The end-of-class bell rang — and to Maria, it sounded like mercy.

  The professor closed his book and tossed the chalk onto the desk.

  "Don't forget, the essays on the 'History of the Border Wars' are due next week."

  As soon as the sentence ended, the silence of the class was broken by the sound of wooden chair legs dragging on the floor and the chatter of students.

  Maria began packing her things with slow, mechanical movements. Her hands trembled slightly; side effects of sleep deprivation and the constant consumption of herbal stimulants to stay awake.

  The whispers started, as always. This time not about her victory over Damian, nor about her fainting in magic class. Today, the whispers had shifted—to her fall.

  "Did you see her name on the remedial class list?"

  "Yeah... looks like the 'Strategy Genius' was just a fleeting spark."

  "I heard she fell asleep in Math class too. Honestly... what hope did Edward have in her?"

  Maria didn't lift her head. Her gaze was fixed on the buttons of her backpack.

  She didn't get angry, nor did she grind her teeth. She didn't even curse them in her heart.

  The feeling she had was beyond anger. It was numbness.

  When your soul is being crushed under the weight of a heavy secret (Varon's lab), childish taunts no longer hurt. They were just background noise.

  She slung her backpack over her shoulder. Its weight pulled her shoulders down.

  Without looking at anyone, she stood up.

  She passed through the rows of desks and chairs, like a ghost drifting through the living. She bumped into people but didn't apologize. She just wanted to get out. She wanted to reach the cold air.

  Sarah, sitting in the front row, hurriedly shoved her books into her bag. For a few days, Maria had become like a shadow; coming, sitting, and leaving. Without a word, without a look.

  Sarah grabbed her bag and ran toward the door.

  "Maria! Wait!"

  But the flood of students wanting to leave the class separated them like a wall of flesh.

  Sarah tried to squeeze past two burly boys.

  "Excuse me... let me through..."

  When she finally reached the exit door and the hallway, she turned her head left and right.

  The hallway was full of students, but that black hair and the backpack were nowhere to be seen.

  Maria was gone—swallowed by the crowd.

  Sarah stood in the doorframe for a few seconds. Her shoulders slumped.

  She didn't frown. She wasn't angry either. Just... missing her. And worried.

  She saw the change in Maria. The hollows under her eyes, the trembling of her hands, and the strange smell of chemicals that always accompanied her.

  Sarah hugged her bag tight and stared down the hallway.

  She whispered under her breath, so only she could hear:

  "When are you finally going to talk to me? Before you're completely lost..."

  She sighed and went in the opposite direction, toward the library. She knew Maria's bed would be empty tonight as well.

  ***

  The sun hadn't fully set yet, but deep in the underground corridors, time had no meaning.

  Maria had come earlier than usual. Her remedial class had been canceled, and instead of returning to the dorm and facing Sarah's worried looks, she preferred to come to her cold,

  silent sanctuary.

  She took the spiral stairs two at a time. The sound of her footsteps echoed in the heavy silence of the corridor.

  She reached the massive metal door.

  Usually, at this hour, the door was locked, and she had to wait for Varon to arrive and deactivate the security system. But today, the small light on the mana panel was green.

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  The door is open?

  Maria clenched her fist and knocked twice on the cold metal.

  Bang... Bang...

  A few seconds of silence.

  Then the sound of heavy gears turning was heard, and the door opened inward with a low groan.

  Maria took a step forward, but froze.

  Varon stood in front of the door.

  But this wasn't the usual Varon sitting behind a desk working with a magnifying goggles.

  He stood right in front of Maria.

  He was wearing a thick white apron over his coat. An apron that was no longer white.

  Large, fresh stains of dark blood were splattered across his chest and stomach. The blood drops were still wet and glistened under the room's white light.

  In his right hand was a long, shiny scalpel, from the tip of which a viscous, black liquid dripped.

  The pungent smell of iron (the smell of blood) mixed with the smell of chemicals, tainting the corridor air.

  Varon looked at Maria. His eyes were colder than ever.

  Maria swallowed her saliva, but her legs moved automatically. She couldn't retreat.

  She entered.

  The smell of blood and preservatives (formaldehyde) inside the room was so thick she could taste it.

  Her eyes passed Varon and fixed on the center of the room.

  On the large metal table in the middle of the laboratory.

  Her body froze where she stood.

  A slow, creeping cold climbed from her toes and settled deep inside her bones.

  On the table, under the blinding light of surgical lamps, lay a corpse.

  A small creature, with fur as black as night.

  Sharp claws... long ears... and three whip-like tails hanging lifelessly from the edge of the table.

  Its chest had been opened with metal clamps, exposing its internal organs.

  Maria's mind went blank. The sound of her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

  No...no…no… he found it. He finally found it.

  Her breath caught in her chest, her lungs refusing to draw air. The image of that creature resting in her arms merged with this lifeless mass of flesh and blood on the table.

  I told it to go... told it to hide... but it got caught.

  Nausea rolled through her. Her legs went weak, and she had to grab the cold doorframe to keep from falling.

  Her eyes frantically roamed over the creature's body. Looking for a sign.

  The bandage... I bound its wound. Where is it?

  But the creature's chest and abdomen were so torn open that identifying the previous wound was impossible. Its black, shiny skin was now dull and drenched in dark blood.

  The room seemed to shrink around her.

  Varon, busy separating muscle tissue from bone, noticed the long silence and the sound of irregular breathing behind him.

  He stopped. He placed the scalpel on the metal tray. The clink of metal on metal broke the silence.

  He frowned and looked at the wall clock, then at Maria.

  "You're early. Your shift hasn't started."

  But Maria didn't answer. She had turned white as chalk; her eyes locked on the corpse on the table.

  The slight trembling of her hands didn't escape Varon's sharp eyes. He followed Maria's gaze and reached the carcass on the table.

  A brief smirk flickered across his face. Not out of mockery, but out of understanding Maria's mistake.

  He pulled his bloody gloves off his hands with a stretching sound and threw them on the table.

  "Calm down, girl. Breathe."

  He went to the table and, with complete nonchalance, ran his hand over the dead creature's head.

  "This isn't that one."

  Maria blinked. As if she didn't understand Varon's words.

  "What...?"

  "I said this isn't the escaped specimen. That one is still free... for now."

  Maria took a step forward with trembling knees.

  "Then... what is this?"

  "A replacement. I couldn't stop my project because of the guards' incompetence."

  Varon picked up a cloth and wiped his hands.

  "Bought this from 'Xenia Black Market' smugglers this morning. Poachers always have interesting things for sale. They charge a king’s ransom for it, of course. True, it doesn't have the quality of the escaped specimen, but it'll do for now."

  Maria let out the breath she had been holding.

  Thank God. It's not it... it's alive. Still alive.

  Relief hit her so hard her knees nearly gave, but immediately gave way to a heavy grief.

  This creature on the table, although not it, was of the same kind. It too once breathed, feared, and felt pain. And now... it was just spare parts.

  Maria tried to pull herself together. She took a few deep breaths, put her mask of indifference back on, and stepped forward to stand beside Varon.

  "Why?"

  A short question, but full of accusation.

  Varon, while arranging his surgical tools, asked:

  "Why what? Why did I buy it? Or why am I cutting it to pieces?"

  "Why don't you leave it be? We are trying to build a 'circuit', not run a butcher shop."

  Varon picked up a clean cloth and wiped his face, which had gotten bloody. His look became serious and scientific.

  "Look, Maria... we have two types of magic circuits."

  He pointed to the magic bracelet on the table.

  "Type one: circuits that simulate human magic. Building these is easy. Why? Because humans can talk. A mage comes and tells you: 'When I make a fireball, I feel the magic like this.' And you turn that feeling into a formula."

  Then he pointed with the tip of the tweezers to the open chest of the creature on the table.

  "But type two: circuits that simulate the innate magic of monsters. Like this 'Shadow Movement'."

  Varon stared straight into Maria's eyes.

  "These creatures don't talk. They can't tell you how they bypass physics. They are wild. They act on instinct."

  He put the tweezers into the chest cavity and carefully revealed a black, crystalline object pulsating among the tissues.

  A Mana Core.

  "The only way to understand their secret is to analyze this. Reverse engineering nature's masterpiece. We have to open this engine to understand how it works."

  Maria looked at the core with disgust.

  "This isn't a good justification for slaughter."

  Varon frowned. His voice became firm, with unwavering faith in his work.

  "This isn't slaughter, this is 'defense'."

  He pointed to the stone walls, as if on the other side of the walls were the townspeople.

  "If we don't do this... if we don't understand how these creatures pass through walls and hide in shadows... the next time one of these enters the city or the palace, hundreds will die. Women, children... those who can't defend themselves."

  Varon pulled the core out with the pliers. Viscous liquid dripped from it.

  "I'm not a butcher here, Maria. I'm a savior. Just my clothes get bloody so others' clothes stay clean."

  Maria said nothing. Varon's logic was the logic of "necessary evil." Logic Maria had heard many times in her previous life as a bodyguard, but it was still hard to digest.

  "Get ready. I want to connect the core to the 'Analyzer Circuit'."