"Yo Nox," Devon called out the moment Nox walked into the room, "where have you been?"

Nox looked at the smile on Devon's face before turning to Cass who was on the bed as usual, with a book on his face.

"Running a few errands," Nox simply said.

He couldn't exactly say he was out in the wastelands solving an Eclipsed issue and facing a pseudo tier 6.

Not could he say he was a lab rat for a few minutes for Ascended Dawn where they ended sharing their back stories.

No way.

"Aight," Devon simply nodded before saying, "lemme see your watch real quick."

Nox was a bit confused by the request but was too tired to ask why, so he just took it off and tossed it Devon who caught it with a confused look.

"I ain't mean like that," he said, as he caught the watch, "just keep it on and open the transaction interface."

Nox just waved his hand and crashed into the bed, before speaking in a muffled tone, "just do whatever."

Devon just shrugged, tapped a few times before Nox's watch let out a ding, before he tossed it back to him, "catch."

With his face still buried in the foam, Nox lifted his hand and caught the watch. He raised his head a bit and looked at the watch.

"Two thousand credits?" He asked in confusion before sitting up, "what's this about?"

"I just happened to be one of the few that bet on you during your spar with that third year," Devon said with a grin, flashing his teeth. "And this right here? That's your cut, my guy."

Right, so much had happened today that he had even forgotten about the spar with that third year.

Or maybe it was just because that spar amounted to just an inconvenience for him, that's why he forgot so soon.

"Thanks," he muttered before laying back on the bed, this time, with his back.

There was silence for a while before Devon broke it as he turned to Cass, "yo Cass, you asleep?"

Cassian simply lifted his arm and picked the book off his face before turning to Devon and shaking his head.

"Heard your brother's been spotted in the academy for quite a while now," Devon said, "y'know what it's about?"

"No," Cass shook his head, "the family tells me nothing, but I guess he's doing talent search for talents before this years academy tournament."

"Academy tournament?" Nox asked a bit confused.

"It's actually a meeting of all the academies in Aureum," Cassian explained as he sat up, "it's also a way to compare which academy's really on top."

Nox stared at the ceiling. "And your brother's scouting for it because?"

"It's also the recruitment ground for noble houses," Cassian said, "my brother is trying to secure unassuming talents before anyone gets the chance to."

"Ah," Devon nodded in understanding before turning to Nox, "guess you're his next target, especially with yo current reputation."

Cassian was silent but couldn't deny that Devon was right, especially given the way his brother's attention had been on Nox during the results announcement.

"Do you have any plan of joining a noble house?" Cassian suddenly asked after a while of thinking.

Nox thought of it for a while, joining a noble house meant more resources, access to certain facilities and even solar tech that wasn't even available to the public.

He would've answered without a second's thought if he was asked before he discovered his abilities to physically wield his SE.

But now?

"No," he shook his head before elaborating, "too much strings attached."

"I see," Cassian nodded slowly, a hint of relief slipping through before he could stop it. After all, if Nox joined a noble house, things would get… complicated. For everyone.

Especially if he ended up joining their family.

"Then I'm guessing you plan on joining the military?" Devon asked.

After all, there were only two paths, either you were part of a noble house or the royal military.

But ultimately, everyone solar knight was under the kingdom's command, so it didn't matter whether you joined the military or not,

You were expected to come when summoned by the the Kingdom, no excuses.

"We'll see," Nox said with a sigh before turning to Devon, "what about you?"

Devon blinked, clearly not expecting the question to be thrown back at him.

"Me?" he pointed at his chest, then chuckled. "Man, I ain't built for noble politics, and the military?" He clicked his tongue. "That's a whole lotta 'yes sir' and 'die here' energy."

Cassian let out a quiet huff of amusement from his bed.

"I'll probably sign up with the military anyway," Devon continued, tone a bit more serious now. "Short-term contract, get my name on a few mission reports, stack a few million credits, then dip if I feel like it."

"You can just… leave?" Nox asked.

"Mostly," Devon shrugged. "As long as you ain't a problem child and you don't get too strong too fast or become an indisposible asset."

Nox chuckled at his words, maybe he'd just go the same route, just stack enough credits to live comfortably but he had a feeling that neither his fate, nor the headmistress would allow that to happen.

He had lost the chance to do that from the moment he stepped foot into the academy.

Letting out a sigh, he turned to Cassian next and asked, "what about you?"

"Hmm?" Cassian thought about it for a while before also letting out a sigh, "since I'm basically a disgrace to my family, I guess I'll just stick to the path of a scholar."

"Sounds boring," Devon said, "you gotta at least feel the adrenaline from fighting an Eclipsed, even if just once."

Cass looked at him before answering, "the rift test was more than enough."

He preferred being buried in his books than fighting Eclipsed.

Though, that didn't mean he was completely useless in battle. After all, he had signed up for a couple of training sessions with the demon queen.

Something he regrets to this day.

He suspected that she was just using training as an excuse to torture students, but he wouldn't give up.

Or more accurately, he couldn't, after all, if he tried to, it'd just get worse when she caught him.

And even though she had told him he was completely useless with every other weapon, the staff seemed to be his forte.

The three of them fell into a comfortable silence again as no one said anything else. The only sound that could be heard was from outside.

Nox closed his eyes, feeling the weight of exhaustion finally settle in and before he knew it, he was deep in sleep.

Though, he was completely unaware of what trouble the next day would bring.

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