For nearly a week, Kai had felt it. A presence. Subtle, constant, unwavering.
At first, he thought it was paranoia. A lingering anxiety after his duel with Emille, a heightened awareness from the transition to E-class. But no, this was sothing else entirely.
Whoever was watching him wasn’t sloppy. There were no footsteps out of place, no stray breaths too close, no flicker of mana to track. It was as if a phantom followed his every move, always just beyond his perception, yet there.
In the cafeteria, the feeling lingered behind him while he ate. Each bite felt heavier than usual, and he found himself keeping his back to the wall. He tested his senses, tried to hone in on the presence, but nothing.
He tested it in subtle ways. Dropping a spoon in the cafeteria, pretending to stretch while sneaking glances over his shoulder, even weaving a whisper of shadow magic behind him to see if it caught on anything. Nothing. No flicker of mana, no footsteps, no sign that anyone was there.
During elental magic class, he felt the pressure of unseen eyes, watching as he ford a sphere of shadow and compressed it with unnatural precision. His professor praised his control, but Kai barely registered the complint.
---
Kai and Willam sat in their dorm room, both in their own little worlds.
"So, it’s really like casting magic onto your brain itself while taking in information, right?" Kai asked while browsing a huge heavy book about arcane creatures.
"That’s one way to put it, I suppose." Willam responded.
’So, it’s like storing sothing on a computer, I guess.’
The sensation of being watched sharpened. This ti, Kai didn’t ignore it. His voice lowered, his tone deliberate. "You feel that?"
Willam frowned. "Feel what?"
Kai studied his roommate, but there was no hint of recognition in his expression. If Willam didn’t notice, that ant whoever it was, they were far beyond ordinary. That realisation sent a chill through him, but he forced his face to remain neutral. No need to give away his unease.
Even seated in a closed room, soone watched him. That was the strangest thing of all. If his own room wasn’t safe, was anywhere safe?
And when he was outside on the academy grounds, standing beneath the twilight sky, talking to Willam about shadow magic, the presence remained.
At least Willam was proving useful. Kai had nearly perfected the morization magic Willam had promised to teach, and it was already proving invaluable. Every sigil, every incantation, every historical reference burned into his mind with perfect recall. His studies were progressing faster than ever.
Yet, despite all the advantages he had gained this past week, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hunted.
Then, as the last rays of sunlight faded behind the academy’s spires, the sensation vanished.
Gone.
Just like that.
Kai tensed, expecting sothing. A threat. A shift in the wind. An attack.
Instead, a girl stepped in front of him.
She was small, petite even, with soft brown curls that frad an angelic face. Wide, puppy-dog brown eyes looked up at him, shimring with an innocence that was almost too perfect. Her school uniform was immaculate, her movents graceful, deliberate.
Like a heroine from a dating sim that every player falls in love with.
Kai swallowed, suddenly uncertain of what to say.
There was sothing wrong about this mont.
Then she smiled. Sweet, warm, disarming.
And the first words out of her mouth were:
"You’re an idiot."
Kai blinked.
His mind, which had been running battle scenarios just monts ago, montarily derailed itself.
Before he could even formulate a response, she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him standing there like an absolute fool.
A soft breeze rustled through the academy courtyard, and for the first ti in days, Kai was completely, utterly at a loss.
Even more unsettling? The sheer confidence with which she had insulted him, like she knew sothing he didn’t.
Willam, standing beside him, let out a scoff.
"Who was that?" Kai asked, eyes still locked on the girl’s retreating figure.
Willam shrugged, adjusting his bag. "Don’t know. Don’t care."
Kai turned to him, frowning. "You care about everyone if you can learn sothing from them."
"Exactly." Willam gave him a pointed look. "Which ans I really don’t care about her."
Kai barely heard him. His mind was already racing.
’That girl... What was that?’
She had been watching him all day. He was sure of it now. Yet, despite his heightened senses, despite his mastery over shadow and perception, he hadn’t been able to pinpoint her presence once.
Either she was a master of concealnt magic... or sothing far more dangerous.
For the first ti in a while, a thrill of intrigue ran through Kai’s veins.
This girl, whoever she was, had managed to shadow him without him knowing.
And then she called him an idiot.
He smirked to himself.
’This is going to be interesting. I can feel it.’
"You’ve got a creepy smile going on there. You like her?" Willam asked bluntly.
"Like her? I only just t her and she called an idiot."
"Maybe you like that?"
"Maybe..."
The two of them laughed about it on the way back to their dorm room. They theorised what made him stupid. The duel with Emille, moving to E-Class, or sothing else entirely.
Whatever it was, life at the academy was going to be more engaging.
Later that night, as they returned to their dorm, Kai brought it up again. He turned to the other students in their shared quarters. "Anyone know a girl with curly brown hair, puppy-dog eyes, about this tall?" He gestured vaguely.
A few shook their heads, others ignored him entirely. One of the older students raised a brow. "You talking about so noble girl? If she was watching you, it’s probably bad news."
Kai frowned. That much was obvious, but it still didn’t help. He needed to find out who she was. And more importantly, how much she knew.
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