This is the preview of my next story, which as I promised will be provided 100% for free to those who supported Depthless Hunger. Not everyone will be interested, but you'll get a chance to try it without paying anything else.
Some basic info first: I'm going to post the first set of chapters on a MWF schedule, because the first mini-arc is reasonably well-edited and unlikely to change. I don't guarantee that the schedule will be consistent after that, the goal is just to have posted preview chapters for backers before I launch on RR. There will be links and more info later.
Next, here is my draft for the RR description:
Time travel is forbidden, but Suria didn't have a choice.
When she transfers to Darkmoon University, the greatest magical academy in the world, she accidentally stumbles into a complex conspiracy that drew students into a time loop. Someone decided it was worth risking the death sentence in order to attain the unparalleled advantages of time travel... but Suria was never supposed to be there. Her education will be nothing like she expected as she attempts to solve a conspiracy too layered to possibly be unraveled in a single loop.
What to expect:
- Time loop with significant variation.
- Magic academy setting with real focus on the academy.
- Gradual non-LitRPG progression.
- Detailed magic system with in-depth spell construction.
- Series-spanning mysteries.
- MC is intelligent, but will have to overcome other intelligent characters, not easily be the smartest character in the room.
- Zero romance.
- Chapters MWF, double-sized first chapter.
All that said, the first chapter follows. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 1: First Day
Suria raced through unfamiliar city streets, hoping that she wasn't too late.
A voice in her head told her that there was probably no reason to rush. Darkmoon University had invited her halfway across the world to attend, so surely they wouldn't reject her for being a little late. Yet another voice kept whispering that she was a village healer from the middle of nowhere who didn't deserve to attend a world-class institution like Darkmoon, so any moment they would come to their senses and reject her.
She hadn't been able to afford the leyline ferry, in fact she hadn't even seen the legendary leylines except as a ribbon of light in the sky, so she was running late. The city of Darmkael was a dizzying maze of ancient streets, not much larger than the big cities from back home yet ten times more confusing. If it had been up to her, she would have taken days to simply soak in the city, adjusting to the chaos of so many different people and types of magic mixing together in one place.
At least there was no need to ask for directions: Darkmoon University stood at the highest point and the city of Darmkael was built around it. Suria looked up again, shivered at the sight of the ominous disc peeking through the clouds, and then forced her gaze back down. She had a choice between two meandering streets lined with shops, so after some indecision she made herself choose one.
As she turned a corner, Suria couldn't help but pause at the sight of a bookstore: she could see shelves packed with tomes through the glass. Just one store, yet it had more books than any collection she'd seen before, and a thousand times more books than she'd ever owned... her mouth practically watered as she tore herself away.
Instead she kept making turns toward the summit, and at last she spotted the main gates. As soon as she got a good look at Darkmoon University, her thoughts of the bookstore and the rest of the chaotic city fell away.
Walls of dark stone separated the university from the maze of streets, but what took her breath away were the glowing glyphs inscribed across them. Inscriptions and runic formations she'd never seen before, displayed for all to see as if they didn't embody amazing magic. She could have just stood and stared at them for hours, learning more the entire time.
Yet her eyes were instead dragged upward, above the warded walls to the tops of the buildings she could see beyond. A grand hall of marble beside what appeared to be an ancient fortress, with a tower piercing the clouds behind them. She was finally here.
Provided that she could get in: Suria pulled her eyes back down and saw that the final obstacle would be the gate and its guards. The buildings had caught her attention first, but as she shuffled closer, she realized that the armored figures weren't human. Just like that, another rumor had been confirmed: Darkmoon University really did have living statues.
The statues seemed to be made from a blue-white metal that she hadn't seen before, and as she approached, their heads pivoted to fix on her. She could see six of them, each clad in the same armor, carrying a traditional spear and combat gauntlet. They didn't block her path, but one stepped forward before she could get close to the silver gate.
"Darkmoon University is not open to visitors until the term begins," the statue told her. Its voice was more human than she expected, if a bit hollow. The metal jaw remained open for the time it spoke, then snapped shut. The eyes, on the other hand, rotated in their sockets with disturbing precision.
"I was invited," Suria said hastily, fumbling in her satchel for her papers. "I'm supposed to be here today for an interview..."
She trailed off as she thrust her papers forward like a shield. The statue guardian grasped them with its combat gauntlet and the eyes began flickering over the glyphs on the page.
That should have been reassuring, yet Suria still shifted nervously as she waited. Even if they didn't reject her, any kind of problem with her papers would be a disaster for her. Based on all the prices she had seen in the city, she couldn't afford lodging for even one night. Her entire trip hinged on the promise that her acceptance should, in theory, cover her room and board.
"Confirmed." The statue handed her papers back to her, then took a stiff step backward. "Your papers will grant you entrance to some buildings, but you should go to Convocation Hall for your interview."
"And... where is that?" Suria asked, her eyes flicking from the guards to the gate.
"Head forward from the entrance. On your way."
The silver gates shimmered as wards that must have been controlled by invisible glyphs opened for her. Suria swallowed and headed through, slowing down despite the need for haste. When she took her first step inside, she could practically feel the ancient magic in the earth.
Within she could see even more buildings, too many for her to identify them all. Unfortunately, there were no guides or maps to help her orient herself, so she clung to what the guard had told her: her destination was supposed to be forward from the entrance. The road from the gate branched several times, but the main path led to an impressive stone building, so that was hopefully her destination.
As she half-jogged toward it, Suria couldn't help but let her gaze wander a little. There weren't many other people around now, presumably because the term hadn't properly started. Unusual students like her needed to be sorted early, or so she understood. Everyone seemed very busy and not inclined to help if they even looked at her.
One building drew her gaze further away: she finally spotted the Sequential Library. Unlike all the other buildings, it was a perfect cube of dark marble without doors or windows. If the stories could be believed, it was the largest library in the entire world, with ancient texts that couldn't be found anywhere else. It wasn't as massive as she had expected given its reputation, yet the smooth surfaces seemed to promise endless wonder within.
If her papers allowed her inside, she could stop to read a little and calm herself... but no. Suria took a deep breath and forced herself to keep walking straight. Everything depended on her being accepted, so she couldn't allow herself to be distracted.
Nothing seemed to be labeled, so when she reached the large bronze doors, she could only hope they led to Convocation Hall. There were no guards, but when she reached out to touch the doors, they swung inward as if nearly weightless. She stopped in shock as a cavernous foyer opened before her, then pushed herself to scurry inward before the doors could close.
Though the building was rectangular, the foyer was an oval-shaped room with pillar-lined walls. At the center stood a statue of burnished bronze set atop an elaborate plinth, though unlike the statues by the gate, this was merely a human male upper body. Even though they were also made of bronze, the formal robes on its shoulders looked as soft as cotton. It held a scepter in one hand and some sort of ancient runebook in the other, though upon closer inspection the bronze pages appeared to be entirely fused together.
"Welcome to Convocation Hall!" the statue told her grandly. "You are rather early, so few staff are available."
"I'm here for an interview," Suria said, again wielding her papers. "I'm supposed to, umm..."
"How strange! But if your papers are in order, I'm sure the staff can assist you. Head down this hallway to the offices..."
The statue extended its scepter to the left, toward one of the two hallways that left the room. Knowing she was in the right place encouraged Suria a little, though her confidence eroded as she walked down the grand hallways. They were lined with paintings and tapestries, and there were carpets everywhere... a single room of this place was probably worth more than her entire village.
Despite the simple-seeming instructions, she almost got turned around several times due to the oddly angled passages. When she spotted a human guard she hoped he could guide her, but the man seemed to be impatient and just thrust a hand to his left. Suria winced at his expression and shuffled on, soon finding what appeared to be a waiting room.
Of course, it could have been a throne room back home. There were chairs and benches lying around, each of which would have been a treasure for the village headman, given their fine wood and plush cushions. Two other students waited there, a young man and woman about her age, and both looked like nobility to her.
Their casual respectability made Suria intensely self-conscious of her own appearance. Her glasses had been a sign of education in her home village but felt thick and clumsy by comparison to the finely-crafted jewelry she saw here. Suria had worried about how to handle her hair and hoped pinning it up would look professional, but it just appeared messy compared to the elaborate stylings of the woman sitting at the nearby table. And it went without saying that her hooded cloak was shabby compared to all the fine clothes she'd seen from across the world.
The idea of talking to either of them was too intimidating: the man was slumped over a table and the woman sat primly with barely a glance at her. There seemed to be an office door ahead of them, though, so this was likely the right place. Suria took a deep breath and sank into one of the fancy chairs.
Her body sank into the cushion and she almost let out a sigh as she realized how much she'd needed to get off her feet. It was so easy to imagine curling up in a chair like this and spending an entire day with a good book. Yet she hadn't actually confirmed that she was in the right place, even if everyone had led her here. Nothing was happening, making her increasingly nervous that she had misunderstood and was waiting in the wrong room.
As the time stretched on, Suria wondered if it would be better to turn around and-
Something vibrated through Suria's body and she felt her stomach do cartwheels. She almost would have believed it was just her anxiety, but she heard the man by the tables grunt, and a tapestry featuring a dragon eating its own tail clattered to the ground.
Had that been some sort of surge of magic? Suria frowned and looked around the room, trying to stretch her amateur mana senses, but the other two students were behaving as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was just a normal magical process, in a place like Darkmoon University, so Suria decided not to make herself look a fool by making a fuss over it.
"Ugh, this will never end!" Without warning, the pale-skinned young man who had been slumped at the table stood up and rubbed his hands through his hair. He was wearing the black and white robes of a student, though Suria didn't understand the uniforms enough to know anything more about him. "Are either of you next?"
"I haven't even spoken to the secretary. This delay is absurd."
The second speaker was the last person in the room, a young woman about Suria's age. Instead of the school uniform, she wore elaborate layered wraps in shades that flattered her perfect bronze skin. Wherever the other woman came from, Suria was quite sure that the purple cloth and fancy necklace spoke of great wealth, if not actual nobility.
"Arriving before the term begins is always insufferable," the young man said as he approached them. He clapped a hand to his chest in some sort of elaborate bow. "I'm Lirngelf Daesmad, by the way. No, not the scion of House Daesmad, just the third son."
"Pleased to meet you," the woman answered smoothly, inclining her head. "You have the honor of speaking to Maut-mai Thoeris."
"Huh, that's nobility over in Febek-Rai, isn't it?" Lirngelf frowned and looked her up and down. "Guess all kinds come to the university, huh?"
"I'm Suria Northbrook." Suria tried to introduce herself, but she spoke too quietly and the two other students didn't even seem to hear her. She swallowed and resolved to try again, only for the conversation to move on before she worked up the nerve.
"So why are you in Convocation Hall at a time like this?" Lirngelf asked. "I can tell you that I had much better things to do with my afternoon."
"I need to speak to the administration regarding the Water Society," Maut-mai answered. "If I'm going to transfer here, I need certain assurances."
"Hey, welcome! There's no better university in the world, believe me."
"And just what brings you here, on this afternoon you'd rather be spending elsewhere?"
"Oh, the problem is that my suite is in a completely unacceptable state." Lirngelf snorted as if he had been insulted. "I had that spot in the tower all last year, how can they have lost so much between terms?"
Maut-mai laughed softly, her hand covering her mouth, like a noblewoman from a play. "Weren't you just telling me this is the best university in the world?"
"In terms of magic, yes! In terms of housing, absolutely not!"
As the two of them continued to speak, Suria sank back, grateful that she hadn't entered the conversation. She had been thinking of trying to strike up a bond based on what they had in common as students. Apparently, she was the only one here for an interview that would decide her life.
Even still, part of her wanted to talk to them. Lirngelf had apparently already attended for one year, so he could reveal so many mysteries of Darkmoon University. And though Maut-mai was a prospective student, she hailed from another continent entirely and could have taught so much. Part of what excited Suria about Darkmoon was that it was one of the few places where people gathered from all over the world to study the deepest arts together.
"Ahem!"
The interruption was a very artificial cough, and it came from a stern middle-aged woman who had appeared in the doorway. Suria could only deduce a little information from her clothes: the black and white robes meant she was university staff, and the bright steel pin on her lapel that meant she was a seal-ranked mage, but she didn't have the collar of a full professor.
"Finally!" Lirngelf didn't let the woman talk, just strode toward her, then he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "We'll talk later, alright? I won't be long."
Despite his words, Lirngelf disappeared into the woman's office and didn't come out for some time. Maut-mai grew impatient and exited into the hallway, where Suria could faintly hear her demanding information from the guard. There had only been one on duty, since apparently this was an unusual time of day. All Suria knew about him was that he had been rude when she'd asked for directions earlier.
Suria decided that this didn't have anything to do with her. Instead she pulled her satchel into her lap and went over all its contents to reassure herself. First she adjusted her papers - without those, the university had no proof she was who she claimed to be. She had her talismans, each stone marked with one of the few spells she knew. After confirming everything was in order, as it had been the last dozen times, Suria opened her tattered book of glyphs to review what little she knew. There was no guarantee that she would be tested at all, at this stage, but she wanted to be prepared.
By the time Lirngelf left the office, still grumbling, Suria had only succeeded in making herself even more nervous. Maut-mai stepped in from the hall and glanced at her inquisitively, but Suria quickly shook her head. She could definitely use more time to study.
So the noblewoman entered the office second while Suria desperately reorganized her thoughts. There was no telling if she was actually prepared, but she reassured herself that she had been invited to come. She had passed a direct examination and been offered funding to study. By the time the office door opened again, Suria at least felt as though her thoughts were in order.
"And you are?" The middle-aged woman looked up at her sternly. She had been in the middle of some work, and now shoved a carved box aside to clear space on her desk. It was covered in papers, ledgers, and assorted tools like a knife and quills.
"I'm Suria Northbrook." Suria managed not to fumble her own name, so she stepped in and thrust out her papers. "I'm supposed to be considered for admission to Darkmoon University for the upcoming term."
"Oh, so you're the one. I am Proctor Shuguja. Give me those and sit down."
Suria handed over the papers and tried not to frown as she sank into another very expensive chair. Wasn't it considered impolite not to give someone a last name? Or maybe the title of proctor changed the grammatical rules, or maybe customs were different here. Since she had no intention of causing any fuss, Suria kept her mouth closed and forced a smile.
"So you were a regional healer, from some place I've never heard of near the Shantic States." Shuguja didn't look up from the papers. "Were you really such a talented healer that you were sent here? Seems like you should start with a regional city or something of that sort."
"I did transfer several times," Suria said. She had known there would be a question like that, so she was prepared. "Some of my instructors felt I had potential, so they encouraged me to submit an-"
"Oh, I see now." Shuguja set down the papers and looked at her with what might have been pity. "I'm afraid you're going to have a difficult time here, but your papers are in order. Just... do the best you can, I suppose. Whatever you can learn here will be worth a fortune at home."
Even though it was clearly an insult, Suria had been prepared for that too, and kept her smile on her face. "Thank you. Was that all we needed to confirm?"
"No, not quite. Darkmoon University does have certain minimum expectations for its students... do you understand that we study full scientific orthomancy here? We aren't performing tribal rituals, we're exploring the deepest workings of the world."
"Yes, I look forward to learning more about magic."
"It would be irresponsible of me to allow your admission if you don't even understand the basics. We get some provincials who think that 'glyphs', 'runes', and 'inscriptions' are all just interchangeable magic words... you do understand the core concepts, don't you?"
Yet another layer of condescension, so unpleasant compared to the kind man who had initially tested Suria and sent her toward Darkmoon University. But she had been prepared for all kinds of tests, including academic questions, so she had an answer ready.
"Runes are the grammar of magic," Suria explained, "and inscriptions are the power they direct. When you combine the two, you form a glyph, which becomes a spell that can be cast at will."
"An answer straight out of some book, I'm certain." Shuguja regarded her skeptically. "But even the simplest classes here require more than understanding of theory."
"I've been a practicing healer ever since my mana awakened." Suria had planned for a challenge like this: pain relief was one of her most familiar spells, which she could cast without even touching her talisman. Most scholars had a few aches or pains, so she could demonstrate subtle casting.
She started to pull her talismans from her satchel, but Shuguja immediately waved her off. The proctor reached into a drawer beside her and revealed a stone slate with a mage's stylus.
"There's no point in using spells you've already made in the past. I've seen too many students who manage to create one glyph by rote or brute force and then just cast it forever. All manner of crude tribal inscriptions, barely understood. The only proper test is seeing you form a glyph in real time."
Even though she was doing her best to fake confidence, Suria still hesitated and her breath caught in her throat. She was simply being handed a slate of pure runic stone, ten times better than her little talismans. And the mage's stylus... she'd only read about them as a new innovation popularized across the Akrashic Union. The stone rod was about the length of her hand with a firm wedge on one side and a brush on the other. It was simply being thrust at her, treated like it was a simple tool.
"You do know how to use this, right?" Shuguja's frown deepened.
"Of course." Suria forced herself to move, reaching out to take the stone and stylus. They were cool against her skin and she managed to avoid trembling. "What do you want me to show you?"
"I need to see a full glyph. Anything will do."
That wasn't unreasonable at all. Gaining a little confidence, Suria set the stone plate onto the desk in front of her and focused her mana into the stylus. The wedge-tip began to glow faintly, and despite her anxiety, when she pressed it down into the stone, it left a clear impression. One rune mark, far cleaner than she could have managed with her own wooden tools.
"And do you know what exactly you're doing?" Shuguja asked. She actually gave a small smile. "Willpower and practice can create a spell, but the flexibility for studying true magic requires real understanding."
"Each rune enforces my will upon the world," Suria explained as she pressed the stylus into the stone a second time. "They have no power alone, but combined, they will form a structure that can contain magic in a lasting form."
As she pressed the stylus into the stone a third time, Suria felt the pressure building up in her hand and a slight ache in her skull. The minimum useful shape was a triangle, and her strength gave out not long after that, but she pushed herself onward. She didn't have the breath to explain until she made a fourth mark, finishing a perfect square with the runes touching, and the tension vanished.
"This is the finished runic structure," Suria said, trying not to look pleased with herself. It had taken months of practice to create clean rune marks, but she knew that wasn't impressive here. "Now I'm going to fill the runes with a simple inscription I use for healing..."
She reached into her satchel and took out her familiar pot of ink, which she'd made herself from crushed bilegrass. As she dipped the brush of the stylus into it, she feared there would be some clash between the expensive stylus and her simple ink, but the brush seemed to soak up the magic immediately. Time for the next step.
Painting an inscription didn't feel like a drain, more like shaping the wind with her hand. The only danger was the magic of the ink exploding through the runes, but she had done this inscription many times and knew it would hold. That left her free to focus on the art, so she did her best to paint the elaborate brushstrokes cleanly within the square of her runes.
As she finished, Suria realized that she was smiling. She extended her will and felt the glyph fuse together into a finished spell, and it was just as satisfying as the first time she had done it. She could shape the fabric of the world with own will.
Even though this was a familiar procedure she'd done many times to prepare her talismans, she was still pleased that she had managed to do it under pressure. The sturdier stone plate would give the finished spell a little more power, and she felt like the stylus made even sharper runes, which would make it more efficient. If that didn't impress them, well, she couldn't do any better than that.
"I see." Shuguja was frowning at the stone plate, something odd in her eyes. "And what does this do?"
The question took Suria completely off-guard: she had assumed that everyone at Darkmoon University would have some method of instantly understanding any glyph they saw. But she'd reassured enough superstitious farmers that it didn't take her long to come up with an answer.
"This is a simple healing spell," Suria explained. "It helps to close open wounds... of course, it's only a small inscription and four runes, so it doesn't work very fast. But it also prevents rot from setting in, so it can make all the difference in a patient's recovery."
"Meaning it doesn't work at all if no one is injured." Shuguja looked up at her, eyes hard. "Not a very practical demonstration, is it?"
"I..." Suria had just assumed the magic itself would be enough. She supposed it made a sort of sense, that she couldn't really offer a demonstration of her skill with a spell like this. Of course, she didn't exactly have a lot of options...
"You have to understand, y-"
"Let me show you." Suria spotted the knife sitting on the desk and snatched it up, then pressed the edge against her arm. She hesitated at the last second, since she didn't have the nerve to cut open her own flesh. But she had seen plenty of wounds before, she shouldn't be squeamish, she just needed to force the edge through her skin and she was confident she could heal the cut.
"Easy there!" Shuguja had stared in shock at first, then reached out to take the knife from her. "You don't need to go that far."
"If I haven't proved myself, I want to," Suria said, looking around for another sharp object.
"You've grasped the fundamentals of runes, inscriptions, and glyphs. That's sufficient."
"Are you sure? You said I'd have a difficult time here."
"Look." Shuguja pressed the knife down on the table and stared at her. "Most of the students will know more inscriptions than you do, have a higher runic capacity, and be completely comfortable forming glyphs. But you're here to learn the theory, so if you've grasped the practical basics, you should be able to benefit from some of the classes."
"I see." Suria picked up the stone plate carefully, looking over her glyph. "What kind of spell do most students show?"
"To tell you the truth, I almost never serve as proctor for new students like this. Most students have already been approved through their families. This new business with handing out charity is-"
"It's a scholarship."
"Yes, that's the newfangled term." Shuguja rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "It's not my place to set policy. Your papers are in order and you can form a glyph. If you really want to attend Darkmoon University, the only question is if you're suited to it."
What followed was a series of questions that was more stressful than the actual magical test. Suria had planned for lots of things, but not being accosted like this, much less questions like what her "greatest weakness" was. It all felt pointless and she wondered if Shuguja wasn't simply putting up barriers to try to dissuade her.
Had Suria done something to upset the proctor? The older woman had been stern from the beginning, but not this hostile. Perhaps there was some detail of high society manners that Suria had bungled like the peasant she was. She should have felt shame, but instead she had to swallow a rising tide of anger.
Instead of talking about how much she loved magic, Suria gave simple answers about how she wanted to become a better healer and help more people. Even when the questions implied an insult, she forced herself not to take the bait. She kept giving simple answers until at last Shuguja sat back and pulled a sheet of silver paper from another drawer.
"There's only one step remaining," the proctor explained. "You need to confirm that you understand the risk you're taking by coming here. Darkmoon University is not some provincial school teaching the classical poets. This is the site of cutting-edge research from across the world, with commensurate risks. Signing the contract means accepting those risks."
Suria carefully read over the paper, struggling with some of the trickier words since Taedric was her second language, but she wasn't worried. It was well known how dangerous Darkmoon University could be and she'd accepted that when she left home. All she wanted to confirm was that the paper didn't force her to agree with anything suspicious. There was an elegant glyph on the bottom, somehow stamped into paper, but that just affirmed her signing. She was no expert, but she knew that soul-binding agreements were much more elaborate.
And so Suria signed, and finally became a student at Darkmoon University.
For a moment a real smile broke across her face: after working so long, then traveling across the world, she was finally here. Whatever had gone wrong in the interview, however she might have fallen short, she had gained admission. An entire world of magic was open to her now...
"Good enough." Shuguja examined the paper and then began putting her own signature on another. "Take this to the Hall of Thrones and they-"
"Where is that?" Suria asked.
"It's the big castle beside the lake, you can't miss it. Explaining all that isn't my job, there are other people who will arrange for your robes, help you make housing decisions, and get you signed up for classes. We always get the exceptions out of the way early, so you have a few days."
Thoughts of what was to come, even getting her own robes, buoyed Suria on a current of happiness as she left the room. She hardly knew what she wanted to do first. Perhaps find student housing, as her money hadn't been enough for a hotel on the way, and all at once she was more tired than she expected.
The waiting room was empty now and Suria rushed through it, back to the grand hallway lined with paintings. Navigating the halls had been a little confusing on the way in, but leaving was simple. She soon reached the large foyer, where she immediately noticed Lirngelf: he was arguing with the guard beside the entrance statue. Suria took a wide arc around them toward the double doors that would take her back to the campus.
"What do you mean, the wards are up?" Lirngelf demanded.
"There's a simple incident," the statue said in a hollow voice. "Do not fear, staff are taking care of it."
"I'll take care of you, you damn statue! Say that again and I'll throttle you!"
"Don't attack school property!" the guard barked.
Suria hurried to the door, as if by not listening to what they were saying she could deny the truth of what their words implied. But when she pushed on the doors, they refused to budge. Her sense for magic was still weak, more focused on healing and illness than a grand concept like "wards", but it seemed clear that magic bound the doors shut.
For a moment she refused to believe it, instead fumbling around with the handles. As if it would just be a misunderstanding, and she would have foolishly missed a latch that allowed her to walk outside. Yet as she found nothing, panic began to rise in her throat even though she didn't understand why. Everything had finally been going well...
"That's far enough." The guard suddenly grabbed her shoulder and dragged her away from the door with a grip like iron. "Why does everyone need to go check for themselves?"
"Why is the door warded?" Suria asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the guard heard her and simply scowled.
"I don't know, but mistakes can happen, especially with new wards."
"It is for your protection," the statue interjected. "Do not f-"
"Agh, shut up!" Lirngelf ran his hands through his hair as he pivoted toward her. "Something went wrong with the stupid wards. Whoever is responsible for bungling this, they'll be sorry."
The guard seemed irritated, and was still gripping Suria's shoulder as if she might run off. Before she could free herself or think about what to say, they were interrupted by Maut-mai entering from one of the side corridors. She looked as elegant as before, but her mouth was a tense line.
"All exits are warded," she told them stiffly. "Does this sort of thing happen regularly, at this university?"
"This is the first time," Lirngelf said. "I'm telling you, someone is going to lose their position over this. This is completely unacceptable."
Everyone began to talk at once. The two nobles were bickering and complaining, the guard kept trying to calm them down, and the statue continued repeating platitudes. It was all too much for Suria and she just wanted to run away, to find some quiet nook and be away from everyone else. And just when she thought she couldn't get any more miserable, the walls exploded.
An invisible vortex pierced the room: one of the walls seemed to peel open as force pierced it, carrying the stones through the air in a deceptively fast spiral. It passed through the base of the statue, tearing it into tiny chunks that followed the same strange arc. The result was almost beautiful, as if a god had run a line through the room and twisted reality.
A second later all sense of beauty vanished as rubble cascaded in all directions. Suria was mostly shielded by the others but she still felt a piece of marble glance off her forehead. Lirngelf was bellowing in anger, Maut-mai was screaming, and the guard was shoving them toward the ground.
Fire blazed through the hole in the wall: this was no surreal magic, it was simple brute force. The guard whirled to face it, a glyph lighting up on his gauntlet. Whatever he had been attempting to do, it was useless: a bolt of fire seared through his breastplate as if it wasn't even there. He was on his feet for a terrible second, then his body slumped to the ground, his eyes smoking.
Suria's breath caught in her throat. She had seen death before, but never like this. A life had been snuffed out in an instant.
There was a man floating in the center of the damaged chamber, with a lean jaw and bright silver hair, but she barely looked at his face. He was wearing university robes, including the collar that meant he was an archmage, one of the most powerful people in the world. One hand held a mighty runebook and the other was raised to cast, but instead he simply stared at them.
"No... it cannot be." The archmage looked between them, and Suria desperately hoped he would ignore her, but the man's gaze fell on her and stayed there. "The ritual is flawed... such a small flaw, and yet..."
As they stared at one another, the moment seemed to stretch forever. Suria failed to put words to what she saw in the man's expression: sorrow? anger? disbelief? He closed his eyes, and when he opened them she saw something new, his emotions solidifying into an inexplicable grief.
Before she could see what it was, explosions rocked the room. Suria had the briefest glimpse of several more archmages flying into the room, casting more quickly than she could follow, and then the flames engulfed her. She didn't even feel pain, she simply fell into darkness...
~
And opened her eyes sitting in a wooden chair. Suria's stomach had just lurched painfully and she caught her breath, freezing in confusion. This looked exactly like the waiting room. She could still feel the flames surrounding her and yet here she was, unburned. It didn't make any sense.
The tapestry fell beside her and clattered to the floor again.