The corridor outside was different from Jade's office, warm, sunlit, with distant chatter of students.

Zaeryn leaned against the wall, exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Well, that could've gone worse," he muttered to himself, running a hand through his dark hair. "At least she didn't zap me with Vitae or whatever these professors do for fun."

From the looks of it, and according to the system, he had been wrong about Jade. She was intrigued by him and that was a good thing. There was also a possibility that she might even have been turned on when they were speaking, which when Zaeryn thought about it, made him wonder if he should have not been passive and tried to seduce her.

However, at that moment he was more concerned about not getting in trouble or getting on her bad side.

'Yeah right. Wishful thinking, I don't even know how to start seducing someone like her.' he thought to himself. ' Although, she is hot.'

His mind flicked back to the lecture. The stuff about Vitae Core Stability and Vorthak energy frequencies had been dense, but it clicked with him in a way he hadn't expected.

He got it easily. The science, the magic, the way they blended into something that made this world tick.

He pushed off the wall, ready to head out and explore the campus like Sorina suggested, when a familiar voice cut through the hum of the corridor.

"Zaeryn! You survived Jade's wrath!" Jyn's bubbly voice was distinctive, and she bounded toward him, her honey-blonde ponytail bouncing with every step.

Her blue eyes sparkled with that same infectious energy that had made her stand out in class. Behind her, Yuna trailed at a slower pace, her warm brown eyes flicking between Zaeryn and the floor, a shy smile tugging at her lips.

"Barely," Zaeryn said, flashing a grin. "She's got it out for me already. I'm guessing she doesn't like disruption in her classes. And she considers even normal conversation disruptive."

Jyn laughed, tossing her head back. "Oh, Jade's not a fan of anyone. She once gave me detention for sneezing too loudly. You're just, like, her ultimate nightmare." She leaned in conspiratorially, lowering her voice. "But don't worry, you've got fans already. Yuna here was totally blushing when you sat down."

Yuna's cheeks went pink, but she just rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her friend before addressing Zaeryn. "Don't mind her. But it's not every day a historical impossibility enrolls in your class. Of course, we're curious."

Zaeryn's grin widened. Okay, maybe this place isn't all bad. "Curious, huh? I'll take that over 'disgusting male' any day." He winked, and this time, Yuna's blush deepened, a small, flustered smile touching her lips as she briefly looked away.

Jyn giggled, clearly enjoying herself. "See? Told you he's fun."

"Actually," Yuna said, her voice finding a steadier note as she looked back at him, "we were on our way to the Vitae training chamber for our practical class. You're supposed to be there too, aren't you?"

"There's another class already?"

"Yep," Jyn confirmed. "Combat training."

The training chamber sounded tempting, a place where he could finally start to understand the power thrumming beneath his skin. "Lead the way," he agreed without hesitation, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Just don't expect any miracles. My powers are still nascent."

"That's the whole point!" Jyn chirped, linking her arm through his and pulling him along.

"That's where you learn to activate them! Come on, you'll love it. It's like a playground for Warladies-in-training." She paused, leaning in with a conspiratorial grin. "And, you know, one special guy."

Yuna fell into step on his other side, her expression thoughtful. "Your powers being nascent is what's so fascinating," she said, her voice calm and inquisitive. "I heard you survived the Fade, which is impossible. How did you manage that if you can't fully access your Vitae?"

Zaeryn's stride faltered for a fraction of a second. Damn, word travels fast. He kept his tone light, dodging the question with practiced charm. "I have one ability that's active, though it's not flashy and not really helpful."

"Nice, what is it?"

"Strength."

"Really? Dusk has a strength augmentation ability too."

"Who?" He asked, but then realized it was the girl he had sat next to, "Oh, your best friend?" his brows shooting up as he glanced back toward the lecture hall's direction, picturing the cold, gothic girl who'd barely acknowledged his existence.

Jyn nodded, her honey-blonde ponytail bouncing with her usual energy. "Yes, although she's not really my best friend. We barely talk. I just like to say that, in hopes she'll open up to me. Though I think I actually just annoy her more, 'cause she always gives me that look." She mimicked Dusk's icy, disinterested stare, her lips pursing into a comically exaggerated frown.

Zaeryn and Yuna laughed at how hilarious Jyn's face looked.

Zaeryn snorted, the mental image of Jyn pestering the stoic Dusk flashing through his mind. "Yeah, I got a taste of that look in class. Feels like she could freeze hell with it."

Yuna's soft voice cut in, laced with a wary edge that made both Zaeryn and Jyn turn to her. "Yeah, about that… Jyn, you should stop. I don't want to be around when Dusk finally has enough of you. I've seen what she can do when she's pissed, and I really don't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath."

Yuna's brown eyes widened, her usual shy warmth replaced by a flicker of genuine fear. "Her shadows… they're not just strong. They're wrong. Like, they move on their own, and I swear I saw them eat a training drone once. Not break it, eat it. Like the shadows just swallowed it whole, and it was gone."

"Wait, hold up. Her shadows eat things? Like, what, she's got some kind of sentient black hole power?" Zaeryn tried to keep his tone light, but the mental image of Dusk's pale face and cold green eyes commanding a writhing mass of darkness sent a shiver down his spine.

'Okay, note to self: don't piss off the goth chick.'

Jyn tilted her head, her playful demeanor dimming slightly. "Yuna's not exaggerating."

Yuna nodded, hugging her arms to herself. "And the way her shadows move… It's like they're alive. I heard a rumor that she can make them spy for her, like they slink through cracks and listen to conversations. I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't want to test it."

Zaeryn listened. He now had a little understanding of dusk. Fear wasn't what he felt. It was a jolt of pure, unadulterated interest.

A Tier-unknown Warlady with shadow manipulation and strength augmentation? She wasn't just a challenge; she was a high-value target.

Following Jyn and Yuna out of the hallway, they moved from the academic wing into a more sterile, high-tech sector of the academy.

The corridor opened into a space that made the lecture hall look like a closet. It was a massive, modular chamber, its walls a composite alloy interwoven with Vitae-dampening circuits that absorbed the ambient light.

The low buzz of conversation died the moment Zaeryn stepped through the threshold. Every head turned.

"Holy Marea, is that actually him?" a girl whispered, eyes wide.

"Look at him, strutting around like he owns the place," another muttered, her tone dripping with disdain. A cluster of girls near the far wall exchanged heated whispers—some curious, others clearly disgusted.

"I've been curious about men my whole life," came a bolder voice from somewhere in the crowd. "This might be interesting."

"Ew, seriously?" her companion shot back, loud enough for half the room to hear.

"I heard he survived a Fade and can use Vitae now," someone else added, her voice carrying a note of genuine fear. "That's... actually terrifying."

Zaeryn kept his eyes forward, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his fitted academy uniform, ignoring the whispers that followed him like a swarm of angry bees. He had prepared himself mentally for this. And it was nothing new, since he had to deal with such things at his old school.

'Oh, but I am the gift,' Zaeryn thought as one girl muttered something about him thinking he was "the Goddess's gift to women." They just didn't know it yet. He scanned the room, taking in the setup with a casual once-over.

Just in that moment, the whispers were cut short by a sharp, authoritative voice that needed no amplification to command the cavernous space.

"Alright, settle down, cadets!"

A woman strode toward them, moving with the predatory grace of a frontline warrior. She wasn't just beautiful; she was formidable. Tall, with a feminine but powerful build that her uniform did little to conceal, she had short-cropped, crimson hair that framed a face of sharp angles. Her eyes, the color of hardened steel, swept over the trainees with a gaze that promised pain and demanded perfection.

She stopped directly in front of Zaeryn, her presence silencing the last of the murmurs. She looked him up and down, a slow, appraising scan that was neither friendly nor hostile. It was the look of a weapon-smith inspecting a new, unproven blade.

"There is no need to be rude to the male," she said, her voice deadpan, though her lips twitched with the barest hint of a smirk. "He might start crying on his first day."

The comment, delivered with absolute seriousness, sent a ripple of stifled snickers through the trainees.

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