NOVEL NEXT B2. Chapter 7: Magical Students Accidentally Create More Problems While Solving Problems
"Is she breathing?" Lucian asked, kneeling beside Dr. Foster's unconscious form. Frost patterns spiraled around his hands as he checked for a pulse, the ice responding to his stress even more than usual in this unstable environment.
"She's breathing," Mo confirmed, though her attention was split between her new ally and the magical sphere that continued to pulse with Julian's embedded signature. "But the golden light around her eyes... I haven't seen that kind of magical manifestation with humans before. That's not normal."
"Define normal," Nyx said dryly, their form flickering as if they weren't sure which presentation would fit the situation the best. "Because nothing about the past week has qualified as normal by any reasonable definition."
Valerius moved to shield Dr. Foster's unconscious form from the sphere's pulsing energy. "The timing can't be coincidental. The moment we all gathered near the sphere, both the expansion stopped and she manifested magical abilities. There's a connection."
Suddenly, System messages began materializing above Dr. Foster's unconscious form, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession like a slot machine spinning through its options:
ANALYZING MAGICAL NETWORK CONNECTIONS...
NODE DETECTED: MORGANA NIGHTSHADE
NODE DETECTED: VALERIUS CROWE
NODE DETECTED: JULIAN FENNAR
NODE DETECTED: […]
CALCULATING INFLUENCE PATTERNS...
EMOTIONAL RESONANCE MAPPING…
POWER DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS…
Dr. Foster's eyes snapped open, brilliant gold for a moment before fading to their normal brown. She sat up slowly, one hand pressed to her temple.
"I saw it," she whispered, her hands shaking as she stared at Mo with wide, dilated pupils. "Impossible connections—like watching the internet made of light and consciousness, spreading through... through places that can't exist. Dimensions? Planes? I don't even have words for what I just experienced. This violates every law of physics I know. How many of them are there…?"
"No one counted them," Mo said automatically, then paused. "Wait. What do you know about dimensions and planes?"
Dr. Foster stared at her. "I saw it all. You're connected to it. All of you." She struggled to her feet, accepting Lucian's steadying hand. "But not equally. Mo, you're... you're like a primary node. A central hub."
"A what now?" Mo asked, though it looked like she was beginning to understand with growing unease.
"The ritual you friend… Julian… created," Emily said, her new ability apparently coming with enhanced understanding, "it's not just distributing magic randomly. It's structured around specific anchoring points. Julian was one, even if we don't know where he is right now. You're another. And..." She looked at Valerius with sudden clarity. "You're the third major node. At least among the people I know of. There are others there… presences… aspects…"
Valerius went very still. "Explain."
"I think I understand what Emily means," Mo said. "She mentioned three people that were entangled with the ritual and the System the most. I'm sure if she knew Milo or have met the Headmaster, she'd sense their imprints as well."
"But why?" Valerius asked. "Nyx and Lucian were also there during the ritual."
"But they weren't so deeply involved in it as we did," said Mo. "It took a part from you and the Headmaster. It took something from a couple of other professors as well. Not to mention Milo and Julian."
"And you became a part of that ritual yourself," said Nyx, realization dawning on them. "You became it's part."
"You overtook it!" added Lucian.
"Guys, I need an explanation," said Dr. Foster. "What's happening here?"
"You are absolutely right," said Mo. "It's all connected."
"So, during Julian's ritual," said Dr Foster slowly, "when Valerius was used as an anchor alongside that boy… Milo, you said?… all your energy signatures were integrated into the System's foundation. I can sense both yours and Valerius' signatures there. I can see them networked to the wider… universe. But Mo's influence was even deeper. I think it's her emotional connection to Julian… Maybe some of her magical abilities affected his mental state during the creation process..." Dr. Foster's eyes flickered gold again as she accessed her new analytical abilities. "Is that possible?"
The four magical beings looked at each other with an understanding that Dr. Foster couldn't miss.
"So, I'm right, there was some influence there," she said. "There was some additional magic affecting the ritual. I know nothing about all that. But I understand how to analyze things and make connections. And now, with my new… abilities… I can see even more. Mo isn't just connected to the System. In some ways, she is the System."
"Oh," Mo said quietly. "We didn't just influence the System at its origin. We are influencing it. Right now. Constantly."
"Which explains," Nyx said with growing understanding, "why the System seems to be promoting progressive values and healing historical power imbalances. Because that's what we believe in."
"But not why my and your presence affects the hotspots and humans near them," said Lucian. "I get how Mo and Valerius may be an influence. But not about us two."
"That's something to explore in the future. But it also explains," Valerius added grimly, "why our respective home realms are probably experiencing even more destabilization than other locations. The System isn't just affecting Earth and other human worlds. It's spreading our influence across every dimension it touches."
"So, what about Milo?" Lucian asked. "And the Headmaster? The other teachers who were affected?"
Dr. Foster's eyes flickered gold as she accessed deeper layers of the network analysis. "It is hard to tell. I feel some distinct influences. Like every one of you changed the basic principles of the System on some fundamental level." She closed her eyes for a moment and visibly focused on something deep within her. "I don't think I have a level that is high enough to figure out more. And that's even while I skipped directly to Level 10! I know no one who is that high already, just three days after that Integration…"
"Level 10?" Valerius asked, genuinely impressed. "The highest I've encountered in my diplomatic work with the British government was a Level 6 analyst who'd been testing magical abilities since the first day of the Integration. Most of the humans I've been working with are still at Level 1 or 2, just discovering their first basic skills."
"That matches what we've seen," Nyx agreed. "The humans in Seattle are mostly celebrating their ability to light candles with their fingers or levitate paperclips. The only source of information about any magical systems for us is Mo's collection of fantasy books. But even then, Level 10 suggests something massive has happened here."
"Or," Lucian added thoughtfully, "it indicates that proximity to us, or to Mo and Valerius, if I'm going to be more precise, the System's primary influence nodes, accelerates the integration process. But I don't think it would be ethical to experiment on humans."
"We already sort of experimented on Emily," said Mo.
"Ahem… I know you didn't expect this to happen," said Dr. Foster. "And I came here of my own volition. So, I don't complain. It seems that this new skill set will even help me with my work. So, System nodes. There is some traumatic influence there…" Emily said slowly, her analytical abilities apparently revealing darker layers of the network's foundation.
"I'm sure that should be Milo," said Mo. "He got the worst of it."
"Do we even know which world did he come from?" asked Lucian.
"I have no idea," said Mo. "He pledged himself to me, but that only made me distance from him…"
"We should find out," said Valerius. "We can learn from how his world is influenced by this new magic. One more reason to go back and check with our professors and maybe even the High Council."
The sphere pulsed again, but this time it was contracting, not expanding, and this time Mo felt something shift in her consciousness. An interface opening, connections activating that she hadn't known existed.
It wasn't like her usual succubus abilities—those were intimate, personal, requiring proximity and emotional resonance. This was something vast and impersonal, like being suddenly plugged into the nervous system of reality itself. Her rose-gold energy flared involuntarily as thousands of connections sparked to life in her mind, each one representing a consciousness touched by Julian's System.
The sensation was overwhelming. Mo had influenced emotions before, had felt the subtle currents of desire and will that flowed between individuals. But this... this was like standing in the center of a hurricane made of thoughts and fears and desperate hopes. Every newly magical human, every reality adapting to impossible changes, every world where the fundamental laws of existence had suddenly shifted—all of it flowing through her consciousness in a torrent that made her stagger.
"I can feel them," she said, her voice filled with awe and growing panic. Her hands were shaking now, rose-gold light bleeding from her fingertips as the System's network tried to establish a new type of connection with her. Something, that was definitely not planned by Julian and expected by anyone.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Every human who's developing magical abilities. Every reality that's been touched by the System. They're all..." She struggled for words, pressing her palms against her temples as the psychic pressure built. "I don't see how that can be stopped. Only… we can only adapt to this new reality…"
The weight of it was staggering. Millions of minds, all looking for answers, for leadership, for someone to tell them that the impossible changes in their world meant something. And the System was trying to funnel all of that need, all of that desperate seeking, through her.
"Us specifically?" Nyx asked, their voice tight with concern as they watched Mo struggle against the overwhelming input.
"No, the whole multitude of worlds," Mo managed, though speaking felt like trying to hold a conversation while drowning. "But they're all... they're all looking to us for guidance. The System is making us into... into something we never asked to be."
The sphere pulsed once more and collapsed. Suddenly Mo couldn't feel Julian's signature anymore, but something vast and interconnected that was so much larger than him remained. There was no hotspot in Bath anymore, just a bunch of humans in the vicinity of the ancient Roman Baths with newly manifested magical abilities.
But that was not everything Mo could perceive with her senses. Something had shifted in her magic. It wasn't actively present. It wasn't that System interface the humans have described. But it was a presence that remained constantly in the background, reminding Mo of how much her life had changed a few minutes ago.
It was the System itself, not just its interface, spreading across dimensions, touching millions of lives, all of them looking for answers that none of them were prepared to give.
"We don't have other choice than take responsibility for what we've accidentally created," Mo said. "The System isn't going away. It's already touched too many dimensions, affected too many lives. We were trying to do the wrong thing here. It can't be stopped. It can't be rolled back."
"Well, that's not all we were trying to do here," said Nyx. "I met a few spectacular humans during my tour of North America!"
Mo punched their shifting shoulder. "You know that's not what I meant! But you are right. While that was what we were tasked with, that wasn't the only thing we did here. I think without our influence, the situation here in South England would have been much worse."
"A-ha! Another confirmation!" said Dr. Foster.
Mo glanced at her but didn't comment.
"If we're connected to it," Mo continued. "If our values are embedded in its foundation, then we have the ability to guide its development. We have obligations. It may be our chance to make changes for better for everyone."
"Guide it toward what?" Lucian asked.
"You start to sound too much like Julian, you know," added Nyx simultaneously.
"Don't even start…" said Mo. "We didn't impose this magical nonsense on people. But if we are in the middle of it, it would be foolish not to use the tools we have."
"Just..." Nyx's form flickered through several presentations before settling on something almost miniature, "remember what happened the last time someone close to you had grand plans for improving everyone's lives. Julian started with noble intentions, too." Their voice carried both warning and genuine care. "Be careful. And mindful."
"You'll be there to help me, right?" asked Mo. "All of you."
***
Back at Between the Lines, they claimed a corner table that felt simultaneously familiar and strange—Mo's old workplace transformed into their interdimensional crisis management headquarters. Lily appeared with a tray of coffee that could have resurrected the dead.
"You all look like you need it," she said quietly.
Mo wrapped her hands around the warm mug, grateful for something concrete to anchor her after the overwhelming sensation of being connected to millions of minds. The flashes of energy that had been flickering around her fingertips finally settled, though she could still feel the System's presence humming in the background of her consciousness.
"So," Dr. Foster said, pulling out her tablet and setting it carefully beside her coffee, "what happens now? Do you return to your Academy and file a report? What's the process?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Valerius said, his usual composure showing slight cracks. "How much do we tell our professors? The High Council? They sent us here to investigate and contain magical hotspots, not to discover that we're accidentally guiding a multidimensional magical revolution. We were sent to deal with the fallout of Julian's experiment, not to spearhead it. They'll just detain us!"
Nyx leaned back in their chair. "I vote for selective truth-telling. 'We stabilized the hotspots, worked with local authorities, and everyone's magical abilities are developing nicely, thank you very much'."
"That's not going to work," Lucian said, frost patterns tracing his concern across his coffee cup. "Even if we sort of stabilized a single hotspot today. But they'll want detailed reports. Documentation. Evidence of our methods."
"And the moment they realize what we've actually discovered," Mo added grimly, "they'll either try to control the System themselves or remove us from any position where we can influence it."
"Remove from position…" Valerius said, "That's an understatement of the year. They won't just try to control the System—they'll eliminate us. A succubus with cosmic influence? A new kind of magic that threatens traditional hierarchies? It all becomes the greatest threat to demonic power structures in recorded history."
Dr. Foster looked up from her notes. "You're talking about more than academic politics now, aren't you?"
"Yes," Mo said. "We still have to think about our professors, our study, and our reports. But you are right, there are real demonic politics entangled here as well. And the stakes are slightly higher than tenure disputes. I'm not even sure it will be only about my empire and my inheritance anymore…"
"But we're students," Lucian pointed out. "We're barely adults. How are we supposed to guide magical development across multiple dimensions?"
"That's easy. The same way we've been doing everything else," Mo said with a laugh that bordered on hysteria. "By figuring it out as we go and hoping we don't break anything too important. That worked with the goblins, haven't it?"
A comfortable silence settled over the table as they all contemplated the magnitude of what they'd stumbled into. Outside, Bath continued its daily routine, oblivious to the fact that a very small group of people, most of whom weren't even human, were making decisions that may influence all aspects of reality in profound ways.
But for this group of people, it was just a coffee shop conversation.
"Dr. Foster," Mo said finally, "I have a proposition."
Emily looked up from her tablet. "I'm listening."
"Join us. Not just as a person who has similar goals, but as part of the team. You've got analytical abilities that could help us understand what we're dealing with, and you've already been integrated into the System's network."
Dr. Foster blinked. "Join you how? I have a government contract, security clearances, a research team depending on me. I can't just..." She gestured helplessly. "How does one even resign to work for an interdimensional being? Do I file it under 'career development' or 'psychological sabbatical'? My security clearance alone took three years to process, and now I'm supposed to explain all that to my supervisor? What would I put in my notice? 'Sorry, leaving to help guide magical development across multiple realities with a succubus I met just a few hours earlier'?"
Mo's rose-gold energy flickered with amusement, and her smile turned distinctly predatory. "Oh, Emily," she said, her voice taking on that honeyed tone that made people forget to breathe, "I'm flattered you think meeting me was the highlight worth mentioning. Though technically, you'd be working with a succubus, not for one. I find partnerships so much more... satisfying than employment arrangements."
The temperature in the room seemed to rise a few degrees, and Dr. Foster's cheeks flushed pink before Mo's expression shifted back to her normal, earnest demeanor.
"Haha! Got you there for a moment, didn't I?"
"You could put 'consulting opportunity,'" Nyx suggested helpfully, apparently unfazed by Mo's brief display. "Very lucrative consulting opportunity."
"The logistics are..." Dr. Foster paused, then laughed—a sound that held equal parts amazement and despair. "The logistics are the least impossible part of this situation, aren't they? Three days ago, I was a government researcher investigating unusual energy readings. Now I'm apparently a Level 10 magical analyst being recruited by otherworldly students… lords… demons… Ah, whatever… Hired to help manage a multidimensional crisis."
"When you put it like that, it does sound rather absurd," Valerius agreed. "Working for students sounds like a step down. But don't forget that Mo is the seventh largest employer outside of the fae realms. And most of the larger empires are led by dragons. They have completely different relationships with their… employees."
Dr. Foster was quiet for a long moment, staring into her coffee as if it might contain answers to questions that didn't exist in any earthly handbook. "Dragons, huh? I became a researcher because I wanted to understand how the world works. To make sense of patterns and connections that others might miss."
"And now?" Mo asked gently.
"Now the world has fundamentally changed, and I'm one of the few people positioned to help understand the new patterns." Dr. Foster looked up, meeting Mo's eyes. "The question isn't whether I should join you. The question is whether I can afford not to."
A shadow flickered across the window, and then a large raven landed on the windowsill with barely a sound. Its obsidian feathers gleamed in the afternoon light as it folded its wings with deliberate precision. Mo glanced over and felt a jolt of recognition.
"Oh," she said, surprised. "That's one of mine."
The raven cocked its head, studying Dr. Foster with intelligent black eyes that seemed to see far more than any ordinary bird should. Then, to everyone's shock, it spoke—its voice carrying the weight of ancient wisdom and unexpected gentleness.
"Sometimes the most important journeys begin when we stop pretending we know where we're going."
Everyone at the table went very still. Even Mo stared at the raven in shock, her coffee cup halfway to her lips.
"Did he just..." Lucian began, his voice barely above a whisper. "They never spoke to you in Umbra."
"Yeah, they talk," said Mo, still staring at the raven. "It just seems they wait for the most dramatic moment to do so."
The raven tilted its head and dropped a message tube onto the table with a soft thunk, the wax seal bearing the Blackthorn Keep insignia clearly visible. Then it regarded them all with what might have been amusement before launching itself from the windowsill and disappearing into the afternoon sky, leaving behind only the memory of profound, unexpected wisdom.
Dr. Foster sat in stunned silence for a moment, then began to laugh—not the desperate laughter of hysteria, but the clear, bright sound of someone who'd just been handed exactly the perspective they needed.
"Well," she said, wiping tears from her eyes, "I suppose that settles it. How exactly does one resign from government service to join an interdimensional venture?"
"Very carefully," Valerius suggested. "And with excellent lawyers."
"I can provide that," Mo said. "Both the interdimensional kind and the boring human kind who specialize in contract negotiations."
Nyx raised their coffee cup in a mock toast. "To figuring it out as we go."
"To not breaking anything too important," Lucian added, clinking his cup against theirs.
"To new beginnings," Dr. Foster said, though her voice carried a note of uncertainty that suggested she wasn't entirely sure what she was beginning.
"To responsibility we never asked for," Mo concluded, feeling the System's presence pulse gently in the background of her consciousness—not demanding, just... present. Waiting.
As they finished their coffee and began planning their return to Umbra Academy, Mo found herself thinking about the raven's words. Perhaps the most important journeys really did begin when you stopped pretending to know where you were going.