Chapter 27: Mana Hypothermia

The massive barrier sealed behind them with a sound like ice cracking.

Selby and Tom stepped through the door into the private treasury chamber without a backward glance. The heavy stone slab slammed shut, sealing Selene Frost and Arthur Vance inside the transparent, see-through barrier that had replaced the original one. They could still see the two dead intruders lying in the blood outside, but the two of them were now completely isolated.

Selene Frost was barely standing.

Her body was covered in deep, bleeding wounds from the rock needles. Her left leg was pierced. Blood soaked her instructor coat and dripped steadily onto the floor. She leaned against the barrier with one arm, breathing shallow, face pale but still trying to look composed.

Arthur stepped forward. His own hands shook. The mana drain from his failed strike still lingered in his veins, but the panic in his chest was far worse.

"Selene... what the hell was that?"

She looked at him. For a moment her ice-blue eyes held something softer than he had ever seen.

"Nothing great," she said quietly. "That’s what teachers do. They protect their students."

Arthur shook his head, voice cracking. "That’s not an answer. Why did you do it? You were fighting two of them. You could have killed them. Why risk yourself for me?"

Selene’s lips pressed into a thin line. Her fingers tightened on the barrier until the knuckles turned white.

"Because it’s what I was taught," she said. "Because that’s what a teacher is supposed to be. I spent ten years inside these walls watching Lily Nightshade... the only person who ever saw me as more than a weapon. I watched her stand in front of me when the frostbite flared up so many times I lost count. And I told myself I’d never let another student become a shield for me."

She looked at him then, and for the first time Arthur saw the depth of her loneliness.

"I have no family outside the academy. No friends who are allowed to get close. No one who would even understand what it costs me every single day to hold back. You... you’re just a boy from the Fringe. A Tier 1 who still fights like he’s trying to prove something. But you looked at me like I was a teacher, not a monster. You even came to my office everyday to talk to me."

Arthur’s throat tightened. "You’re not a monster, Selene. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever seen in this school."

She gave a weak, tired smile. "Flattery won’t heal these wounds, Vance."

That was when her face went pale again.

Arthur’s heart slammed against his ribs. He had seen this once before — the same look she got in the corridor right before the little girl with red eyes and silver hair appeared through the violet stone portal. The temperature around her dropped another ten degrees. Her lips turned blue. Her eyes glazed over with pain so intense she could barely stand.

"Selene? Selene, what’s happening?!"

She tried to answer, but the words came out as a sharp gasp. Her body was beginning to burn up from the inside.

Arthur spun toward the black book in his coat.

"Mimi! Mimi, what do I do? She’s burning up again!"

Mimi’s small voice came through immediately, bright with alarm.

"Touch her body. Right now. Put your hands on her skin and keep them there."

Arthur didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward and pressed both hands against Selene’s shoulders and back, feeling the burning heat of her skin through the torn coat. Selene’s breath hitched sharply at the contact, but she didn’t pull away.

Mimi’s voice continued, calmer now.

"I think that little girl was helping her from that pain that day. It could also be the reason she didn’t join The Arcane Legion and stayed at the academy so Lily could keep eyes on her and save her whenever this happens."

She paused, then added with gentle urgency.

"This condition is called Mana Hypothermia. High-level Frost mages suffer from a severe occupational hazard. Her Frost Grimoire is so powerful that her body’s natural mana pathways are slowly freezing from the inside out. It causes her immense physical pain, emotional isolation, and a deep, repressed craving for physical warmth and release. It’s like an aphrodisiac and a poison at the same time."

Selene’s body started to burn even hotter. She began pressing her body against Arthur’s hands, seeking the contact, her legs trembling as she tried to stay upright.

Mimi kept talking.

"You have the Eros Codex. It operates on a completely different kind of mana. You can save her. It’ll be much more effective than what that little girl was regularly doing. What she needs is for you to directly enter her mana pathways, match her frequency, and flush out the frostbite from the inside. And the only way to do that... is to have sex with her."

Arthur’s face went scarlet.

"Wha—what?!"

Selene’s breathing was ragged. Her eyes were glassy with pain and something far more dangerous — raw, desperate need. She pressed her chest against Arthur’s, thighs trembling, and whispered the same words she had said earlier.

Arthur looked down at the woman he had spent weeks learning from, the woman who had just taken a beating meant for him, and felt something inside him break and reform at the same time.

He was embarrassed. Guilty. Terrified.

But he was also the only one here.

He took a shaky breath, then gently pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers.

Selene’s body melted against him instantly, the pain momentarily forgotten in the heat of the kiss.

The kiss deepened. Selene’s legs shook as she tried to stay upright, but Arthur held her steady. His hands slid down her back, feeling the raw heat radiating from her skin. The mana hypothermia was burning her from the inside, turning her into a living furnace wrapped in frozen pain. Every touch sent fresh tremors through her body.

Mimi watched from inside the book, wings fluttering with excitement.

"Finally. The real lesson begins."

Selene’s fingers clutched at Arthur’s shoulders, nails digging in as she pulled him closer. The kiss became hungry, desperate. Her tongue met his with raw need, and a soft, broken moan escaped her throat. The taste of blood from her split lip mixed with the salt of her skin. She was trembling, but not from weakness anymore — from the overwhelming, overwhelming need the Codex was unlocking inside her.

Arthur felt the large mana pool inside him respond. The Eros mana began to flow, matching her frequency instinctively. It was like entering a storm. The cold, frozen pathways that had been slowly turning her body into ice started to melt under his touch. Pink-gold mist swirled around them both, thick and heavy, pouring straight into the black book on the floor.

Selene broke the kiss only to gasp against his mouth.

"Art... please..."

Her voice was hoarse, broken, but there was no fear in it. Only raw, aching need. She pressed her body fully against his, trying to pull him closer. Her hands roamed his back, seeking skin, seeking warmth, seeking the release that only he could give her.

The pain was still there, twisting like knives in her veins, but the aphrodisiac effect of the Eros mana was drowning it out. Her eyes glazed over with a mix of agony and overwhelming pleasure. She pressed her forehead to his, breathing ragged.

Arthur’s heart ached. He felt guilty, ashamed, terrified of what he was doing. At the beginning he had thought about her in lewd ways. Now he was doing the exact thing he had once imagined. But she was in pain. She had protected him with her own body. She was the strongest person he had ever met, and right now she was burning alive from the inside.

Mimi’s voice was gentle but firm.

"You’re not defiling her. You’re saving her. She’s a teacher. She protected you with her own body. She’s in agony right now and you’re the only one who can reach her on the level her Grimoire needs. Do it for her."