The cafeteria at East Garden was unusually lively for a Saturday night.

Word of the ghost simulation had spread quickly, and while most students ate in subdued reflection, a few groups—especially the ones who had fared well—were leaning into their relief with hungry bites and louder-than-usual chatter.

Aston and his group sat at their usual corner table.

Kai still looked pale, but his tray was stacked with curry buns and rice dumplings. Seria was finishing a grilled sweetroot skewer, Rowan was halfway into his second bowl of noodles, and Lyra sipped quietly on her tea, her lynx curled beneath the bench.

None of them said much at first.

Then Rowan leaned back and exhaled loudly.

"I swear… if another ghost whispers 'You left me behind' in my ear, I'm dropping out."

Kai chuckled weakly. "I thought it was data?"

"Still creepy," Seria muttered.

"It was the way they moved," Lyra added. "Too smart. Like they remembered how to fight."

"They did remember," Aston said softly, picking at his rice. "They weren't just fragments—they were patterns. Failures from students before us."

The group went quiet again.

Then Kai asked, "Do you think… the ones who failed today… get added to the next simulation?"

Aston looked at him. No one answered.

Gray let out a soft chuff and nuzzled Aston's boot, tail flicking lazily beneath the bench.

"I hope not," Rowan said at last. "But I wouldn't put it past Elder Drexen."

"I don't think he's cruel," Seria said. "Just… deliberate."

"Same thing," Rowan muttered.

They eventually shifted topics—idle things, food orders, what the next week might bring. There were laughs, a few teasing jabs, and more than one toast made in Shelldon's honor.

When they finally left, full and tired, they walked together under soft campus lanterns, their breath curling in the cool air.

"Tomorrow's our first full day off since we got here," Rowan said with mock disbelief. "No drills. No traps. No ghosts."

"Sleep in," Lyra said without hesitation.

Aston smiled. "See you all tomorrow."

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They parted one by one until Aston made it back to his dorm.

The hallway was still. His uniform was folded neatly at the foot of his bed, and Gray was already curled on the windowsill.

Aston sat cross-legged on the floor, closing his eyes.

He didn't meditate to shut the world out—but to listen.

The whispers of spirit energy pulsed softly around him. His core was steadier now. Still flickering, still uncertain—but no longer empty.

—

The sun filtered gently through the dorm window as Aston stirred. For the first time in a while, there was no alarm. No instructor's voice. No urgency.

Gray was still asleep, tail twitching in his dreams.

Aston cleaned up, dressed in casual academy wear, and wandered into the city sector just past the campus wall. He found a brunch stall run by a kind, elderly binder and ate a warm rice omelet with grilled eel and a cup of cinnamon spirit-brew tea.

He sat beneath an old tree after, sketching idle glyphs into his notebook. Thoughts came and went—of Mirage's precision, of Kai's wall, of Seria's close call.

And of Elder Drexen's words.

"You mistake your beast for power... But neither will save you when the enemy is already behind your eyes."

Something about that still bothered him.

—

By nightfall, Aston returned to the dormitory, climbing the stairs just as Ren exited their room, adjusting the strap of a field jacket.

"Dinner?" Aston asked. "The others are meeting at East Garden."

Ren paused.

Then smiled faintly. "Appreciate it. But I'll pass tonight."

Aston nodded, not pressing. "Maybe next time."

Ren watched him walk off.

Once he was gone, Ren didn't return to their room.

Instead, he made his way up—past the third floor, then the fourth. At the fifth floor landing, he slipped out the emergency exit and ascended the narrow stairwell leading to the dormitory rooftop.

It was quiet.

No lights. No presence. Just wind, the hum of distant city lanterns, and the pulse of mana through the academy's protective grid.

Ren checked his surroundings once.

Then again.

Satisfied, he pulled a thin, black pad from his coat.

He pressed the screen a few times and put the device to his ear.

"Hello… yes, I've been fine…"

A few short talks were exchanged through the device until Ren's tone dropped into something colder.

"You were right. His potential does not match his record. Spirit profile is misleading. I suggest we stop our trace on him. He has sharp senses and might get suspicious."

After a few exchanges of words, the call ended. He tucked the device into his coat.

Ren's expression didn't shift. But his eyes hardened. His gaze turned toward the edge of the rooftop into the distant stars.

"For the Empire," he murmured before vanishing into the dark.

—

From afar, inside a luxurious manor, a man hidden in the shadows sat inside his study. He put down his device upon ending the call and placed it on the table.

"He will be the key. If he awakens fully… the Empire will either burn—or ascend," he said quietly in the shadows.

"For the sake of our house, for the future to come, and…" he added, "for the Empire."

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