Levi had carried Miri upstairs gently and when he came back down to the hall he found Iris already sitting in one of the leather armchairs.
The warm lights of the lamps created long shadows on the stone walls and the crackling of the wood in the fireplace was the only audible sound.
I sat on the large sofa in front of them looking at the blank TV screen that reflected the light of the flames.
I pulled three thin boxes from my dimensional ring and placed them on the wooden table with a calm gesture.
"I will have to leave you early tomorrow morning to return to the Academy." I said breaking the silence.
Iris stiffened immediately searching my eyes with urgency but I reassured her right away.
"You do not have to worry because I will return as soon as possible and this place will remain secret and safe."
I handed them the smartphones explaining that their numbers were already registered for every emergency.
"If anything should happen or if you need anything use them to call me."
Levi took the smartphone turning it over in his hands with a strange caution.
"You have taken care of us far too much Rain... Thank you for saving us." He said in a low voice.
I looked him straight in the eyes letting my sincerity shine through beyond any doubt.
"The Academy is an obligation that I cannot escape at this moment."
Iris relaxed her shoulders after confirming with her ability that I was telling the truth.
"We will stay here and take care of Miri while you are away." She added with a nod.
We stayed talking for another hour about the security of the villa before wishing each other goodnight while the fire turned to embers.
The following morning the light of dawn filtered pale through the ivy leaves that covered the windows.
Miri was waiting for me in front of the door with eyes swollen from sleep and she hugged my legs tightly without saying a word.
I gave her a small pat on the head.
"I will be back soon."
I greeted Levi and Iris with a nod of understanding on the threshold.
I stepped out into the morning cool feeling the weight of responsibility but also a new determination.
As I walked toward the main path I turned to look at the villa which looked like a silent guardian in the greenery.
I knew that the most important part of me had remained protected within those stone walls.
I called a taxi in front of the house and headed toward the Exas Academy.
The taxi dropped me off in front of the Academy gates just as the first bell was ringing.
I walked through the corridors with a fast pace ignoring the whispers of the first year students that stopped as I passed.
I entered the Mana Theory classroom just as Professor Lucien Light was closing the door.
"Mr. Glaciel I see you have decided to honor us with your presence after your... forced retirement." Lucien began adjusting his glasses.
"Take a seat."
I sat at a side desk trying to go unnoticed.
"Silence!"
Lucien ordered tapping on the magic blackboard.
"In exactly two months the midterm exam will be held."
"As you know the first year ranks will be completely reset and reassigned based on the results."
"Those at the bottom of the rankings had better wake up or they will be expelled without ceremony."
It was in that moment that a light chime resonated in my mind.
No fanfare only a line of text that appeared before my eyes.
________________________________________
[New Mission The Rise of the Outcast]
Objective: Enter the Top 50 of the first year in the midterm exam.
Reward: ???.
________________________________________
Two months.
It did not seem like something impossible.
But that would mean attracting unwanted attention.
The Close Combat lesson of the afternoon was held in the south sector an immense clearing of sand and packed earth surrounded by ancient colonnades.
At the center of the field stood the instructor Seraphina Milvas.
She was a woman of a wild and lethal beauty black hair tied in a high ponytail eyes blue like cold diamonds.
A Grade A Exas.
"Divide into pairs."
"We will do a spar but only body techniques are allowed." Seraphina ordered her voice resonating like a military command.
"Whoever uses magic today will clean the Griffin stables for a week."
Seraphina continued while a sadistic smile emerged from her face.
Most of the students found a partner quickly.
I saw that Dylan was paired with another boy.
Only a few of us were now left without a pair.
While I was wrapping my hands a shadow stood before me.
It was Mark of the Clore family.
He was a minor noble who desperately sought to climb the hierarchies.
"Hey trash." Mark said attracting the class's attention.
"Do you want to pair with me?" Mark approached me with a radiant smile.
I looked at him for a few seconds and noticed the slight contempt in his eyes while he looked at the rank showing on my bracelet.
Several students turned around happy to see this spectacle.
Seraphina Milvas shifted her gaze to me then to Mark.
Her blue eyes scrutinized my posture.
I accepted the challenge with a simple nod.
The woman sighed clearly annoyed by that waste of time but nodded reluctantly.
"Fine."
"Go up on the platform but try not to force me to call the doctors after ten seconds."
We went up on the sand stage.
Mark was smiling boastful of his superior size.
"Start!" Seraphina shouted.
Mark lunged forward with speed charging a right punch with all the weight of his body.
It was a predictable attack lacking technique.
I did not back away but took a millimetric side step letting his punch brush my cheek.
"Hey garbage do you only know how to dodge?" The contempt that Mark had on his face was evident.
"Well I did not expect anything else from a person with connections like you."
"You are probably scared now." He said while his calm smile from before changed.
I heard some laughter at Mark's jokes.
It seemed that everyone was having fun watching this spectacle.
While he was still off balance forward I grabbed his right wrist with a grip of steel.
I did not use brute force only technique.
I rotated my body under his arm forcing him to bend in an unnatural position that cut off his breath.
Without giving him time to react I struck the back of his knee with a sharp kick and at the same time I delivered a precise shoulder strike to the solar plexus.
Mark turned white in the face from the pain and flew backward raising a cloud of sand and landing heavily on his back unconscious even before touching the ground.
The silence that followed was absolute.
The first year students stared at me with wide open mouths.
Three moves.
Mark had been taken down by the one everyone considered the failure of the school in less than five seconds.
Seraphina Milvas approached Mark's body checking his pulse.
She was not impressed but her blue eyes lingered on me with a new intensity.
She had noticed the surgical precision of my movements.
"Acceptable technique student Glaciel."
"You used his momentum against him."
"Now get down." She said with a flat tone.
I stepped down from the stage straightening my uniform while the murmur of the classmates grew like a tide.
After the last spars ended the instructor Seraphina dismissed us all.
"Friend what the hell happened!" A hand hit my shoulder with warmth.
It was Dylan.
"You literally disintegrated him!"
"Did you see Mark's face?"
"He looked like a sack of potatoes!"
"Magnificent truly magnificent."
"We absolutely must celebrate during the break!"
Dylan continued to joke and imitate my moves from the spar while we headed toward the gardens.
Finally the break had arrived but I knew the peace would last shortly.
The looks I received were no longer of mockery but of pure fear.
Dylan continued to talk non stop while we sat on a stone bench far from the main path.
The garden was a labyrinth of hedges and rose bushes that scented the air with a sweet ancient aroma.
From the white marble fountains gushed crystal water and the leaves of the trees sparkled under the morning light.
I pulled the smartphone from my pocket and saw that there were no notifications from Levi or Iris.
"I hope they are doing well." I thought distractedly.
"Rain but are you listening to me?" Dylan exclaimed waving a hand before my eyes.
"I am telling you that Mark went straight to the infirmary and his friends looked like they had seen a ghost."
"I heard you Dylan." I replied with a half smile putting the phone away.
"It was just training."
"Just training?" He replied shaking his head.
"You humiliated the most arrogant boy of the first year without even struggling for more than a minute."
Right at that moment a thick grey furred cat emerged from a rose bush not far away.
It approached our bench with a royal calm and began to rub against my boots.
Dylan stopped looking at the animal with surprise.
"That is the caretaker's cat." He whispered.
"It never goes near anyone."
I leaned down to pet the animal's head and felt its purr vibrate under my fingers.
That silent exchange gave me a moment of true peace in the middle of all that chaos.
We stayed like that for a few minutes enjoying the cool of the shade and the silence of the garden.
But the break was about to end.
The sound of the bell echoed through the academy walls calling all students to order.
"Let's go." I said standing up and seeing the cat run away quickly through the garden hedges.
The next lesson was Magic Runes and we entered a classroom that looked like a sterile laboratory.
Professor Peter was waiting for us behind a desk covered with parchments and precision tools.
He wore a spotless white coat and had perfectly groomed black hair that framed a pale face.
His thin glasses hid eyes of an intense yellow marked by light dark circles that betrayed nights spent studying.
His personality was exasperating because he spoke with an almost obsessive precision while maintaining a serious and composed tone.
"Runes are not drawings but codes that regulate reality." He began adjusting his glasses with a slow gesture.
"If you mistake the inclination of a single stroke your career as an Exas will end before it starts."
The lesson was only a small introduction to the basic concepts but the silence in the classroom was absolute.
Runes have never been a subject loved by the students of the academy but I knew that the power they hid was immense.
However power is often followed by a price to pay.
When speaking of Magic Runes the price to pay...
After the time ended I said goodbye to Dylan who headed toward the dormitories still shaken by Professor Peter's lesson.
I instead headed toward the teaching tower to go to the library.
It was an immense place that occupied several floors of the tower with dark wood shelves that climbed up to the ceiling.
Thousands of books were kept in that solemn silence and I knew that many secrets were hidden among those bookshelves.