After Victoria left rlin was left alone for a while.
His body ached. Not the sharp, screaming kind of pain. Just dull, endless. His bones felt like they'd been hollowed out and filled with sothing too heavy.
'Still here…'
His throat was dry. His limbs heavier than he rembered.
And still—no mana.
Not even a flicker.
He reached inward again, slowly, searching for the edge of the familiar current.
Nothing.
His breath caught.
'Gone. Still gone…'
The knock was soft.
Then the door creaked open.
Elara stepped in without waiting for an answer.
She didn't speak at first. She just paused in the doorway, violet eyes scanning him like she was morizing every inch of him. Like she wasn't sure if he'd vanish again.
rlin t her gaze.
Didn't say anything.
She crossed the room.
"Can you stand?" she asked, voice low.
He shifted slightly under the blanket. The motion pulled at sothing deep in his back.
"I can try."
Elara didn't answer. She just offered her hand.
rlin hesitated.
Then took it.
Her grip was steady.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His feet touched the floor—cold against his skin. For a second, nothing happened.
Then his knees buckled.
Elara caught him before he could fall.
Her arm looped around his back, just under his shoulders. She didn't ask permission.
"You're an idiot," she said softly.
rlin didn't argue.
He braced himself against her side as they moved. Step by step. It felt humiliating. But the weight of it wasn't just his body—it was the loss. The absence. The silence in his veins where magic should have been.
They didn't talk as she guided him down the corridor. The Academy halls were quiet at this hour. Empty. Just the soft padding of her boots and the uneven drag of his steps.
At one point, rlin muttered, "You don't have to carry ."
"I'm not," she said. "I'm making sure you don't break sothing again."
He exhaled, a short sound that might've been a laugh if it had more strength behind it.
They rounded a corner.
Ahead—the courtyard.
Elara slowed.
rlin lifted his head.
The sun had just begun to rise past the towers. The grass was soaked in morning dew. A faint breeze passed through the archways, lifting strands of Elara's hair.
He hadn't seen this place from the outside since the night of the breach.
Since before.
They stepped out into the open.
His body tensed instinctively, like he was bracing for an attack.
Nothing ca.
Just warmth. Birdsong. The scent of wet stone and early flowers.
Elara kept her arm steady around him.
rlin let her.
For once.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
Because right now—he was breathing.
And that was enough.
Elara had helped him to the edge of a marble bench near the east garden, its surface still damp with morning condensation.
He sat stiffly, resting his forearms on his knees. Breath slow. Controlled. His legs were shaking a little. He hated that.
Elara stood nearby, arms crossed, eyes on the horizon. Guarding him without saying it out loud.
Then—
Footsteps.
Too smooth. Too confident for a first-year.
He didn't need to look up. He already knew who it was.
'Elowen Caelith.'
rlin sighed.
'Second-year. Council mber. One of the youngest appointed in recent cycles. Exceptional at strategic-type magic and barrier control. Charismatic, sharp. She was ridiculously popular in the fanbase of the novel…'
Her voice was warm, but clipped. "rlin Everhart, I presu?"
He raised his head slowly.
She stood there in full uniform—immaculate despite the early hour.
Long golden hair, tied back in a braided tail that fell between her shoulder blades. Green eyes—bright, analytical, but tempered with calm.
She smiled faintly. "I was hoping to speak with you before the others started crowding."
'Others?'
rlin said nothing.
Elara looked at her. "Student Council?"
Elowen inclined her head politely. "Elowen Caelith. Strategic Officer. I'm here unofficially."
She turned her attention back to rlin. "I wanted to say thank you."
rlin raised a brow. "For what?"
"For saving our campus. For keeping the breach from spreading. For keeping my little brother alive."
That caught him off guard.
"…Your brother?"
Elowen's smile tilted. "First-year. Red hair. Horrible at combat classes. Terrified of Vivienne."
rlin sifted through nas. Then—
'Caelith… Reian Caelith..I think? I didn't even have an idea he was there…''
"I know what you did," Elowen said, softer now. "The professors aren't talking about it, but I saw the aftermath. You shouldn't have survived. And yet…"
She studied him. Not like she was impressed—more like she was trying to make sense of sothing impossible.
"You were reckless," she added. "Stupidly so."
"I'm aware."
"But brave," she said. "And more than that—deliberate. Which makes you dangerous."
Elara stiffened beside him. rlin didn't react.
Elowen's expression didn't change. "I'm not here to warn you. Or interrogate you. I just wanted you to know I saw it. And I won't forget."
She extended a hand.
"For what it's worth… I hope we fight on the sa side."
rlin looked at her hand.
Then took it. Briefly.
"Likewise."
Elowen smiled again. It didn't quite reach her eyes.
Then she turned and walked away, her boots silent against the stone.
Elara watched her disappear around the corridor, then muttered, "She creeps out."
"She's better than most of them," rlin said, settling back against the bench.
"Mm." Elara glanced at him. "You know her?"
"No." He paused. "Just a guess."
Elara didn't push.
But she didn't believe him either.
"I have to go and do sothing…I'll be back soon. Don't…move?"
She looked at rlin sitting still with a cold expression.
'I'm not sure I can properly…'
"Okay."
With that she just left without saying another word.
rlin didn't move. He sat exactly where Elara had left him—a bench in the east courtyard, half-shadowed, half-lit, arms crossed over his chest. His body ached in ways he hadn't expected. Like his soul had been scoured out and stapled back into his bones.
His breath ca steady. But not deep.
Not strong enough yet.
Then—
Voices.
Too many.
He heard them before he saw them. Footsteps crunching over gravel. A sudden swell of excited whispers.
Soone gasping. A sharp "There he is!" followed by an all-too-familiar chorus of rapidly approaching chaos.
rlin's fingers twitched against the fabric of his sleeve.
'Oh no.'
The first student rounded the hedge corner. Then four more. Then ten. A whole crowd spilled into the courtyard like floodwater breaking past a dam.
First-years, second-years—he even spotted a few upper-year combat track students peeking around the edge like they'd been dared.
"Elara said he was here—"
"He's the one who went into the portal—"
"Did you see what he did with the lightning spell—?"
"They say he killed a rift-born with a single strike—"
"Shh, shut up, he can hear us—!"
Then they were surrounding him.
Half a dozen faces too close. Eyes wide. Mouths faster than their brains.
"rlin, is it true you fought alone for three hours?"
"What was inside the rift?"
"Did you see any demons? Real ones?"
"Did the professors train you in secret?"
"Are you part of so hidden mage family?"
"Did you lose your powers? You don't look like you have mana right now."
"Do you rember everything?"
"Can you do it again?"
He didn't speak.
Not because he couldn't. But because if he answered once, he'd never get them to stop.
The questions kept coming. Like a hailstorm made of curiosity and rumors.
"Was it a sacrifice spell?"
"I heard you collapsed the portal with a forbidden technique."
"I heard you were actually a spirit contractor—"
"I heard you died and ca back!"
rlin exhaled slowly through his nose.
'Why does every academy story end with becoming a rumor ghost?'
One of the braver first-years stepped forward—a short girl with her sleeves rolled past her elbows. "rlin, is it true you're not human?"
He blinked. Finally. Looked at her.
"…What?"
She flushed. "N-not like—like that! I ant…! Uh… people said you walked through corrupted mana like it was nothing, and only monsters can—"
"I'm human," he said flatly.
"R-Right! I didn't an to offend you—!"
Too late. That opened a fresh wave of voices.
"Wait, does that an he really lost all his mana?"
"Then how is he even walking around?"
"Should he be walking around?"
"Are they going to make him a professor now?"
'What the fuck?'
rlin stood.
Just once. A single motion.
The crowd stepped back instinctively.
Even without power. Even drained. He still radiated presence. Not like a hero. Not like a commander. Like sothing sharp that you shouldn't touch twice.
"I'm not answering questions," he said, voice even. "And I'm not going to explain myself."
Soone in the back mumbled, "Wow. Cold."
"Yes," he replied without blinking. "Now leave."
The silence that followed was surprisingly respectful.
Then slowly, the students began to scatter. Muttering. Whispering. So still looking back over their shoulders like they expected him to collapse again just for drama.
He sat back down with a quiet sigh.
Elara reappeared a few seconds later, carrying a small bundle of wrapped food. She blinked at the now-empty courtyard.
"…What happened here?"
rlin didn't look at her. "A natural disaster."
She raised a brow.
"Paparazzi," he muttered.
"…Right." She handed him the bundle. "Eat. You look like a corpse."
He didn't argue.
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