The director's office had lost its characteristic aura of formal dignity.
In the center, Director Ignatius remained seated. His face, normally serene and authoritative, showed the weariness of someone who had looked death directly in the eyes.
His phoenix was partially manifested, both from defensive instinct and the need to accelerate his own healing.
But it was the absence of healing that proved most shocking. Where his left leg should have been, only an empty space remained beneath the carefully folded fabric of his trousers.
The legendary regeneration of his specific beast would allow him to recover the limb eventually, but the attackers had ensured its destruction to an excessive degree, beyond what even a phoenix could quickly repair.
Victor Dravenholm, Julius's older brother, occupied a nearby armchair, his usual royal attire replaced by bandages covering much of his torso and right arm. Blood had seeped through in places, creating dark patterns against the white gauze. His face, so similar to Julius's but marked by more years of combat, showed an intensity of tension more severe than usual.
"The triples proved more powerful than we anticipated," the director was explaining to Julius, his voice maintaining admirable composure considering his circumstances. "It wasn't just their individual strength, but their synergies... as if the enhancements were retroactive."
Julius absorbed the scene with the analytical meticulousness that characterized him. The devastation evident in these two powerful men sent a chill through him, but he kept his expression neutral. "Real triples?"
Victor turned toward his younger brother, a weary smile briefly appearing on his face. "Tamers with three beasts at the same time indeed. A facet of Yino we would have preferred never to know."
"Impossible," Julius responded automatically. "In their experiments, they could never withstand the strain of managing three cores..."
"Evidently," the director interrupted, gesturing toward his absent leg, "they have found a way."
Victor sat up slightly, wincing in pain when the movement tensed the bandages on his chest. "I believe the secret is the power of the main beast... Each carried a Gold beast as a base. One Gold-1, the other Gold-2. Despite both secondary beasts being only Silver-3... The synergies with the abyssals gave them many unexpected combinations."
"The enhancement percentages multiplied with each other," the director continued. "Combinations of abilities that no traditional tamer could achieve."
The director paused, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward his missing leg, a momentary lapse in his otherwise perfect composure.
Julius remained silent, processing the information. The implications were staggering, if Yino had successfully developed stable triple tamers, the balance of power had shifted dramatically.
"What was their objective?" he finally asked, though he suspected the answer already.
"The seed," Victor and the director responded in unison, exchanging a significant look. The word hung in the air between them, laden with implications.
A heavy silence fell over the room, broken only by the soft hum of the healer's energy.
"They knew exactly what they were looking for and that the academy was lightly guarded these days."
"Which leads us to wonder," the director tilted his head slightly, "how did they obtain that information so fast?"
"The Goldcrests," Victor growled, his voice loading with bitterness. "They're infiltrated even into the walls of this institution."
The director neither confirmed nor denied the accusation, but his silence was eloquent.
"I barely arrived in time to help Ignatius," Victor continued, unconsciously rubbing his injured shoulder. "Professor Song and Professor Jasiba had already fallen."
Julius knew both professors. Song, with his contagious enthusiasm for crystallography; Jasiba, stern but fair, an expert in beasts of the second ring. Deaths that left a void impossible to fill. He could picture Song's animated explanations, Jasiba's precise corrections… now silenced forever.
"And the abyssal beasts certainly didn't help," added Victor, his frustration clear. "The auxiliaries and the rest of the teaching staff were busy evacuating students and containing abyssal leaks." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
A muscle tensed in Victor's jaw as he continued. "If those bastards from the castle were more efficient in their damned functions... if our dear siblings were less concerned with politics and more with actual security..."
He interrupted himself, as if suddenly remembering Julius's presence.
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