Wolfgang's sharp gaze swept across the near-empty classroom, his voice dropping. "Who's missing?"
A student from the villages answered timidly, "It's… it's Miss Cecilia, and the others… the ones from the city families who are always with her. They're all gone."
Wolfgang's brow furrowed deeply. He asked no further questions, instead swiftly writing the day's required reading from the canonical texts on the board, his tone reverting to its usual flint. "Read this. Understand the primary structure of the energy cycle. I will return shortly."
With that, he strode out of the Indoctrination Hall, his heavy footsteps rapidly fading down the corridor.
The atmosphere in the room didn't lighten with his departure. Instead, the collective absence of the noble students cast an invisible pall of tension. Erika silently took a seat by the wall, opened the heavy text, and let his eyes fall upon the passages concerning energy channels and Mark nourishment.
He tried to focus, but his thoughts drifted irresistibly back to his experience in the Mark-Forging Hall. The sensation of energy filling his body, of his spirit being clarified—it had been so real, so seductive. He unconsciously rubbed the Mark on the back of his left hand, trying to retrace the path of that energy flow in his mind…
Then—
A faint, familiar voice, sounding not in his ears but directly in the depths of his mind, cut through his reverie.
'Erika… Erika… can you hear me?'
It was Anna's voice! Tinged with uncertainty and a careful, testing quality.
'…What I learned today… it's a "Mind-voice" technique, just for the ordained… the Sister said it's like… like using a really long speaking-tube. Only one person can talk, the other can only listen… And we can't be too far apart… and… and it's easy to get the "channel" mixed up with someone else's…'
Her voice was intermittent, as if truly transmitted through an unstable conduit.
'…I'm worried… This morning, I saw many Clerics in black vestments… they went to the area where the city students live. The feeling was so tense… And then, Sister Cecilia and the others… they all vanished…'
Fear and confusion were evident in her mental whisper.
'…Also, I overheard one of the Sisters… she said the "Purification Ring" needs to be activated early… Erika, do you know what that is? I'm scared…'
The transmission cut off abruptly.
Purification Ring.
The term was like a rusted key, violently jammed into the lock of Erika's consciousness, trying to force open a door sealed with molten iron. A vision of blinding gold flashed before his eyes; his ears seemed to fill with the desperate wails of villagers and the roar of collapsing structures—the end of his homeland.
He tried to grasp the emerging memory fragment, to understand the connection…
But in the next second, an irresistible force, emanating from the very depths of his soul, seized his mind! It was as if an invisible brand seared his neural pathways, brutally severing and smoothing out any thought trying to form a coherent link.
Blankness.
His ability to think was stripped away instantly, his vision swimming with blurred, swaying spots of light. Then, a wave of inexplicable, heart-wrenching sorrow, like a tidal wave, submerged him. Tears welled up and streamed down his face completely beyond his control.
His body swayed. His knees hit the cold floor with a heavy thud. His entire form went limp, collapsing forward as if his bones had been removed. In the final moment before his consciousness plunged into darkness, his blurry sight caught the door of the Indoctrination Hall swinging open. The short Cleric, Kaelen, sauntered in.
Kaelen's gaze landed precisely on the unconscious Erika. His face showed no surprise, only a knowing, almost cruel amusement. His lips moved, and a light, muttered comment was the last sound Erika captured before oblivion took him:
"…Tsk. So it's starting already."
Erika drifted in a void of darkness. No dreams, no memories, only a heavy exhaustion as if hollowed out, and the cold, lingering feel of tear tracks on his skin.
How much time had passed, he didn't know. Consciousness slowly returned like a rising tide. The first sensation was the rough fabric of the bedsheet beneath him—he was lying on the hard pallet in his own narrow Contemplation Cell. Outside the window, the Sanctum's eternal daylight seemed to have dimmed, hinting at the passage of time.
His head throbbed violently, as if an iron wedge had been driven between his brows. He tried to recall everything before he fainted, but only grasped fragmented pieces: Anna's voice… 'Clerics in black vestments'… 'Purification Ring'… then, an all-consuming blankness and uncontrollable grief.
The door opened softly, without footsteps. Wolfgang's tall frame appeared silhouetted in the doorway, his expression unreadable against the light. He held a cup of water, walked to the bedside, and silently offered it.
"Drink." His voice was unreadable, less stern than usual, carrying something indefinable.
Erika struggled to sit up, took the cup. Warm liquid soothed his parched throat, alleviating some of the discomfort.
"You overextended your spirit, triggering the Mark's self-preservation mechanism," Wolfgang stated, his tone flat, factual, but his eyes sharply fixed on Erika. "Cultivation is not child's play, especially for someone with your… unique circumstances. Until your spirit stabilizes, do not attempt any perception or connection beyond your current stage. It's dangerous."
The words sounded like standard instruction and concern, but Erika caught the key phrases—'unique circumstances', and the implicit warning: do not attempt perception or connection. It was almost a direct admission that his collapse was related to Anna's 'Mind-voice' technique.
"Cleric Kaelen, he…" Erika ventured, his voice hoarse.
"He was temporarily overseeing the class," Wolfgang cut him off, a trace of imperceptible annoyance in his tone. "Your fainting was a minor incident. Pay it no mind." He dismissed Kaelen's crucial comment—'it's starting'—as irrelevant.
Just then, a junior brother hurried to the door, bowing respectfully to Wolfgang. "Instructor, the High Priest summons an emergency meeting regarding the results of the Purification Ring. All available Clerics and above must attend."
Wolfgang frowned, seeming displeased by the interruption, but nodded immediately. "Understood."
He turned back, his gaze lingering on Erika, complex and inscrutable. Finally, he said only, "That's all for today. Stay in your room and 'rest'. Do not leave without my permission, and do not attempt cultivation again. Remember—sometimes 'empty' is safer than 'full'."
With that, he turned and strode out. The heavy door shut behind him, leaving Erika alone in the room with the false peace of the Sanctum outside his window.
Wolfgang's departing footsteps faded down the corridor, the echo of the closing door not yet fully dissipated. Silence fell like a heavy curtain. Erika leaned against the cold wall, his fingers unconsciously tracing the outline of the Mark, trying to grasp a sliver of reality within its heat and emptiness.
Then, the door hinge let out a faint, almost negligible creak.
A small figure in a novice's white habit slipped through the crack like a startled creature. She turned and pushed the door shut behind her with practiced, soundless grace.
It was Anna.
Her cheeks were flushed from running and nervousness, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her usually clear eyes were now wide with undispersed fear and a desperate, reckless concern. She leaned back against the door as if it could block out everything outside, strands of her pale gold hair stuck to her damp temples.
"E… Erika!" she panted, her voice hushed but rippling through the quiet room like a stone cast into still water. "Are… are you alright? I heard you… you fainted in class…"
She didn't wait for his answer, her eyes searching his face anxiously, as if verifying he was whole. "I… I was so worried. Instructor Wolfgang… he looked so severe. He wouldn't let me come near here. I… I snuck around using the path behind the prayer room…"
She wrung her hands, her words tumbling out fast. "That 'Mind-voice'… did I… did I cause this? I shouldn't have spoken to you, right? The Sister said not to use it carelessly… I… I was just so scared…" Her voice hitched, her eyes rapidly reddening.
"I heard… I heard the Clerics in black talking when they returned… They said… the 'purification was successful', but the 'specimen's vitality exceeded expectations', and they needed… needed to enhance the 'Ring's' monitoring…" Her words were fragmented, but pieced together a disturbing picture. "They also said… Sister Cecilia's family made a request for 'retained observation'… I don't know what that means, but… it feels wrong…"
She took a small step forward, her small hands nervously clutching the hem of her robe, looking up at Erika with eyes full of dependence and confusion. "Erika, what's happening? What is the 'Purification Ring'? Why does everyone seem so afraid of it?"
In the room, only her faint, fearful breaths remained, and the Mark on Erika's hand throbbing once more—this time in response to her words: 'the specimen's vitality exceeded expectations'.
Erika parted his lips. Wolfgang's warning echoed in his mind. He wanted to tell Anna not to be afraid, to urge her to leave this place of trouble quickly, to say he knew nothing.
But at the very moment he prepared to speak—
A tremor, incredibly faint yet piercingly clear. Not pain from the Mark on his hand, but a sensation originating from deep between his brows. Like an icy needle being gently plucked by a specific frequency resonating faintly from somewhere distant.
The Clerics in black? Or… the 'Purification Ring' itself?
His body stiffened almost imperceptibly for an instant. The words on his tongue were swallowed back. He raised his hand—not to speak, but to bring a single finger gently to his own pale lips, making a clear gesture for silence to Anna.
His gaze shifted past her, fixing on the closed door. In his grey eyes, for the first time, was reflected a cold, sharp wariness, and a near-instinctual hunger to capture and decipher that unknown frequency.