Linked by Blood and Bone의 모든 챕터: 챕터 31 - 챕터 40

Chapter 31: Breaking the Gate"Jethro better not have skimped on the iron content in that ink," Zeyric muttered, his fingers brushing against the heavy, grease-proof pouch tucked securely inside his inner pocket. The forged ledgers carrying the counterfeit wet seals of the high council rested against his ribs like a ticking bomb, heavy with the power to either hang Vice-Headmaster Malakor or get them both executed before noon."Jethro is a criminal savant, not a sloppy amateur," Thalen replied, his voice dropping an octave as the jagged silhouette of the academy’s outer iron gates loomed out of the swirling morning mist. "He knows what happens to forgers who fail the aristocracy. He triple-checked the chemical composition of the ink against the high registrar's archives.""Comforting. Remind me to send him a thank-you note if we survive the next five minutes," Zeyric shot back, his boots splashing through the freezing puddles of the approach road. Every step sent a familiar, low-grade

Chapter 33: The Containment Field"A shimmering violet dome drops over the grand courtyard, cutting off communication with the city guard outside.""What in the name of the high registers is that?" Zeyric snapped, his hand flying instinctively to his side as the air crackled with a sickening, ozone-heavy pressure.The heavy stone steps beneath their boots vibrated violently as a wall of jagged, translucent purple light erupted in a wide circle around the entire academy perimeter, sealing the courtyard off from the outside world like a glass jar dropped over a dying ember. Across the square, the city guards who had lingered near the outer gates slammed against the invisible barrier, shouting muffled curses as they slid down the shimmering surface."It’s a localized spatial isolation ward," Thalen said, his voice dropping an octave as his fingers locked with Zeyric’s in an automatic, frantic reassurance through the bond. "Malakor isn't just defending himself—he’s cutting off our escape

Chapter 35: Intercepting the Blow"I have you now, little parasites," Malakor sneered, his fingers curling into a vicious claw as the gravity spear locked onto Zeyric’s chest with pinpoint malice.The air in the courtyard compressed into a dense, suffocating slab of solid pressure. Zeyric’s vision tunneled into a pinprick of blurred light, his lungs seizing as the invisible spear drove downward, aimed straight to shatter his sternum and sever the soul-tether once and for all."Zeyric!" Thalen screamed, the sound tearing raw and desperate from his throat as the agony of the impending impact flooded through their shared mental pipeline.Before Zeyric could even draw a ragged breath, Thalen lunged forward with explosive, suicidal speed. He threw his entire body directly into the path of the descending gravity spear, abandoning his own defense to slam into Zeyric’s side and knock him clear of the primary trajectory.A sickening crack echoed across the silent, terrified courtyard.Thalen g

Chapter 37: The Counter-Strike"I said, you die together," Malakor repeated, his voice dripping with venomous satisfaction as he raised his staff for the killing blow.Zeyric didn't answer. He couldn't. His entire consciousness was drowning in the terrifying, deafening void of Thalen's flatlining pulse. The white noise of the broken bond scraped against his thoughts like rusted iron, threatening to drag him down into unconsciousness right beside his fallen partner."Get up, Zeyric," a phantom voice echoed inside his mind, sounding startlingly like Thalen's sharp, commanding tone. "We are not dying on a dirty cobblestone floor."A sudden, violent surge of adrenaline tore through Zeyric’s veins, burning away the numbness and replacing it with a white-hot, blinding fury. He didn't try to control his mana anymore. He let go of every defensive ward, every cautious mental barrier, and every rigid rule the academy had ever tried to beat into him.With a guttural roar that shook the very foun

Chapter 39: Infirmary QuietThe smell of sterile linen, dried silver-leaf ointment, and stale medicinal draught hung heavy in the vaulted ceiling of the academy infirmary. Hours had bled away since the courtyard shattered under the weight of Zeyric’s unchained mana, leaving the grand campus in a state of stunned reconstruction.Thalen shifted his weight on the narrow cot, a sharp, localized throb of residual pain flaring across his sternum where Malakor’s gravity spear had pulverized his ribs. He winced, his eyelids fluttering open against the bright streams of afternoon sunlight cutting through the tall arched windows."Don't move," a familiar, raspy voice came from the cot immediately to his left.Thalen turned his head, the motion stiff and aching. Zeyric was lying flat on his back in the twin cot, looking remarkably pale, his dark hair plastered against his forehead with dried sweat. Despite the exhaustion carved into every line of his face, Zeyric’s eyes were wide, alert, and fix