Elora’s eyes snapped open with a gasp.
The room was dark except for the faint glow of the mana lamps outside.
Her heart was still pounding, and she could feel cold sweat on her skin.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly, pressing a trembling hand against her chest while trying to calm her breathing.
The dream had felt too real to shake off.
But the screen was nowhere to be found in her room.
It had clearly been just another nightmare.
Why did it keep coming back?
The darkness, the endless fall, and all that Abyss nonsense just wouldn’t leave her alone.
At this rate, Elora was starting to think she might actually go crazy if she kept having dreams like that.
She stood up slowly and walked over to the window.
Outside, the academy was calm.
A few mana lamps glowed along the pathways below, and everything looked peaceful at this hour.
She looked up.
The night sky was clear, with countless stars scattered across the darkness above the academy like tiny points of silver light.
It was a lot more peaceful than the mess inside her head.
For a moment, she could almost picture her parents smiling at her again, just like they had in the dream.
She could still hear her mother’s soft voice in her memory.
Before she could start spiraling again, Elora shook her head and forced herself to think about something else.
Dwelling on her parents at this hour wasn’t going to help anyone.
She headed back to bed and pulled the blanket over herself, ready to finally get some sleep.
She was just about to drift off when a familiar crimson screen suddenly appeared in front of her face.
_________________________ [Small Quest] Research Magical Artifacts Rewards: – EXP – Level Up – New Skill [SYSTEM NOTICE] • A hidden connection with the necklace has been detected.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ She nearly jumped out of bed, her hands tightening around the edge of the mattress.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds before peeking to see if the screen was still there.
Yep, it hadn’t disappeared.
It simply hovered in front of her, as if patiently waiting for a response.
Elora stared at it for several long seconds, making absolutely sure it was real.
Then she slapped herself across the cheek.
“Ow.” That definitely stung.
This was real.
Elora stared at the floating screen for a few more seconds.
“Is it possible the academy is sending out secret tasks like this?” Curious, she looked over the message again, and her eyes stopped at the quest for several seconds.
Research magical artifacts…
Wait.
The words magical artifacts were still far too vague.
The System hadn’t specified which artifacts she was supposed to research.
Elora pointed at the crimson screen.
“Could you please explain this quest a little more?” But the screen offered no explanation.
Elora groaned.
“Great.
A mysterious magical system with communication issues.” Her gaze drifted back to the quest.
Then to the System Notice beneath it.
A hidden connection with the necklace has been detected.
Elora frowned.
“What necklace?
This one?” She pulled the necklace out from beneath her shirt and held it up in front of the crimson screen.
But again, the crimson screen remained floating there without offering any explanation.
She pointed accusingly at the quest window.
“You gave me an objective.
Usually there’s a clue attached to that.” Nothing happened.
The crimson screen seemed completely uninterested in helping.
After staring at it for another moment, Elora let out a long sigh and dropped back onto her pillow.
This had to be a dream.
A very persistent dream, admittedly, but still a dream.
Unfortunately, the crimson screen continued hovering in front of her face like it belonged there.
She covered her eyes with both hands before groaned.
“Okay, I’ll just ask Lyra tomorrow.
Maybe she got the same quest or notification or whatever this thing is supposed to be.” She tried closing her eyes again, but sleep refused to cooperate.
With a frustrated sigh, Elora opened her eyes and looked back at the screen.
If this thing was going to keep her awake, it could at least provide something useful.
Her gaze swept across the floating text again, searching for a clue.
Nothing.
She tried to connect the dots.
The Nexus Orb.
The entrance exam.
The necklace.
The Abyss Trial…
None of it felt random.
Ever since she entered the academy, strange things had kept happening around her, as if they were all connected.
“Oh, wait…talking about necklace.” She sat up straighter and hurried over to her wardrobe.
The necklace had come with a small box.
There had been a letter inside too.
She had only read it once when she was little.
Back then, none of it had made any sense, so she had put it back in the box and never thought much about it again.
After digging through a few shelves, she finally found the box tucked away in the back.
Inside was the necklace’s original case and, more importantly, a folded piece of paper written by her mother.
Her eyes widened slightly.
If this quest was really connected to the necklace, maybe the letter held a clue.
Trying not to get her hopes up too much, Elora carefully unfolded the paper and began to read.
My dearest Elora, If you’re reading this, then something has happened to the necklace.
I wish I could explain everything, but some truths are safer discovered than inherited.
The crystal was never meant to belong to us.
We were only its guardians.
It has been passed down from one generation to the next for longer than I can remember.
If it ever begins to awaken, do not panic.
What you see and hear may seem impossible, but that does not mean it isn’t real.
Most importantly, trust yourself.
There is a place within Arcane Academy known as the Silver Archive.
If the necklace awakens, seek it out.
You will find answers there.
Love, Mom After reading the letter, Elora couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She blinked hard, but the tears came anyway.
She barely remembered her mother, yet somehow the words on the page made her feel like she was hearing her voice again.
Elora carefully folded the letter and held it against her chest.
There were so many things she wanted to ask.
But the person who had written those words was long gone.