The shattered lights crackled across the marble floor, sparks dancing like dying stars. Students screamed, chairs toppled, and magical energy rippled chaotically through the room. Victoria and the other top-ranked students responded instantly shields blooming before Professor Spark even finished shouting instructions.
But Max barely heard any of it.
The weapon strapped to his back pulsed.
And the world stopped.
Sound evaporated. Motion froze. Even the sparks hovering midair stalled, suspended in time.
Max blinked. His own breathing sounded distant, like he was underwater.
"Max."
The voice wasn't in his head this time.
He turned slowly.
A girl stood there—pale, translucent, her hair a flowing midnight curtain, her eyes a deep violet that shimmered like galaxies. Her feet didn't quite touch the ground. Her presence bent the air around her, soft but unmistakably powerful.
Raven.
A real world manifestation.
Max swallowed. "You're… here."
Raven gave a small nod. "Only briefly. The flood of mana leaking from the portal amplifies my connection to this world. Enough that I can form… this." She gestured to herself, or rather, the shimmering outline of her form. "Incorporeal. Temporary."
Up close, she looked Max's age yet older. Ancient in a way that made time seem small.
Max's voice came out rough. "Raven… what's happening? Why is the portal opening now?"
She moved closer, her expression softening.
"Because the weapon you carry," she whispered, eyes flicking to the blade on his back, "does not belong in this dimension."
Max stiffened. "Dimension… as in alternate worlds?"
"As in realms, I guess you could say." Raven corrected. "Layers of existence. This one was never built to hold objects forged in the higher realm."
"Higher realm," Max echoed. "Like—gods?"
A faint curve touched her lips. "Yes. Though not the kind humans like to worship although that one might be somewhere in the higher realm too."
His pulse pounded. "So what happens if I keep using it?"
Raven's expression darkened.
"It will tear this world apart. Slowly… Just by being here."
Max felt sick. "So I'm destroying the academy?"
"No," she said gently. "The academy is only the first fracture. The unraveling began long before you arrived. You have only accelerated what was already inevitable."
Silence hung between them.
"But," Raven added, voice lowering, "there is a way to survive. A way to protect the people you care about."
Max swallowed. "Tell me."
"You must travel to the realm where this weapon belongs." Her violet eyes met his. "Where I belong. If you make it there… you may find allies."
"And if I don't?"
She didn't blink.
"Then this dimension collapses—and everything in it dies."
The world around them shuddered. Sound began seeping back first muffled screams, then frantic shouting, then Professor Spark barking orders like thunder.
Raven's form flickered. "I cannot hold this form any longer. The portal forces itself open. If you want answers—if you want survival—find the path."
"Where?" Max demanded. "There has to be more than a hint. Raven, tell me how do I reach it without going back through the sewer?"
"There are other routes," she rasped, form slowly fading. "Old ones. Forgotten. Look for the—"
CRACK—
She vanished.
Not gone—just pulled back to wherever she came from.
A faint echo of her remained inside him a presence waiting, coiled like a shadowed ember.
Time snapped back.
Screams crashed into his ears. The classroom shook violently. Victoria sprinted toward him, grabbing his arm.
"MAX! What just happened?!" Her eyes widened. "You froze the weapon started glowing I thought you were about to explode!"
Alex pointed at the shaking floor. "Uh guys? Severe life-threatening tremors happening NOW!"
Max forced himself to focus. "Raven manifested. Physically. She told me something."
Victoria froze. "Manifested? As in—we could've SEEN her?"
"Yes."
Her lips parted in disbelief. "I thought I hallucinated her talking to me when ScarLite took over she spoke like she knew me."
Max nodded. "She knows both of us. And she says the portal is opening whether we want it to or not."
Alex groaned. "Amazing. Love that. Zero out of ten. Would like a refund on all of this please."
Professor Spark's voice boomed over the chaos:
"ALL STUDENTS TO THE SAFETY WARDS — NOW!"
Max grabbed Victoria's wrist with one hand and Alex's with the other. "We can't go with them."
Alex blinked. "Oh, cool, great, love defying emergency evacuation orders…WHY?"
"Because Raven said the portal is the only way WE survive."
Victoria hesitated only a moment then nodded, jaw tight.
"Fine. Lead the way. If we die, I'm haunting you."
Alex muttered, "I already feel haunted by you both, so do whatever with me."
The three bolted through the back exit, sprinting down the corridor as alarms blared and students flooded toward evacuation circles leading back to the human realm.
Max rounded a corner
and stopped.
A figure stood in the hallway.
Tall. Calm. Dark hair falling slightly over one eye. Not panicked. Not confused.
Waiting.
Victoria's reaction was immediate blue flames dancing up her arms immediately.
"Adam."
Alex sputtered. "Seriously? Recruitment poster guy isn't even running?"
Max blinked. "Adam you were at all the duels. I even saw you walk inside the council chamber once."
Adam stepped forward
"I know where the other entrance to the portal is."
Victoria narrowed her eyes. "Why tell us and why do you know this information?"
Adam's eyes flashed.
"Because Raven isn't the only being able to manifest across realms."
Silence.
Max's breath caught. "Then what are you?"
Adam smiled.
"Someone trying to prevent a war."
The ceiling above them groaned.
Cracks split across it like spiderwebs.
Adam extended a hand.
"Come with me," he said urgently.
"If you want to live—
and if you want everyone else to have a chance to survive."