The eastern wing of Aegis Academy was a world away from the grand, sunlit plazas of the main campus.
Here, the hallways were narrower, the air noticeably colder, and the noise of chatting students faded into silence. The walls were lined with dim, mana-lit lamps that cast long, flickering shadows against the dark stone.
I reached Classroom 3B early.
It was a habit born from months of sitting in Professor Zane's lectures. When you were in a class where one wrong line could make a slate explode in your face, getting to your desk five minutes before everyone else was basic self-preservation.
The seats were completely empty.
I walked to the back row, pulled out my chair, and laid my things across the desk: my stylus, two blank stone slates, and a small cloth for wiping away residue. I leaned back in my chair, staring at the huge black slate board at the front of the room.
It was already covered in dense, connected rune patterns, notes left behind from Zane's research.
