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Arios sat quietly in his dorm, the lamplight flickering against the wooden desk. The last few days had been filled with endless whispers about Amelia. Every hallway conversation, every idle talk between students circled back to her name. He had expected rumors to spread fast in an academy like this, but not this wide, not this relentless.

He leaned back against his chair, arms crossed.

Something didn't add up.

The claims against Amelia painted her as a serial offender, dragging students into her office, over and over again. Yet every time he thought about Amelia's usual cold expression, the way she kept her distance, the way she always stood apart from others, the accusations clashed with what he knew of her. Even if personality wasn't evidence, logic demanded a closer look.

Arios tapped his fingers on the desk. He had an option most people didn't.

His Nether Eyes skill.

The ability allowed him to perceive mana in ways others couldn't — to see the faint shadows left behind when mana leaked from a cultivator. At the academy, most students hadn't reached core formation. Their mana was unstable, stored in an uncondensed state, which meant small leaks occurred constantly. Individually the leaks were negligible, but over hours they left behind faint traces, residues that clung to the space where the cultivator had been.

It wasn't something normal eyes could detect. But to him, those residues were visible like fingerprints. Each resonance was unique, tied to the student's nature, cultivation, and affinity.

If Amelia's office had truly been the site of frequent encounters, as the rumors described, then the room should be heavy with those traces. Different resonances, piled on one another, the unmistakable mark of constant traffic.

He made up his mind. He would go see it for himself.

The corridor leading to the staff offices was quiet when he arrived. Night had fallen across the academy grounds, and most students had retreated to their dorms. The lanterns lining the hall burned low, their light dim but steady.

He stopped outside Amelia's door. His hand hovered near the handle for a moment.

This wasn't something he was supposed to be doing. If he was caught, questions would be asked. But hesitation didn't help anyone, and the longer he waited, the more dangerous the rumors became for Amelia.

Arios turned the handle. The door opened with a soft creak.

The office was neat. Books stacked in organized piles, scrolls aligned on the shelves, a few loose papers scattered across her desk. Nothing looked out of place.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The silence pressed down on him.

Then he activated Nether Eyes.

The world shifted. His vision darkened slightly, colors bending into unfamiliar shades. Lines of faint luminescence crawled across the air, like invisible ink suddenly revealed. Shadows clung to surfaces, remnants of mana leakage left behind by students and staff who had entered the room.

He scanned the area slowly, his gaze moving from the door to the center of the room, then to the desk.

Traces shimmered faintly along the floor near the chairs. He crouched, narrowing his vision.

Yes. There were residues here, layered faintly on top of one another. A handful of different resonances. He reached deeper into the ability, letting the echoes resonate against his perception. Each one carried its own subtle "tone."

One was sharp and restless, leaking with uneven rhythm. Another was steady but faint, like a pulse. A third was jagged, rough, like mana cultivated in haste.

He counted them carefully.

Only five distinct resonances.

Five students.

His brow furrowed.

The rumors claimed far more than five. Some spoke of "dozens" being called into Amelia's office, some whispered of "frequent sessions" where she supposedly cornered them. If that was true, the room should be swimming in mana residues. A dozen, twenty, even more distinct resonances, each one impossible to erase unless a cleansing spell had been used.

But only five.

He rose and paced slowly around the room, letting his Nether Eyes search deeper. The corners held nothing unusual. The shelves, the desk, even near the windows — all carried only faint residues, all consistent with ordinary visits.

He clenched his fists.

The claims didn't match the evidence.

He pushed further, focusing on the individual traces. His skill allowed him to compare resonance against memory. He had already memorized some of the students who spoke loudest in the cafeteria and classrooms, those who claimed Amelia had cornered them repeatedly.

He closed his eyes briefly, recalling their mana signatures from classes, duels, and idle moments. When he reopened them, he compared.

Not one matched.

The five resonances in this office did not belong to the loud accusers.

That sealed it.

The rumors were built on lies. At least, the scale of them was fabricated.

He sat down on Amelia's chair, resting his chin on his hand. The realization brought no relief. If anything, it made the situation worse.

The evidence in front of him told him Amelia hadn't done what they accused her of. But the council, the students, the nobles — they didn't have Nether Eyes. They only saw the rumors, the volume of the voices spreading them.

And volume was enough to bury truth.

He thought back to Amelia's face the last time she had spoken with him. The way her usual composure cracked just slightly. She wasn't the type to beg or complain. But he had seen how the weight pressed on her.

Arios exhaled. "They're pushing you into a corner…"

He rubbed his temple. His skill gave him an edge, but how could he use it? He couldn't simply walk into the council and say he had a secret ability that invalidated all the accusations. They would laugh at him, or worse, demand explanations he couldn't give.

This had to stay quiet.

For now, the priority was to keep Amelia safe until a plan formed.

He rose from the chair and took another slow walk around the room, committing the exact resonance patterns to memory. If any more false claims came forward, he could compare them again. The more contradictions he gathered, the stronger his hand would be.

Arios turned off the Nether Eyes, the room returning to normal sight. The colors felt duller now.

He walked to the door and paused.

His mind kept circling back to the five traces. Who were they? Five genuine visitors. If he could identify them, he might find allies — students who had actually been in Amelia's office, who could confirm the number of visits was far fewer than the rumors claimed.

It was risky, but necessary.

Arios closed the door softly behind him and stepped back into the hall.

****

On the walk back to his dorm, his thoughts churned.

*Five resonances. That's all. Out of the dozens claimed.*

He clenched his fists in his pockets.

He thought about Lucy and Liza. They had no idea how deep this was going. They joked, they teased him, they lived in their own mix of chaos and warmth. But when it came to Amelia, they trusted him to do the thinking. That trust weighed on him.

He thought about Amelia herself. Cold, distant, but not unkind. She had become part of his tangled circle almost against her will, and now she was paying the price for it.

And he thought about Regulus. About Chase. About the way the rumors conveniently lined up with their goals.

It wasn't coincidence. Someone wanted Amelia destroyed.

The evidence in her office was the first thread.

Now it was up to him to pull until the rest of the web revealed itself.

By the time Arios reached his dorm, the lamps in the hall were nearly burned out. He opened the door quietly, careful not to wake Lucy and Liza. Both were sprawled across his bed, fast asleep, blankets tangled around them.

He set his jacket aside and sat down on the edge of the bed.

His eyes lingered on them for a moment. Their presence grounded him, reminded him why he had to keep pushing forward.

But tonight, his thoughts were consumed by Amelia.

The lies were stacking higher every day. If he didn't act, she would be crushed under them.

Arios lay back slowly, staring at the ceiling. His resolve hardened.

Tomorrow, the real work would begin.

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