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"Huh," Cerlius leaned closer, examining Lance\'s smile from different angles. "A smile and a laugh are all that I need? The dark mage was able to hide for her entire life using just those things?"

"W-well she kind of…turned." Lance sorted through all the papers. "She wasn\'t always psychotic, just stupid. She was corrupted by the Dark Element, which is coincidentally the topic of our first lesson." He stretched out his hand and six elemental magic circles formed: Fire, water, earth, wind, holy, and dark.

Cerlius\'s eyes went wide as he glanced up to Lance, who\'s fake, broad smile had flipped to a frown. "The truth is that Humans are innately able to use dark magic just like any other element. You feel it don\'t you, its pull at the back of your mind? Anyone can be a dark mage. That\'s why it is so easy to fall into its damnable practices. To rely on its seductive power is to relinquish part of your mind. Luckily I have illusion magic." Lance chuckled as the illusion of the elemental circles faded. "Or I too would fall victim."

"Why are you telling me this?" Celrius asked. "You said that I should keep away from this stuff or I\'d get us both killed."

Lance bit his lip and scanned the room. "I don\'t know what cost you paid for practicing dark magic, but you paid it. Something had to be given. Mages were given holy magic by the goddess but were also offered dark magic by the God of Evil. It has been said that he\'ll appear when great mages are most susceptible to his influence. Or it can be a demon who offers power and guidance. If you are not aware of the temptation, you\'ll turn out like my sister."

"How about areas?" Cerlius asked. "Does dark magic stop at people? Can it instead be tethered to a place such as Mage\'s Shadow? If so, what would that mean?"

"That is a popular theory," Lance replied. "Although no one has confirmed it since there is no ambient mana there. The most significant thing about Mage\'s Shadow is the general feeling of being watched, like death wonders those halls. Especially at night, that place gets…disturbing." He adjusted his collar. "That\'s why there is nothing else down there." The orb lit up. He cursed and stuffed the artifact into his spatial ring. "There\'s nothing of significant worth down there."

"I take it that no one knows if Mage\'s Shadow was transformed into the current state?" Cerlius took out a quill and parchment.

Lance narrowed his eyes at the paper but continued. "Everyone who bore witness was killed. The best bet of finding out would be to research Eric Guildri, the person who founded the Magic Academy."

Cerlius wrote next to the name: "Former War Monk."

Lance cocked his head to the side. "Where did you hear that he was a former War Monk?" Cerlius shrugged. Lance\'s frown deepened. He narrowed his eyes to slits, as if he could stare right through his apprentice. "Have you been dreaming of anything?"

A knock sounded at the obsidian door. Lance glanced over his shoulder to the window. "Damn. An hour already."

"Thank you for the lesson," Cerlius pulled his things into his spatial ring and hurried out to find Olpi waiting to take him.

An arm caught him in the doorway, Lance\'s. "Be careful in this Academy. The Dimmer is not the only punishment for breaking the rules, nor is it the most severe punishment." He let go and the door folded back into place.

\'Do you think he knows?\' Larque asked.

\'Probably,\' Cerlius said. \'He just doesn\'t think we can do it on our own. Luckily, we\'re not alone.\' He turned to Olpi. "You got my note?"

Olpi nodded and whispered: "Are we really doing this?" She and Cerlius hurried down the hallway. "I got your note but there must be some sort of mistake. Why would you ever want to go down there?"

"Can you take me there or not?" Cerlius whispered back.

Olpi sighed and nodded. "Follow me."

The rickety stairwell was clear, as were all the other ones. Everything was silent and dark. Cerlius and Olpi had to feel along the walls as they descended since, as much as a hurry as they were in, light and sound was their main enemies. He stepped on the same parts of the rotten wood that Olpi did, surprised to find that there were in fact, actually spots that didn\'t creak.

\'So she really wasn\'t lying,\' Larque said.

"How do you know about all of this?" Cerlius whispered, making Olpi jump.

"I didn\'t," Olpi whispered without looking back. "I was told how to move quietly by my friend Menla, the girl you helped." It wasn\'t a perfect, silent walk, but there was no one present to hear any noise, seemingly. It may have been Cerlius\'s imagination, but he could have sworn that one of the statues shifted as he passed. Olpi turned as well. "Down here there are no Watchmen, just statues. They don\'t even have plaques." Cerlius stared for a few moments at the blank, humanoid statues before continuing onward.

"Why are we in this creepy place?" Olpi whispered at the base of the stairs.

"Creepy?" Cerlius huffed. "It\'s actually quite cozy to me. Is that why your friend comes down here, or is there something more that I don\'t know about?"

Olpi shrugged. "I don\'t know. I\'m pretty sure that I shouldn\'t have said that anyway."

"Don\'t you trust me?" Cerlius chuckled like Lance instructed, but that only seemed to make Olpi\'s movements more erratic. Her eyes darted around the dark space and lingered at the decrepit doorways. "How about this: I\'ll help you with magic if you keep helping me with these kinds of things."

Olpi looked off into space for a moment before shaking her head. "Let\'s just do what you are going to do and talk later. Instructor Jersin is just aching for a reason to beat me, or any Demi."