On a night filled with laughter and joy, the last day at Ebonvale Academy marked a bittersweet farewell for eight students. Believing it to be their final moments together, they decided to perform a friendship ritual, hoping to bond their spirits fo...
Toire had teleported us into a sealed room, fortified by spells. I leaned heavily on a desk, gasping for breath, the horror of what had just happened sinking in. Our friends were dead, slaughtered. Yuki slid down the wall, sitting against it, trembling.
"They're all dead," she whispered, her voice shaking, teeth chattering from fear.
Weeb let out a heavy sigh. "I can't believe Nisbet could do something like that," she said, disbelief in her voice.
Toire stood nearby, her tail tucked between her legs, her face pale. "Artisan must have merged his marble's power with his soul," she muttered. "That's the only way to explain the blue energy."
My attention snapped to her at those words. "How is that even possible?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
Toire clicked her fingers, and my marble piece shot out of my pocket, floating into her hand. "There's a theory," she said, studying it. "You can draw the energy from your marble, harness it for yourself." She handed it back to me, her eyes serious. "But it's just a theory."
Yuki stood up, her interest piqued. "Could you do it?" she asked, stepping closer to Toire.
Toire shrugged, her expression grim. "Artisan's power is leagues beyond mine," she admitted, a hint of defeat in her voice.
Weeb, however, wasn't ready to give up. She snapped her fingers and dropped an old, worn book onto the table with a thud. "What about this?"
Toire approached cautiously, her fingers brushing the cover. The book pulsed faintly with mystical energy. A small grin tugged at her lips. "Yeah," she said quietly, flipping through the pages. "I can work with this."
She quickly began to read, while the rest of us moved to the walls, positioning our marbles in front of us as instructed.
"This won't hurt," Toire said, raising her hand, her tone both reassuring and serious. "Do you all trust me?"
We exchanged determined glances. There was no hesitation. "Yes, we do," we said in unison.
The room exploded with light, a blinding white radiance surging through us as power flowed into our bodies. It was intense, but strangely exhilarating. As the energy coursed through me, I couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. This power might be enough-enough to face the Dark Artisan and rescue our friends from their corruption.
