The afternoon sun bathed the academy grounds in a warm, golden glow as Will stepped out of the training arena. The ecstatic cheers from the small handful of students who had remained behind had long since faded into the stone corridors, and the heavy double doors stood wide open.
The evaluation panel had already packed their leather ledgers and departed. Headmistress Seraphina had left shortly after, personally accompanying the two high-ranking Tower Administrators down the grand staircase. Professors Edward and Lilia followed a few paces behind, their expressions serious as they escorted the administrative convoy toward the academy's secure iron gates.
The trial had officially ended. Every single metric had been recorded. Everything was over.
Will leaned against a stone pillar, letting out a long, shuddering breath that rose faintly in the cooling afternoon air. "…Finally."
It had been an exhausting ordeal. Paradoxically, the exhaustion wasn't physical; his mana circuits weren't damaged, and his muscles felt remarkably limber despite the intense strain of the practical test. The fatigue was entirely mental.
The grueling bureaucratic process of explaining the structural logic behind every single hand sign, answering the panel's endless stream of hyper-critical questions, and meticulously demonstrating his techniques while dozens of powerful, calculating eyes tracked his every micro-movement had drained his social battery completely. It wasn't the act of fighting monsters or manipulating mana that tired him—it was the talking.
Standing beside him on the cobblestone path, Elena offered a bright, radiant smile that cut right through his fatigue. "You did amazing, Will. Truly."
Will scratched the back of his head, a sheepish, tired smile gracing his lips. "I just showed them exactly what I've been practicing for the last month."
"You make it sound so easy," she teased, bumping her shoulder against his.
"Trust me," Will muttered helplessly, "it wasn't."
Elena burst into a light, melodic laugh. "I know. I saw the look on the judges' faces."
The two walked side by side through the sprawling academy courtyard, the shadows of the ancient spires stretching long across the manicured lawns. As they passed the fountains, passing students occasionally cast sharp, lingering glances toward Will. Some huddled together in immediate, hushed whispers; others abruptly turned their heads away the exact millisecond they realized he had caught them looking. Neither Will nor Elena paid them much attention, continuing their steady pace through the grounds.
Eventually, they reached the familiar cobblestone fork leading toward the separate residential sectors. Elena stopped, turning to face him.
"I'll see you tomorrow in class," she said softly.
"Yeah," Will replied. "See you tomorrow."
"…And congratulations again," she added, her eyes crinkling with genuine warmth before she turned on her heel.
As Elena took her first few steps toward the path, Ruby quietly and seamlessly slipped from her shoulder. Without making a single rustle of sound, the small black familiar landed gracefully on the smooth stone pathway. Elena, completely wrapped up in her own thoughts, didn't even notice the sudden shift in weight. She simply raised a hand, waving goodbye over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner toward the girls' dormitory.
Will continued walking alone down the narrowing path. Several meters behind him, Ruby followed.
She moved like a phantom—silent, light, and almost entirely invisible against the growing evening shadows. Under normal circumstances, the small cat would have violently flooded their newly restored mental connection with a relentless barrage of frantic questions: Who are you really? Why did the connection suddenly snap back into place? What are those bizarre somatic spells? What is the true nature of those crimson eyes?
Yet today, she remained completely silent.
Tracking Will from behind, Ruby's sharp instincts could clearly read the invisible aura radiating from his slumped shoulders: absolute mental exhaustion. It was a profound psychological fatigue. His internal mana reserves weren't completely depleted, and his physical frame didn't bear any crippling injuries, but the fortress of his mind was thoroughly spent. The constant, high-stakes explanations, the suffocating noble attention, and the crushing institutional pressure had taken their toll. Even the small familiar understood that now was not the time to demand answers.
So instead of speaking, she simply kept her distance and followed him home.
By the time Will finally reached the door of his dormitory room, the sun had almost entirely disappeared beneath the jagged horizon, painting the sky in deep bruises of purple and orange. He slid the brass key into the lock and pushed the door open. The small space felt unusually, beautifully quiet.
"…Home," he breathed.
Throwing his heavy academy uniform jacket onto the wooden chair, he stretched his arms lazily toward the ceiling. Every single rigid muscle in his back relaxed with an audible pop. His shoulders felt like solid lead. Without wasting another second on thought, he headed straight toward the small bathroom.
A stream of warm water washed over him. For several uninterrupted minutes, Will simply stood motionless beneath the showerhead, his forehead resting against the cool tiles. The hot water gradually and methodically washed away the thick layer of tension that had built up within his soul throughout the day.
As the steam filled the room, the details of the afternoon's trial replayed themselves behind his closed eyelids in vivid detail: the roaring arc of the Flame Breath, the deadly, high-pitched chirping of the Chidori, and the surreal, all-seeing clarity of the Eclipse Eyes. He remembered the calculating gazes of the judges, the enigmatic presence of the Headmistress, and Elena's sudden, accidental hug that had left them both burning red. He even pictured Emma's hand instinctively rising to clap before Edward had freezing-coldly shut her down.
A faint, private smile appeared on his face. "…Not bad."
It had gone infinitely better than he could have ever engineered. Turning off the valve, he dried himself off and changed into a pair of loose, comfortable clothes. The exact millisecond his body made physical contact with the mattress, every remaining ounce of his willpower dissolved. He didn't bother checking the glowing blue windows of the system, he didn't bother opening a single library text, and he didn't even attempt to cultivate his core. Within moments, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A few minutes later, Ruby quietly slipped through the slightly open window frame, her paws landing softly on the wooden windowsill. Her deep crimson eyes rested silently on Will's rising and falling chest. For several long seconds, she simply watched him sleep.
The mental connection between them was still incredibly weak and highly unstable, fluctuating like a dying ember in the wind. Yet… it undeniably existed. She slowly curled her small body into a tight, protective ball near the glass, letting her chin rest on her paws. For the first time in weeks, neither of them spoke a single word. The room remained completely wrapped in silence.
Morning arrived in a brilliant flash of warm sunlight piercing through the gaps in the heavy curtains. Will slowly cracked his eyes open, blinking against the glare.
"…Morning already?"
For a brief moment, he simply lay flat on his back, staring blankly at the wooden patterns of the ceiling. Then, a sudden realization occurred to him.
"…Ruby?"
He snapped his head toward the window. The sill was completely empty; the small black cat was nowhere to be seen. A small, amused smile played on his lips. "Guess she already left to roam around in the academy."
He sat up and stretched, a wide grin spreading across his face. Unlike the previous, grueling mornings of the past month, his body felt absolutely wonderful. Light, comfortable, and profoundly refreshed. After sleeping early for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he finally understood just how dangerously close to the brink of collapse his mind had actually been.
"Huh…" he muttered, rolling his shoulders. "I really needed that."
He swung his legs out of bed, his thoughts naturally drifting toward the one thing that truly mattered now: the results. The Mage Tower's official verdict. The judges had explicitly stated they would notify Professor Kael the exact moment the bureaucratic evaluation was finalized.
"…Wonder how long that'll actually take," he murmured.
The thought only lasted a few seconds before he ruthlessly swiped it away. Whatever happened, happened. Agonizing over it now wouldn't make the bureaucratic wheels of the Mage Tower spin a single second faster.
With that thought, he climbed out of bed and began his daily routine exactly as he always did. A few minutes of thorough stretching, followed by light bodyweight exercises. Nothing excessive or exhausting—just enough to wake up his dormant muscles and get the blood pumping through his veins.
Afterward, he sat cross-legged on the floorboards, closing his eyes. Ambient mana slowly began to gather around his silhouette, drawn in by his steady, rhythmic breathing.
Mana cultivation.
Unlike the agonizing, jarring sessions of a month ago, the internal circulation felt infinitely smoother and more natural. The deep architectural knowledge he had painfully gained through countless, dusty hours buried in the library archives had finally begun to pay dividends. Mana wasn't a wild element you simply forced through your pathways through raw willpower; it flowed like water following the natural curve of a riverbed. Trying to fight it only slowed down the efficiency of the core. Understanding that singular, foundational principle had drastically improved his cultivation speed.
Nearly an hour later, Will slowly opened his eyes, completing the session. Another quick shower followed, then fresh clothes, and finally the pristine academy uniform. Everything proceeded exactly as it always did.
Almost.
There was one glaring difference: he couldn't stop the quiet curiosity wondering when Kael would receive the official documents. "…Hopefully soon," he muttered, adjusting his collar before heading out the door.
The academy cafeteria was absolutely bustling with students when Will entered. But the exact millisecond his boots stepped across the threshold, he immediately noticed a shift in the atmosphere.
Several students at the front tables instantly glanced toward him, their forks freezing mid-air. Hushed, urgent whispers quickly spread between the rows of tables like a wildfire.
"…That's him." "…The guy from yesterday's main arena trial." "…The one with the weird crimson magic." "…I heard from a senior that he didn't even use a wand. He just twisted his fingers…"
Will let out a long, internal sigh, his face remaining a perfect mask of indifference. …Already?
Ignoring the staring eyes and the pointing fingers, he quickly grabbed a tray of breakfast and quietly sat down at an isolated corner table alone. No one approached him. No one attempted to interrupt his meal. Honestly, as he bit into his toast, he realized he vastly preferred it this way.
After finishing his breakfast, he headed down the stone corridors toward his designated classroom. The whispers followed him like a tailwind. Far more students looked his way than usual—some with raw curiosity, some visibly impressed, and others looking completely, utterly confused by his sudden rise from the bottom of the rankings. Will ignored every single one of them.
By the time he slid through the classroom door, several groups of students were already locked in heated discussions regarding yesterday's evaluation.
"…Did you see the raw range of those flames?" "…His lightning spell looked absolutely insane. The sound alone was terrifying." "…Did you catch his eyes at the end? They looked incredibly creepy, like a predator." "…How can someone cast high-level elements without a focus tool? Is that even structurally possible?"
Will quietly walked past the gossiping groups toward his usual seat at the back—the desk right beside Elena. She looked up from her textbook, her eyes lighting up as she smiled.
"Morning, Will."
"Morning," he replied, sliding into the chair.
Even inside the supposed sanctuary of the classroom, students occasionally cast sharp looks toward his corner before quickly turning away when he glanced back. Will rested his chin heavily on one hand, his eyes staring blankly at the blackboard. "…This is getting incredibly annoying."
Elena chuckled softly beside him, turning a page. "Don't worry. Give it a few days, it'll calm down."
"I hope so," he muttered.
Before either of them could continue the conversation, the heavy wooden classroom door swung wide open. Sion entered the room, his posture rigid and regal. Walking a few paces behind him were the exact same two noble lackeys who had systematically mocked and cornered Will a month earlier. The three of them headed directly toward Will's desk.
Several nearby students immediately fell deathly quiet, leaning in to watch the confrontation.
One of the lackeys smirked, crossing his arms as he stopped before the desk. "So… how does it feel to suddenly become famous overnight, trash?"
The second one let out a mocking laugh. "I heard a rumor that your pathetic magic doesn't even require a wand. What kind of forgotten, backward technique is that supposed to be? Did you find it in a garbage bin?"
Elena's brow furrowed, and she slammed her textbook down on the desk. "Why are you two constantly bothering him? Don't you have anything better to do?"
The first lackey grinned maliciously. "Oh? Looks like his little commoner girlfriend came to the rescue again. How touching."
Will's left eyebrow twitched slightly. Unlike the original, broken Will who would have simply shrunk back into his seat and endured the humiliation, he had absolutely no intention of letting them slide. His fingers began to loosely curl, preparing to stand up—
"Enough."
The singular, low command instantly silenced the entire row. It was Sion.
He looked over his shoulder, throwing a cold, warning glare at his two followers. "Stop bothering him. Immediately."
Both lackeys looked completely taken aback. Just like a month ago during their first confrontation in the courtyard, Sion had stepped in to cut them off. One of the lackeys hesitated, his face flushing. "But Sion, he's just—"
"I said stop," Sion repeated, his voice dropping an octave, carrying the dangerous weight of his noble bloodline.
"…" Neither of them dared to argue further, their mouths snapping shut.
Sion turned his attention back to Will, looking down at him with an unreadable, calm expression. "I heard the rumors from the main arena. You can finally use magic now." He spoke with total clarity—no hidden sarcasm, no mockery, and no lingering malice. Just a simple, cold statement of fact. "Looks like… you can finally live like a normal academy student. Don't waste the opportunity."
Will looked up, meeting Sion's gaze for a long, silent moment. "…Thanks."
Sion simply gave a solitary nod. "Let's go," he commanded his lackeys. Without uttering another syllable, he marched across the room to his own designated seat at the front. His two lackeys reluctantly shuffled behind him, casting one last annoyed glance over their shoulders.
For a brief, surreal moment, the classroom became strangely, deeply quiet.
Will slowly turned his head toward Elena to say something, but stopped. She wasn't looking at him at all. Instead, she was staring entirely absentmindedly out the large classroom window, her eyes fixed on the distant clouds. A faint, soft smile rested unknowingly on her lips.
"…Elena?" Will called out.
There was no response. She remained completely locked in her trance. He tried again, his voice slightly louder. "…Elena."
Still nothing.
Will let out a helpless sigh. He reached across the small gap between their desks and lightly pinched her left cheek.
"Ouch!" Elena immediately snapped back to reality, her eyes flying wide as she clutched her face. She glared at him, a deep blush rising on her neck. "W-What the hell was that for?!"
"You weren't responding to me," Will replied deadpan, retracting his hand.
"So your first instinct is to pinch me?!"
"I called your name twice," Will pointed out calmly. "You didn't answer."
Elena opened her mouth to launch a furious retort, then closed it again as her eyes darted around. "…" She realized, with a twinge of guilt, that he wasn't wrong at all. She let out an awkward, forced cough to clear her throat, quickly looking away. "I was just… thinking."
Will narrowed his eyes suspiciously, leaning in closer. "You were definitely thinking about something specific."
"I wasn't!"
"You were literally smiling at the glass."
"I was not smiling!" she protested, her voice rising a fraction of an octave.
"You were."
"I wasn't!"
"…" "…"
Finally, unable to endure his piercing gaze any longer, Elena abruptly stood up from her chair, grabbing her bags. "L-Let's just go. The bell is about to ring. Next class is across the courtyard."
She practically sprinted toward the door, aggressively changing the subject before Will could probe any further into her thoughts. Will watched her retreating back, his eyes narrowing further as he stood up to follow. "…You're acting incredibly weird today, Elena."
"I am not!" her voice echoed from the hallway.
"You definitely are."
"I said I'm not!"
Without waiting for him to catch up, Elena practically dragged him by the sleeve through the crowded academy corridors. As they navigated the stone hallways, passing students continued to point and whisper. The sudden influx of attention hadn't disappeared; if anything, with every passing hour, the myth of his evaluation seemed to be growing exponentially.
Will let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "…This is already getting incredibly tiring."
Elena cast a quick glance back at him, her tone softening slightly. "They're just curious, Will. A month ago, everyone thought you were going to be expelled. Now you're casting dual elements without a wand. Give it a few days, it'll probably calm down soon."
"I hope so," he muttered. That was truly all he wanted out of this place: to quietly attend his mandatory lectures, train in isolation, work his shifts at the tavern, and sleep. A peaceful, predictable routine.
Unfortunately, peace didn't seem particularly interested in him anymore.
The following days passed with a quiet, repetitive friction. Or at least, as quietly as they physically could under the circumstances.
Every single morning, the hushed whispers in the cafeteria continued without fail. Every single break between classes, someone from a higher year would stand near his desk and stare. Every single lunch period, groups of students would actively debate the visual output of his somatic demonstration. Even a few low-ranking teachers had started stopping him in the middle of the crowded hallways.
"Can you explain the baseline theory of your casting method, candidate?" "How exactly did your personal research lead to these specific spells?" "How long did your archival research take before you achieved a breakthrough?" "What exactly is the biological focus threshold of a 'hand sign'?"
Will had answered them with polite, practiced humility the first few times. But eventually, as the questions became increasingly repetitive and invasive, he stopped trying to be diplomatic. Instead, the exact moment he saw a curious professor or a group of noble students approaching him in the distance, he simply vanished into the crowds, retreating toward a reliable sanctuary.
Usually, that destination was Professor Emma's private office.
Emma found his entire, desperate situation absolutely hilarious. The moment Will would slide through her door and lock it behind him, a wide, proud smile would immediately grace her lips.
"Oh? Look who it is!" she would cheer, leaning back in her desk chair. "My famous star student is hiding from his adoring fans again?"
"…Professor, please," Will muttered, slumping into the sofa across from her.
"What?" she grinned, crossing her arms. "You can absolutely stay here and use my couch, Will. But only if you openly admit to your teacher that you are running away like a scared rabbit."
"…" Will stared at her blankly for a long beat. "…Fine. I'm hiding."
Emma laughed loudly, thoroughly satisfied with her victory. She even began a small routine of brewing a fresh pot of herbal tea whenever he arrived to seek asylum.
Unfortunately, word of his specific hiding place somehow managed to leak out into the faculty lounge. Within three days, several curious theoretical teachers started casually visiting Emma's office under the guise of 'administrative business,' their eyes instantly locking onto Will the moment they crossed the threshold. Realizing his prime sanctuary had been thoroughly compromised, Will immediately abandoned it.
His new destination became the stark, quiet office of Professor Kael.
At first, when Will had slipped through his door unannounced, Kael had simply stared at him from across his massive wooden desk, a stack of grading papers in his hands.
"…" "…" "…You too?" Kael finally asked, raising an eyebrow.
Will offered a solemn nod. "They completely overran Professor Emma's office, sir."
Kael let out a long, dry sigh, massaging his temples. "…Sit down. Keep the door locked."
Several days later, even the stoic Kael couldn't resist the urge to tease him. The moment Will would slide into the room, Kael would look up from his ledgers with a deadpan expression. "So. Running away from the children again, candidate?"
Will threw him a flat, unamused look. "…Professor, with all due respect, I thought the faculty was supposed to actively protect and guide struggling students."
"I am guiding you," Kael replied without breaking his deadpan delivery. "I'm helping by providing you with a structurally secure room to hide your face."
"…" Will couldn't find a single logical flaw in that argument.
Surprisingly, about a week after the initial trial, the atmosphere across the academy underwent a sudden, drastic transformation.
Almost overnight, students completely stopped approaching his desk. The crowded hallways suddenly became blessedly quiet whenever he walked past. His lunch periods turned entirely peaceful once more. People still looked from afar, and people definitely still whispered behind their hands, but absolutely nobody—neither commoner nor noble—ventured anywhere near his physical personal space anymore.
Will happily and immediately accepted the sudden peace, letting out a relieved sigh during breakfast. "…Finally."
It was exactly what he had wanted from the very beginning. The student body could whisper and talk behind his back all they wanted; as long as they stopped physically interrupting his daily schedule and blocking his path to the libraries, he genuinely did not care what they thought of him.
Elena, however, found the sudden, aggressive shift incredibly strange and deeply unsettling. After their final lecture one afternoon, as the classroom was clearing out, she purposefully approached Sion's desk.
"Sion," she called out, her arms crossed.
The noble heir looked up from packing his leather bag, his expression flat. "…What do you want, Elena?"
"I wanted to ask you something about the academy lines."
"Speak."
"…Why did literally everyone suddenly stop bothering Will? It's like they're intentionally treating him like a plague victim."
Sion remained entirely silent for several long seconds, his fingers pausing on the buckle of his bag. Finally, he let out a low, slightly awkward breath and answered. "A new rumor started circulating through the residential dorms."
Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. "What kind of rumor?"
Sion crossed his arms tightly across his chest, looking directly into her eyes. "They're saying… that his Eclipse Eyes possess the ability to see directly through a girl's clothes."
Absolute, heavy silence fell over the corner of the classroom. For a brief, stunned moment, Elena simply stared at him, her brain entirely failing to process the words. "…What?"
Sion continued in a perfectly calm, clinical tone. "They're claiming that the specific phrase 'semi-solid structural penetration' he used during his official document presentation… means his irises can pierce right through the fabric of anyone's uniform."
Elena's expression slowly, violently darkened, her knuckles turning white.
"They're also whispering," Sion added, entirely deadpan, "that that specific perverted utility was the real, foundational reason he spent a month inventing the spell in the first place."
"…" "…"
Elena's face immediately turned a brilliant, explosive shade of crimson. It wasn't born from embarrassment—it was a wave of pure, unadulterated fury. "That is the most ridiculous, brainless thing I have ever heard in my life!"
"I know," Sion replied, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. "I never believed a single word of it. The magical theory doesn't align. But… a vast majority of the noble circles did."
Elena didn't wait around to hear another syllable. She spun on her heel, marched straight across the room to where Will was quietly reading, and violently grabbed him by the right wrist.
"W-What's going on?" Will blinked, thoroughly startled as she yanked him out of his chair.
"Come with me. Right now," she hissed through her teeth.
Before Will could even attempt to loosen her grip, she was already aggressively dragging him out of the classroom, down the grand corridors, and straight toward the faculty wing.
BANG—!
The heavy wooden door to Professor Emma's office burst open, slamming against the interior wall. Emma blinked in surprise, dropping her teacup into its saucer. "Oh? Look who it—"
"Professor!" Elena yelled, stepping into the room.
Emma's smile instantly vanished the moment she registered the raw, trembling fury etched across Elena's features. "…What on earth happened?"
Elena took a deep, jagged breath and proceeded to explain the entire situation in a rapid fire of indignation: the disgusting rumor running through the dormitories, the noble girls actively fleeing down the hallways whenever Will approached, and the absolute slander against his character.
As the explanation concluded, the remaining trace of a smile completely disappeared from Emma's face. A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room, the temperature seeming to drop by several degrees.
"…" "…"
Then, a loud, violent CRACK echoed through the entire office space.
Emma's hand had slammed down onto the solid oak of her desk with enough raw force to make the tea instruments rattle.
"…WHO," her voice vibrated, terrifyingly calm and laced with a dangerous current of raw mana. "Started. This. Filth."
Will instinctively took a half-step backward, his eyes widening slightly. Even throughout his intense month of training, he had rarely ever seen the clumsy, cheerful Emma radiate this level of unbridled, lethal anger.
Professor Kael, who had been quietly reading a massive tome in the corner armchair, slowly raised his head, his sharp eyes fixing on his colleague. "…Professor Emma. Calibrate your aura."
She spun on her heel, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Did you hear what those children are saying, Kael?! They are openly insulting months of grueling, historic research! They are dragging the name of unique magic straight through the mud!"
"I heard," Kael replied, his voice remaining low and steady.
Emma clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white. "I swear to the heavens… when I identify whoever manufactured this rumor… I am going to physically punch them into the dirt."
Will let out a long, exhausted sigh, rubbing his temple. "…Professor."
"What?!" she snapped, turning her fiery gaze onto him.
"I'm pretty sure the academy charter explicitly states that punching students is a highly expellable offense for a faculty member."
Emma looked directly into his eyes, her jaw set. "Then I will simply wait until they step outside the official academy boundaries. Then I'll punch them."
"…" Will found himself entirely speechless.
Kael rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "…Professor Emma, please sit down and remain calm."
"I am perfectly calm!" she barked back.
"…You don't look even remotely calm."
"I am extremely, mathematically calm!" she insisted, though the ambient mana swirling around her hair completely contradicted her words.
Will finally stepped forward, his voice calm and even as it cut through the room's high tension. "Honestly… I don't think we should do anything about it at all."
Emma blinked, her anger pausing mid-air. "What? Will, they are slandering your name!"
Will simply shrugged his shoulders, his expression entirely unbothered. "They're talking behind my back. So what? The ultimate result is that they are finally leaving me alone."
The entire office plummeted into a stunned quiet.
Will walked over to the sofa and leaned against the armrest, his tone incredibly practical. "Think about it. Before this rumor spread, I couldn't walk ten paces without a senior stopping me to demand answers, or a group of nobles blocking my path to ask questions. My schedule was completely ruined. Now? The hallways are clear, the library is empty, and nobody interrupts my day. They can think whatever bizarre things they want to think. I genuinely do not care."
Elena stared at him in absolute, slack-jawed disbelief. "You… you really don't care that the entire school thinks you're a pervert?"
Will offered her a small, helplessly amused smile. "Not really, Elena. Let's be honest—I never exactly had a stellar reputation to begin with in this place. A month ago, they ignored me because they thought I was trash. Now they're ignoring me because they're afraid of my eyes. The only real difference between then and now… is that they're doing it while whispering."
Emma looked completely, utterly speechless, her mouth opening and closing as she stared at her student.
In the corner, Kael quietly and slowly nodded his head, a faint glint of approval entering his eyes. "…That does sound remarkably like your pragmatic nature, candidate." After a moment of silent calculation, Kael closed his tome and stood up. "Even so… I will personally launch a discreet investigation into the matter."
Will looked toward him. "There's really no need, Professor."
Professor Kael continued calmly, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "A rumor of this specific nature and structural detail does not spread across an entire student body within twelve hours naturally. It feels entirely too manufactured. It feels… highly intentional. Someone wanted to isolate you."
Emma immediately nodded her head in fierce agreement, her anger returning to a focused point. "I'll assist with the search, Kael. We'll tear apart the student records until we find whoever initiated this."
Will simply shrugged his shoulders again, turning toward the exit. "As long as the investigation doesn't become troublesome for my daily training, do whatever you like."
"It already has become troublesome," Elena muttered under her breath, her cheeks still carrying a light pink hue.
Will smiled helplessly at her reaction. "…Maybe."
As the two students prepared to exit the office and head back to the dormitories, Kael suddenly remembered something critical. "Oh. Will. Wait a moment."
Will stopped, his hand resting on the brass doorknob as he looked back. "Yes, Professor?"
"Continue utilizing the private, high-tier training hall during your off-hours," Kael instructed, pointing a finger at him. "Your specialized permission status remains completely active."
A genuine look of appreciation crossed Will's face. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."
"And…" Kael reached down to his desk, picking up a heavy, officially sealed parchment document that had been resting near his ledger. He looked up, his sharp eyes locking onto the boy. "…Regarding your official evaluation results from the Mage Tower." He quickly checked the numerical date stamped on the corner wax. "The formal verdict should arrive within… exactly three days."
Will's eyes brightened instantly, the lingering exhaustion in his soul completely vanishing. "Really? Three days?"
Kael offered a firm, decisive nod. "Three days. You will officially know the Tower's ultimate decision regarding your registration."
Will quietly offered a respectful bow of gratitude, his heart hammering against his ribs with a sudden, renewed energy, before finally slipping out of the office into the quiet corridor with Elena by his side.
The following two days passed in a state of beautiful, uninterrupted peace.
Every single morning began exactly as he desired: dynamic stretching, intensive bodyweight exercises, focused mana cultivation, a quick breakfast, and structured classes. Afterward came long hours of isolated training in the private hall, his late-night shifts at the tavern, and a deep, restorative sleep. The routine was flawless.
The bizarre rumors regarding his Eclipse Eyes continued to spread like a virus through the lower years, of course. Students still huddled together whenever he crossed the lawns, and noble girls still pointedly took the long route around the courtyard fountains to avoid his direct line of sight. But Will didn't care in the slightest. For the very first time since the high-stakes trial in the main arena, absolutely nobody interrupted his daily routine anymore.
Ironically, the malicious rumor had gifted him the single most valuable asset he required to grow stronger: absolute, unadulterated peace.
And then, the third morning finally arrived.
Will slowly opened his eyes as the pale dawn light broke through the curtains of his dormitory room. A small, sharp, and intensely focused smile appeared on his face as he sat up in bed, looking out at the waking academy.
"…Today's the day."
Today, the formal verdict of the grand Mage Tower would finally arrive in Kael's hands, and Will would officially learn whether his months of blood, sweat, and secret agony had altered the course of his destiny forever.