Alchemy class. The dwarf teacher was enthusiastically droning on about mana stability, but I wasn’t listening. I had my new "living" map spread out on my lap and was poking a finger at the very center of the First Building.

  "Look," I whispered to Alastia, who was sitting next to me. "There’s something there, deep beneath the foundation. Some kind of dormant structure. And I think I know how to wake it up."

  Alastia squinted at me suspiciously, but that familiar spark was already lighting up in her eyes.

  I didn't reach for a wand or start drawing circles. I simply began tapping a rhythm on the desk with my knuckles.

  DUM-DUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM...

  The rhythm was strange, broken—the kind of beat that causes an itch in the back of your brain.

  DUM-DUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM... DUM-DUM!

  BAM!

  Alastia caught the wave. She began to sparkle, striking the table with her pencil in perfect sync, and a bright yellow magic circle flared up at the point of impact.

  DUM-DUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM... DUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM!

  We began to pick up the tempo. We brought in our feet, stomping the rhythm out on the stone floor. The class began to turn around. First with bewilderment, then with interest.

  Lianel and Alexia, sitting in front of us, exchanged glances and, without a word, began to stomp in time.

  DUM-DUMDUMDUM-DUMDUM-DUM!

  A minute later, the whole classroom had picked up the beat. Students were slamming their palms against desks, stomping, and snapping their fingers. The teacher froze, turned pale, and then his face contorted in sheer horror.

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  "STOP!" he roared, trying to drown out the noise. "STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!"

  But it was too late. The walls and desks began to vibrate on their own, amplifying our rhythm and turning it into a powerful, hollow roar that echoed deep into the earth.

  "NO-O-O!" the teacher screamed, clutching his head. "WHY?! YOU’LL WAKE THEM UP!"

  And then, the world exploded with sound.

  From beneath the ground, right through the floor slabs of the hall, epic music began to surge. Trumpets, drums, and some kind of otherworldly string instruments...

  Driven by this insane drive, we all spilled out into the main square. There, in the very center of the Academy, stood a group of massive gilded mannequins. One was pounding away at enormous cauldron-drums, another was tormenting a violin the size of a man, and a third was drawing sound right out of the air.

  A full-blown concert had begun. Pure, concentrated madness.

  Students from all the buildings—humans, elves, beastmen—began to move rhythmically. Some burst into dance, others started singing along, and some just screamed with delight.

  DUM-DUM-DUM-DUMDUM! BANG-BANG!

  It wasn't just music. It was the magic of joy, making the blood boil.

  The teachers and masters sat on the steps of the buildings, faces buried in their hands.

  "It’s started..." one of them moaned piteously. "Not the 'Festival of the Void' again..."

  Alastia, leaping over a crack in the pavement, skipped over to me. "Greg! What is this?! How did you know about this?"

  "I saw them down there, under the Academy," I grinned, shouting over the golem orchestra. "When we snuck into the center. I couldn't figure out why there were giant instruments lying there for the longest time. Decided to test a theory."

  I jumped up, throwing my hands into the air. "Looks like the theory holds up! This Academy hasn't done enough dancing!"

  The mannequins struck the cymbals so hard that one of the floating islands in the sky actually wobbled. The concert was just beginning. It looked like there wouldn't be any more classes today.