The academy woke long before the sun fully rose.
Students hurried between dormitories with bags slung over their shoulders, some still fastening their uniforms as they ran.
Tovin watched them from the second-floor corridor.
"...Late."
A boy from C-Class sprinted across the courtyard.
"He'll make it."
A girl from B-Class stopped to help another student gather the books she'd dropped.
"...Still kind."
A group of A-Class students argued loudly over yesterday's sparring match.
"...Still loud."
He leaned against the stone railing, his expression as uninterested as ever.
People fascinated him.
Not because they were unpredictable.
Quite the opposite.
Most people repeated the same habits every day.
The same routes.
The same conversations.
The same mistakes.
Routine was comforting.
Routine was dangerous.
---
The morning bell echoed through the academy.
Tovin made no effort to rush.
He never did.
He reached the classroom just as Instructor Vaelis entered.
Perfect timing.
Not early.
Not late.
Exactly when he intended.
Dren glanced over.
"You cut that close every morning."
"I've never been late."
"One day you will."
Tovin pulled out his chair.
"...Probably."
Kael was already reading.
Again.
The same focused expression.
The same neat handwriting.
The same quiet determination.
Some things never changed.
Tovin found himself staring.
Kael looked up.
"...Do I have something on my face?"
Tovin blinked.
"No."
"Then why are you looking at me?"
"...Thinking."
"About?"
Tovin looked away.
"...Breakfast."
Kael frowned.
"I don't believe you."
"You shouldn't."
The lesson began before Kael could ask another question.
---
Mana Theory occupied the first half of the morning.
Instructor Vaelis drew a complex mana circuit across the board.
"Power without efficiency is waste."
He looked around the classroom.
"Efficiency without understanding is luck."
Most students hurried to copy every word.
Kael copied only the diagram.
Then began writing his own notes beneath it.
Changing.
Expanding.
Questioning.
Tovin noticed.
"...Of course."
He quietly rested his chin in his hand.
Kael never memorised information.
He rebuilt it.
That was why he improved so quickly.
---
When the lesson ended, students poured into the hallway.
Kael headed toward the library without hesitation.
Exactly as expected.
Tovin followed at a distance.
The academy library was unusually quiet that morning.
Rows upon rows of books stretched into the distance.
Kael stopped before a shelf dedicated to advanced mana manipulation.
He scanned the titles.
His eyes paused.
Not enough.
He moved to another shelf.
Still nothing.
As Kael disappeared around the corner, Tovin walked toward the same section.
His fingers drifted across the spines.
One book.
He pulled it free.
A dense volume on mana flow optimisation.
Far beyond the current curriculum.
He placed it slightly forward on the shelf before continuing deeper into the library.
Moments later...
Kael returned.
His eyes swept across the shelf once more.
He hesitated.
"...I don't remember seeing this."
He picked the book up.
After reading only the first page...
He quietly borrowed it.
Tovin had already disappeared.
---
The afternoon was dedicated to physical conditioning.
Students spread across the training grounds.
Dren trained harder than anyone else in F-Class.
Again.
And again.
His sword cut through the air.
His breathing grew heavier.
His movements slower.
Tovin watched from beneath the shade of a nearby tree.
"...Too much."
Dren continued.
One swing.
Another.
Another.
His right foot landed slightly harder than his left.
A tiny imbalance.
Enough to waste energy over hundreds of repetitions.
As Dren walked toward the water barrels, Tovin passed him.
Without stopping...
He spoke.
"Your right foot."
Dren blinked.
"...What?"
"Too heavy."
Tovin continued walking.
Nothing else.
Dren stood there for several seconds.
"...Too heavy?"
He looked down at his stance.
Then shrugged.
"...Maybe."
When training resumed...
His footing changed ever so slightly.
His balance immediately felt smoother.
"...Huh."
---
Later that evening...
Tovin wandered back toward the dormitories.
Two familiar voices drifted from around the corner.
"...He's still studying?"
Kellis.
"...He's obsessed."
Brann laughed.
"Maybe if he studies enough, he'll grow a Path."
The three boys laughed quietly.
Tovin remained where he was.
Hidden from view.
Kellis folded his arms.
"I don't care how hard he works."
"A No-Path is still a No-Path."
Rhett leaned against the wall.
"You've got to let it go eventually."
"I won't."
"Why?"
Silence.
"...Because people like him shouldn't be here."
No one answered.
After a few moments, the conversation moved on to tomorrow's classes.
Tovin quietly turned away.
His footsteps made no sound against the stone floor.
---
Night settled over the academy.
The training grounds were almost empty.
Only one figure remained.
Kael.
He stood before a worn training dummy.
Sweat covered his forehead.
His breathing remained steady.
Punch.
Step.
Pivot.
Punch.
Every movement was efficient.
No wasted effort.
No unnecessary flourish.
Only repetition.
Only improvement.
Tovin watched from the shadows beyond the lantern light.
He didn't interrupt.
He simply observed.
Kael had changed.
Not enough.
But more than before.
The path ahead remained impossibly long.
Even so...
He was walking it.
Tovin lowered his gaze.
For the first time that day, he extended one hand.
A tiny pebble rested in his palm.
He flicked it toward an abandoned stone target.
The pebble began spinning.
Slowly.
Then faster.
Its rotation intensified until it became little more than a blur.
A quiet crack echoed through the empty training ground.
The pebble pierced straight through the centre of the thick stone slab.
Leaving behind a perfectly circular hole no larger than a coin.
The pebble continued into the darkness.
Tovin stared at the damaged target.
"...Still weak."
His hand fell back to his side.
No one had seen it.
No one was meant to.
He turned once more toward Kael.
The No-Path was still training.
Still chasing strength one strike at a time.
Tovin watched in silence.
Then, almost too quietly to hear, he spoke to the empty night.
"...You're ahead of schedule."
A faint breeze stirred across the academy grounds.
"...Good."
Without another word, Tovin slipped into the darkness, leaving only the sound of Kael's fists striking the training dummy behind him.