Chapter 3: Mana Storm and Misunderstandings
Ordanis Academy wasn't just a school—it was a city built atop an arcane reactor the size of a fortress.
Mana pipelines flowed through it like veins, powering floating dorms, teleport pads, sentient cleaning golems, and twenty-seven libraries. Twenty-seven. I counted.
Which made it hilarious when the place broke down on day three.
---
"Warning: instability in Sector 5. Mana surge detected. All students are advised to evacuate to designated shelters."
The announcement blared through crystalline speakers embedded in the hallway walls.
I was not in Sector 5.
I was under it.
Specifically, in an abandoned ventilation shaft beneath the library's western wing. I had just located a collapsed wall that hid the [Pillar of Unweaving]—a sealed chamber containing a relic that could dismantle spells and enchantments. Extremely handy in a world where everyone throws fireballs like dodgeballs.
Then the lights flickered.
The walls groaned.
And suddenly—BOOM.
A wave of raw mana blasted through the shaft, flinging me across the stone corridor.
---
I groaned, rolling onto my side, blinking through the neon blue haze.
The air around me shimmered—mana storm. Raw, unstable magic surging like a wild current.
I had ten, maybe fifteen minutes before it either collapsed the tunnels or mutated me into a crab or something. Not the good kind.
Footsteps echoed ahead.
"Anyone there!?" a voice called.
I froze. That voice—
Silver hair. Golden eyes. Long coat flowing like a cape.
Reina Von Lysser.
What was she doing down here?
Before I could hide or activate a stealth spell, she spotted me.
"You."
"Hi," I coughed. "You're not going to stab me, right?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you underground during a containment breach?"
"Why are you underground?"
"I asked first."
"...I like tunnels."
A pause. Her expression didn't change, but I could feel the judgment.
Then the tunnel shook again—louder this time. Arcs of mana crackled along the walls, like magical lightning looking for a target.
A moment later, the thing responsible crawled into view.
Eight limbs. Armor of cracked crystal. A face like a melted spider golem.
A rogue Mana Wraith.
Spawned when too much unstable energy collects and binds to residual thoughts—usually from dead students.
Charming.
"Oh great," I muttered. "A storm-born death bug. Just what I needed today."
Reina stepped forward. "I'll handle this."
She raised her hand. A white-gold spell circle spun into existence, layered with complex glyphs.
"Wait!" I blurted. "You can't cast—"
Too late.
She launched a compressed mana bolt.
The wraith absorbed it.
Then screamed.
The tunnel exploded in mana backlash, sending both of us flying.
---
We landed in a broken storage room full of old alchemy ingredients and one very confused janitor skeleton.
I sat up, wheezing. Reina stood, unharmed, dusting her coat.
"What the hell was that thing?" she asked, voice tight.
"Mana Wraith," I said. "You can't use direct spells. It eats mana."
"Then tell me next time!"
"I tried! You were too busy being a protagonist!"
She blinked. "What?"
"Nothing."
The wraith screeched again, burrowing toward us.
"Alright," I said, standing with a groan. "No mana spells. That means physical damage. You got a sword?"
She summoned a rapier of glowing glass.
"Cool. I have... a shovel."
She stared.
"It's enchanted."
---
The fight was fast and ugly.
The wraith darted forward, limbs spinning. Reina blocked two strikes with elegant footwork and slashed its flank, sending shards of crystal flying.
I circled behind it, activating [Rusted Ring of Eos], one of my hidden pieces. For ten seconds, it added divine damage to physical strikes.
I leapt up and whacked the creature right between its melted eyes with my enchanted shovel.
CRACK.
It shrieked.
"You just smited it with a garden tool," Reina said, breathless.
"Yeah, well, some of us work with what we've got."
The wraith tried to regenerate, but she pierced its core with a lunge that sent energy cascading through its cracked shell.
It collapsed into mana mist.
We stood in silence, catching our breath.
I grinned. "Not bad, Princess."
"I outrank a princess."
"Noted."
---
Afterwards, as we climbed out of the collapsed sector via an emergency elevator, Reina glanced at me.
"You knew what that thing was. And how to beat it."
"...I read a lot."
"No one else in our year would have reacted that fast."
I shrugged. "I'm not special. Just paranoid."
She looked like she wanted to ask more—but didn't.
Instead, she said, "Next time we're underground and something tries to eat us, you tell me before I cast."
"Deal."
"And get a better weapon."
"Shovel's staying. It's personal now."
---
Later that night, I added the [Broken Mana Core] from the defeated Wraith to my inventory. It would be useful for crafting a barrier charm three arcs from now.
Two hidden pieces, one improvised relic, and one pissed-off noble genius later—I was still alive.
But I'd been noticed.
Which was dangerous.
Time to lay low. Or plan better.
...Maybe both.