The dormitory building was enormous — four massive towers connected by long stone corridors, each one housing hundreds of students. As the newly accepted candidates filed in, instructors moved through the crowd assigning rooms with the efficient disinterest of people who had done this many times before.
Lysander followed the crowd quietly toward Tower Three. His body still ached from the exam — the shoulder, the cuts along his side, the general exhaustion of someone who had fought an E rank boss monster and a wolf pack in the same afternoon. The system had done something to stabilize the worst of it but the fatigue sat deep in his muscles and wasn't going anywhere soon.
He was alive though. That still felt worth noting.
An instructor handed him a small metal key at the tower entrance.
"Room 317."
He found the room without difficulty. Pushed the door open.
The room was simple — two beds, two desks, two windows overlooking the training grounds below. Standard. Functional. And already occupied.
A tall young man sat cross-legged on the far bed, dark messy hair falling around wolf ears that perked forward the instant the door opened. A tail swayed behind him with the lazy energy of someone who had been waiting and was now very pleased about the interruption. Golden eyes caught the light as he looked up.
Then he was off the bed.
"Oh! Roommate!"
The enthusiasm was immediate and physical — he crossed the room in two steps with the specific energy of someone whose body operated at a slightly higher frequency than everyone around them. His hand was already out.
"I'm Taro Stormfang! Wind element, beastkin — wolf clan, northern territory." He pointed back at the door. "Said Lysander Vale on the assignment sheet. That you?"
Lysander looked at the extended hand for a moment. Then shook it.
"...Yeah."
Taro laughed. "Man, you're quiet." He leaned in slightly, studying him with unsubtle curiosity. "You're the guy who saved those candidates near the ruins, aren't you? I got there after — saw three wolves cut clean." He made a slicing motion with his hand. "Like whoosh."
Lysander kept his expression neutral. "There were a lot of people there."
"True." Taro shrugged, ears relaxing slightly. He dropped back onto his bed with the boneless comfort of someone who had already decided this was home. "This academy is insane though. First day and someone already killed the boss monster." His tail moved with idle energy. "People think it was an instructor."
"Probably," Lysander said.
He set his bag down and crossed to the window. Below, the academy courtyard was already active — students moving between buildings, training grounds being set up, the general organized chaos of an institution that didn't waste time. He'd need to learn the layout properly. Know where everything was before things started moving.
"So what's your element?" Taro asked from behind him.
"Lightning."
The wolf ears perked forward immediately. "Oh nice. Fast attacks, speed reinforcement — good for a swordsman." He nodded approvingly. "You're going swordsman, right? With that tachi?"
Lysander glanced at Kagekiri leaning against the desk. "Something like that."
"Let's spar later then."
He turned slightly. "Spar?"
Taro was already grinning. "We're roommates. That basically makes us training partners." His golden eyes had the specific gleam of someone who had been waiting for a reason to fight someone new. "I want to see what you've got."
Lysander looked at him for a moment. Taro was beastkin, wind element, clearly physical and fast. Sparring with him would be useful — real movement, real pressure, not monsters. And he'd been told lightning was his public element. Better to get comfortable using it in front of people sooner rather than later.
"Sure," he said.
Taro's tail wagged. "Awesome—"
A bell rang through the building. Loud, sustained, institutional.
Then a voice through the corridor.
"All first-year students report to the Central Training Arena. Orientation begins in ten minutes."
Taro grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. "Guess we start immediately." He headed for the door, glancing back. "Come on, Lightning Boy."
Lysander picked up his coat and followed.
In the corridor outside their room, two figures stood waiting at the far end.
Leon Valerian leaned against the wall with the relaxed posture of someone who had nowhere better to be. Beside him, Elara Moonveil stood straight, silver hair catching the corridor light, her expression carrying the specific quality it always carried — like she was already three steps into thinking about something.
Both of them looked at Lysander as he stepped into the corridor.
Leon smiled easily. "Hey."
Taro blinked between them. "...You know these two?"
Lysander didn't answer because he wasn't sure how to answer that yet. He looked at Elara.
She held his gaze for a moment. Then said simply:
"We should talk."