Moonlight carved through the dormitory window like a blade through silk, silver shards spilling across the stone floor in geometric patterns that caught on ink-stained quills and tattered runic sketches. Fin's desk resembled a warzone after the siege had lifted, parchment scattered like debris from a mage's duel, wax drippings frozen in jagged pools that reflected the pale light like miniature frozen lakes. The night air slithered through a hairline crack in the windowpane, sharp with the promise of winter, slicing through the stale warmth that hung in the room like old leather and forgotten books.

Fin stood rigid beside his desk, pulse still hammering against his ribs from the surprise of tackling Kilian. His brother's laughter filled the small space like warm honey poured over stone, a sound that pushed back against the shadows that had been trailing him since his encounter in the library. The familiar resonance of it settled something deep in Fin's chest, a knot he hadn't realized had been there.

Kilian lounged on Fin's narrow bed with practiced ease, boots swinging lazily over the edge, their leather scuffed from countless adventures. His red-and-gold cloak hung draped over the room's single chair, its intricate stitching glinting like dying embers in the moonlight. The fabric was travel-worn but well-maintained, bearing the subtle marks of someone who lived by his skills rather than his station.

Electromagnetic Synchronization swept through the room in lazy tendrils, Fin's awareness brushing against every surface, every shadow, testing for the kind of deception that had nearly cost him his sanity yesterday. But there was nothing false here, only Kilian's mana signature, as familiar to Fin as his own heartbeat. Steady, warm, tinged with the metallic edge of forge-fire that spoke of his brother's affinity for flame. No mud-born constructs wearing stolen faces. No false smiles hiding malevolent intent. Just his brother, solid as mountain stone and twice as reliable.

The memory of the golem's collapse flashed unbidden through Fin's mind, Rebecca's face melting into shapeless sludge, the horrible wrongness of it, but he pushed it aside with practiced determination.

"You're taller," Kilian observed, squinting at Fin with brown eyes that danced with familiar mischief. The expression was so achingly familiar that Fin felt his chest tighten with unexpected homesickness. "What's Haven been feeding you? Slipping growth runes into your soup when you're not looking?"

Fin snorted, a sound that held more genuine amusement than anything he'd produced in weeks. He leaned against his desk, arms crossed in a gesture that masked the tension still coiling through his shoulders. "Just living up to my potential, old man. Maybe you should try keeping up for once."

Kilian's laugh roared through the small space, rattling the quills in their ceramic holder. "Old man? I'm out there burning through dungeons while you're in here scribbling formulas like some kind of scholar. Though I'll give you this much, Tier Two at thirteen is something special. You're making me look like a complete loafer, runt."

Fin's lips twitched upward despite himself, but even as he bantered, part of his mind was already dissecting his brother's tone, scanning for hidden currents of worry or suspicion. The golem's words echoed in his memory like a persistent itch, "That core of yours must be something else," crackling through his thoughts like static interference. Someone had been watching him, studying him, learning enough to craft a targeted attack. But Kilian showed no signs of carrying such knowledge, no hint that anyone had been asking questions about Fin's unusual advancement.

He kept his voice light, casual. "Hard work and natural talent. You should try it sometime instead of relying on that oversized sword of yours."

"Hard work, my ass." Kilian sat up straighter, elbows resting on his knees as he studied Fin with the same piercing gaze their mother was famous for, the look that could see through any lie or half-truth. "I heard about what happened at Veyra Peak. Storms like that don't just manifest out of nowhere, especially not during an Imprinting ceremony. What was bonding with your elemental actually like?"

Fin felt Ambient Cloak tighten instinctively around his core, muffling the electric pulse that wanted to surge in response to the memory. A Prime had rewired Fin's very soul on that wind-swept peak. The transformation had been profound, fundamental, changing him in ways he was still discovering. But Kilian didn't need to carry the weight of that secret.

"Like my entire being was buzzing with electricity," he said carefully, choosing his words carefully. "Everything felt supercharged, like I could power half of Haven if I wanted to. What about you? I don't think you ever told me the story of your own Imprinting."

Kilian's grin returned, bright and uncomplicated, and he leaned back against the wall with a satisfied sigh that made the bed creak. "Young dragon, all red scales and attitude. The bonding was intense, one moment I was standing there trying not to embarrass myself, the next I was soaring through clouds with wings spread wide, chasing stars like they were prey. Perfect match, really. Always hunting for the next challenge, the next adventure."

Fin chuckled, the sound surprising him with its genuine warmth. He could easily picture a fiery dragon with Kilian's boldness and swagger, diving through clouds in pursuit of something just beyond reach. "That does sound exactly right for you. Mine's a bit less... epic, I suppose. Sassy winged cat full of wisdom and a tendency toward mysterious pronouncements."

Kilian's laughter erupted with such force that it seemed to shake the very stones of the dormitory walls. "A cat? You bonded with a glorified pet? Please tell me it at least has impressive magical abilities. Does it knock your quills off the desk when you're trying to study? Demand treats at inappropriate hours?"

"More like it makes observations about my life choices," Fin shot back, grinning despite the weight that had been pressing down on his shoulders for days. For a precious moment, the golem and its implications, even the mysterious bow hidden in his Dimensional Pocket Realm, all of it faded into background noise. This was just them, two brothers trading familiar insults like they had countless times in the training yards of the Eastern Reaches, dust on their boots and sweat on their brows.

"Remember our first real hunt together?" Kilian asked, his voice softening with memory. "That direwolf had you backed into a corner. But then you pulled that lightning trick out of nowhere before it could take a bite out of you."

Fin's grin widened as the memory crystallized in his mind, his heart hammering against his ribs, raw electric power crackling from his untrained hands like bottled lightning suddenly set free. "You were standing there looking at me like I was completely blind to what was happening."

"You were, but you figured it out," Kilian said with a teasing smile, then his expression grew more serious, more thoughtful. "You've come so far since then, Fin. Farther and faster than anyone could have predicted. Mom and Dad would burst with pride if they could see you now."

The mention of home tugged at something deep in Fin's chest, a warmth tinged with aching loneliness. He missed his mother's cooking, the way she hummed old songs while stirring pots that somehow always produced exactly what everyone needed. He his father's gruff nods of approval, the way his father's smiles could make even the hardest training session feel worthwhile.

"Are they doing well?" Fin asked, trying to keep the homesickness from his voice.

"Thriving, as always," Kilian assured him. "Dad's been drilling the new guard recruits into the ground, apparently the latest batch is showing real promise. Mom's running the entire estate like a conquering general, which means everything's functioning at peak efficiency. They both miss you terribly, of course. You should write more often, let them know how you're doing."

"I'm trying. I just sent one before you arrived," Fin said, rubbing the back of his neck where tension had been building. "My workload is honestly brutal. Between classes, training, and research projects, there's barely time to sleep, let alone maintain correspondence."

Kilian nodded with understanding, his expression reflecting the sympathy of someone who remembered his own academic struggles. "I know the feeling. Has the famous loner actually managed to make any friends, or are you still convinced that solitude is the path to enlightenment?"

"Two, actually," Fin said, surprised by how easily the admission came. "Annie Shard and Ren. Ren's a training machine, I think he spends even more time in the practice yards than I do, which I didn't think was possible. Annie has this way of cutting through social nonsense and political maneuvering like a perfectly sharpened blade."

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"Good," Kilian said with genuine satisfaction. "You need people in your corner, especially in a place like this. Isolation might feel safer, but it makes you vulnerable in ways you don't always see coming."

The words hit closer to home than Fin cared to admit. His recent paranoia, the way he'd been second-guessing every interaction since the golem attack, proved Kilian's point more thoroughly than any argument could.

Kilian stood and stretched with a groan that spoke of long hours in the saddle and hard sleeping on dungeon floors. "I wish I could stay longer, catch up properly, but you know how Jace gets when the party's split up. The rest of my team is back at the Adventurer's Guild, trying to secure a slot for Crescent Hold, it's a Tier 3 dungeon that's been producing some incredible materials lately."

Fin's eyebrows lifted with interest, his scholarly curiosity immediately engaged. "Crescent Hold? I haven't heard of it."

"Relatively new discovery," Kilian explained, slinging his travel-worn cloak over his shoulders with practiced efficiency. "Deep cave system filled with veins of starsteel and deposits of naturally enchanted quartz. The starsteel's light as air but tough as dragonhide, perfect for weapons and armor. The quartz practically hums with stored mana, absolute treasure for anyone working with runes or enchantments. Crafters are going absolutely rabid for the stuff, which means expedition slots are tighter than a miser's purse strings."

Fin's mind immediately began racing with possibilities, envisioning the applications for such materials in his research projects. "You'll have to send me a sample of that quartz when you get the chance. I bet I could find ways to integrate it with some of the runic work I've been developing."

"Knowing you, you'd probably figure out how to wire the stuff directly into some kind of experimental device," Kilian said with a laugh. "I'll see what I can do, but don't get your hopes up."

"Just don't get overconfident down there," Fin said, only half-joking.

Kilian waved off the concern with characteristic confidence. "We'll be fine. The team's solid, and we've been working together long enough to handle whatever that place throws at us."

He paused at the door, his hand on the latch, and his usual grin faded into something more serious. His eyes locked onto Fin's with an intensity that reminded Fin powerfully of their father. "Listen, Fin. I don't know what's got you so twitchy and paranoid since I walked in here, but whatever it is, you're not facing it alone. I'm in your corner, always. That's not changing, no matter how far apart we are or how long it's been since we've seen each other."

The words hit Fin like a physical blow, cutting through his defenses and striking something deep and vulnerable that he'd been trying to protect. It was a shield against the golem's echoing taunts, against the constant feeling of being watched and evaluated. Kilian didn't know the full scope of what Fin was dealing with, couldn't understand the true stakes involved, but his promise carried the weight of absolute sincerity.

Fin swallowed hard, his voice rougher than he intended when he replied. "I've got it handled. But the same goes for you, I'm watching your back too, so don't do anything stupidly heroic just to impress your teammates."

Kilian's grin flashed back to life, bright as the flames he wielded. "No promises there, runt. Stupidly heroic is kind of my specialty."

He pulled Fin into a fierce embrace, his Tier 3 strength a stark reminder of the gap that still existed between them despite Fin's recent advancement. The hug was brief but intense, carrying years of shared history and unspoken understanding.

"Try not to accidentally torch the academy while I'm gone," Kilian called as his boots echoed down the corridor outside.

"No promises," Fin called back, managing a smile despite everything.

The door clicked shut with finality, and immediately the room seemed dimmer, colder, as if Kilian's presence had been providing warmth that Fin hadn't fully appreciated until it was gone. Moonlight slanted through the window with renewed sharpness, casting stark shadows that twisted and writhed across the ceiling like living things.

Fin sank onto his bed, the mattress creaking under his weight as he stared up at those shifting shadows. Kilian's visit had been exactly what he needed, a lifeline tethering him to home, to the person he had been before Haven's pressures began reshaping him. But the golem's unknown sender was still out there somewhere, their mana manipulation skills flawless. The thought sent Electromagnetic Synchronization buzzing through the room in nervous sweeps, scanning every corner and finding nothing, yet.

Sleep felt like an impossibility. Fin stood and moved to his desk, where his research journal lay open amid an array of runic tools, etched focusing stones, mana-infused silver wire, and a chunk of low tier quartz from a recent class exercise. The golem had woven mana like a true master, cloaking its intent until the very last second. Fin needed a counter-measure, something that could disrupt such sophisticated manipulation before it could be turned against him again.

Earth's physics offered a potential path forward. Electromagnetic interference could jam radio signals and scatter electrical fields, mana, fluid and responsive as it was, followed similar fundamental principles. Disrupt its flow at the source, and even the most elegant spells would collapse into useless noise.

Theoretical Physics Application flared to life in his mind, equations blooming like mathematical flowers as he began working through the problem. Faraday's law suggested that induced currents would naturally oppose changes in magnetic fields, the same principle could potentially be applied to destabilize mana constructs. A device designed to emit carefully tuned disruptive fields, calibrated to scatter spell matrices before they could fully form.

He grabbed his journal and began sketching rapidly, his quill scratching across the parchment as ideas flowed. Mana Interference Device, he wrote at the top of the page. Operating Principle: Faraday-Lenz law adapted for mana flux disruption. Components: quartz oscillator array, silver wire conductors, amplification runes.

The basic design took shape on the paper, two quartz shards linked by a network of silver wire, etched with specific runes designed to pulse chaotic mana waves. The quartz would provide the oscillating base frequency, the silver would channel and focus the disruptive field, and Electromagnetic Synchronization would allow him to tune the entire system to maximum effectiveness against external mana constructs.

Simple in theory, as most breakthrough concepts were. The implementation would be considerably messier.

Fin cleared his desk methodically, moonlight pooling around him like spilled mercury as he arranged his materials. He positioned the quartz shards first, their natural luminescence flickering in steady pulses like crystalline heartbeats. Silver wire followed, fine as spider silk, looped between the crystals in patterns dictated by both runic tradition and electromagnetic theory.

The runes came next, carved with a steel stylus into the quartz surfaces, Ruptura for disruption and discord, Kaelis for the chaos needed to shatter structured mana flows. He channeled power through Lightning Armament, controlled sparks dancing at his fingertips as he fed mana into the developing matrix.

The first test was an unmitigated disaster. Mana surged through the circuit like water through a broken dam, the quartz flaring with stellar intensity before the entire arrangement imploded in a shower of sparks and molten silver. Fin cursed under his breath.

"Overloaded the resonance matrix," he muttered, scraping up what remained of his materials. Theoretical Physics Application recalibrated the design parameters, lower initial mana input, better balance between rune intensity and structural stability.

He rewound fresh silver wire with infinite patience, carved shallower runes with more precise angles, and carefully adjusted the quartz alignment based on his revised calculations. The second test produced a low harmonic hum as the quartz began pulsing in synchronized patterns, wires warming but remaining intact. Progress, but barely perceptible.

Fin formed a precise electric bolt in his palm and activated his device. The lightning flickered uncertainly, its normally clean arcs stuttering like a broken circuit before eventually stabilizing. The interference was real but weak; any complex spell would push through such minimal disruption without difficulty.

"Need more chaos in the pattern," Fin noted in his journal, already planning the next iteration.

He added Caten runes to the design, their jagged angular lines perfect for amplifying discord within magical structures. The third test consumed hours of meticulous work, his eyes burning with fatigue and his fingers cramped from the precise manipulations required. He wove lightning-aspected mana through the circuit with surgical precision, tuning the oscillation frequency to match his core's natural resonance.

When Electromagnetic Synchronization confirmed the results, Fin allowed himself a tired smile. With test he discovered that the device now generated a disruptive field effective within approximately five feet, capable of destabilizing most Tier 1 and Tier 2 spell constructs before they could fully manifest.

He opened his journal to a fresh page and began documenting everything: Prototype: Mana Interference Device. Effective Range: ~5 feet. Primary Effect: disrupts Tier 1-2 spells during formation phase. Current Limitations: short operational range, high mana consumption rate. Next Phase: extend effective range, test effectiveness against Tier 3 constructs.

Satisfaction sparked through him, the pure, intellectual thrill of a researcher watching theory become reality. The golem's sender, whoever they were, had relied on precision and subtlety to maintain their deception. This device could potentially throw their carefully crafted plans into complete disarray.

He stored the completed device in his Dimensional Pocket Realm, where it would be safer from both prying eyes and accidental activation. Outside his window, moonlight was finally beginning to fade as dawn approached, Haven's familiar spires standing dark and silent against the star-scattered sky.

Fin closed his journal and prepared for what little sleep remained before another day of classes, training, and the endless vigilance that had become his new reality. But for the first time in days, he felt like he was making real progress against the shadows that hunted him.

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