I rose quickly, lifting Clove and stepping out of the bath. “You stay here.”
“No! I’m coming with you!”
I pointed at her. “I’m just going to check.”
Before I could get my filthy shirt back on, a cacophony of shouts came from the street below.
I threw the window open. What I saw made my stomach twist.
The Tower stood tall and proud in the moonlight. From the slim, dark slits in the sides, a slow stream of black mist trickled out.
Dread twisted my insides. It couldn’t be… not so soon. Not now.
And here I’d thought that Ria had more time. That I had more time.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
Clove, holding a towel around her soaked body, went pale at the sight of it. “Luc… what is that?”
“Wash up quickly,” I said. “If you want to go to the Academy with me, at least. You’re welcome to stay here.”
I knew she wouldn’t, and just as I suspected, she gave me a tired stare that seemed to say, Really, Luc? Really?
Clove performed a simple cleaning spell on my clothing, which was a relief.
She freshened up faster than I thought possible, and within ten minutes, we were on Main St., heading toward the Tower.
Mabel had run out of the inn, scared and needing Clove. But Clove only gave her a quick hug and made her promise to stay inside.
The rest of our classmates seemed to have had the same idea. We all arrived within five minutes, waiting by our room.
Cazima’s wings rustled restlessly.
Ash’s armor was gone.
Instead, she was wearing comfortable training clothes, her silver hair in a long braid down her back. Rhys was muttering something to the bear shifter and the two youngest students in our class.
Jam seemed to appear out of a shadow. She spotted us instantly and stood by our side as we waited with our class.
But it wasn’t Rava who came to find us. It was Nessie.
She was more solemn than usual. Not a single spark of fire was in her words when she said, “Figured you all would be here. Come on. We’re going to the general assembly hall.”
Jam hustled toward us as we followed Nessie. “What do you think is happening? Why is the Tower leaking black smoke?”
Because the void is already leaking through, I answered, though I could never say it aloud.
We entered an auditorium, the seats already filling with the hundreds of students from the Academy, the stage already lined with tired-looking teachers and staff.
Rava was up there, too; the only person not sporting the school’s crest.
Clove was quiet and wringing her hands.
I reached over and held them.
“Everything’s going to be alright, Clove,” I said quietly into her ear.
She bounced her leg, anxious. “What’s going to happen to the Tower? The city? Are the monsters already pouring out?”
“No. If they were, I doubt the staff would bring us here. They know the situation the most intimately. If they thought our lives were in danger now, we’d be evacuating. Not waiting for a speech.”
Clove exhaled. “You’re right. That makes much more sense.”
From the other side of Clove, Jam leaned forward and added, “Besides, I saw some adventurers coming out of the Tower entrance. One of them was badly injured. Something happened in there. Could have been a spell gone wrong or a monster they couldn’t defeat.”
I really hope it isn’t a demon.
I was looking forward to the journey ahead. I’d learned new spells and deepened my bond with light mana.
When I’d first arrived, years of mortal living stretched ahead of me in my imagination.
But now, all I could think of was how little time I really had.
If the Tower was becoming exponentially unstable, I wasn’t even sure if I’d have the power to fix it.
A woman raised her hand in the sea of teachers below, and everyone fell silent.
Rava stepped forward. “As you all have been informed about the trouble of our Tower, this is the best place to discuss recent events. A party of five adventurers — well seasoned and experienced — were just nearly killed in the Tower’s seventh level.”
The students broke out into worried murmuring.
Rava glared them into silence and then added, “Seeing that those who have beaten the levels cannot do so again, many of our teachers and staff are unable to directly help. We are appealing to all available adventurers to help us. And we’re also turning to you.”
They’re going to ask us to beat the first level, aren’t they?
“Purely on a volunteer basis,” Rava clarified. “I ask you to consider entering your next available level with your party. You are required to have a group of at least three people for safety reasons.
“Anyone above level five will need at least four people in their party. All participants must be willing.
“My class is made up of first-year students who were supposed to enter the first level four weeks from now, once I was satisfied with their strength and progress. But desperate times call for unreasonable solutions.”
A voice called from the audience. An older woman at the front raised her hand and asked, “Are you certain that having us students beat the next level will rebalance the Tower?”
Nessie leapt forward, causing Rava to stumble back in surprise. “Yes! I have been running some tests on the Tower. We may not be able to see all the way up into those levels by ourselves, so I had the last adventurer’s group take one of my mana crystals up with them to test what was happening.
“We’re not certain what this dark misty-smoke is, but it’s clear it has something to do with the Tower’s growing imbalance. This is only the second time it’s appeared, and I’ve been informed that it’s only shown up in the higher levels.
“However, mana crystals seem to react to the dark matter’s energy. They become brighter when the dark energy is present, and they dim when the dark energy is scarce.
“After the last group of adventurers defeated the sixth level, the crystal dimmed significantly! It’s not a perfect test, but it does tell us that beating the levels helps. At least a little!”
The woman nodded thoughtfully. “That’s good to know. Thank you.”
Rava dismissed the assembly, calling for our written consent forms to be submitted by midnight with the names of our party members included.
We’d be entering the first level tomorrow morning.