"Welcome, once more, to the Arcanis Imperial Academy. May your year be... enlightening."
A final nod. Dismissal without fanfare.
Then he stepped down from the platform—already vanishing into shadow before applause could be offered.
The room remained still.
For three full heartbeats.
Then—
Motion.
Cups raised. Cloaks pulled tighter. Whispers like breath between stones.
The spell had broken.
But not forgotten.
Valeria looked sideways, only to find—
Lucavion was already gone.
She didn't sigh.
Didn't chase.
But something in her expression…
Tightened.
'Someone ahead of me…'
The thought itched like a thread caught beneath her collar.
She would pull at it later. Hard.
For now—
Another presence approached the center of the hall.
This one did not bend the atmosphere like Verius Itharion had.
But he did command it.
Kaleran.
The Vice-Head.
