After lunch, William had a free period before afternoon training. He returned to his room to find Kai finally awake, sitting at his desk and looking marginally more human than last night.
"You slept for fourteen hours," William observed.
"I needed it." Kai's voice was still rough. "How was your morning?"
"Everyone wants to know about my family visit. Everyone wants to talk about your expedition disaster. There's apparently a betting pool about my love life."
"Well it just sounds like the standard academy social dynamics."
"I suppose." William sat on his bed. "Liam says you defeated four elite assassins with a broken sword using six elements simultaneously."
"Rumors exaggerate."
"So you didn't do that?"
"I did. But the way people tell it makes it sound more dramatic than it was." Kai rubbed his eyes. "The team saw some things I'd been hiding. That's going to complicate our remaining time here."
