"Father already has two minor rings," Victor admitted, his voice barely audible.
Julius couldn't hide his surprise. "Two? I thought Diamond-rank dragons were invincible. And why hadn't you told ?"
"Because father didn't want to give false hope to you all," Victor replied, reclining again in his armchair. Pain flickered across his face as the movent disturbed his wounds. "You know how he is with these things. He doesn't want to promise anything until he's certain. But it seems his qilin's elental advantage was just enough to defeat the water dragon, and the wood elent advantage of his azure dragon was also enough to defeat the wind one."
"So he has made progress those last years," Julius reflected, a spark of hope igniting within him. Perhaps the situation wasn't as dire as it seed.
"Yes," Victor conceded, "but ti runs against us if Yino gets more of those soldiers. By the ti he obtains all seven minor rings, it could be too late. And with one of the three major rings lost..."
The phrase hung in the air, laden with somber implications.
The director, who had remained silent during this exchange, finally intervened. "What we need now is to focus on finding it. It must not fall into Yino's hands."
Julius nodded, but his mind was working in another direction. As the King's youngest son, he had always occupied a peculiar position. He wasn't the principal heir like his older brother. This position certainly had its disadvantages, but also unique advantages.
Their father had always maintained a special connection with him, one that sotis transcended protocol.
An idea began forming in his mind. "Perhaps I can send father a ssage," he suggested carefully. "Sothing that might make him reconsider his priorities."
Victor looked at him skeptically. "And you think he'll listen to you when he ignored my direct petitions and those of the entire council?"
A small smile appeared on Julius's face. "Maybe. He left an option."
Victor shook his head, but there was a hint of amusent in his exhausted expression. "Go ahead, try. Things can't get worse."
Director Ignatius, observing the exchange between the brothers, seed to find a mont of relief amid the chaos surrounding them. His phoenix briefly brightened, responding to the small spark of hope.
"anwhile," Victor continued, his voice regaining so of its usual authority, "we must reorganize our defenses. The triples might return, and next ti we'll be prepared."
♢♢♢♢
"Are you okay?" Ren asked quietly.
Han seed to slowly return from so distant place. He blinked, as if struggling to focus on imdiate reality. His eyes had a haunted quality to them, seeing sothing beyond the present mont.
"Yes," he responded chanically. "Just... surprised."
But Ren noticed how Han's fingers trembled slightly, the only crack in his facade of controlled indifference.
The carriage finally entered the inner boundaries of the academy. The damaged towers lood closer now, the destruction more evident at this proximity. Workers could be seen on scaffolding, so using earth and wind magic to repair the structural damage, others clearing debris.
Lin excused herself to return to the front of the caravan, leaving the students to process the news. The festive atmosphere from just hours ago had transford into solemn contemplation about the fragility of what they considered permanent. The weight of loss settled over them like a heavy blanket.
Upon arrival, they would normally have distributed materials and celebrated the passing scores. But it wasn't so this ti; they sent the students to their rooms. The auxiliaries would handle distributing things later.
Priorities had shifted in the wake of the attack.
Han seed to want to say sothing as they walked toward the dormitories, his gaze oscillating between Ren and the ground. His fingers closed and opened rhythmically, as if rehearsing grasping words from the air.
However, before he could decide, a figure in the uniform of administrative auxiliaries approached the group. The woman moved with crisp efficiency, her expression professionally neutral.
"Students Han and Lady Larissa, your presence is required imdiately in the Director's office."
The rest of the group exchanged looks of surprise and concern. Whispers imdiately began circulating among them.
"Did they do sothing wrong?" Min asked, earning an elbow from Taro.
The auxiliary maintained her neutral expression. "It's just protocol. The rest should go to their dormitories until further notice."
Han cast a final glance at Ren before following the auxiliary along with Larissa, who bid farewell with a reassuring gesture.
"What was that about?" Taro murmured as the group resud their path toward the dormitories.
"Extra interrogation, probably," Liora responded. "Larissa is a representative of the royal family, and Han... well, they didn't have much ti to question him during the trip because of the abrupt cancellation, and they might think he possibly saw sothing relevant during his fall in the expedition."
Ren remained silent, watching Han's figure recede into the distance.
Upon reaching the first-year dormitories, Ren, Min, and Taro found Liu organizing his notes on the table. His face montarily brightened upon seeing them enter, but his expression quickly changed upon noticing their countenances.
"I guess you've already heard," he said by way of greeting.
"We saw it when we arrived," Taro responded, dropping his backpack with an exhausted sigh. "The east tower..."
Liu nodded gravely. "They say it was an underground attack first. They were looking for sothing on the seed..."
His gaze briefly rested on Ren, who was already heading toward his eggs, apparently indifferent to the conversation. His mushrooms, however, pulsed with a pattern that suggested intense ntal activity.
The eggs showed signs of normal developnt, although Ren imdiately noticed that progress had halted during his absence. Unfortunately, Liu hadn't managed to replicate the rune... The delicate and complex energy pattern required Ren's specific understanding.
In any case, it wasn't serious; the crystalline structure remained stable, and the cores maintained their integrity. Two days without his direct attention only ant two days less of energy accumulation.
"Did Lin or Zhao tell you anything else?" Liu asked while Ren ticulously examined each egg. He leaned forward, eager for information beyond the official announcents.
"Only sad news," Min replied, collapsing onto his bed. The exhaustion of the journey and emotional toll of recent revelations weighed heavily on him.
Liu lowered his head. "The professors and auxiliaries protected us valiantly."
While the others shared what little they knew about the attack, Ren carefully extracted the shadow stalker tentacles he had collected. Their condition was optimal, thanks to the bark stalker blood he had used as a preservative after obtaining them. With precise movents, he began finishing their processing, before they lost potency in mana absorption.
"And what did you see?" Taro asked Liu, while observing Ren work.
Liu shrugged. "Not much, really. They evacuated us to the underground shelter almost imdiately. We felt tremors..."
His voice grew lower. "Afterward, we learned what it was when so abyssals erged on the lower level. The professors contained them."
A heavy silence fell over the room. The reality of the losses, the fragility of the security they had taken for granted, settled in their minds like a stone slab.
Ren, though apparently absorbed in his work, processed all the information. His mind was far from the chanical task at hand.
'The academy needs more strength,' he thought, evaluating options. 'Lin and Zhao may obtain their beasts soon, but that wouldn't be enough against triples with Gold level.'
The solution was evident, though it would require considerable resources: more eggs, more beasts for promising students. And he needed to begin imdiately.
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