After eating meals from their private chefs, Asher, Clayton, and Eric decided to eat in the mess hall for a change. They thought it could help them think differently and give them a breath of fresh air.
The moment Clayton entered the mess, he was surprised a bit; the mess was no less than a 7-star hotel in his previous life. Just as he was approaching his table, he noticed Eric and Asher coming towards him.
Some students pulled out their devices and started recording it. even though there were rumors about these three meeting, no one officially saw them but now, eating dinner together, that was new.
Strangely, it was a peaceful dinner for them, with no talk of politics and schemes.
After eating their meals, all three of them stepped outside the mess.
Clayton knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the courtyard outside the mess hall. Not because of the quiet—Vyrith was always strangely silent between classes—but because of the stillness. The kind that comes before a storm.
Asher arrived seconds later, eyes sharp as ever. Eric trailed behind, glancing down at his comm-band. All three froze when the alert pinged on their wristbands simultaneously.
"Special Demonstration in Arena Three. Attendance is mandatory for all Novice students. Subject: Controlled Illusory Binding. Instructor Marvin presiding."
Clayton's heart skipped. "That's not a real class."
"No," Asher said coldly. "It's a show of force."
Eric narrowed his eyes. "Or a warning."
They moved quickly.
Arena Three was one of the smaller underground practice rings beneath the Lecture Spire. Usually reserved for private duels or delicate spell tests—not general lectures. The fact that Marvin had booked it for a "demonstration" meant he had backing. Someone important had greenlit this.
By the time they arrived, the arena was already half full. Rank 2 students filled the tiers in a low buzz of conversation. None of them seemed to realize what was really going on.
At the center of the platform stood Instructor Marvin, calm as a pond, dressed in ceremonial black with silver runes glinting faintly along his sleeves. Behind him floated a single card—one that shimmered with gold arcane thread.
Clayton's chest tightened.
That card wasn't just similar to Mirage Cascade.
It was the same.
"He's showing it off," he muttered. "Publicly."
"Sanitizing it," Eric added grimly. "He's turning a cursed object into a teaching tool. Normalizing it."
Marvin's voice echoed across the arena. "Today, we'll witness the demonstration of a rare illusion construct—unearthed during an exploratory sweep near the Verdant Ridges."
Clayton clenched his jaw. Liar.
Asher kept watching, arms folded. "He's fearless."
"That's what I don't get," Eric said quietly. "How is he doing this so openly? Shouldn't someone have stopped him already?"
That was the question sitting at the center of all their unease.
How was Marvin getting away with this?
He was no Master-ranked professor. Just an Instructor. Elective tier. Disposable by most academy standards. And yet here he was—conducting a mandatory demonstration with a supposedly unregistered artifact, backed by administrative authority.
And no one was stopping him.
No reprimands. No inspection. No professors are shutting this down.
"Is the academy blind?" Clayton whispered. "Or are they complicit?"
Neither answer was comforting.
Marvin began the demonstration. He summoned strands of illusion magic from the card, forming a halo of mirrored projections—identical copies of himself walking in a slow, perfect circle. The crowd gasped as the figures shifted, adapted, and interacted. Impressive for the untrained eye.
But Clayton wasn't impressed.
He recognized the magic.
Layered illusions. Interactive reflections. Arcane syncing patterns matching the exact behavior of Mirage Cascade.
"Is he really just... showing everyone?" Eric asked. "Broadcasting it?"
"Maybe that's the point," Asher said quietly. "Flood the system. Drown us in noise. Make the anomaly impossible to isolate."
When the performance ended, Marvin bowed once and smiled faintly.
"Due to the academy's continued commitment to advancing arcane frontiers, a limited number of these illusion constructs will be made available to select Novice students—under guided study."
The arena buzzed with excitement.
Students turned to each other, eyes wide. Most of them had no idea what they were being handed. They saw power. Rarity. Opportunity.
Clayton felt sick.
"He's distributing them," he said. "They're planting more seeds."
Eric nodded. "Making the cards common. That way, any red flag we raise gets buried."
Asher, still expressionless, murmured, "And by offering them as academic tools, he's painting us as paranoid if we object."
It was a brilliant political move. By normalizing the use of these illusion cards, Marvin made their warnings seem fringe. Alarmist. If everyone had one, how could it possibly be dangerous?
And more importantly—how could Clayton and Asher prove their versions were different?
The three stayed behind as the crowd filed out, voices echoing off the polished stone walls. Excitement. Confusion. Wonder.
"What are we missing?" Eric asked quietly. "Why is no one stopping this?"
Asher finally spoke, eyes still on the now-empty platform. "Because someone gave him permission."
Clayton frowned. "You think he's got internal backing?"
"I think," Asher said carefully, "someone with enough power to bypass normal clearance has sanctioned Marvin's project. And if that person is high enough up the chain…"
Eric nodded. "Then even the professors might not know."
"And if they do," Clayton added darkly, "they're pretending they don't."
Asher turned to them, voice clipped. "We need to escalate. This isn't just a rogue instructor. This is a test program. A behavioral experiment using illusion cards to shift student imprints."
"And if we say that aloud," Eric said, "we sound insane."
"That's why we need proof," Clayton replied.
They made their way back to Asher's apartment, silent until the door closed behind them.
Clayton dropped into a chair and stared at the wall. "You know what this means, right? Even if we find out who's behind Marvin—this is bigger than us. It's baked into the structure."
Asher gave a slow nod. "That's what makes it dangerous."
They debated their next steps for nearly an hour.
Clayton proposed tracking students who accepted the distributed cards—checking for patterns, imprint changes, and even behavioral shifts. Eric suggested baiting Marvin into revealing more of his plan, perhaps during faculty reviews or midterm planning. Asher began sketching out a political angle—submitting a falsified research proposal that might force Marvin into a peer review process.
Then Clayton's comm-band buzzed.
Message from Unknown Contact: "You're too late."
He froze.
The others looked up instantly.
Asher read it aloud, voice flat. "They're watching us."
Clayton clenched his teeth. "They're taunting us."
Eric's expression turned icy. "Good. That means they're scared."
But none of them smiled.
Because now the game had changed again.
The person—or group—behind Marvin wasn't just operating from the shadows.
They were showing their face.
And they wanted the three of them to know it.
As the tension thickened in the room, Asher finally spoke, his voice calm but deliberate. "I know someone. Someone who might have insight into how Marvin got clearance for all this. I'll talk to that person."
While Eric was a bit confused, Clayton guessed who Asher was going to ask this Veyra.