The night swallowed damain whole as he stepped back into the dormitory halls. The walls here were silent, far too silent for a place housing dozens of young cadets. No laughter, no murmurs, no shuffling of restless feet- just silence, heavy and suffocating.
His hand pushed open the door to his assigned room. The faint golden glow bled inside, revealing two figures inside.
Elias sat by his bed, book in hand, posture sharp, face cast in shadows. A noble through and through - perfectly composed, every movement deliberate. He did not look up when the door slowly opened.
Sky on the other hand, nearly leapt from his bed. His face lit up the moment he saw Damian.
" Damian!" Sky's voice cracked with relief " you made it back. I thought..." He caught himself, but the unfinished words hung in the air.
" Was my advice helpful"
Damian nodded "thank you...." His body moved on its own, dragging him across the room. He played on his bed, boots still caked with dust and mud, cloak still had blood stain on them. Elias didn't like this but said nothing. Damians hand we're still trembling, though he forced them still, gripping the sheets.
Sky hesitated, then offered a weak smile. "I'm glad you're alive man. Every student in this academy have gone through the same treatment on their first year. I had to watch my friends die too" his words carried pain, but they slid of damian like water on stone.
He wasn't in the right state of mind to be hearing all this. "On the bright side, the school will give first years a 2 days break so you can recover fully by then"
" You should be proud of yourself" Elias voice rang out, soft but sharp enough to overwhelm sky's voice "I sense you have advanced to the next shade and you are very much alive, even though you don't look like it. I'm sure half the first years are either dead or worse failed their trail and are now with a broken Nexus. So go ahead and rest knowing you have overcome one major obstacle in your path"
Damian's eyes was fixed on the ceiling. His muscles screaming with exhaustion, inspite this his mind refused to rest. He had watched a lot people die today but that was what weighed on him but the weight of helplessness and reliving traumas all in one day.
This academy.... This trial.... It wasn't testing their strength. It was trying to unmake them, piece by piece.
"I'm tired" damian said as he closed his eyes, barely hearing anything sky and Elias had said.
Sky who looked like he wanted to say more, swallowed his concerns, sinking back into his bed. Elias still reading silently. And Damian?, he slept. For the first time today the darkness came not as torment but as mercy.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Two days passed in an uneasy blur. The academy granted a rare reprieve: a two day break for the surviving first years, a hollow kindness, more a calculated pause than mercy. They wanted the students to think, to relieve , to burn the trauma deeper into their Nexus.
By the morning of the third day, the classroom felt like a tomb. The air was heavy, thick with absence.
Desks stood empty. Some belonged to students who had chosen not to return. Others .... belonged to those who never would.
Damian entered quietly, as he always did. Slipping into his usual seat at the back close to the window. His eyes swept the room as more students came in. The class still few. His gaze still moving as if searching for someone. The silver- haired girl, Abby, wasn't here.
Understanding the possibility that she could have died or might have failed her trial, he exhaled slowly. He had learned not to grieve loudly a long time ago.
But even amidst the grief, the living carried on. And in them new threads began to weave.
"They're all pathetic" a brown haired boy said loudly walking into the class together with a golden haired girl. They both had a golden crest on their uniform, indicating nobility. His eyes flickered across the classroom. "So many couldn't handle a simple trial. Weak bloods shouldn't stain this academy"
The words drew glares from some, silence from others. Damian didn't react. His calm expression hid the storm beneath.
"I'm more so ashamed of the nobles that fell, such a disgrace" the golden haired girl said with a disappointed expression as they went to their seats.
The quiet cracked when a desk rattled under a fist. A broad-shouldered noble snarled, his face twisted in anger.
"Say that again!!!" he barked at the arrogant noble. His chair screeched back, the tension in his body coiled like a drawn bowstring.
"Sit down, before you embarrass yourself" A boy with a golden crest on his shirt and a small pendant of silver dangling from his neck, spoke softly.
"Yeah, you better listen to church boy over there, before you start what you can't finish"
" Do you think I'm afraid of you, I dare you to make one more stupid remark" flames began rising from the boys arm and head, the size and heat of the flames evidence of his increase in strength.The other noble responded in kind, his arms being reinforced with huge rocks as part of his face was covered in huge rocks. He let out a smirk as if looking for a reason to beat someone up.
"That's enough sage" the boy sitting next to the angry noble said calmly.
" Levi, don't hold me back. I need to teach this arrogant bastard a lesson"
"Do you really want to waste your energy on a fool this early in the morning"
" Look Levi, I respect you but I won't tolerate being called a fool"
"Do something about it then"
Damian sat in silence, so did the rest of the class. It seem a battle between nobles was about to take place right here in the class. Two Graven Shade noble.