The chamber trembled, the glowing crystal at its center pulsing wildly as runes writhed across the floor like living serpents. Romina clung to Mandira, her heart pounding, while Shennong gripped his dagger, his usual grin replaced by a tense scowl. Lyssara stood frozen, her violet eyes wide with panic as the mana in the air grew thick and oppressive.
"Lyssara, what did you do?" Mandira snapped, her staff glowing as she raised a shimmering shield around the group.
"I-I didn't mean to!" Lyssara stammered, her hands flailing. "It was just a tiny tweak to make the Threshold more… exciting! I swear it was stable last week! I just made sure anyone with weak mana signature would cause threshold to act funny...I didn't think it would come to this."
"Stable?" Shennong barked, ducking as a stray bolt of mana crackled past his head. "This is your idea of stable? I'm starting to think you're trying to kill us!"
Romina's voice trembled. "Is this… normal for the Sanctuary?"