Chapter 12 that black thing
The eyeball slowly drifted across the hallway.
A student was walking through a dimly lit corridor.
Without warning, the air became suffocating.
He clutched his throat, and muffled shrieks echoed through the hall.
The pupil-less eyeball slowly vanished as it drifted toward the East Tower.
Azek was walking along the corridor connecting the faculty offices.
Edrin and Mathew were waiting for him at the end of the stairs. Earlier, they hadn't had the chance to ask about the commotion in the room before Azek followed Professor Sevile.
When Azek reached them, his complexion looked noticeably better.
Mathew immediately grabbed his shoulders.
"Did you get scolded?"
Worry was visible on his face.
Azek shook his head.
Mathew sighed in relief and let go.
"Man, I thought the old man had gone nuts when I heard that sound."
Edrin smiled lightly.
"Azek, did you succeed in getting a pass?"
Mathew suddenly remembered and looked at him as well, prompting an answer.
"Yes, I did."
"I see. That's good then. But what actually happened inside?" Edrin asked calmly.
Azek briefly described the encounter, omitting the key parts about the backlash and his new mana command theory.
"Wow, the old man is really nuts. To think he would throw a punch. I would literally be lying in the nursing room right now if that happened to me,"
Mathew commented as they walked toward their dormitory.
Edrin didn't comment. He fell into deep thought while observing Azek.
Swish…
Azek suddenly noticed a suffocating sensation—but it vanished as quickly as it came.
He fell into thought
.
He had experienced a similar sensation earlier in Sevile's office, but he hadn't been able to pinpoint what was wrong.
Now the sensation had returned, albeit only for a few seconds.
"Azek?" Edrin called out to him as he stared blankly into the hallway.
Azek shook his head. "It's nothing," he said, and followed his friends toward the dorms.
,,,,,,,
It was a rainy morning, and the atmosphere in the academy felt heavy.
A second-year student had collapsed on the academy premises the previous night.
He was currently lying unconscious in the nurse's office.
The professors had ordered complete isolation under the principal's directive, and no one was allowed near the infirmary.
No one knew exactly what had happened. He had been found unconscious by his roommate and brought to the clinic.
Despite appearing physically normal, he had not regained consciousness and seemed to have fallen into a coma-like state.
The incident was enough to cause concern among the students and raise safety questions within the academy.
The boy's parents had arrived early that morning after receiving the news.
Azek put his book down.
The morning lecture had been converted into self-study, so he had been in the library since early morning.
The academy had also imposed a curfew starting at 6 p.m. No student was allowed to wander alone; they were permitted to move only in groups during the daytime.
From the window, Azek saw professors moving busily, recasting and inspecting the protective spell that covered the academy.
He recalled the suffocating sensation he had experienced the previous day.
Books related to mana distortion and black magic were spread across the table before him.
Something was telling him that this was not something to ignore.
He closed the books.
The rain had stopped.
It was time for Professor Sevile's lecture.
Roll call ended, and the lecture began in a heavy atmosphere.
Professor Sevile continued without any change in expression.
Suddenly, there was movement outside.
Azek glanced through the window. Several students were rushing toward the corner of the hallway.
Then he felt it again—
A fleeting suffocating sensation.
Too similar to be a coincidence.
He immediately stood up.
The other students had already begun looking outside.
Azek rushed out, but Sevile was faster. The professor had already reached the end of the hallway.
A student had collapsed near the corner.
Her eyes were closed, and her hands clawed at something invisible around her throat, leaving bloody marks.
Veins bulged across her entire body.
Sevile immediately cast a protective spell and rendered her unconscious by directly severing the mana flow to her brain.
He lifted her and carried her toward the infirmary.
Azek had seen everything.
The movement of the girl's hands.
The bulging veins.
It was a clear sign of mana poisoning.
That condition was supposed to occur only in border cut-off regions where monster-infested corpses lay exposed.
Without hesitation, Azek released a thin strand of mana and began dividing it into smaller and smaller threads—
Until they became nearly invisible.
He arranged them into an intricate detection pattern and focused on sensing any fluctuation.
He was standing precisely where the girl had collapsed.
Slowly, he concentrated fully.
Then he saw it.
Something drifting past—
A black-red, smoky thread-like mass following a distinct path.
He traced it.
And there—
A pupil-less eyeball stared directly into his eyes.