"love and loss are tragically tied together, much like a pair of lovers."—an amorous philosopher

Alex arrives at the scene a good thirty seconds later, even at the full-tilt sprint he was going, and sees chaos. On the floor, bleeding out is a young female student, and four more edge their way towards a room while fighting in formation. It takes a few seconds to notice him standing there.

Alex, though, doesn't pay much attention to this, as he is focused on the dying student.

He turns his gaze up and meets those of one of the creatures.

'Three of those things then.'

Alex takes in a deep breath and looks at the parts of the broom in his hands.

'It'll be better to take the fight to it… The sooner I finish this, the sooner I can figure out what the heck is going on here.'

Alex rushes forward and meets the humanoid head-on. Quickly stabbing it in the chest with more force than he thought he could muster, he is pushed back by the momentum of the creature's rush.

The students look to each other, before charging at the remaining two.

A stab to the creature's throat and a few gashes on his arm in return, and Alex has finished his quarry. Pushing the weight off of himself, he gets up and looks over to where the four remaining students are being pushed back. Rushing past them, Alex takes the attention of the creature on the right, luring it away from where the students are subduing its brethren. A few stabs to the stomach, and Alex is soaked in blood, not only his but also that of the multiple creatures he had slain.

Alex looks over to the students where they seem to be faring well against the remaining one, and then down at himself.

'I can still move, but I don't think I've ever been this wounded before without dying and going through a reset.'

Alex looks up and starts walking in the direction of Reynold's room.

'Wait, shouldn't the headmaster already know? Then why are those things still rampaging around the academy?'

Alex starts to feel a bit woozy before he falls to the ground, unconscious.

…

Ragged, and breathing heavily, Reynold lifts his body and forces it to keep moving.

'I don't know how much more magic I can channel safely if I'm not careful I could cause rejection to the attribute in totality… but it doesn't really matter. The student's safety comes first.'

Reynold's face hardens as he walks by the students he had just saved and the corpses of those he was too late to.

"Domain of Irkia"

Reynold coughs and doubles over in pain, but manages to whisper.

"Closest Intruder"

Reynold then takes a moment and starts sprinting off.

…

Leticia takes a quick check, but seeing Reynold gone goes over to the students.

Still slightly shell-shocked, the majority of them pay her no mind, one young student does.

"Hey there, are you a teacher? Could you help us evacuate, we're having trouble carrying one of the injured students…"

'This is the sixth time now, isn't it… Hopefully, the help I've been giving them is enough.'

Leticia looks at the student for a moment, before taking something out of her pocket and laying it down, and starts running down the hallway before yelling back, "This should help their injury, the path to the west should be clear," Leticia points to her left, "so make sure to evacuate as soon as possible."

Leticia worriedly turns her attention at where Reynold was just moments before.

'I've never seen him look that exhausted before, or be pushed that far, I just hope everything turns out all right.'

Leticia continues on after Reynold.

…

Under the school, in the forbidden research sector, a once-human monster looms over the dyeing Bernhart.

It gurgles, looks contemplative for a moment, and then drags him into one of the many open tubes. It seals it and then goes to release its brethren.

As the liquid corrupts his appearance, and he resembles more and more closely those creations of his, Bernhart's eyes open, and he releases a silent scream.

…

Reynold continues his jog, sweating under the workout that he usually would never get.

'If only the school's magic supply wasn't one of the corrupted areas…'

Reynold laments, as he continues to draw magic through his pores and push it into the formations.

'I knew that switching over from beast materials was a terrible idea, I told them too… But it was cheaper to use the maybe less-ethical alternative, and we were on a low budget.'

Reynold stabs his staff through the head one of the creatures he passes, and continues his jog.

'And why didn't we have a back-up power! If I survive this, the wards are going to go through some major changes.'

Reynolds eyes the blood-spatters and eviscerated bodies.

'I know they're ex-convicts, but this should be a bit too much even for them… Maybe the thing that changed their bodies is also influencing their minds?'

Reynold feels his legs seize up, and he starts mumbling while leaning on his staff.

"Domain of wind"

"favorable gusts"

Reynold feels the wind at his back from his spell, and forcefully continues his jog.

'I was hoping to avoid having to use that. It takes far too much energy without the school's support.'

Reynold passes a heap of bodies, and his face grows grim while his eyes trace the stack.

'It doesn't seem that the other teachers are faring well, not if there is this much damage already.'

Reynold turns his gaze back in front of him and faces the oncoming creatures.

'I've faced worse than this before, but I can't say I've seen this much bloodshed often.'

Reynold deals with the creatures swiftly, a single spell wiping them all out, and singing the hall.

"Domain of Fire"

"Realm of Annihilation"

As he passes the now scorched hallway, he sees a familiar face.

'Is that Mr. Winslow? So even the teachers are falling… I know we're not a school focusing on combat, but this is a bit unexpected.'

Reynold feels the magic around him and pulls.

'Though I can't really blame him, if I didn't have experience with low magic environments, the simple shock from the transition probably would have gotten me too. I don't doubt that most of the teachers can no longer use magic…'

Reynold sighs.

'Ideally, you build a mage school in a location where the magic content is high while having gradation rooms where students can acclimate without shutting off their pores. This is quite the opposite, though, and we're paying for it now.'

Reynold passes some living students, getting only a slight glimpse of them. He sees two of them carrying an unconscious boy, hobbling in the opposite direction.

'At the very least I'm glad that at least some of them are okay, and that they are still exhibiting the qualities of good students.'

Reynold takes a breather for a moment, unable to keep jogging in his current state of physical exhaustion.

'Though, they are probably not going to be students for much longer. If my guess is right the sudden shift must have shut all their pores. It's why the procedures to leave the campus are so strenuous, and why only non-mages or already learned mages are allowed easy access. Without a tremendous effort to reopen them, they're not going to be able to cast magic…'

Reynold leans against the wall.

'Though they should have a tougher constitution, in a few days after they adapt. They have basically started their path on the way to internal magic. Maybe I can send them to the knight's school at the Albent Kingdom, though that would probably hurt my relationship with the western duchy.'

Reynold laughs and starts hobbling along.

'Not like it will matter much, even if I survive I'm going to face recompense, whether it was my fault or not. I doubt the school will stay open after this all happens, so maybe I should make a run for it… The Albent manor should still have space available, I'll just get a job there until my next assignment.'

Reynold's plan set he continues limping along on his seized leg.

'But first, I have to help the students.'

Reynold uses his staff as a crutch and walks along.

'Which direction do I need to go now? Damn it! I've lost the spell again, I guess it's time for a recast.'

Reynold starts chanting.

"Domain of Ir-"

Then falls to the floor, the strain too much for him.

Leticia gives a conflicted glare for a moment, before rushing to him and helping him up.

"So, you were here, Leticia?" Reynold pauses and coughs for a moment, "If you don't mind, could you help me walk, I seem to have overdrawn over my limits to provide for the academy, so I'll need some more internal magic to repair my system."

Leticia nods, and picks up Reynold onto her back, and starts guiding him to the cafeteria.

Reynold, his body entirely limp and unable to move, asks Leticia lethargically, "So how long were you following me? I'm guessing it was before this whole mess got out of control."

Leticia silently nods.

Reynold chuckles, "Were you planning something again? Or were you just looking for an adventure?"

Leticia stays silent.

A dribble of blood leaves Reynold's nose. He makes no move to wipe it away, and it starts staining Leticia's clothing. She increases her pace.

"Why did you keep insisting on marriage anyway? Was it because of your father or something?"

Leticia reaches the cafeteria and walks through the arch deposition Reynold on a table

"The emergency rations should be in the back, please hurry." Reynold smiles at Leticia.

She starts running towards the back of the cafeteria before being interrupted by Reynold.

"You know, if it's you asking, I might consider it. Not you as a princess, or a possible future duchess, but just as you." His smile widens.

'Wait, what am I saying, the damage must be more severe than I thought…'

Leticia pauses for a moment, a smile mirroring Reynold's forming on her face, before and entering the back room of the cafeteria and returning with a black metal box.

"That's the good stuff, I'm glad you chose the right one." Reynold nods slightly, "Now all that you need to do is open it. There should be a button hidden as a catch of the handle, press it."

Leticia takes a moment to find it, before pressing it as Reynold instructed. At the same time Reynold sends a bit of magic at the container. It opens to reveal 3 vials, one black, one a dark red, and one a murky brown.

"There should be a syringe in underneath the holder for the test-tubes, take it and inject red, then brown, then black ones as close together as possible both temporally and in location."

Leticia nods, and lifts up the inner container, seeing beneath it a vial with a holder the same size of the vials. She takes the first one and places it in its proper location , turning it a few time to make sure it fits. She then masterfully injects it into Reynold's arm.

Reynold winces, before relaxing, "I'm surprised that you're doing it so well! I know I taught you this, but I didn't think you were paying any attention."

"I pay attention when things are important, you know," Leticia pouts as she slowly presses in the plunger, before finishing the first injection and moving on to the next, "So what do these do anyway?"

"Well, the first one is an anesthetic." Leticia nods as she starts to ready the second injection, "The one in your hands, on the other hand, is one th-"Reynold winces at the second injection.

'I never was very good with needles.'

He breathes heavily for a moment, before continuing, "The second one is meant to prime the body for the acceptance of the third, strengthening body systems through a mix of herbs."

Leticia nods as she finishes the injection, and moves on to the third. Reynold waits for her to start the third injection before he continues. Leticia gives him the stink eye over this, but continues anyway.

"The third is the really interesting one. It is concentrated beast blood."

Leticia's once stable hands shake a bit at this.

Reynold gives her a wry smile, "It's not really safe, even with the primers, which is why the case requires the magic signature. The main use for this is at the experimental stages, one of which poor Alex was subject to. This specimen, in particular, is from the moving goliath beast hosting the Magus Academy, our sister academy, so to speak. Ideally, it should allow me to power the school for a bit, and to heal the wounds I've gotten from doing so this far."

Reynold gets up, seemingly fine.

"We'll see what side effects happen later."

Reynold, now able to support the systems through his own magic power, starts them up and opens something similar to a minimap to see everyone's location.

'It seems that the majority of the students are safe and that the remaining teachers are dealing with the creatures quite well… well, better than expected.' Reynold turns his gaze to the section representing the forbidden research sector to see something extremely worrying. 'Why is Bernhart marked as a hostile?'

His eyes shift a bit and see all the dots popping up.

Reynold goes stock-still.

Reynold's eyes trace the more than three hundred markers for hostiles underneath the school. At the same time, Leticia's face grows grim while processing what she had just heard.

'Looks like I have some more work to do. Thankfully it seems that my predictions were right, and the drastic increase in internal power is also seemingly giving me increased physical capabilities, though we'll see what it'll do to my magic, temporarily at least I shouldn't have any problems with rejection that I can't just brute force…'

Reynold looks over to Leticia, before taking off in a sprint, wind pushing from behind him.

Leticia follows, falling slightly behind the now much-faster Reynold.