CHAPTER 39: EMPTY CLASSROOM

Mira paused for a moment, her eyes sweeping across the shelves one more time, searching for any other books that might be relevant. Her flashlight beam danced across the spines, looking for anything else about dragons, draconic abilities, or transformation systems.

But there was nothing. The single massive tome she’d already taken seemed to be the only comprehensive resource on dragon systems in the entire collection.

*One book,* she thought with a mixture of relief and disappointment. *That’s all they have?*

She turned away from the bookshelves and moved toward the computer workstation she’d noticed earlier, positioned near one of the windows. It was a sleek, modern setup with a large curved monitor and what looked like academy-standard security protocols.

Or at least, it should have had security protocols.

When Mira touched the mouse to wake the screen, she discovered the computer was still logged in. The previous user—one of the teachers, presumably—had left it completely accessible, with files and databases open and ready to browse.

Mira stared at the unlocked screen in disbelief. "You’ve got to be kidding me," she whispered.

She thanked her lucky stars while simultaneously wondering why the security was so lax. This was supposed to be a restricted area containing sensitive information, classified files, records that students weren’t meant to access. And yet the physical security consisted of two guards who could be distracted by a single determined student, and the digital security was... nothing. Just an unlocked computer sitting there, practically inviting someone to browse through it.

Perhaps the teachers simply weren’t used to people breaking the rules. Perhaps the academy’s strict hierarchy and punishment system had made them complacent, assuming that students would never dare attempt something like this.

The thought gave Mira a thrill—a dark excitement at having beaten their assumptions, at having found the cracks in what was supposed to be an impenetrable system.

She quickly seated herself at the computer and navigated to the search function. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed: *Dragon Systems*.

The search processed for a moment, then returned results.

Mira leaned forward eagerly, scanning through the entries. But as she read, her excitement quickly turned to frustration.

The information was vague. Incomplete. Surface-level summaries that told her nothing she couldn’t have guessed on her own.

*Dragon Systems: Rare classification of transformation-based abilities. Estimated occurrence rate: 0.001% of ability users. Characterized by physical and mental changes consistent with draconic traits. Full manifestation may include...*

The entry cut off there, marked as *[CLASSIFIED - TIER 5 CLEARANCE REQUIRED]*.

She tried clicking through to the classified section, but was immediately met with a password prompt and biometric scan requirement. Without a teacher’s clearance, she couldn’t access the detailed information.

Mira tried several more search terms: *Draconic transformation. Dragon bloodlines. Legendary beast systems.*

Each search returned similarly frustrating results—hints of information, tantalizing fragments, but nothing substantial. Everything useful was locked behind security she couldn’t bypass without more time and specialized equipment.

After several minutes of increasingly fruitless searching, Mira realized she was wasting precious time. The book in her bag was likely far more valuable than anything she could access on this computer anyway.

She quickly closed all the windows she’d opened, returning the screen to exactly how she’d found it, then shut off the monitor.

Checking her wrist watch, she saw that nearly fourteen minutes had passed since she’d entered. She needed to leave. Now.

Mira moved quickly to the door, pressed her ear against it to listen for any sounds in the corridor outside, then carefully opened it just a crack to peek out.

The hallway was empty. The guards were still dealing with Jelo somewhere else in the building.

Perfect.

She slipped out, eased the door shut behind her, and moved swiftly down the corridor in the opposite direction from where the guards had taken Jelo. She found a side hallway that branched off from the main passage and tucked herself into a shadowed alcove where she could wait without being easily spotted.

Her heart was pounding, adrenaline still coursing through her system. She’d done it. She’d actually broken into the teachers’ quarters, found the book, and gotten out without being caught.

The thrill of success was intoxicating.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only five or six minutes, she heard footsteps approaching. Her body tensed, ready to run if it was security, but then she recognized the gait.

Jelo appeared around the corner, walking with a slightly stiff posture that suggested he’d been roughed up a bit by the guards. His expression was pensive, his eyes distant, clearly processing whatever had just happened to him.

When he spotted Mira waiting in the alcove, his face shifted immediately to concern and anticipation.

"Did you get it?" he asked quietly, moving closer to her. "The book?"

Mira nodded, unable to suppress a small, triumphant smile. "I got it," she confirmed, patting the messenger bag at her side.

The look of relief that spread across Jelo’s face was immediate and profound. He let out a long sigh, his shoulders visibly relaxing, some of the tension draining from his body.

"Thank god," he breathed. "I was worried—the guards were really insistent, and I thought they might call for backup before you had enough time—"

"It’s fine," Mira assured him. "Everything went smoothly. Well, as smoothly as breaking into restricted areas can go."

They stood there for a moment, both of them processing what they’d just accomplished, the risk they’d just taken.

Then Jelo straightened up and gestured down the hallway. "Come on. We should get moving before those guards finish filing their incident report and realize someone might have taken advantage of the distraction."

"Where are we going?" Mira asked as they began walking together, keeping their pace casual so as not to draw attention if anyone saw them.

"We need to find an empty classroom," Jelo said, his voice low. "Somewhere private where we can look through that book without being interrupted or overheard. The common room is too public, and I don’t want to bring it back to my dorm where Atlas might see it and ask questions."