Chapter 104 Magical Artifact Discovery
POV: Luna
Two days after the fight, I'm still recovering.
Not from physical injuries. Those healed quickly.
But from the curse Cassandra used. The dark magic that tried to break my control.
My mark is sensitive. Tender. Like it's been burned.
"You need rest," Nova insists.
"I need answers. About what she did. How she bypassed the 'no magic' rule so easily."
"She cheated. That's all there is to it."
"But how? Dark magic requires preparation. Components. She couldn't have just improvised a curse in the middle of a fight."
That afternoon, Aria finds me in the library.
"Stop researching and come with me. Sienna found something in the forest. Something you need to see."
I follow her out to our secret training glade.
Sienna is there, examining a tree. Nova and Lyric are already present.
"What did you find?" I ask.
"This." Sienna points to a symbol carved into the bark. Glowing faintly. "It's a rune. Old magic. Very powerful."
I move closer. My mark immediately reacts. Warming. Pulsing.
"It's responding to you," Sienna observes. "Like it recognizes Eclipse energy."
"What does the rune do?"
"I'm not entirely sure. But based on the structure, I think it's an amplification marker. It takes ambient magical energy and concentrates it. Makes spells cast nearby more powerful."
"How long has it been here?"
"Hard to say. Weeks? Months? The magic is old but still active."
I reach out cautiously. Touching the rune with my fingertips.
The moment I make contact, power surges through my mark.
Intense. Overwhelming. Like plugging into a lightning bolt.
I gasp and pull back.
"Luna!" Nova steadies me. "What happened?"
"Power. So much power. It's like the rune is connected to something massive. Some huge energy source."
"Can you access it safely?" Aria asks.
"I don't know. Let me try again. More carefully this time."
I touch the rune again. This time prepared for the surge.
I channel the power slowly. Letting it flow through my mark. Through the ring. Regulating it.
And I feel it. A network. Multiple runes. All connected. All feeding into a central source.
"There are more," I say. "Lots more. All around the Academy grounds. All connected like a web."
Lyric immediately pulls out her tablet. "Can you sense their locations? I can map them."
I focus. Following the magical connections. Identifying each node in the network.
"One near the eastern gate. Two by the Moon Circle. Three in the forest. One under the Great Hall. More scattered throughout campus."
Lyric records each location. Creating a digital map.
When I'm done, we all stare at the result.
Dozens of runes. Arranged in a specific pattern. Forming a magical grid across Silverwood.
"What is this?" Nova asks. "Why would someone create a network like this?"
"To amplify magic across the entire Academy," Sienna says. "With this much power concentrated in one place, spells would be exponentially stronger. More effective."
"Or more dangerous," I add. "Depending on who's using them."
"This could be how Cassandra cast that curse so easily," Aria realizes. "She tapped into the network. Drew power from the runes. That's why she could bypass the 'no magic' rule. She wasn't casting from her own reserves."
"But who created the network?" Lyric asks. "This would take months of work. Years maybe. And extensive knowledge of magical infrastructure."
We're silent. Thinking.
"Faculty?" Nova suggests. "Someone with long-term access to campus?"
"Or a student who's been here for years," Aria adds. "Fifth year maybe. Or someone who graduated but still has access."
"Or Professor Thorne," I say quietly. "He's been at Silverwood for decades. Would have had plenty of time to create something like this."
"Or Cole," Sienna points out. "He's new, but what if he's activating something that was already here? Something created by his ancestor?"
Too many possibilities. Not enough evidence.
"We need to investigate the other runes," I say. "See if they're all the same. Look for clues about who created them."
We split up. Each taking different locations from Lyric's map.
I head to the rune under the Great Hall with Aria.
It takes us twenty minutes to find access to the underground levels. Old maintenance tunnels that haven't been used in years.
We navigate by magical light. Following my mark's pull toward the rune.
Finally, we find it. Carved into a support beam. Glowing stronger than the one in the forest.
"This one is older," I observe. "The magic is more established. More powerful."
"How can you tell?"
"I can feel it. Through my mark. Like recognizing different ages of trees. This one has been here for decades. Maybe longer."
I touch it carefully.
The power surge is even stronger than before. Almost painful.
But I push through. Accessing the network. Trying to trace it to its source.
That's when I feel it. Someone else. Also connected to the network. Also accessing it.
Right now. At the same time as me.
They sense me too. I feel their attention shift. Focus on me.
And then the rune pulses violently.
Energy floods through me. Too much. Too fast. Overwhelming.
I scream and pull back. But the connection doesn't break.
Someone is holding it open. Forcing energy through. Trying to overload me. Burn me out.
"Luna!" Aria grabs me. Tries to physically pull me away from the rune.
But I'm locked in. Unable to disconnect.
My mark is burning. Glowing so bright it illuminates the entire tunnel.
"Break the connection!" Aria shouts.
"I can't! Someone's controlling it remotely!"
The energy keeps building. More and more. My body can't handle this much power.
I'm going to burn out. Completely. Permanently.
Then I feel him. Miguel. Through our connection. Through the otherworld link.
He channels his essence into me. Creating a buffer. Absorbing some of the excess energy.
It's enough. Just barely enough.
I manage to tear myself away from the rune. Breaking the connection.
I collapse. Gasping. My whole body shaking.
"We need to get you to medical," Aria says.
"No. No medical. They'll ask questions. Report to the Council. Say I'm unstable."
"You almost died!"
"But I didn't. Miguel helped me. I'm okay. Just need to rest."
Aria looks unconvinced but helps me stand.
We make our way back to the surface. Back to our dorm.
The others are waiting. They felt the disturbance through the pack bond.
"What happened?" Sienna demands.
"Someone's controlling the network. Remotely. They sensed me accessing it and attacked. Tried to overload me."
"Who?"
"I don't know. But they're powerful. And they know I'm investigating."
Lyric examines her map. "If they can manipulate the network remotely, they must be connected to the central source. The hub that all the runes feed into."
"Can you find it? The central source?"
"Maybe. Give me time to analyze the data. Look for the convergence point."
That night, I can't sleep. Again.
My mark is still tender. Still recovering from the overload.
But I'm also worried. Someone knows I found the network. Knows I'm investigating.
And they tried to kill me. Or at least hurt me badly enough to stop asking questions.
This is bigger than Cassandra's Circle. Bigger than Academy politics.
Someone has been building magical infrastructure at Silverwood for years. Decades maybe.
Creating a network that amplifies magic. That can be controlled remotely. That can be used as a weapon.
And now that I've discovered it, I'm a target.
Again.
Always.
But at least now I know what I'm looking for. What I'm fighting against.
A hidden enemy with long-term plans. With resources. With power.
And somehow, I have to expose them. Stop them. Before they use this network for something catastrophic.
No pressure.
Just another impossible task added to my growing list.