The salty breeze carried the scent of the ocean as Velren stepped onto the beach, sinking his boots slightly into the damp sand. After what felt like an eternity navigating through the forest, they had finally arrived.
Ahead of them, the academy’s magic airship still remained docked, its grand structure casting a long shadow over the shore. Students, both uninjured and those bearing wounds from the exam’s trials, were scattered around, so receiving treatnt from academy staff while others sat in groups, their voices filling the air with chatter.
The mont Solenne stepped forward, a group of students imdiately surrounded her, overlapping their worried voices
"Princess, are you alright?"
"We were worried when we didn’t see you return!"
"Did sothing happen out there?"
Velren exhaled, watching the crowd form around her. As expected of soone of her status. Then, turning to Mikhail, whom he had been supporting all this ti, he sighed.
"Oi, you should be good by now, right?"
Mikhail clicked his tongue and imdiately shrugged him off, stepping away.
"Yeah, yeah."
Without even a glance back, he walked off, leaving Velren standing there.
"Tch, a little thanks would be appreciated..." Velren muttered under his breath.
As Mikhail moved, several students approached him as well—so snickering and throwing teasing remarks, while others looked genuinely concerned for his well-being.
That left Velren standing by himself, surrounded by unfamiliar faces. To be honest, he couldn’t even tell which of these people were supposed to be his classmates.
Well, he was not completely alone per se...
He glanced at Eterna, who was beside him, only to noticed a a blur of red suddenly jumped onto the girl’s back.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
The loud exclamation rang across the beach, and Velren turned in ti to see a red-haired girl clinging onto Eterna from behind, her arms were locked around the silver-haired girl’s shoulders.
Eterna, unfazed, simply responded in her usual indifferent tone.
"I’m fine, Raine."
Velren’s eyes narrowed slightly as recognition settled in. That girl... wasn’t she—
The red-haired girl, Raine, grinned widely, but then her gaze flicked to the side and landed on him.
"AH, YOU?!"
She imdiately jumped off Eterna’s back, pointing a finger straight at Velren.
Velren blinked.
"Uh... hi there?"
Raine Ashford. He rembered her now. The girl with the phoenix. The one he fought during the exam’s second phase.
"What are you doing here?!" she demanded.
Before Velren could even open his mouth to respond, Eterna answered for him.
"He was my partner throughout the entire exam."
Raine’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"What? You’re in the sa class with him??"
Velren groaned internally. What was it with this girl and her unnecessarily loud voice? It was the complete opposite of Eterna’s quiet and aloof deanor. The contrast was almost jarring.
Which led him to another question.
Looking between the two girls, Velren tilted his head.
"Wait... you two know each other?"
Eterna glanced at Raine before answering, her tone was as calm as ever.
"We’ve known each other since we were little."
Velren raised a brow.
’Huh. That’s surprising...’
He vaguely rembered the way Eterna had reacted to Leopold’s boundless energy back in class. And from her reaction back then, Velren had co to the conclusion that she clearly can’t handle loud, over-the-top personalities well. And yet, here she was, childhood friends with this girl?
Before he could dwell on the thought any further, sothing landed on his head.
"—?!"
Velren flinched slightly, startled by the unexpected weight. Before he could reach up to grab at whatever it was, the culprit hopped down onto his shoulder, and he finally caught a good look at it.
A bird—no, a phoenix.
Its feathers were a deep crimson, shimring faintly under the sun with streaks of gold that pulsed like embers. Its eyes, bright and intelligent, studied him curiously. Though small enough to perch on his shoulder, there was an undeniable presence to it, as if it carried the pride of a much larger beast.
Velren blinked before muttering,
"Is this... your phoenix?"
His question was imdiately followed by a loud AH! from Raine.
She stepped forward in surprise, pointing directly at him.
"Wait—so Ignis can actually see you?! How the hell is that possible?! What’s different?!"
Velren tilted his head before casually reaching up to pat the phoenix’s head. The bird let out a small trill but didn’t resist.
"Sorry," he said, smirking slightly. "That’s a company secret."
Raine’s eye twitched.
"You—!"
Just as she was about to snap at him, a commanding voice rang out across the beach.
"Attention!"
Everyone instinctively turned their heads toward the source—standing tall on the main deck of the airship was none other than Commander Aldric himself.
His gaze swept across the gathered students before he spoke again, his voice carrying over the shore with ease.
"The Dominion Clash Exam is now officially concluded."
A collective murmur ran through the students, so sighing in relief, others straightening up as if still expecting another challenge. But before anyone could dwell too long on the announcent, the commander continued.
"Due to... certain circumstances, this year’s exam was suddenly postponed. The decision was made to ensure the safety of all participants and academy personnel."
Velren narrowed his eyes. Certain circumstances? That was vague. Too vague. The explosion, the cloaked intruder—was the academy deliberately hiding what had happened? Did they not want the students to know?
"Further details will be addressed in due ti," the commander’s tone clearly gave no room for speculation.
"For now, all students are to board the airship imdiately. The exam results will be announced at a later ti."
His gaze hardened slightly as he scanned the field.
"Academy personnel, ensure that all students are accounted for. Those who are still injured or in need of dical attention will be escorted to the designated infirmary stations upon boarding. dical teams are already in place and will conduct further examinations as needed."
After a brief pause, he gave a final nod.
"That is all."
With those words, movent stirred across the beach. Students who had been resting now rose to their feet, so with weary relief, others with quiet tension. But Velren? His mind was still turning. The academy wasn’t telling them everything.
’Well, as long as I can take that quick nap...’
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