he made the earth around him tremble and compact, extracting two flat, rigid stone slabs from the ground itself. Using parts of the uniform, he improvised ties for the splint.

  "He should be okay for now." Elian made a brief pause, carrying the student and positioning him propped against a wall. "But, what happened?"

  Silence settled for a fraction of a second. No one seemed to have a concrete answer for what had happened.

  "I believe there was a cave-in," Dennar answered, disbelieving his own words. "Large enough to swallow part of the ruins where we were."

  Indeed, we fell. I saw the ground give way multiple times; none of my actions could alter that future. Still, there are two major problems with that statement. The first being... My thoughts were cut off by Elian's voice.

  "There's no doubt we fell," he said, looking up as if trying to confirm his own words. "But what's the explanation for the ceiling above us being intact?"

  Silence took over again. Eyes observing the same spot on the untouched ceiling, as if searching for answers on a cold, silent wall.

  A blue light illuminated the surroundings, drawing attention to itself. A boy shorter than Elian, with yellowish hair and blue eyes.

  "Elian." The voice responsible for conjuring the light rose. "Now's not the time to discuss this. Our priority now is something else."

  "Hadrian," Elian's voice came out more restrained, acknowledging the intervention. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "You're right. Sorry. The priority now isn't the how; it's about how to get out of here."

  He finally averted his eyes from the intact ceiling—a mystery to be solved later—and focused on what Hadrian's blue light revealed.

  We weren't in a simple pile of rubble. We were in a cave—or perhaps a subterranean chamber the cave-in had revealed. The light didn't reach the end, but it illuminated several arched openings in the irregular stone wall, each leading to a different tunnel lost in darkness.

  Before assumptions could start, Lira raised her hand, her face serious under the blue light.

  "Professor Varis? Didn't she see the cave-in? Can't we wait for rescue?" The sound against the walls made her low voice become the center of the discussion.

  "She saw," Elian replied, his tone not optimistic. He pointed to the ceiling. "But look. There's no entrance. Even if she's outside right now, digging, it will take hours for her to reach us; she can't just blow up the terrain in this situation. And we..." his gaze landed on the injured student, pale and motionless against the wall, "don't have a day."

  "Then we have to find a way out ourselves," Hadrian concluded, his light flickering as if reinforcing the statement.

  "I agree we need to move," Dennar raised his voice. "But we can't just start walking aimlessly. Pedro has a broken leg. We need a clear plan before anything."

  The expected discussion began. One suggested following the airflow. Another, the widest tunnel.

  "So... which path?" Hadrian stated, his voice echoing slightly on the damp walls. "Elian, you decide. If we keep arguing endlessly, we won't get anywhere."

  Elian hesitated for a few moments. Before he could choose a path, I intervened.

  "The passage on the right has recent markings." Everyone turned to me as soon as my voice came out. "There's also vegetation, which indicates signs of water and movement. It's the path with the highest chance of leading us to the surface."

  Elian and Hadrian exchanged a quick glance. The implication was understood instantly.

  "She has a point," said Hadrian, his blue light landing on the distant fern, highlighting its faint green.

  "I agree," Elian nodded, his posture now that of a commander again. Hefting the injured student onto his back. "Forget guesses. We have an indicator. We go right. And stay alert."

  The group moved, a slow and cautious organism now. Elian in front with the injured on his back, Hadrian's light illuminating the stony, damp path to the right. The others followed, forming a tense line.

  I stood still, watching their elongated shadows recede into the passage.

  A touch on my elbow. Katia was beside me, her lavender eyes reflecting the fading blue light. She wasn't looking at the group; she was looking at me.

  "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked, her voice low but charged with an intensity the whisper couldn't hide. "Lira's suggestion was probably the smartest choice."

  I looked at her. She was right. In any normal cave-in situation, logic would dictate: stay put, avoid further collapses, wait for rescue. It was protocol.

  "Yes," I admitted, my voice sounding flat in the damp tunnel. "But this isn't a normal situation. In a cave-in of that scale, only one person injured? Not to mention Pedro's leg."

  Katia frowned, as if mentally reviewing the scene.

  "Yes," Katia affirmed, winding her fingers around her left arm. "His leg wasn't crushed by a rock. There's no severe contusion, no impact-shaped bruise. It looks like he just fell awkwardly when the ground gave way."

  "A cave-in that drops tons of rock isn't that selective." We began to follow the group. "I have no idea what happened, but the most likely thing is that we're no longer near the spot where we fell from the surface."

  We began to follow the group, our steps echoing softly in the stone tunnel. Hadrian's blue light was now just a diffuse glow ahead, but it was enough to guide.

  The path was narrow, forcing us to walk single file. The walls and floor were irregular, damp to the touch, and the air, though stuffy, had a freshness different from the heavy mold of the cave-in chamber.

  I don't understand enough about teleportation to be sure, but I doubt it's possible to move a group this size at once. Even for a single person, the cost and understanding must be enormous. Can't rule out the possibility, but it doesn't seem likely.

  After what seemed like an eternity of cautious steps in the damp gloom, the narrow tunnel opened abruptly.

  Hadrian's beam of blue light, until then our only guide, dissolved into a diffuse glow and was swallowed. Not by darkness, but by another light.

  It was a low, bluish, pulsating glow that came from the walls and the vaulted ceiling themselves. Bioluminescent fungi and lichens covered the stone in patches and veins, like an inverted, living night sky. Their light revealed a wide, open chamber, so vast that the edges were lost in the penumbra.

  The group's reaction was immediate. The tense line broke like a dissipated spell. Students scattered into disorganized positions—some taking a step back, others a step forward, all positioning themselves in the vast subterranean chamber.

  "Everyone... okay?" Elian's voice, normally firm, sounded a bit muffled by the grandeur of the place.

  The question made the group turn to him, and then, in a movement almost choreographed by anxiety, each face quickly turned to the sides, silently counting, verifying. Eleven.

  This architecture. It's similar to the ruins on the surface, the only difference is the state of preservation. At least that's an indication we're not far.

  "I think we're getting closer to something. Maybe another exit, or a more stable part," observed Hadrian.

  "This place is different," Dennar's voice cut through the air. He was a few steps away, kneeling beside what looked like the low entrance to one of the house-like structures.

  Lira, who had stayed more in the center, took a few steps toward it, her gaze sweeping over the larger architecture.

  "It looks like a kind of square," she said, her voice firmer than before. "The floor seems to form a main path between these houses. Perhaps if we follow the path, we might be able to climb up again."

  "We're not sure," Elian retorted, his hands touching one of the many trees surrounding the structures. "Let's stop for a bit to rest; there's cover in this area. Hadrian, help me, we need to decide what to do."

  "Rest?" a student's voice arose, laden with incredulity. "With Pedro like this? Every minute we waste is another minute he spends with a broken leg down here."

  "Elian's right," Hadrian supported, though his tone was more restrained. "Running without direction won't help either. The situation is bad, but Pedro isn't in mortal danger. We've walked for a good while; it's good for everyone to be recovered for another walk."

  "Inscriptions," Dennar's voice cut through the observations. He was kneeling beside an entrance. "Here. On stone tablets."

  While part of the group focused on the inscriptions and the layout of the square, my feet carried me to a secluded spot. A peculiar, solitary building caught my attention—not because it was grand, but because it was different.

  The building had a wide base. As the structure rose, its volume gradually decreased, with upper levels being narrower and vertical elements leading to a tapered final point.

  The entire front of the building was recognizable, but one of its side walls, however, simply no longer existed, torn away or disintegrated, leaving the interior exposed like an open wound on the flank of the structure. As I approached the brutal opening where the wall had been, the interior details emerged from the gloom.

  The vast space was traversed by rows. Long, low rows of stone, parallel to each other, filling the floor and forming a single central corridor through the structure. For a moment, my brain tried to categorize them:

  Benches? But they're too long, probably used by more than one person... Something about that row of structures continued to scramble my thoughts. But why are some different sizes and shapes?

  My attention was pulled irresistibly to where all those rows of stone converged. At the far end of the hall, removed from the benches and raised on a low platform, there was a massive base of smooth stone.

  It seemed to be a sculpted female figure, seated, motionless in a posture that conveyed a vigilant stillness. Bands of stone, carved to imitate fabric, wrapped parts of her body with rigid folds. One hand rested on her chest; the other arm rose above the shoulder line, with the hand remaining completely open, extended toward the immensity of the ceiling.

  Resting in the palm of that elevated hand was a sculpted plant. A central stem rose from the base, and from it parted two branches that coiled in opposite spirals, rising in parallel trajectories. The stems maintained a regular spacing, contouring the axis as if obeying a rigid, intentional pattern. Small leaves sprouted along these spirals, alternated and symmetrical, forming a double, intertwined structure that seemed to defy the rigidity of the stone.

  Above her hair, narrow, pointed leaves aligned from the top of her head, descending in continuous layers. They followed the design of the carved hair, falling over her shoulders and back like rigid strands, forming a vegetal mantle of a reddish hue that contrasted with the mineral surface of the statue.

  I tried to take a step forward, my curiosity a magnet pulling me closer to that enigmatic figure and its geometric offering.

  "Mio!"

  Katia's voice, sharp and charged, cut the sepulchral silence of the hall. She was behind me, her silhouette outlined against the diffuse blue light coming from the square.

  "The group found something, some stones with inscriptions," she said, her voice coming from afar. "I think you'll like seeing this."

  For one last second, my eyes remained fixed on the statue's open hand, on that frozen offering to a sky that no longer existed. Then, I turned and followed Katia back into the light, leaving the vigilant stillness of the figure behind.

  The distance between us vanished in a few quick steps. Before Katia could react, and I could think, my hands encircled her arms.

  "Katia, wait." I pointed beyond the column. "There's a structure back there. It's not like the others. It's a hall, with rows of stone benches... all facing a statue."

  Katia's lavender eyes widened. Before I could continue, her hand met the middle of my head with a dry tap.

  "Calm down," she said, her voice laden with amused affection as the impact on my head brought me back to reality. The hand she had rested on my head came down and opened, becoming an invitation. "Come on, show me what you found."

  For an instant that stretched beyond normal, I just looked at that extended hand, an action born from a promise. My hand was inches from hers; I merely extended my own to accept the invitation. A secret I wanted to share was interrupted, solely and exclusively, by my sensations.

  A wet, warm impact hit my cheek. It was the future, materializing as a physical sensation before it even happened.

  My eyes, still locked on Katia's, caught a movement to her left. Lira, examining something in the center of the square. And above her, on the illuminated ceiling of the chamber, a shadow detached itself—a dark shape plummeting in deadly silence.

  In the same movement as my hand extended toward Katia, the space between my fingers vibrated. In the place where Katia's hand should have been, the cold, familiar hilt of the blade appeared in my palm, as if it had always belonged there.

  Please... Reach in time. The thought wasn't a prayer. It was a command, sent to my very nerves, to my muscles. An attempt to alter the precious seconds only I had seen.