The professor flinched, his hands shook as he looked at Ash with confusion. The onyx case’s lid fell back in its place, locking the dark mana that had begun spreading from the amulet. The few wisps of mana that remained outside the case scattered and dissipated within a few breaths’ time.

“What happened?” Maya asked, her gaze going back and forth between Ash and the Professor. “I can’t see…” She muttered, her voice fading as she noticed how pale everyone was.

“Call upon your father.” Professor Maple said as he was the first to shake off his shock. “Now!”

Maya’s eyes widened for a split second. She placed the mana heart back into its case, then reached below the neckline of her outfit, pulling out a simple, golden chain with a pearl attached. She clenched her hand around the pearl. Ash noticed her crimson mana flow into the pearl and vanish.

“He’ll be here soon.” She said with a shaky voice. “What happened?”

Before either of them answered, a knock sounded on the door.

Leon raised his eyebrows. “Well, that was fast.” He muttered as he went up to the door and opened it.

Ash noticed the glow of mana beyond the door. “Who-“ Leon started to ask when the dark blue mana formed a complex pattern. “Leon run!” Ash shouted, but he was too late – the pattern completed, it hit Leon, sending him flying across the room. The young man hit the wall and fell down face-first.

Damien and Maya started on their feet while Fionna and Professor Maple’s mana released. “Who are you?!” Damien hissed, his deep blue coloured mana gathering within his palm.

A person walked through the door. She was wearing leather boots, tights, and a rather loose, white shirt. A mask covered her face, coloured black and shaped like a demon’s face. As soon as she saw them, her red lips curled up into a smile. She pointed at Professor Maple, her mana begin to form into another complex pattern.

Ash’s eyes widened. He snapped out of his daze and shouted. “Look out!”

Professor Maple’s mana quickly formed into a shield just in time before her spell completed. A blue lance hit the golden shield. A shockwave spread from where the two spells met, forcing everyone else to hold onto the furniture to keep their balance.

“Who are you?” The Professor hissed. His mana had waned already, however. It’s golden lustre was gone, it was now only a pale gold.

The woman didn’t bother answering him. Her mana formed into a blade in her hand, and she struck the professor’s protective spell. Ash covered his eyes as two spells clashed, creating sparks of light. With each time she struck the barrier, the Professor’s mana drained further.

He noticed another dark blue spell slowly being weaved into existence to his left. Damien was focusing, sweat rolling down his chin as he forced his mana to obey him even without having a mana heart. Maya did the same, though she was simply creating a protective barrier for her and Fionna.

Damien’s spell shot off after a few moments, but the woman simply stepped aside to avoid it. “Your students are remarkable.” She stated. “You, on the other hand…” Her lips curled down with what Ash could only call disgust. With a powerful strike of her mana blade, she shattered the professor’s protective shield.

Without thinking, Ash dashed forward, snatching one of the decorative pots on the table, and threw it at her. He then grabbed the professor’s arm and pulled him back as the woman shattered the flying pot with a flick of her finger.

How powerful was she? Was the Professor really not a match for her? Seeing as the elderly man was already out of breath, and out of mana, he clearly wasn’t. Panting, Ash looked around in a panic – wasn’t there a second way out of this room? The woman was still standing in front of the door, and they’d die if they jumped down from the balcony, or at least break a leg or two.

She slowly stepped forward. “Hmmm…” She raised both hands before her. “Perhaps one of you would serve him well.”

Her mana leapt forward without forming into a spell. It created a pair of arcs, passing by Ash from both his left and right, and hit the professor. The elderly man wheezed as the dark blue mana hit him and he collapsed without even putting up a fight.

Fionna gasped as the case rolled off the professor’s hand, falling down next to Ash’s foot with its lid open.

“There it is.” The woman smiled. She took a step forward, only to be hit with a burst of green-brown mana. She staggered to the side, holding onto the wall to catch her balance.

“Grab that and run!” Leon’s bellowing voice sounded. He ran past Damien, grabbing both Fionna and Maya’s arms, and dashed out the room. Damien followed, and so did Ash, he snatched the amulet that had fallen out of the case, still wrapped in that black cloth, and dashed past the woman, out the door and down the long, wide hallway.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Down the stairs!” Leon shouted, leading the way. “Who the hell is that?” he then asked, glancing at Maya. The noble girl shook her head, her complexion pale as a sheet of paper.

As they reached the stairs, Ash noticed a wave of blue mana coming towards them. “Look out!” he shouted, stopping before they stepped onto the stairs. He held his breath as the wave of mana passed, then jerked his head around to look behind him as his mind refused believe his eyes.

While they were in the auction house a moment ago, their surroundings looked nothing like those of the auction house. The lavishly decorated hallways and the red carpet that covered the hardwood floors were gone. Instead, dark coloured tiles covered the floor, and small blocks of granite made up the walls. Every few steps, torches hung from the walls, illuminating their surroundings.

“Where are we?” Leon asked wide eyed. “This isn’t…” he shook his head in disbelief.

“Teleportation!” Maya hissed. “She brought us somewhere else, that must be it!” In a panic, she looked around for an exit, but there was none. There was simply the hallway, and a set of stairs behind them.

“We need to go!” Ash shouted as he noticed dark blue mana slowly creeping towards them. She was coming, and he doubted they’d be able to escape from her once she caught up. “Run, run, run!” He urged them. They ran down the set of stairs, and only to find yet another long hallway. There was a single set of doors not too far from them to their left, though the hallway did also go straight ahead, and turned left.

As they paused for a split second, Ash glanced over his shoulder to see the woman turn the corner. Her mana lashed out as soon as she spotted them. She whipped the ground with her mana. Damien threw himself aside, further into the hallway, while Ash and Maya had to jump back, towards the door to their left to avoid getting hit.

Flames burst out of the ground where the woman’s mana hit, forcing the group to separate. “Run!” Damien shouted, pointing at the door. “We’ll meet up somehow!” He and Fionna darted off along the hallway, while Leon, Ash, and Maya ran through the door to escape the woman’s raging flames.

The door led to a massive chamber, shaped like a rectangle, with a raised platform at the far end. There seemed to be a couple of small, barely visible doors at the sides of the platform. Clutter covered both sides of the chamber, leaving only a single, narrow path open leading to the platform.

With nowhere else to go, the trio dashed towards the platform. About halfway there, they heard the large set of doors creak open behind them. Ash shot a glance over his shoulder to see the woman running after them, though her high-heeled boots did slow her down a little.

Thankful that her choice of boots gave them a slim advantage, Ash hastened his steps, and leapt onto the chest-height platform, then helped Maya climb up as well. Leon also jumped up just like Ash, using some of the clutter as steppingstones.

They dashed across the platform, towards the door at the back. Leon was the first to arrive, and he quickly turned the doorknob, only to notice it was locked. Blood drained from his face as he dashed to the other door, he tried turning the knob, and when that failed, he kicked the door, hoping he could break the lock, but to no avail.

“I’m afraid that won’t work, young man.” The woman’s voice sounded from frighteningly nearby. The trio turned around to see the woman straighten her back at the very edge of the platform. “Now, be good and give me that amulet.” She said, looking at Ash. She extended her hand while her mana spread around her like the tendrils of a chokevine plant.

“Don’t!” Leon shouted, pulling Ash back and standing at the forefront of the group. “Only dark mages want to have anything to do with dark magic!” he hissed, glaring at the woman. “You are a dark mage – we won’t let you have this!”

“So then your professor is also a dark mage, is he not?” The woman stepped forward, the tendrils of her mana slowly creeping closer to Leon. “By your logic, he must be – he spent thousands of gold coins on an amulet after all!”

As Leon hesitated, Maya clenched her fists. “Or he was trying to keep it away from the likes of you!” She shouted, her voice cracked, she barely kept it from shaking.

The woman chuckled. “Then he did not succeed, did he?” She asked. “Well,” She turned her gaze to Ash. “Give it to me, young man. Then I will spare your friends.”

Ash clenched his fist around the amulet. As long as it was wrapped in this cloth, the dark mana wasn’t spreading. But he doubted this woman would keep it wrapped up. Surely she would allow it to spread, to corrupt anything it touches.

“You’re a terrible liar!” He hissed, hiding his hand behind his back. “Let them go first, then I’ll give it to you!”

Maya drew a sharp breath, while Leon shot a bewildered glance at Ash over his shoulder. “What?!” He asked wide eyed, but Ash ignored them. He needed to buy time – step one was getting the other two out of here. “Well?” He reached behind his back with his other hand, and searched for the edge of the cloth the amulet was wrapped in.

The woman paused, “Well…” She muttered as her lips curled up. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t just kill you now and take it from your dead hands.” The tendrils of her mana began to form complex shapes, identical to the one she created when she first attacked Professor Maple.

Ash narrowed his eyes. If one of those hit any of them, they’d die. A lance made of that much mana would surely just tear through any human body without much effort.

“Shoot that lance at me!” He dared her, holding the amulet in front of his torse, pressing it against his chest. “Go on,” He said as the complex patterns almost immediately faltered. “Risk destroying this!” It took every drop of courage to keep his voice from faltering. Every moment wasted on conversation and threats made it more likely Maya’s father would arrive to this scene, rather than the dead body of his daughter.

The woman seemed frozen for a split second before the weaves of her mana slowly dissipated. She folded her arms. “Lances, huh?” She chuckled. “I’ve found a treasure trove today. Both the pendant and a suitable v-“

She froze mid-sentence as a white line appeared on her mask, cutting it cleanly in two. A wisp of mana flew from above, creating a sigil on the ground just in front of Leon. Not a moment later, a woman wearing tight men’s clothing dropped down from above. Her raven black hair was just long enough to touch her chin, and she held a glass dagger in both hands.

“By the name of the Emperor,” A bellowing voice sounded. “Cease!”