"I don't like this," Trenton said as he strode down the dark, narrow hallways of one of the magic academy's many underground chambers, his blue robe trailing behind him on the black stone floor. The new recruit floated behind him, still unconscious and bound with layers upon layers of ice chains. Trenton glanced back at the recruit in between every couple, hurried steps.

Something in his gut screamed at him, begging for him to notice…something on the edge of his senses, just barely out of his grasp. No matter how much he tried to understand that feeling which kept him on the balls of his feet, it spoke a language he couldn't comprehend. He sighed and chalked up that feeling for the chambers, innate effect – making it seem as if there were hateful gazes in dark corners, ghostly remnants from the academy's darkest days.

Little did he know the true meaning of that gut feeling, which pleaded for him to notice the twitch of the new recruit's eye, so swollen-over that it was a miracle in itself to be opened.

Lance increased his pace to catch up to Trenton, nearly tripping over his bright green robe in the process. "I don't like the situation either but this recruitment was, by all means, within the boundaries allowed to us. Therefore the-"

"Goddess Lance." Trenton whipped around and struck his compatriot's forehead. "If you would pull the rulebook out of your ass and took a good look at the world around you, you'd see that something is off about this kid. The way he looked at us, it wasn't reverence or shock."

"No one expects that they will be a mage," Lance shrugged. "We didn't but that didn't stop us from hoping. Maybe he was glad."

Trenton shook his head: "Even the recruit's behemoth of a friend and General Alexander were acting different. There's usually a cheer or a congratulations. Did you sense anything else back there?"

Lance stroked his shaven chin. "No. I was too focused on you. If General Alexander had acted even a moment later, your head would have rolled off your shoulders. Those knights, they might be nothing compared to magic but they're quick."

"Come on." Trenton urged. "I know you're not the most observant but you must have seen something back there."

Lance went to shrug but paused. "Now that you mention it." He looked off into space for a moment. "The other kid, the one with the rose-like spear, had something magical in him but it wasn't enough to matter. I could hardly see anything with the General blocking my view. If there was something significant, you would have seen it."

Trenton made a motion and the new recruit floated closer for him to the mage's inquisitive eyes. "Again, you don't get what I'm saying. Mana-wise, it was a perfect recruitment. I'm more concerned about that Von Trike kid, and what he said to this recruit, Doevm."

"How do you know the recruits name?"

"Jackal gave me Doevm's name when he told me of his abilities. He was red-haired youth nearby. He requested to exchange some words before we finished our business but I didn't think he'd strike our newest student so many times. Good thing we got Doevm out of there when we did."

"…of course." Lance craned his neck to get a better view of the youth, black, sweaty hair mopped to the side of his bleeding forehead. "Why did you allow Jackal to exchange words? In fact, how did you get in contact with him in the first place?"

Trenton waved a hand at him: "I owed his family a favor." Just before the duo continued down the chamber, a foreign energy pulsated from an unknown source. Shadows lengthened to cover the dimming light crystals, and the hallway's ends were wrapped in a darkness so black that it was as if staring into the void.

Mana flooded out of the two mages and dozens of magic circles appeared, some with a cold mist and others with an increasing torrent of howling winds. Then, the light crystals flickered back to their original brightness. The chamber was bright again. "Lance," Trenton said, bits of mana flooding out of his hands. The magic circles vanished. "Let's just get this over with."

"Agreed." They went a bit faster than before, at a pace just shy of a jog, until they reached an obsidian door that had neither hinges nor a handle, only a circular imprint in the middle.

Lance fumbled at his sleeve, which had caught on the smooth obsidian bracelet around his wrist. After separating bracelet from robe, he held the bracelet up against the door, which lit up a blue glow around the countless runes along its exterior. He waited for the door to open but the runes only flickered. A crack rang out. Lance scrunched up his eyebrows. He looked the door up and down but found no visible damage.

"What in the name of the God of Evil?" He heard Trenton say from behind him. Bits of the ice chains clattered to the ground and broke into countless pieces. Trenton huffed and a magic circle appeared on the layer of chains.

"Is that necessary?" Lance asked, putting his bracelet back on. "Because-"

Trenton held up a hand: "Don't you say it. Not today. I am not in the mood for a lectu-"

"According to academy policy," Lance insisted. Trenton facepalmed. "Using magic unnecessarily is discouraged unless approved by an-"

"An instructor." Trenton cut him off and jabbed a finger at Lance's hunched chest. "Who do you think we are?"

"We have a different ruleset than the students." Lance fired back, but more chains were already forming. They wrapped up the student like a spider would its prey, giving Doevm nothing to do but wiggle and contemplate his fate.

Trenton pushed Lance aside and held his own bracelet to the door, which lit up blue without issue. The door folded in on itself, then again, then again. The door, now the size of a fist, clattered to the ground. The two mages stepped through the doorway into a vast underground chamber.

Etched onto the circular, obsidian floor was a single rune much like the dozens on the door, except this one was far more intricate in its construction. No matter how many times these mages have visited this chamber, they always ogled the rune, something so beautiful that it might very well have been created by the goddess herself.

"You're up kid." Trenton said as he pulled Doevm to the center of the room as if he would a kite, only with intangible mana instead of a string.

"You're not that much older than me." Lance chuckled as he hurried ahead of Trenton, his soft steps barely audible in the dust-filled air, which dispersed around him. He rose up through the cylinder-like room with a glowing magic circle at his feet. Countless wooden shelves, built into the stone walls, went upwards in a spiral. One by one, the chasm's light crystals activated, resonating with Lance's mana. The many shelves' contents, hundreds of thousands of jars lit up a dull, green glow, then purple, then blue. Rapid images flashed within each misty jar as the contents, memories of the victims, struggled for freedom.

Lance grabbed an empty jar near the top and blew the dust of its lid. "Please," he took a moment and bowed his head. "I may have only just figured out his name, Doevm, but may the goddess protect him and his memories. May this life be happier than the one he lived."