The library was quiet at that hour of recess. Two students occupied separate tables near the windows, and neither looked up when Takeshi entered.

He stood in front of the shelves for a moment.

’This is bad...’

The problem was specific: he needed information about dissonant magic, specifically about some type capable of affecting a person’s ability to act, but he didn’t know how that information was organized or which section he should search in.

He went to the general magic area and checked the spines of the books within view. There were titles about elemental channeling, about impregnation techniques, about the history of magic in different regions, about energy flow theory. Nothing that mentioned dissonant magic directly.

He searched the next section and found more technical texts.

He moved to the next shelf and then the next.

After several minutes of scanning spines without results, Takeshi closed the last book he had taken out and returned it to its place. The problem wasn’t only that the information was scarce. It was that he didn’t know what term to search for, since "dissonant magic" was a broad category. What he needed was something far more specific.

He had no title, no technical name, no concrete starting point.

He sat at one of the empty tables in the back and took out his phone.

’If the books don’t have what I need, then the internet might.’

He first searched "dissonant magic types" and got general results. Most explained the category the same way Nyx had done during the practice session.

He adjusted the search to "dissonant magic, manipulation, behavior," and the results changed. That was how he found an academic discussion forum with a post titled "Unofficial Classifications of Dissonant Magic Affecting the Subject." The post was several years old, but the content was detailed.

He read slowly.

The text explained that within dissonant magic there were subtypes that operated directly on the individual rather than on the environment or an object. One of those subtypes was described as behavioral conditioning magic, a type that imposed a specific restriction on a person’s capacity to act. The result was not pain, nor loss of consciousness, nor physical damage. It was the inability to perform a specific action. The person could try, could want to do it, but something in the process between intention and execution would be interrupted before completion.

He continued reading the next paragraph, which explained the conditions required to apply that type of magic.

The first method was direct: if the practitioner’s magic level was higher than the target’s, the effect could be applied at a distance without any physical contact. The difference in level functioned as a sufficient advantage to impose the restriction without approaching.

The second method applied when that condition was not met. If the practitioner did not surpass the target in level, they had to be in physical contact with them to attempt to apply the effect, but the process was not immediate, since the conditioning took time to consolidate, and according to the forum records, the estimated time for the effect to become stable was several months of regular contact.

Takeshi set the phone down on the table.

The chat appeared in his field of vision.

[wait, he’s reading something interesting]

[detective mode activated lol]

[this is the twist I was waiting for]

[I didn’t know there were levels in dissonant magic, the god really worked hard on those details]

Takeshi ignored them and returned to the information.

’Distance if you have a higher level, prolonged physical contact if you don’t.’

He began reviewing what he knew about Nyx.

Her magic stats were extraordinary. He had seen them during the attack at the house, and it was a level that left most students at the school far below her. If someone wanted to apply behavioral conditioning to her from a distance, they would need a magic level higher than Nyx’s, which was neither easy to obtain nor easy to hide.

Sylion was the first figure that came to mind, but after investigating Sylion on his own, he had discovered that he handled elemental magic. There was no sign that he used dissonant magic, and besides, if he had hired someone to manipulate Nyx, he would have had to wait months or even years before Nyx could become weakened.

’Then if Sylion has nothing to do with the manipulation, who else could be doing this?’

Takeshi paused.

It had to be someone who had regular physical access to Nyx for months, under an appearance that raised no alarms, and whose contact with her was so ordinary that Nyx would never have marked them as a threat.

He reviewed what he knew about Nyx’s life outside school. She lived alone, had little to no contact with her family since being expelled from home, and the money she received came from somewhere, managed deliberately to give her just enough.

’Wait a moment... could it be that...’

Takeshi put away his phone and gathered his things.

He needed to talk to Nyx now. If his conclusion was correct, the threat wasn’t coming from outside. It was coming from someone who already had regular access to her, and that access could still be happening without anyone noticing.

[he’s going to look for her]

[run Takeshi, run like your life depends on it]

[donate so he makes it in time]

[the man has a plan for the first time in his life]

[RUN RUN RUN]

He left the library. Recess was still ongoing outside, and the hallway was filled with students moving between classrooms. At this hour, Nyx was usually in the library or at one of the tables in the courtyard of the east wing, always somewhere apart from the rest. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He found her in the courtyard, sitting alone at the far end of the field, an open book in front of her. She looked up when Takeshi approached and closed the book.

"I need to ask you something..."

Takeshi said.

"And I need you to answer precisely."