The academy settled into its rhythm surprisingly quickly.
By the second day of classes, the excitement surrounding the assessment rankings had already begun to fade. Conversations shifted from promotions and rankings to assignments, lessons, and upcoming evaluations.
For Kael, very little changed.
He still arrived before most students.
He still sat near the back of the classroom.
He still listened more than he spoke.
"Today," Instructor Vaelis began, writing several symbols across the board, "we will cover the foundations of battlefield mana application."
The room grew quiet.
"Many of you believe battles are won through power."
He shook his head.
"They are won through decisions."
A diagram of a battlefield appeared above his hand through mana.
Two groups of soldiers faced one another across a narrow valley.
"The left side possesses greater numbers."
Another gesture.
"The right side possesses stronger individual fighters."
Students leaned forward.
"Who wins?"
Hands immediately shot into the air.
"The larger army."
"The stronger individuals."
"It depends on their Paths."
Vaelis listened to each answer before nodding.
"All reasonable."
He turned toward the board.
"But incomplete."
He altered the illusion.
Rain began falling.
The valley became mud.
The larger army slowed.
"The battlefield changes."
Another gesture.
A bridge collapsed.
Supply lines disappeared.
"The conditions change."
Again.
A forest appeared behind one army.
Visibility vanished.
"The environment changes."
The illusion dissolved.
"So..."
His silver eyes swept across the classroom.
"Who wins?"
Nobody answered.
---
Kael quietly watched the empty space where the illusion had been.
His thoughts continued moving.
The larger force could retreat to higher ground.
Or split into smaller units.
If the bridge collapsed, they could lure the stronger fighters into the forest.
If that failed—
They could attack their supplies instead.
Or wait until the rain stopped.
Or...
His mind continued.
One possibility became three.
Three became ten.
Ten became dozens.
Each decision created another path.
Another outcome.
By the time Vaelis resumed speaking...
Kael had already explored battle after battle inside his own mind.
"...Mr. Virex."
Kael looked up.
"Your answer."
The classroom turned toward him.
Kael blinked once before speaking.
"There isn't enough information."
A few students frowned.
Vaelis folded his arms.
"Explain."
"We don't know their commanders."
Silence.
"We don't know morale."
Another pause.
"We don't know how long either force can continue fighting."
Kael looked toward the empty battlefield.
"We don't know their objective."
"Victory changes depending on what they're trying to accomplish."
The classroom remained completely silent.
Vaelis studied him for several moments.
"...Acceptable."
Nothing more.
The lesson continued.
---
The remainder of the morning passed much the same.
History.
Mana Theory.
Combat Principles.
Kael filled page after page of notes.
Not because he feared forgetting.
Because writing forced him to organise his thoughts.
By lunchtime, his notebook already contained observations connecting multiple lessons together.
Patterns.
Relationships.
Questions.
The more he learned...
The more he realised how much remained unknown.
---
That afternoon, the class participated in tactical exercises.
Rather than fighting, students were divided into small groups and presented with different battlefield situations.
Most solutions relied on direct confrontation.
Kael's group proposed something different.
"If the objective is only to delay the enemy..."
He pointed toward the map.
"...destroy the road instead."
One student frowned.
"Wouldn't that slow us too?"
"Yes."
"But we're already retreating."
Silence.
"The enemy isn't."
Nobody argued.
When the instructor reviewed the exercise later, Kael's team's strategy received the highest evaluation.
Not because it was brilliant.
Because it achieved the objective with the fewest casualties.
---
By the time the final bell rang, the sun had already begun dipping below the mountains surrounding the academy.
Kael returned to the dormitory.
He ate quietly.
Read for another hour.
Copied several passages from today's lessons into a cleaner notebook.
Then, exhausted from the day's work, he extinguished the lamp beside his bed.
Darkness filled the room.
Within minutes...
He was asleep.
---
Silence.
A small wooden house stood alone beneath a grey sky.
Its windows were broken.
Its door hung loosely from a single hinge.
No wind blew.
No birds sang.
Nothing moved.
Slowly...
The view pulled away.
The lonely house became part of an abandoned village.
Empty streets.
Collapsed roofs.
No footprints.
Farther still.
The village rested within an endless forest.
Dead trees stretched toward a colourless sky.
No leaves.
No life.
The world continued shrinking.
Mountains.
Oceans.
Continents.
An entire planet.
Empty.
Then farther.
The planet drifted silently through space.
No neighbouring worlds.
No passing comets.
No light.
Only darkness.
The view continued retreating.
A solar system.
A galaxy.
Countless galaxies.
Then—
Everything.
An entire universe.
Silent.
Motionless.
It wasn't ruined.
It wasn't destroyed.
It simply...
Felt abandoned.
As though something unimaginably vast had once watched over it...
Then left.
Leaving only endless silence behind.
At the centre of that impossible darkness...
Something pulsed.
Once.
A faint ripple spread across the empty universe.
Then...
Nothing.
---
Kael's eyes opened.
His room was dark.
Moonlight spilled gently across the wooden floor through the dormitory window.
He sat upright.
The dream had already begun slipping away.
He couldn't remember every detail.
Only the feeling.
An emptiness so profound that it almost hurt to remember.
Unable to return to sleep, Kael climbed from his bed and sat cross-legged beside the window.
He closed his eyes.
Breathed slowly.
Not meditating.
Simply thinking.
Why did those dreams feel so...
Real?
The question remained unanswered.
---
Dawn arrived quietly.
Students gradually emerged from their dormitories, making their way toward the classroom buildings.
Kael joined the flow of students.
As he crossed the courtyard...
He noticed someone standing ahead.
Tovin.
Hands in his pockets.
Expression unreadable, as always.
Kael continued walking.
When their eyes met...
Tovin didn't look away.
He simply watched him.
Longer than usual.
Not with curiosity.
Not with amusement.
With complete seriousness.
For the first time since they had met...
The relaxed indifference that usually rested on Tovin's face was gone.
Kael stopped.
"...Is something wrong?"
Tovin remained silent.
Several seconds passed.
Then, almost as if catching himself, his usual bored expression returned.
"...Nothing."
He stepped past Kael and continued toward the academy building.
Kael watched him leave for a moment before following behind.
Neither of them spoke again.
High above the academy, hidden behind a blanket of pale morning clouds...
The sky remained perfectly still.