Selara finally entered the tower.
She had been here before, on the day they arrived in Aurevane, when the train attack had forced her to report what happened to the city's higher authorities. Back then, she had walked into this place carrying blood, damage reports, student nas, and the kind of professional irritation that made officials sit straighter without knowing why.
This ti was different.
This ti, she ca for sothing far more important.
The tower rose above the administrative district in pale stone and dark glass, not the tallest structure in Aurevane, but one that had no need to beg for attention. It stood with the quiet arrogance of a place where signatures could bury cris, where permissions could outlive witnesses, and where every locked door had a committee ready to explain why it had always been locked.
Selara walked through the entrance without slowing.
The first floor opened into a broad reception hall lined with polished stone, high pillars, and enough guards to make the word "welco" feel like a joke. Before anyone could reach the reception desk, they had to pass through a security check. That alone was not unusual. Aurevane loved control almost as much as it loved pretending control was hospitality.
But this tower had another layer.
The mont Selara crossed the first wardline, the mana around her tightened. Not hostile. Worse. Administrative. The wards did not attack, suppress, or punish. They simply denied. No item could be summoned inside. No storage artifact could release what it held. No hidden weapon could be drawn from mana. Anything carried in had to be carried physically, like the world had briefly returned to uglier, simpler rules.
A guard approached her with stiff professionalism, clearly assigned to perform the check.
Selara watched him co closer, took in the practiced motion of his hands, and raised one finger before he got within reach.
"Stop right there, sir. Where exactly do you think you are going with those hands?" she asked, voice pleasant enough to make the threat worse. "Because if you intend to search yourself, I can report this as sexual harassnt before you finish blinking. Go find a woman to do the inspection."
The guard's face drained so fast it was almost impressive.
For one horrible instant, he looked as if his soul had tried to climb out through his throat and leave the rest of him behind. He stamred sothing that might have been an apology, turned, and hurried away with more speed than dignity.
Selara waited.
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