Chapter 178: Dren The Dwarf

The griffin Yula descended in a wide spiral, her wings beating against the metallic winds that rolled off the great city. She touched down on a gravel clearing outside the academy walls, talons digging in with a sharp thunk.

Grom slid off first.

“Good girl, Yula. Go run around or scare some merchants—I’ll bring you a treat later.”

SCREEEEH!

Yula’s feathers puffed, delighted, and she launched herself skyward again, vanishing into the steel-gray horizon.

Mira hopped down next and immediately spun in place, inhaling deeply with sparkling eyes.

“Aaah… that nostalgic metal smell…! The burnt mana, oil, heated steel—gods, I missed this place!”

Zane landed lightly beside them, coat fluttering.

His eyes narrowed for a moment as he silently scanned the surroundings.

Infiltrated. Everywhere.

Parasite traces… faint dark mana threads… hiding in the buildings, under the floors, inside the mana-tubes.

This whole city is crawling.

He kept the thought to himself.

Grom clapped his hands once.

“Alright! Let’s head in. You both haven’t seen the academy in years—well, Mira hasn’t. You—” he pointed at Zane, “—this is your first time.”

They walked forward, gravel crunching under boots.

And then the academy came into view.

A towering fortress of metal and mana-tuned machinery rose like a living beast.

Gantry platforms shifted constantly, lifted by gear tracks powered by bright blue mana-crystals.

Massive piston columns pumped like the academy itself was breathing.

Brass pipes crisscrossed between thick iron plates, steaming softly.

Stained-glass viewports glowed with etched runes.

Arc reactors and tesla coils sparked with controlled lightning, illuminating—

A colossal gate shaped like a rotating cogwheel.

Above it gleamed the academy’s sigil:

a hammer crossed with a beast’s claw, framed by steel wings.

Mira’s mouth hung open, her voice full of awe.

“It’s even bigger than I remember…”

Grom puffed his chest proudly.

“Of course it is! We keep upgrading every year. Welcome—” he spread his arms wide—

“—to Stonefang Combat Forge Academy.”

Zane stared up at the mechanical titan of a building, gears shifting with deep metallic roars.

Behind his calm expression, a single amused thought passed:

What a lovely place to expose a traitor.

And with that, the three of them stepped forward toward the massive cogwheel gate.

They walked toward the massive cogwheel gate—

when a voice cut through the metallic hum of the academy.

“You finally returned.”

Zane’s smile thinned.

Here comes the little bastard…

The three of them turned.

A dwarf stood at the entrance, slim for his kind, almost frail-looking.

Skin pale.

Hair a muddy pinkish-brown tied loosely behind him.

Eyes the same color—soft on the outside, but quietly calculating underneath.

He bowed slightly.

“Welcome back, Master.”

Then his gaze shifted—and brightened artificially.

“Well, well… if it isn’t Mira Sorenhal! You’ve grown a lot.”

Mira gasped, eyes lighting up.

“Dren!!!”

She ran forward with an excited smile—pure, genuine happiness.

Grom, however…

His body trembled.

Mana leaked out of him like a rising tide—

rage, betrayal, heartbreak all mixing into a violent storm he could barely contain.

But before even a single ripple could escape—

A hand landed on his shoulder.

Zane didn’t look at him.

He simply touched Grom with his fingertips, and a faint blue glow sank into the dwarf’s skin.

In one instant—

Grom’s rage vanished, snuffed out like a candle.

He blinked, stunned, staring at Zane.

Zane just shook his head with a lazy smirk.

Not yet, old man. Play your part.

Dren, completely unaware, now let his attention fall on Zane.

He smiled with politeness and warmth yet

In Zane eyes it was completely fake.

Zane could practically feel him analyzing—

measuring aura, posture, mana, threat level.

He’s trying to measure me already.

“And you are…?” Dren asked, voice smooth, almost friendly.

Zane opened his mouth—

But Mira jumped between them like an excited squirrel.

“He’s Zane! He joined Astralis Arcanum recently—he’s a professor there now! Just like me!”

Dren’s smile twitched for half a second—

but he quickly recovered.

“Oh. Right.”

He extended a hand.

“Nice to meet you, Professor Zane.”

Zane took the hand lightly, smiling back with perfect politeness.

“Nice to meet you too, Dren.”

Inside, zane thinking:

I’m going to tear him apart.

As Dren walked away from the gate, his smile slowly faded—melting into something far colder, far uglier.

Good…

It seems the parasite inside the old fool is functioning properly.

He touched his chest lightly, feeling the faint, familiar pulse of the link.

A few hours ago—

he had felt it snap.

Like a thread being cut.

His heart had frozen for a moment.

Did someone remove it…? Did someone discover it…?

But then, just as suddenly, the connection had returned.

As if the parasite had been restored.

Dren smirked to himself.

“So it was just a fluctuation… good. If someone really removed it, I would have sensed it.”

His voice was a whisper only the air could hear.

He exhaled slowly, relieved.

I was worried for nothing. Everything is fine.

But then his expression darkened.

Except him.

His thoughts lingered on Zane.

That calm face.

That relaxed aura.

That unreadable smile.

Zane himself felt… wrong.

He could be dangerous.

I’ll keep an eye on him.

His boots clicked against the metallic walkway of the academy, echoing faintly as his mind drifted further.

And then—

His expression twisted.

From irritation.

To resentment.

To pure venom.

Mira.

That name alone soured his mood more than anything else.

“That bitch…” he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing to slits.

“Why is she here again?”

The calm mask on his face vanished entirely now that no one was watching.

“After all these years, I finally succeeded in removing her from this academy… finally opened the path for myself…”

His fists clenched.

“And now she shows up again?”

“That woman always seizes any opportunity to ruin things.”

He gritted his teeth.

But not this time.

This time… I won’t let her stand in my way.

His expression shifted back into a gentle, harmless smile as he approached the classroom doors—

—as if no dark thought had ever passed through his mind.

.

.

.

Zane paused mid-step.

His eyes narrowed—not at Dren’s retreating back, but at something far larger, far deeper.

A pulse of mana.

“…Leave Dren for now,” Zane murmured.

Mira blinked. “Huh?”

Zane tilted his head slightly, sensing again.

“Tell me,” he said slowly, “what is this mana I’m feeling? It’s huge… but it doesn’t belong to any living being. Not human. Not beast. Not even magical.”

Grom stiffened.

“You can sense that…?” His voice trembled with disbelief. “Just how strong are your senses, brat?”

Mira looked at Zane with confusion—and growing awe.

Zane didn’t answer. He simply waited.

Grom exhaled heavily. “Fine. Let’s get to my office first.”

They walked through brass corridors and rune-lit elevators until they reached a large chamber lined with blueprints, gears, half-built artifacts, and walls glowing with faint runic circuitry.

Grom took his seat, rubbing his forehead.

“That mana you sensed…” he began.

Zane raised an eyebrow.

Even Mira leaned forward unconsciously.

Grom’s expression turned solemn.

“That is one of my greatest creations.”

“Or my greatest failure.”

A beat of silence.

“The thing I named—”

His fingers tapped the desk once, reverently.

“Heart of the Deep Forge.”

And Zane’s eyes finally sharpened with genuine interest.

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