I moved through the Academy corridors with my hands buried in my pockets, watching students rush past between classes.

More than a week had passed since I'd woken in the infirmary, and the healers had finally cleared me for full activity like classes, training, the whole routine of normal student life.

My ribs were healed. The mana pathways stabilized. Most of the bandages were gone, except for a few strips on my left forearm where the skin was still tender and pink.

Everything felt simultaneously familiar and strange, like I'd been gone for months instead of weeks.

Also, my hair had grown longer during recovery, falling over my eyes in annoying strands that kept obscuring my vision. I pushed them back irritably for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

I really need a haircut.

Eventually, I stopped in front of a heavy oak door and knocked twice.

"Enter," came the gruff voice from inside.

I stepped through.

The office was functional, organized in that military way where everything had its place. Aldwin sat behind his desk, papers spread before him in neat rows. Taryn stood beside him, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, expression unreadable as always.

Aldwin gestured to the chair opposite his desk without preamble. "Raith. Sit."

I sat, feeling the weight of both their gazes settle on me like a physical thing.

Aldwin picked up a document from his desk, the official Academy letterhead, sealed with red wax and slid it across the polished wood toward me.

"Your practical examination results," he said. "Official confirmation of completion. You passed."

I took the paper, my eyes scanning the formal language.

"Jin Raith has successfully completed the Solo Practical Examination. Classification: PASS. Authorized for advancement to standard curriculum."

A smile cracked across my face despite my attempt to stay neutral. I folded the paper carefully and tucked it into my jacket pocket, feeling the slight crinkle of parchment against my chest.

"Thank you, sir."

Aldwin leaned back in his chair, studying me with that same analytical intensity I'd seen in the infirmary. The kind of look that made you feel like he could see straight through your skull and into the thoughts you were trying to hide.

"You did a good job in there," he said after a moment. "Remarkable, considering your ranking. Solo dungeon clearance isn't something most first-years achieve."

I shook my head. "I was just lucky, sir."

"Luck doesn't determine success, Raith." His eyes narrowed slightly. "It's a factor, yes, but not the determining one. Skill, preparation, and your brain... those determine success. Luck just decides whether you live long enough to use them."

I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, the chair suddenly feeling harder than it had a moment ago.

"I mostly just used my instincts," I said, keeping my tone casual. "Avoided the skeletons when I could, fought when I had to. Gave everything I had, grabbed the core stone, and got out."

The words came out dismissive, like I was describing a routine training exercise rather than nearly dying multiple times in the dark.

Aldwin stared at me for several long seconds.

I could see it in his expression, he didn't believe me. Didn't believe for a second that I'd survived purely on instinct and luck.

But instead of pressing, instead of demanding details about my methods or abilities, he just nodded slowly.

"Be more careful next time," he said, his tone measured and deliberate. "Whatever you did in there, however you survived... don't let it make you overconfident. The next challenge might not be as forgiving."

"Yes, sir."

Silence stretched between us. Taryn shifted against the wall, the leather of his uniform creaking faintly.

"One more thing," Aldwin said, breaking the quiet. "The dungeon classification. There was an error in our initial assessment."

I blinked. "Sir?"

"Blackwood Crypt was E-rank." He said it smoothly, like it was a simple administrative correction, nothing more. "Not C-rank as we initially believed. The equipment malfunction gave us false readings. You cleared an E-rank dungeon. Which is still impressive for a solo first-year examination, but not the... extraordinary feat we thought it was."

I stared at him.

E-rank.

Not C-rank.

The whole time, it was just E-rank.

A dozen emotions hit me at once, relief, embarrassment, confusion, a weird sense of deflation that I couldn't quite name.

"Oh," I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral.

Then another thought struck me, mortifying in its practicality.

I looked up at Aldwin, trying not to sound as anxious as I felt.

"Do I... have to return the money?"

The compensation. The heavy coin purse. I'd been planning what to do with those funds, better equipment, proper meals, maybe even books on advanced techniques.

But now...

Damn it... just fucking great.

Aldwin's lips twitched. Then he actually chuckled, a low rumble of genuine amusement.

"No." He waved his hand dismissively. "You can keep it. Consider it compensation for the confusion and stress caused by our equipment failure."

My face brightened immediately, relief flooding through me. "Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed, Raith."

I stood, nodded respectfully to both of them, and headed for the door. My hand was on the handle when I heard Aldwin shift in his chair behind me, papers rustling.

I stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind me.

****

{Inside the room...}

"Why did you lie to him?"

Taryn's voice cut through the silence the moment the door clicked shut. He shifted away from the wall, looking directly at Aldwin with something between frustration and curiosity.

Aldwin's response was calm, almost amused. "Because I can."

A long silence stretched between them.

Then veins bulged at Taryn's forehead. "Sir—"

"Is something wrong, Instructor Taryn?" Aldwin asked, tilting his head with practiced innocence, his tone light and conversational.

Taryn's jaw worked for a moment. Then he just sighed, the fight draining out of him, and shook his head.

"No, sir. Nothing's wrong."

****

I moved through the corridors, my mind still churning over the revelation.

E-rank. Just E-rank.

Was I relieved? Embarrassed? Both? The lamp lights hummed overhead as I rounded a corner, hands buried in my pockets, lost in thought.

I wasn't paying attention.

And...

Thump!

The collision was sudden as I walked straight into someone.

"Shit, sorry—"

I looked up.

Silver hair caught the light like spun moonlight. Blue eyes, cool and assessing. Posture so perfect it could've been carved from marble.

Seraphina?

"My apologies," I said quickly, stepping back and trying to sound more composed. "Wasn't watching where I—"

She just walked past me.

"Good to see you recovered."

I opened my mouth to say literally anything that wasn't awkward.

But she'd already turned the next corner and vanished.

Damn, she's fast.

I stared at the empty corridor for a long moment, the faint echo of her footsteps fading into silence. Then I shrugged.

Whatever.

I continued toward the dormitories, pushing thoughts of dungeons and classifications and silver-haired enigmas aside.

I pushed open the door to my room and stopped dead at what I saw inside.

Tobias sat in a chair in the middle of the floor, gagged with what looked suspiciously like one of Kyle's spare training shirts.

His hands were tied behind his back with rope and his glasses sat slightly askew on his nose.

His eyes were wide and panicked behind the smudged lenses, locked onto mine with the desperate intensity of a drowning man spotting a lifeboat.

Kyle and Sira stood in front of him like a pair of disappointed parents about to deliver the lecture of a lifetime, arms crossed, expressions grave.

I closed the door slowly behind me.

"Do I want to know?" I asked.

"Probably not," Sira said without looking at me, her tone conversational, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

Kyle glanced over, his grin entirely too cheerful for the scene before me. "Oh, hey Jin! You're back! Perfect timing."

I looked at Tobias. At the gag. At the rope. At the sheer absurdity of it all.

"What did Tobias do?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Kyle gestured to the bound and gagged student like he was presenting evidence in court. "But he won't talk."

I looked at Tobias again. At the gag stuffed in his mouth. At the rope binding his wrists.

Tobias stared back at me, making muffled, strangled noises that might've been pleas for help.

"I wonder why," I said flatly.

Sira tilted her head, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips.

"Well," Sira said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. "Come on, Tobias. You can tell him."

I looked at them, really looked at the absurd tableau before me.

Tobias, bound and pathetic, his glasses fogging slightly with panicked breath.

Kyle, grinning like an absolute idiot, clearly enjoying this far too much.

Sira, staring at Tobias with that deadpan expression she'd perfected, though there was a slight twitch at the corner of her lips that betrayed her amusement.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my palms.

This is my life now.

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