The scratching of quills echoed faintly in the academy library. Dozens of students hunched over dusty grimoires, scribbling with furrowed brows.
Reinhardt sat quietly at the farthest desk, his hand moving swiftly across parchment. He wasn't copying notes—he was rewriting them.
"…This formula is inefficient. A triple-loop will always destabilize under compression," he muttered under his breath, striking through an entire page of the text.
Across the table, Elira tilted her head. She had been watching for some time.
"You know," she said, breaking the silence, "normal students struggle to even memorise that page, and you're… tearing it apart like it's wrong."
Reinhardt didn't look up. "Because it is wrong."
Elira narrowed her eyes. "Reinhardt, when did you get this good? You weren't exactly shining during our first lessons."
(Sharp as always, Elira…) Reinhardt thought. He forced a calm smile.
"Let's just say I've been… practising differently. Maybe I finally woke up."
She frowned, but said no more. Still, the suspicion lingered in her eyes.
---
Later, in the practice hall, Reinhardt stood before a training dummy. Students around him tried to channel mana into simple bolts of light, most failing to keep them stable.
Reinhardt raised his hand. The mana condensed almost unnaturally fast, forming a sharp, brilliant spear of energy. He stopped right before launching it, dispersing the spell harmlessly into sparks.
The crowd gasped. Even Alden, who had been smirking at him earlier, swallowed hard.
"That's… advanced level casting," he muttered.
Reinhardt shrugged, slipping his hands into his coat. "Just luck. Don't expect it twice."
But inside, his thoughts were sharper.
(If I show too much, I'll draw attention I don't need. For now… let them think I've simply awakened.)
---
That night, Elira whispered to Alden as they left the hall.
"…Don't you think Reinhardt has changed? It's like he suddenly… became someone else."
Alden grinned nervously. "Or maybe he's just been hiding his true self. A genius pretending to be average—sounds like him, doesn't it?"
The two exchanged uneasy glances.
Meanwhile, Reinhardt sat alone, flipping through another book. His lips curled into the faintest smile.