The polished obsidian courtyard stretched out before them like a sheet of dark ice, reflecting the pale granite pillars and the amber light of the rising sun. Groups of older students milled about the grand staircase, their voices a muted murmur that died down whenever Kairo's gaze drifted near them. The air was crisp, carrying the sharp scent of morning frost and the faint, bitter smell of burning mountain peat from the academy's lower flues.
Kairo adjusted the strap of his leather pack, the heavy timber of the great academy doors looming ahead. "Oh yeah," he murmured, his voice laced with a mixture of curiosity and exhaustion. "I guess so."
Before he could take a single step toward the grand entrance, Akio's heavy arm crashed down over his shoulders, pulling him slightly off-balance. Akio leaned in, his eyes darting toward the stone archways where two senior proctors stood with their arms crossed. "Well, we both have arrived way too late," Akio whispered, a slow, mischievous grin breaking across his face. "Wanna bunk?"
Kairo stiffened, his brow furrowing as he looked at the massive brass-bound doors. "Wait, what? What do you mean by bunk? It's my first class after all. The first day."
"Hmm," Akio shrugged, his grip tightening on Kairo's shoulder as he began to pivot them both away from the main stairs. "I bunked my first class all along. Standard procedure. Come with me, Kairo."
Without waiting for an answer, Akio began dragging him toward the shadow of the western retaining wall, his boots slipping silently over the frosted grass at the edge of the obsidian terrace. He kept his head low, tracking the movements of the guards and the lingering students with practiced precision.
"Fine, fine, I get it," Kairo hissed under his breath, adjusting his stride to match Akio's frantic pace. "I will come along. And who else is coming with us?"
"No one," Akio muttered, peering around the corner of a massive stone buttress. "Only we two."
Kairo exhaled, the cool mist of his breath rising against the gray stone wall. "Ahh, great. So where are we heading to?"
"Well, somewhere good," Akio said, turning to face him, his back pressed against the damp masonry. The scent of pine and wet earth was stronger here, away from the stone plaza. "Come, follow me... but do you have any magic tricks to get us past the perimeter wall without the guards seeing?"
Kairo let out a short, quiet laugh, a genuine smile breaking through his morning fatigue. "Yeah. I do."
Closing his eyes, Kairo took a deep breath, drawing the familiar, heavy warmth of his mana down through his chest, past his core, and forcing it straight into the solid stone beneath their feet. The ground groaned—a low, sub-audible vibration that rippled through the soles of their boots. The soil and stone aparted smoothly, sliding away from each other like water, revealing a dark, sloped aperture that descended into the earth beneath the foundation.
"No time to get amazed now," Kairo said, his eyes snapping open as the ambient light caught the smooth, glass-like walls of the newly formed passage. "Let's head inside."
Akio's eyes were wide, reflecting the dark interior of the trench. He gave a sharp, mock salute. "Aye, aye, captain!"
Kairo rushed into the dark slot first, the air instantly turning cool, damp, and smelling of rich loam and ancient stone. Akio dropped down right behind him. With a sharp flick of his wrist, Kairo recalled the mana, channeling it backward. The earth snapped shut behind them with a soft thud, sealing out the morning light completely and leaving the surface looking as if no tunnel had ever existed.
The tunnel was narrow, lit only by the faint, rhythmic blue pulse of Kairo's ambient mana radiating from his palms. The air was thick and cool, the silence absolute save for the sound of their shallow breathing and the crunch of loose gravel beneath their feet.
"Woah, Kairo," Akio whispered, his voice echoing softly against the packed earth walls. "It's so cool. I have to say it though... I just can't get over how you do that." He paused, his boots slowing until he was walking half a step behind. He looked sideways at Kairo's profile. "Wait... why are you so sad?"
Kairo didn't look back, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead as they navigated the gentle downward slope. "Wait, I am not sad at all. What are you talking about?"
"Wait a second," Akio said, his tone dropping its usual boyish levity, replaced by something older, more grounded. "I think I know. Is it because of the people out there? The way they're treating you like a monster?"
Kairo's boots came to a sudden halt. The blue light from his hands flickered against the damp clay walls, casting long, distorted shadows behind them. He turned his head slowly. "Wait, what? How did you know that?"
"Well," Akio said, leaning his shoulder against the tunnel wall, his expression uncharacteristically soft under the dim light. "It's because they treated me that way as well. When you've got power people don't understand, they look at you like you're a disease before they look at you like a person. But forget them for today. Let's head to the campfire area, or even further... down to the old waterfall."
Kairo looked at his friend, the heavy tightness in his chest loosening just a fraction. The damp air felt less suffocating now. "Hmm. Sounds like something interesting. Let's head there, buddy."
"While we go," Akio said, nudging Kairo's arm as they resumed walking, "I'll teach you the grand art of how to not give a single damn about those people."
Kairo let out a genuine chuckle, the sound bouncing off the subterranean stone. "Hmm... not gonna lie, this is the first time you are sounding way too smart, Akio."
Akio flashed a wide, white-toothed smile in the blue gloom. "Well, I am smarter than you and Daichi combined, you know."
"Yeah," Kairo smirked, his eyes rolling. "You may be smarter than me... but definitely not Daichi."
"Uhh, you won't understand my specific brand of intelligence anyway," Akio huffed, before shifting his weight impatiently. "Can we make it fast? Like, can we run towards it?"
Kairo winced slightly, his left thigh tightening as he shifted his weight. "Yeah, sure, why not... but my legs are hurting like crazy because of yesterday's wrestling training. The cold bath helped, but they're still stiff."
Akio stopped, looking Kairo up and down. "Woah. Then you really need some proper rest, huh? Well then..." Before Kairo could protest, Akio dropped low, turned his back, and hooked his arms under Kairo's knees, hoisting him up into a sudden piggyback ride.
Kairo's face flushed red instantly in the dim light. "Uhh... it is so embarrassing, Akio! Put me down!"
"No way," Akio laughed, adjusting his grip as he leaned forward. "I'm gonna run. Do you know where the waterfall is from down here?"
Kairo sighed, his arms reluctantly wrapping around Akio's neck for balance. He pointed a finger into the dark, murky void ahead. "It's in a straight direction. Just keep going that way."
"Hold on tight!" Akio yelled.
He lunged forward, his powerful leg movements driving them through the dark tunnel at an incredible speed. The damp air rushed past them, whistling in Kairo's ears. But within seconds, the faint blue light revealed a massive, solid underground rock wall directly in their path—an ancient structural fault line that blocked the way completely. Akio didn't slow down; he accelerated, charging straight toward the stone face with absolute, reckless faith.
Uhh, damn it! Kairo's mind raced as the jagged gray rock rushed toward them. He is believing in me way too much!
Kairo closed his eyes, his mind working at lightning speed. He surged his mana forward, projecting it ten yards ahead of Akio's stride. The moment his energy touched the rock face, Kairo dissolved the stone, parting it into a clean, smooth archway just a millisecond before Akio's boots crossed the threshold. As soon as they cleared the barrier, Kairo snapped his fingers, closing the stone walls tightly behind them to reinforce the mountain structure while simultaneously hollowing out the path ahead.
Akio skidded to a brief halt on the gravel beyond the rock face, his breath coming in heavy gasps but his eyes bright with adrenaline. "Woah! That was so cool! I seriously thought I would bump into the wall just like when I was a kid, thinking I had a secret superpower to go through solid walls."
Kairo blinked, looking down at the side of Akio's head. "Did you... did you accidentally get hit in the head as a kid?"
"Yeah," Akio said cheerfully, starting to jog forward again. "I think so."
"That's self-explainable," Kairo muttered.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?"
They ran for a few more minutes, the air growing progressively cooler, louder, and distinctly sweeter. The sharp, mineral tang of wet earth was suddenly overwhelmed by the roaring, thrumming vibration of falling water and the heavy scent of crushed ferns and moss.
Ahead, the narrow dirt tunnel flared outward into a wide, jagged fissure in the mountain's side. Akio burst through the opening, dropping Kairo gently onto a flat, moss-covered stone ledge just outside the tunnel's exit.
Kairo stepped out, his boots sinking slightly into the thick, wet emerald moss. He looked up, his jaw dropping as the cinematic landscape opened up before his eyes.
[MOUNTAIN WALL] [WATERFALL]
|| (Tunnel Exit) | | <- Roaring white torrent
|| || ||
[Mossy Ledge] ||| |||
\\____________________ [TURQUOISE POOL] (Mist & Rainbows)
They had emerged halfway down a massive, hidden canyon cleaved into the side of the Tier 3 perimeter. The weather here was entirely different; the morning sun had fully cleared the upper peaks, sending long, crystalline beams of golden light slicing through the rising mist. A massive waterfall, fed by the high glacial streams, plummeted over a sheer hundred-foot drop of black basalt rock, its water churning into a brilliant white foam before crashing into a deep, turquoise pool far below.
The wind created by the sheer force of the falling water whipped across the ledge, carrying a heavy, cool spray that misted over Kairo's face, washing away the last remnants of his morning fatigue. The ambient sound was deafening yet peaceful—a continuous, deep bass note that vibrated directly through the bones of his legs. Tiny mountain swifts darted through the rainbow-tinted mist, their dark wings cutting through the light as they nested in the cracks of the wet stone walls.
Kairo walked to the very edge of the slick stone shelf, the mist dampening his simple linen tunic. He looked down into the swirling, clear pool below, then up at the towering walls of the canyon that hid this sanctuary from the rest of the city.
"Woah," Kairo whispered, a profound sense of peace settling over his features as he took in the majestic view. "I never came here before... I didn't know it was so good."
Akio walked up beside him, crossing his arms and looking out over the roaring water with a quiet smile. "Told you. The academy can wait, Prince. Out here, there's nobody to call you a monster."
The thunder of the waterfall filled the canyon, a physical weight that pressed against Kairo's eardrums and misted his hair with fine, glacial droplets. The turquoise pool churned violently beneath the ledge, its surface broken by white foam that swirled and dissipated against the slick black basalt rocks. The morning sun, now higher over the eastern rim, caught the rising vapor, fracturing the light into a faint, shivering rainbow that bridged the gap between the wet stone walls.
Akio was still leaning back against the moss-damp cliff, running a hand through his wet fringe, when the heavy crunch of loose shale tore through the rhythmic roar of the water.
From the dark, jagged fissure of the tunnel exit, a shadow detached itself.
A terrifyingly masculine silhouette stepped into the golden light. The man was a towering wall of scarred flesh and weather-beaten leather, his chest so broad it blocked the narrow opening behind him. A thick, unkempt beard, coarse as horsehair and caked with dried salt, clung to a jawline that looked like it had been broken and poorly reset multiple times. The heavy scent of cheap rum, stale sweat, and rotting seaweed immediately overpowered the crisp, clean smell of the mountain mist. His skin was crosshatched with jagged white lines—tributes to old blade wounds—and his one remaining eye, dark and bloodshot, fixed upon the two boys with the cold intensity of a predator.
The giant stepped forward, his heavy, steel-toed boot landing on the emerald moss with a wet thud. He glared down at them, his voice scraping out like iron dragging over stone. "What are you kids doing here?"
Kairo didn't flinch. He wiped a streak of cold waterfall spray from his cheek, his expression entirely flat. "Bunking class."
Akio's jaw dropped, his shoulders going rigid as he stared at Kairo in absolute, wide-eyed shock. Is this guy insane? Akio's mind screamed, his gaze darting between the monstrous stranger and the prince's completely unbothered posture.
The massive man paused, his single eye widening slightly before his brow furrowed into a deep, thunderous scowl. He let out a low, guttural growl that vibrated above the sound of the falls. "You think I am an idiot? Looking at you... you are a bigger idiot than Mika. And I am talking about sheer size."