Darius's expression changed.
It was slight.
A crooked amusement creeping into it.
"Ohhh, nothing."
He lifted one hand dismissively.
"There's nothing to worry about.
Then, Darius looked at me.
"Your friend Kael, however..."
Taron soon stopped smiling. Darius's pause was definitely deliberate.
"Well. Let's just say I would be on constant lookout within that forest."
Something cold settled beneath my ribs.
It wasn't fear. It was the recognition of threat, and I wasn't the one recognising it.
Taron shifted forward.
Before he could speak, I did.
"I'm not scared of you, Darius."
His eyes settled fully on mine.
Then he scoffed.
"And that is the problem."
He stepped a little closer.
"You have no idea how scary I can be."
The dark violet presence beneath his words was faint, but there.
Not enough to become a true Aether Pulse like before, but enough to remind me he could.
"You'll find out soon, though," he added. "Don't worry."
Ryn snorted.
"Ha. I'm sure we will."
Darius didn't even acknowledge Ryn, which seemed to irritate Ryn more than the average insult probably would have.
Darius looked at Taron. "I'll see you later, Caelvarin."
Then at me.
"Try your best not to die, Kael."
Darius then turned and walked away, as I watched him disappear into the sea of tables.
'For someone who keeps threatening me, he tells me not to die quite a lot.'
An uncomfortable silence was what remained between us. The cafeteria noise continued, but our table fell silent.
Taron stared in the direction that Darius had left.
Ryn's jaw remained tight like a screw bolted in a door.
Randel looked like he was on the verge of achieving invisibility
And I took another bite of Ryn's toast, mostly because it was still in my hand.
Then Ryn suddenly frowned, drawing all our attention.
"You know..."
We collectively looked at him.
"How come Darius calls Randel and me peasants, but calls Kael 'Kael'?"
There was a brief pause.
Then Taron laughed.
It wasn't because the observation was inherently funny, but more because the timing was.
The tension between us cracked; I could even feel my own mood loosen.
Ryn pointed at Taron.
"Hey! I'm serious!"
"No, no." Taron waved a hand. "You're actually right."
'For once.'
Randel looked up.
Taron rested an elbow on the table.
"If I had to guess, it's probably because Darius respects Kael."
Ryn looked physically disgusted.
"Eugh."
"Don't worry. At best it's a tiny amount," Taron clarified.
"Still eugh."
"He considers Kael competition now. Kael's the one standing between him and that Prestige Elective slot."
I frowned, slightly annoyed by how inconvenient my own attempts at academic excellence are proving to be.
Taron continued.
"To someone like Darius, being competition means you at least exist at a level worth naming."
Ryn looked even more disgusted.
"That somehow might be more insulting."
"Meh. It probably is." Taron shrugged
Ryn pushed his plate away.
"Alright. Well, I'm done with breakfast. I'm gonna head to the training ground."
I looked at him.
"Now?"
"Yeah."
He stood up, then looked at Randel.
"You coming?"
Randel, who had been halfway through another bite of his flatbread, froze.
"Huh, me?"
Ryn raised an eyebrow, as if he were expecting an automatic yes.
"Oh. Sure, yeah. Coming. One sec."
Randel quickly finished what was in his mouth, wrapped the rest of his flatbread in a cloth, and stood.
'So he's taking the food with him. Interesting.'
I looked back at Ryn.
"Okay. I'll see you back at the dorm after the assignment."
Ryn had already started walking away.
"Yep," he called without turning around. "Good luck, and try your best not to get killed."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Be careful, Ryn. You're starting to sound like Darius."
Without stopping, Ryn raised his right hand over his shoulder.
Then extended his middle finger.
Taron laughed.
Randel looked deeply uncomfortable as he walked next to him.
I watched them disappear into the cafeteria crowd, as Darius had.
My amusement faded slightly.
'That was weird.'
I could tell Ryn was irritated by Darius's surprise arrival, and that something was off about him, but I didn't think it was that bad. Maybe Darius's "threat" had bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
Honestly, I'm more surprised it didn't bother me.
Either way—
'I'll check up on him once I'm back.'
Taron finished the last piece of meat on his skewer and stood up.
"Alrighty then."
He stretched both arms above his head.
"I think it's time we head off as well, don't you?"
I checked the cafeteria clock.
"We should."
"Sweet."
We cleared our table, then left together.
The Academy had fully awakened by then.
Students moved in streams across connecting bridges and wide corridors, some heading to morning lectures, others to training grounds. Aether-lit lamps dimmed automatically as sunlight strengthened through the windows.
Taron walked beside me with his hands behind his head.
For once, he was quiet.
It lasted a whole twenty seconds.
"So," he said.
'There it is.'
"If we find something terrifying in the forest, I propose that you fight it while I provide emotional support in the background."
"No."
"You rejected that rather quickly."
"I've done group work before."
"Oh?"
"Yes. I've done it enough to know that there is always one person who contributes absolutely nothing and then somehow appears at the end to put their name on the work, as if they were the sole author."
"..."
Taron looked offended, but only theatrically.
"KAEL ARIN. I would never."
"That's exactly what people who do that would say."
"You wound me, Kael."
"Good."
Taron laughed, and I found myself smiling.
Only faintly, though.
Realistically, if we were actually going to do an assignment together, I might need to be a little more accepting of his...
Antics.
That was probably the safest word I could use.
At university in my old world, group assignments taught me a valuable lesson: intelligence didn't necessarily correlate with reliability.
Someone could understand every concept in a module and still mysteriously disappear for two weeks before messaging the night before submission with:
Hey guys, sorry, been super busy. Anything I can help with?
'OH, how I still remember the rage it would bring me. If Taron turns out to be one of those people, I might actually leave him for the Aethren.'
[BEHAVIOURAL PREDICTION: LOW PROBABILITY]
I blinked.
'You're defending him now?'
[OBSERVATION: TARON CAELVARIN HAS DISPLAYED HIGH FREQUENCY OF UNREQUESTED ASSISTANCE]
'That's a fair judgement, I guess.'
[ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION: USER WOULD LIKELY NOT ABANDON TARON CAELVARIN TO HOSTILE AETHREN]
'I know. It was a joke.'
[USER'S JOKE QUALITY: ACCEPTABLE]
I almost stopped walking.
'Acceptable? So, you're saying it's an improvement from last time?'
[...]
Taron glanced at me.
"Why do you look proud of yourself?"
"No reason."
"That's suspicious."
"So are most things you do, but you don't hear me saying anything."
"Actually, you do, too much."
We crossed the last major corridor and emerged onto the Academy's main approach.
The enormous entrance opened ahead, sunlight pouring across the crystal-lattice bridge and the transparent sections beneath our feet. Morning mist still lingered lower over Valoria, curling between distant towers and along silver-blue waterways.
I slowed slightly.
Even after weeks of living here, the view had not become ordinary.
"I know I say this every time I get the chance to, but Aetherion really doesn't just sit over Valoria. It reigns over it." I said.
"I know. I don't think there's quite a beautiful view like it." Taron said.
From our spot, we could see the capital of Elyndra spread out in galleries of stone and coloured roofs, crossed by rivers that reflected the clear blue sky in silver strips. Rafts floated between lower platforms, distant bridges arced between districts, and beyond the city walls... beyond lay lands that softened into fields, roads, and nature.
For a moment, I felt that same excitement I had back in class.
'We're finally going out there.'
No more looking through windows.
No more observing from balconies.
But actually leaving.
Exploring.
The meeting point was already crowded.
Most of our ABT class had gathered near the entrance, grouped into their chosen pairs. Some students carried small approved bags. Others were checking their uniforms repeatedly. A few nobles looked deeply uncomfortable with the idea of walking anywhere without polished flooring.
Professor Anlor stood near the front beside several Academy staff members.
And behind him—
Carriages.
Which I chose not to process yet.
Professor Anlor waited until the remaining students arrived before stepping forward.
"Everyone here?"
He scanned the group and, apparently satisfied, continued.
"The reserve we will be visiting is located several miles outside Valoria and is owned and maintained directly by the Academy. It has served as a practical Aethren training site for decades."
The excited conversations softened.
"Old monuments and barriers divide the wilderness into monitored sectors. Most of those sectors contain F- and E-rank Aethren. There are a handful of D-rank specimens maintained deeper inside the reserve, but those sectors remain separated under direct faculty supervision."
Professor Anlor adjusted one cuff.
"I will make it clear now. You WILL NOT be entering those areas unless something has gone terribly wrong."
'That's comforting.'
Taron leaned toward me and whispered.
"So he said unless... let's hope we get a chance to see one."
"That isn't something to hope for, Taron."
Professor Anlor's eyes flicked toward us briefly.
Taron straightened.
Professor Anlor continued.
"The wildlife reserve is considerably farther from Aetherion than the classroom map may have implied. Therefore, we will travel as a group. Once we arrive, I will fully explain your assigned routes, specific token objectives, and the additional rules governing the exercise."
Professor Anlor gestured behind him.
"Load your equipment and get into your assigned carriages. We leave shortly."
Students began moving.
I remained where I was.
Something within me was wrong.
My eyes shifted past Professor Anlor toward the devastating realisation I tried so hard to resist.
Carriage one.
Carriage two.
Carriage three.
Large enclosed passenger carriages fitted with Aether-assisted wheels, the Academy's insignias, reinforced structures that I couldn't quite identify, and enough seating to transport the class without anyone having to walk through the capital.
My initial excitement started to collapse.
Taron took three steps before realising I had not followed him.
He turned.
"Kael?"
I pointed at the carriages.
"No. What is this?"
"What is what?"
"The carriages?"
Taron stared at me, slightly perplexed.
"Yeah, what about them?"
Disappointment flooded my body before I could stop it.
"What?! Why are there carriages?! Does this mean we won't get to explore Valoria??"
Several nearby students looked at me.
Taron stared for half a second, then burst out laughing, but I didn't care.
The assignment hadn't even started, yet it already felt like the ultimate betrayal.