Having to share the room with Jin and Kai continued to be a major annoyance for Han. But for another six months, he had no choice.
"Feel what?" he responded automatically, recovering his facade.
"Don't play dumb, it was very intense," Jin insisted. "That... thing. Like soone was crushing the air."
Han shrugged, the gesture calibrated to convey casual dismissal. "Probably so professor conducting an experint."
"An experint?" Kai narrowed his eyes. "That was more than a simple experint. It was... tense, aggressive."
"Shall we investigate?" Jin proposed, practically bouncing with anticipation. "It could be sothing interesting."
"Fine... Let's do that," Han responded, accompanying his answer with a smile as false as it was perfectly executed. "You two go ahead. I'll put sothing away and catch up with you."
The two ex-bullies, much less arrogant since their flash defeats by Ren but still impulsive, nodded and headed toward the perceived origin of the disturbance.
Han watched them leave...
The small scroll in his bag seed to weigh a ton. His sister's life against his erging conscience. His duty against what he was beginning to recognize as right.
♢♢♢♢
In the Gray Wing room, Ren sat up abruptly in his bed. The mushrooms in his hair pulsed with an urgent rhythm.
"What's happening?" murmured Taro, in response to his friend's sudden movent.
Ren didn't respond imdiately. His senses, sharpened by the combination of his beasts and the relic, captured sothing that went beyond the physical. A presence, a combination of energies he had never experienced before.
Unlike Han, whose perception was limited to identifying the type of energy, Ren could discern much more. The specific energy signatures, the unique characteristics of the beasts involved, even the interactions between the different layers of power.
"A golden lion of unknown level," he murmured, his eyes distant as he analyzed the sensations. "And sothing else... a simurgh. But corrupted by..."
His mushrooms continued processing the complex information flowing through his enhanced senses.
"Against... a black turtle and a white serpent, fused in a different way. And there's more... qilins. Three of them, a tiger and a phoenix."
"What are you talking about?" asked Min, rubbing his eyes.
Ren blinked, slowly returning to imdiate reality. The mushrooms in his hair dimd slightly as he refocused on his friends. "There's a confrontation in the academy. It feels like a demonstration of powers, most far superior to gold 1."
He rose, approaching the window. In the distance, barely visible, he could distinguish a gathering of figures near the main gates. The night air carried faint traces of the energies clashing there, like the scent before a lightning storm.
"I think the Goldcrests are here," he continued, his voice strangely anxious. "And they're not alone or friendly."
"The Goldcrests?" repeated Liu. "You an Klein's family?"
Ren nodded.
"They must have co for Kassian and Klein after what happened in the tournant," he deduced. "But there's sothing else. The abyssal energy I purified from Klein during our combat... it's present in another individual, but much stronger, more integrated."
Min and Taro exchanged concerned looks.
"Should we do sothing?" asked Taro, his voice low and worried.
"I don't think I can purify it all," Ren turned and responded frankly. "This is far beyond our level. If the academy leaders are involved, the best we can do is stay away so as not to be a hindrance."
But as he spoke these words, a new wave of power flooded his senses. It was different now, more harmonious than the first that had competed against the abyssal energy, before it had been overwheld, but now it was equally powerful.
The energy signature of the black turtle had suddenly evolved into sothing Ren didn't yet recognize in his 'library', reaching a level that matched the corrupt energy.
He could feel the subtle difference in the signatures: an external object, ancient and powerful, was amplifying the power of who may be Selphira by process of elimination, considering the main beast and its level.
"It seems our side has evened out," he murmured with relief.
Yet suddenly, sothing unexpected occurred. His small fungus, which normally remained fused with him and silent, began to stir restlessly. The mushrooms in his hair vibrated with unusual intensity, their glow brightening and dimming in an erratic pattern.
Before Ren could react, the creature completely liberated itself, jumping from his hair directly toward the open window.
"No! Wait!" shouted Ren, turning to the window again and extending a hand an instant too late.
The small chubby being, luminescent in the darkness, bounced against the floor and continued its frantic race toward the courtyard, completely ignoring its tar's calls.
Without thinking twice, Ren manifested the hydra in his body and launched himself after it. In a fluid movent, he jumped toward the window, determined to quickly catch his mischievous beast.
What he didn't expect was the hand that caught him by the ankle in mid-flight.
"Where do you think you're going, my favorite student?" Lin's voice was deceptively sweet, but her grip had the strength of a hydraulic press. Her crane's feathers rippled along her forearm as she effortlessly held him suspended.
With an expert pull, the professor dragged Ren back into the room. Her face, usually cheerful and teasing, now showed an uncharacteristic seriousness.
"Professor Lin!" exclaid Ren, trying to free himself. "It's escaping, I have to…"
"I don't want any excuses," she responded firmly. "Not at this mont."
"But…"
"Listen," Lin interrupted him, lowering her voice. "Many students are leaving their dormitories, attracted by the mana fluctuations. The professors are busy trying to maintain order and prevent them from getting too close to the situation. The last thing I need is for our tournant champion to take advantage of the chaos to end up getting into trouble as always."
"I don't want to get into trouble!" protested Ren, pointing toward the window. "It's my fungus! It freed itself on its own! It had already done this twice before and hasn't been subtle!"
Lin narrowed her eyes, evaluating the sincerity in Ren's face.
"Your beast separated voluntarily? Without your consent?" she asked, her tone changing slightly.
"Yes!" Ren pulled at his hair, where the missing mushrooms made him feel a strange discomfort and uncertainty. "When the turtle's energy changed, it just... jumped and ran away."
Lin looked out the window, where the small luminous figure of the fungus was moving further and further away, bouncing between bushes and jumping over small obstacles with surprising speed for such a tiny being.
"It's unusual," she admitted, frowning. "Beasts rarely act against their tars' wishes, especially low-ranking ones."
Ren nodded vigorously, the light veins beneath his armor pulsing fast with anxiety.
"Still, I can't allow you to go out now," she declared firmly. "Not with what's happening."
Ren looked at her desperately. "But my fungus is going to..."
"Return at so point," Lin assured, though without complete conviction. "Beasts always return to their tars eventually, they can't die... But you can."
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