"Are you alright?" Rose quickly ran up to Cyril and began casting a spell.
"Help Myra instead. I'll be fine in a bit."
Rose glanced at his now completely normal right hand, then nodded.
"No need here either. Luckily, my potions didn't break." Myra casually walked over, throwing an empty vial into the rubble around them.
Her athletic body looked to be in one piece.
"That was amazing, Cyril! Before I even managed to get up, you already finished the fight!"
"To defeat an elder cyclops in the first year is an unprecedented achievent!"
Cyril raised his body with difficulty, staring at her for a few seconds.
Did she see my hand transform?
In his vision Myra's eyes shone with pure admiration.
...Doesn't look like it.
"Do you have a mana potion?"
A slight piercing pain was gnawing at his chest. He felt starved.
"I wasn't so lucky. Mine broke."
Ever since he found out about his mana dependency, Cyril made a habit of carrying mana potions with him, however, they didn't survive the fight.
"Sure!" Myra quickly went into the jacket of her uniform and pulled out a blue vial.
Cyril imdiately took it and gulped it down.
Soon the dark surrounding his vision went away.
"Aaah!" Rhamn happily exhaled, "So refreshing!"
Never thought mana potions would taste good.
Recovering for a bit, Cyril got on his feet and stretched.
"You had recovery potions?" Rose tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah." Myra answered with a shrug, then froze.
"I didn't give them to the injured earlier because that would've been a waste! ...I an, we needed it more!"
Rose hastily waved her hands in denial.
"No, no. I was just surprised." Her shoulders slumped a little.
"I have no right to say anything, especially after causing your injury."
"It all ended well. Why dwell on it?" Myra shook her head with a smile.
Cyril stared at the crestfallen Rose for a few seconds.
"You did well."
Rose raised her head, staring at him with widened eyes.
"Let's get moving." Cyril turned his head away, looking at the door leading deeper.
Morpho on his shoulder fluttered her wings in excitent.
Myra followed his gaze. "There won't be an exit there. It's where the manavein enters the Tower. The source of its power."
"We are here already." Cyril began walking towards the door, the rest following after him.
"Might as well see it." He put his hand on the tal and pushed, the door opening fully.
What greeted the group was a wide room made of so dark tal.
Mostly empty, at the end of it was a glass wall, through which was seen a peculiar picture. A pulsating river of light blue was flowing vertically. From the hole below, the bottom of which couldn't be seen, to the hole at the top.
It was a bright pillar of magic itself.
"So that's the biggest manavein in the Empire." Rose mumbled, enchanted by the sight.
Cyril stood there speechless. The blue light in front of him appeared incredibly bright, yet it didn't blind his eyes.
"It can't be..." Myra shakily muttered.
"What's wrong?" He stared at her with a frown. Judging by her voice, she was scared...?
Myra silently pointed at the inside of the room, right there, leaning against a glass wall, was a human figure wearing a tuxedo.
Huh?
The figure appeared sowhat strange. What was supposed to be a handso face was distorted, with sharp, prominent cheekbones outlining a skull. His skin was sickly white and thin, almost transparent.
He had long black hair that was kept in a ponytail.
"...Students? What a hassle." The man sighed, his voice like a piece of tal scraping the floor.
He stopped leaning on the glass, scratching his hair irritably as he did so.
This action highlighted a crucial detail hidden in the man's hair. He had a single black horn at the top of his head.
"An archdemon!?" Rose flinched, her face turning paler.
"Stop, don't agitate it!" Myra blocked her actions with a hand, her tone heavy.
Cyril stood still, his blue eyes locked on the demon.
"We can't fight an archdemon right now." Myra whispered, sweat beginning to form on her face, "We must escape."
"Hello!" The demon in a tuxedo waved his arm, a smile suddenly on his face. "My na is Cosmas. What's yours?"
The three students kept their silence.
The demon nad Cosma pursed his lips for a second and shrugged.
Then, under their eyes, he disappeared into thin air, reappearing after a mont directly in front of the group.
"You must be hard of hearing." The man shook his head with an understanding smile.
He cupped his hands round his mouth and yelled, "My na is Cosmas!"
The three students were silently observing his display without moving.
"What a clown."
A strong clown...
Cyril's intuition was screaming danger at this mont. Morpho flew up from his shoulder, her antennae twitching with reluctance.
Cosmas looked over the three students with a beaming smile, nodded, and then outstretched his hand, right in front of Rose.
"Nice to et you."
Rose glanced at the offered hand for a second.
"N-Nice to et you. My na is Rose Briar." Stumbling a bit at the beginning, she soon composed herself and shook his hand with a stiff smile.
"...!"
However, her face was imdiately twisted, a pained grunt escaping her lips.
The archdemon tightened his hand with such strength that hers was turned into a wrung-out towel. Blood beginning to drip, she dropped on the floor while holding her arm.
Cosmas disapprovingly shook his head. "No one taught you how to do a proper handshake? Be firm and don't be shy. Your hand felt like a cloth in my hand."
At this mont, Cyril lunged forward, hitting the demon with his fist as hard as he could.
But in the end he only hit air, the demon disappearing before anyone had the ti to blink.
Shit.
Suddenly pain assaulted Cyril's back as he was flung forward, dropping on the ground.
"Now, what did I do to deserve this?" Cosmas's leisurely voice ca from behind.
"You humans are really barbarians."
"Cyril!" Myra gritted her teeth and cast two spells at the sa ti.
The next mont, with a claw of light and her body surrounded by faint green winds, she lunged at the demon herself.
Cosmas again disappeared before the attack managed to land.
Myra imdiately changed her course and, with a twist of her body, struck backwards.
"Oh!" Cosmas t her claw with his palm, blood dropping from his hand.
"You managed to hurt ?" He narrowed his eyes.
His knee turning into a blur, he hit Myra in the stomach.
With blood coming from her mouth, she flew so distance in the air before dropping on the ground.
"What was that spell?"
Cosmas stood still, observing the hole in his palm.
…
"He broke your spine with that hit. I need to nd you first!"
Rhamn warned when Cyril attempted to get up. Morpho flew high in the air, twitching her antennae with worry.
We need to think of sothing...
"Hey, don't try to cheat!" The demon exclaid, causing Cyril to turn his head.
He stood in front of Myra, holding a few vials of different colors with both hands.
Myra stared in shock, her hand frozen in the process of reaching into her jacket.
"You really took a lot with you, huh?" Cosmas raised an eyebrow, then simply relaxed his hands.
With the sound of glass breaking, all of the liquid was poured on the ground, soon losing its color.
Imdiately afterwards the demon stomped on Myra's leg.
A loud crack echoed through the air.
Her face twitched, but she only glared harder at the creature staring down at her.
"Very lively," Cosmas mumbled, raising his hand in a chopping motion.
"Cosmas," Cyril's voice interrupted him, and the demon turned.
Soon his eyes widened. "Oh, you are standing?"
There was sothing shining within his eyes for a mont.
Cyril, his spine finally recovered, stared at the demon without flinching.
Cosmas suddenly disappeared, reappearing right in front of Cyril, who continued standing still.
"What an admirable quality! To stand up on your own after falling down! That's what life is about, isn't it?"
The archdemon laughed for a mont, scratching his hair, before the smile on his face grew wider.
"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot? Let's all sit down and talk for a bit."
The demon raised both of his hands, his grey eyes pure and friendly.
"You attacked first, rember!"
Cyril, with a frown, glanced at Rose on the ground, who managed to sit up straight by now, her hand a ss.
Myra shot daggers in their direction, blood still trickling down her mouth.
He returned his gaze back to the archdemon, his blue eyes becoming colder.
Before he could say anything, a red butterfly suddenly flew between him and the demon, defiantly fluttering her wings.
"Morpho, you idiot!"
"...!"
The demon followed the butterfly's movents with a friendly smile on his face.
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