Linked by Blood and Bone
"If my father knew I couldn't cast a basic deflection ward without your raw, unfiltered mana reserve stabilizing my grid, he would have disowned me before I turned sixteen. Now keep your voice down. We aren't alone."
Ahead of them, the damp corridor opened up into a vast, vaulted chamber filled with rows of sealed archival vaults dating back to the academy's founding era. Faint, sickly violet traces of Veyron’s corrupted magic lingered on the heavy iron padlocks, burning a faint, chemical pattern into the rusted metal.
"Look at the locks," Zeyric whispered, ignoring the jab about his mana as he pointed toward the third vault in the row. "The violet residue isn't just lingering. It's eating t