Xavier changed into casual clothes in his room, then met Elena on the fourth floor where the stairs ended.
"Do you notice something odd here?" Elena asked.
Xavier scanned the area. Wall-mounted lamps lined both sides of the stairwell in pairs—except the last one on the level where they stood.
"This lamp?" he asked.
"Exactly. It stands out. There must be something here." Elena examined the lamp closely.
It was the only one that wasn’t working. No mana crystal sat in its holder. The lamps used mana crystals instead of bulbs; raw power made them glow with white light.
Elena twisted and turned the lamp. It didn’t move.
"Try this." Xavier pulled a mana crystal from the neighboring lamp and handed it to her.
She set the crystal into the empty holder. The lamp lit up. She twisted it again. This time it gave way, turning like a doorknob. The floor under their feet rose as the ceiling opened.
When the floor stopped, they stood on a hidden fifth floor. No rooms—just one huge hall furnished like a private chamber. Luxury sofas and wooden desks sat under a layer of dust. In the center of the room a fire burned.
Xavier and Elena walked closer. The flames fed on fresh wood, sharp contrast to everything old around them.
"There." Xavier pointed at the ceiling directly above the fire. A magical circle marked the stone.
"What do you think it is? A rune or an enchantment?" Elena asked.
"If it’s a rune, we only need to find its trigger to see what it does." Xavier looked around the room. "There have to be clues somewhere."
They searched thoroughly—neither of them knew exactly what they were looking for. Elena worked through the bookshelves. Xavier checked every corner, behind paintings, under the sofas.
"Xavier, take a look at this." Elena called him over when she couldn’t open the drawer of the main desk.
"Looks locked," Xavier said after trying it himself.
"Do we need to find a key now?" Elena asked.
Xavier’s patience ran out.
This desk doesn’t look that important, he thought, and yanked the drawer hard. The wood splintered.
"Such a brute," Elena said, staring at the diary resting inside.
She lifted it out and flipped through the pages.
"Xavier, this is big. It looks like the personal diary of the first emperor." Her hands trembled under the weight of the book.
"His handwriting is pretty shit," Xavier said, glancing over her shoulder.
"It might have all the answers to our questions." Elena turned more pages. The diary was thick—more than a thousand pages—covering different parts of the emperor’s life, scrambled without order.
"It will take time to dig out anything useful," Elena said.
"Let’s take it and go back for now."
They returned to the spot where the floor had risen. Elena turned the lamp again. The floor descended. Xavier pulled the mana crystal from the holder.
"With this, only we can reach the fifth floor."
"I’m going to read this and see if it has anything useful," Elena said, then headed to her room.
It was around midnight. Xavier went back to his room, dropped onto the bed, and sleep took him before he fully settled.
The next morning Xavier attended one of the academy’s fixed lectures. All five hundred freshmen gathered in a large hall. Elevated seats formed a semicircle around the central podium.
He saw Melli sitting alone on the first bench again. He greeted her with "Good morning" and sat next to her. She looked happy to see him—her only friend.
Professor Woodburn entered in his usual black robes.
"Good morning, students. Since there’s no need for introductions, let’s begin our lecture on the basics of diplomacy." He started reviewing the year’s syllabus.
Five minutes in, a hurried voice came from the doors.
"May I come in, Professor?" Elena stood there with clear dark circles under her eyes.
"You are late, Miss Rank 1. It doesn’t do well for first impressions." Woodburn’s face showed open disappointment. "Go on. Make sure this doesn’t become a habit."
"Yes, Professor. It won’t happen again." Elena apologized and sat next to Xavier.
"Were you reading the diary all night?" Xavier whispered.
"Yes. Let’s talk about it later." Elena turned her attention back to the professor.
The lecture was heavy—pure theory, more memorization than understanding. After four long hours it finally ended. Woodburn left a hall of exhausted students.
Xavier and Elena went to the cafeteria. Melli joined them.
"Have you heard about the secret expedition tonight?" Elena asked while they talked.
"What’s this about?" Xavier asked, feeling left out.
"A third-year senior from Thornveil is organizing a secret expedition. A small group of students will enter the main building tonight near midnight, when the hallways shift," Elena said.
"Once a month, on the night of the full moon, the hallways align and open a path the principal has strictly forbidden. Some students think the academy is hiding something," Melli added.
"Would you like to join?" Elena asked Melli.
"Yes. It sounds interesting."
"Then meet us at the roundabout at 11:30 p.m."
"Umm, where’s my invite?" Xavier asked.
"I thought you had no interest in things like this," Elena said.
"I don’t. But if both of you are going, I’m coming too." He invited himself.
After lunch they had no more lectures, so they returned to the dorms and parted from Melli at the roundabout.
"So, what did you find in the diary?" Xavier asked. He knew Elena had avoided the topic in front of Melli. She still didn’t trust her with it.
"We have a problem," Elena said. "The book is full of riddles. The only one I could make sense of says we need a sword with a fire element, then stick it into the fire to move forward."
"That sounds troublesome, but somehow it makes sense," Xavier said.
The difference between normal and elemental swords was clear: elemental swords could only be conjured. Elena had no talent for conjuration, so the work fell to him.
"We haven’t been taught that far yet," Xavier said.
"We can’t wait for lectures. Figure it out on your own time." Elena patted his shoulder. "You can do it. I trust you."
They reached Emberfell dorms. Elena went to her room on the third floor.
When Xavier opened his door, he found Fiona in his room waiting for him in her maid uniform.
"Good afternoon, Xavier. Lord Drakenfell has sent a letter for you." She held out a letter sealed with dragon sigils.